Cuihuan helped her up and urged her to quickly take off her wet clothes. "If you hadn't behaved so disgracefully today, Second Miss wouldn't have spoken so bluntly. She said those words because she felt sorry for you being so worried and scared."
The masters of noble families were well aware of the saying that misfortune comes from careless talk and walls have ears. So they always chose their words carefully, which often left their servants guessing.
Sighing, Cuihuan continued, "After that day, Second Miss actually wanted me to explain things clearly to you. But I thought you were usually carefree, and this incident would be a good opportunity to temper your character. So I didn't want to be too explicit, thinking that you would truly understand only if you figured it out on your own. Who would have thought you'd be so stubborn, which led to today's mess."
"Don't blame me," Cuihuan said as she handed Bi Yu her undergarments. After Bi Yu got dressed, Cuihuan helped her into the quilt.
Hearing this, Bi Yu quickly grabbed Cuihuan's hand. "I know you well. You've always had good intentions. It's my own stupidity that I didn't understand. If the mistress blames you, don't take it all on yourself. Just shift the blame to me."
Cuihuan stroked Bi Yu's head and chided, "What silly words! Do you think Second Miss is the kind of mistress who beats and scolds at every turn?"
"Second Miss has a kind temper and is not hard to serve. In the end, He Miao brought it upon herself. Don't blame Second Miss for being heartless," Cuihuan whispered.
Bi Yu lay in bed and shook her head. "How could I blame Second Miss? You and I have seen how people are punished. Every punishment was almost life - threatening. Second Miss's actions can hardly be called harsh."
"I'm glad you understand," Cuihuan said as she got up and stirred the charcoal brazier. "I still have to go back to serve Second Miss. I've boiled some ginger tea for you. I'll ask a little maid to bring it later. After you drink it, have a good sleep so that you can serve the mistress well tomorrow."
Hearing this, Bi Yu's eyes welled up with tears again. "Thank you."
Cuihuan smiled and patted Bi Yu's quilt. "We've been close since childhood. No need for such formalities. I'm leaving."
Outside, the snow had piled up, and in just a short while, it was already quite thick. Cuihuan carefully lifted the curtain to prevent the cold wind from blowing in.
Inside the room, a charcoal brazier was burning. The silver - wire charcoal was of excellent quality and produced little smoke even after burning for a long time.
Fu Zhen looked up. "Is Bi Yu okay?"
Cuihuan stepped forward and curtsied. "She's fine. She cried for a while. Now that she's drunk the ginger tea, I'm sure she's fallen asleep."
Fu Zhen nodded. Although her eyes were on the book, her mind was elsewhere. "Bi Yu is not steady - tempered enough, but she's smart. You need to keep an eye on her on a daily basis."
Cuihuan replied, "This servant understands."
The room fell silent again. Fu Zhen's thoughts drifted far away, and somehow she thought of that concubine - born daughter.
In her dream, she only knew there was a Concubine Su in the Marquis's Mansion, but she had never heard of such a concubine - born daughter.
Starting over in this life, many things had deviated from the original course. For some reason, she always cared a bit about this concubine - born daughter.
The snow fell harder and harder and didn't stop until evening.
In the Taoist temple, the lights were bright.
An old Taoist priest got up from the futon, flicked his whisk, and looked at Chen Luobing, who was sitting with her eyes closed. "Tomorrow is the day when your family comes to visit you again."
Chen Luobing kept her eyes closed and said nothing. Although she was slender, she exuded a certain strength. The Taoist robe she wore gave her an otherworldly air.
She resembled Chen Tingfeng somewhat, and her eyebrows and eyes were more like those of Concubine Su, but they were sharper and colder.
Seeing her like this, the old Taoist priest shook his head and calculated with his fingers. "I've never been able to see your fate clearly. It's full of falsehoods and chaos. Recently, when I calculated it again, it became even more muddled. I'm always afraid that your calamity is approaching, and a single misstep could cost you your life."
Only then did Chen Luobing open her eyes. Her eyes were extremely beautiful. At first glance, they seemed to shine with a brilliance, like the eyes of the Nine - Heavens Goddess, yet they also had a touch of enchantment.
In just a moment, she contained the brilliance, and her eyes returned to their calm state.
She looked up at the flickering candles on the offering table and smiled faintly. "What's destined to be yours will come to you eventually; what's not won't no matter how hard you try. I've managed to live until now only by going against fate."
"Maybe I owed someone a debt in my previous life, and I'm here in this life just to repay it."
The old Taoist priest had raised her for nearly twenty years and regarded her as his own daughter. Hearing this, he wanted to refute but didn't know what to say. So he sat down beside her dejectedly.
"Your fate is too chaotic. The Marquis's Mansion can't keep you. That's why I brought you to the Taoist temple to isolate you from the secular world. If you had stayed in the Taoist temple for your whole life and rarely interacted with the outside world, you might have lived a long and peaceful life. But in recent days, the stars have shifted, and I can clearly see that your fate has changed. It seems that your calamity will come tomorrow. You..."
"Master," Chen Luobing interrupted the old Taoist priest. Her eyes, as clear as if they could see through good and evil in the world, looked at him. "That's not a calamity."
"It's the karma I owe."
She opened the window, and the snow on the window lattice fluttered. She looked at the brightly - lit capital city in the distance. "It's also my opportunity."
Lightning flashed, and the stars seemed to reverse. She had exhausted all her efforts to have this life. No matter what, she wouldn't let that person repeat the mistakes of the previous life.
It was always colder after a heavy snowfall. The Baiyun Taoist Temple was built on the mountainside. Since the Marquis's Mansion had decided to visit the temple today, the servants of the mansion had cleared the snow on the mountain road early.
Coincidentally, Chen Tingfeng had a day off from the academy today. As soon as Lady Bai saw him, she said, "You should go up the mountain with us. It'll be a good chance for you to see your third younger sister."
Chen Tingfeng nodded slightly and didn't decline. He mounted his horse and slowly followed the carriage out of the city.
Since their verbal confrontation the other day, Fu Zhen hadn't seen Chen Tingfeng again. She was too lazy to meet someone who always looked at her with disdain.
Just looking at his cold face would make her lose her appetite.
The Baiyun Taoist Temple was located on Qingcheng Mountain not far from the capital. After a short while of jolting, the carriage stopped steadily at the foot of the mountain.
Fu Zhen lifted the curtain. A refreshing and cold breeze blew in her face. She couldn't help taking a deep breath, feeling instantly refreshed.
There were fields everywhere at the foot of the mountain, now covered with snow. Scattered houses could be seen in the distance, with smoke rising from their chimneys from time to time.
They had come after having lunch at noon.
"A timely snow promises a good harvest. It's been snowing heavily these days. I'm sure there will be a good harvest next year," Lady Bai said with a smile.
Concubine Su followed behind her and nodded, as silent as ever.
Fu Zhen smiled and said, "Yes. When I was in the countryside in previous years, as long as there was a heavy snowfall, the vegetables in the fields always grew much better the next year."
Lady Bai stroked her hand and said with some pity, "You've suffered a lot these years."
On such a snowy day, the crops might be fine, but life was tough for people.
Fu Zhen understood the principles of farming, which meant she must have experienced hardships. As a woman, her father was often absent, and she even had to support the family. How could she not have suffered?
Fu Zhen just smiled and said, "But I don't have to suffer anymore."