The bizarre dream once again enveloped Fu Zhen.
In the dream, it was drizzling. At that time, she was trapped in the courtyard. Looking haggard, she sat blankly by the window, watching the raindrops outside.
Suddenly, a meow came to her ears. She looked down and met the eyes of the tabby cat.
Although it was covered in mud and had a wounded leg, its cat eyes remained clear, like the sky after the rain. Occasionally, a hint of vigilance showed in them. It cocked its injured paw and stared at Fu Zhen from a distance, as if sizing up whether she was dangerous.
She had long grown tired of all the scenery in this courtyard. The waiting and daydreaming day after day had turned her world into black and white.
But today seemed to be different.
She stared into its eyes for a while, then suddenly got up.
The cat was startled and took a step back. It bared its teeth and let out a threatening growl in its throat.
"Fu Zhen" glanced at it and walked into the room. A moment later, she came back holding a pastry. She leaned over the window, half of her body outside, and crushed the pastry bit by bit onto the ground.
But the cat didn't move.
She tilted her head. "Don't you want to eat it?"
Looking at the hard pastry in her hand, as if suddenly enlightened, she lowered her eyes and stood there for a while. Then, she suddenly sneered and threw the pastry out of the window.
"Even the cat won't eat this kind of thing, but they give it to me! A bunch of lowly maids!"
The cat was so scared that it kept backing away. It stared at her warily with its eyes. The next second, it saw the person in front of it covering her stomach in pain and falling to the ground. Her face was even paler than the cat's fur.
It let out a "purr" and tilted its head, seemingly not understanding what had happened to her.
The rain outside gradually grew heavier.
The rain soaked its fur. It turned back and licked the fur on its belly. It waited for a long time but didn't hear any movement from the person inside the room.
It hesitated, looking around. Then it looked down at the pastry on the ground. Finally, it slowly moved its head closer.
"Fu Zhen" fainted from the pain and was then awakened by the cold, damp floor.
When she opened her eyes again, it was already getting dark.
She moved her stiff body. When she looked up, she met the cat's eyes again.
It was sitting quietly beside her, looking at her. It tilted its head, as if curiously sizing her up.
"Fu Zhen" stared at it for a while. Seeing that it had no intention of leaving, she ignored it. She got up from the ground, walked to the door, and "banged" on it.
"Bring water! I want to take a bath!"
There was a commotion outside the door for a moment, but no one answered. Then it became quiet again.
As for the bath water, the cat guarded the door until the middle of the night, but the door never opened.
After that, the cat always followed her but didn't get close. It was like a strange tenant in the same room. They often saw each other, but always kept a distance.
One day, "Fu Zhen" curled up on the floor. She fainted from the pain and was awakened by the cold again. When she opened her eyes, it was still the cat quietly looking at her.
She lay on the ground and turned her head to look at it. After a while, she asked hoarsely, "No one wants you?"
Then she murmured to herself, "What a coincidence. No one wants me either."
Suddenly, there was a loud thunderclap in the sky. With a "rumble", accompanied by a faint commotion outside, it seemed that someone was walking quickly and shouting something.
She propped herself up with difficulty and slowly moved to the door. Through the crack in the door, she saw a maid hurriedly pulling an old woman and pointing at the plaque outside the courtyard. A young servant was putting up something on it with a ladder.
"Fu Zhen" took a closer look and found that it was the white cloth used for funerals.
Before she could figure it out, she heard an old woman outside wailing loudly, "The third young lady has passed away!"
She was shocked.
Suddenly, the fog in front of her eyes dispersed. When she opened her eyes, she saw Biyu lying on the edge of her bed in surprise. "Miss! Miss is awake!"
Cuihuan was outside talking to the doctor about the prescription. Hearing this, she quickly asked the little maid to see the doctor off and walked in quickly.
Seeing Fu Zhen's pale face and her forehead covered in cold sweat, she lovingly wiped it with a handkerchief. "Miss's fever just won't go down. It has really worried us maids."
Fu Zhen smiled reassuringly at them. "I'm fine. Now that I'm awake, the fever will go away soon."
She vaguely felt that every time she dreamed of her past life, she would have a fever. It was like an invisible thread connecting her past and present lives, preventing her from getting lost in the past.
Cuihuan patted Biyu, and Biyu wisely stepped back. She still had to keep an eye on the medicine prescribed by the doctor.
Cuihuan helped Fu Zhen sit up and carefully wiped the cold sweat on her face with a handkerchief. She said softly, "That doctor is not the one commonly used in the mansion. Just now, I gave him some hush money. Tonight, it will only be said that Miss had a fever because of catching a cold."
Hearing this, Fu Zhen stared at Cuihuan steadily. Cuihuan was so frightened that she felt her heart pounding. Then Fu Zhen slowly smiled.
"You did a good job."
Actually, she didn't care if the fact that she had a fever from being startled spread to Lady Bai's ears. Firstly, she had concealed the fact that she had met Chen Luobing. Even if Lady Bai asked her, she could make up an excuse that she was startled by seeing a hibernating snake in the mountains. Secondly, even if Lady Bai knew that she was startled after meeting Chen Luobing, she could say that she had asked Chen Luobing to tell her fortune and got a bad omen, so she had a fever due to her emotional upheaval.
In any case, she could always manage to fob it off.
However, it was always better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
It was great that her personal maid was so loyal to her.
The heavy snow had been falling for several days. When it finally cleared up, it was Chinese New Year's Eve at the end of the year.
The mansion became lively early on. The maids and old women were cleaning everywhere. The snow on the pebble path in the courtyard was swept away, and hot water was poured on it. The young servants were sticking up couplets in groups of two or three, with happy smiles on their faces.
"The mansion distributed new winter clothes this morning. They are all filled with cotton and very warm. The servants were also rewarded with some strings of coins. Look, Miss, their faces are beaming like flowers." Biyu pointed at the maids and young servants in the courtyard and joked.
Lady Bai was always kind to her servants and knew well how to manage them. Therefore, the servants always respected and loved her and behaved themselves.
Nanny Li came to invite Fu Zhen over.
When she arrived at the main courtyard, she saw a brazier in the courtyard with flames burning inside. Lady Bai was standing behind the brazier, smiling at her.
Today, Lady Bai was wearing a bright red dress, which made her look in high spirits. It seemed that she was overflowing with joy. "Zhenzhen, come quickly. Come and get rid of the bad luck. You will surely be healthy and safe in the coming year!"
Fu Zhen was infected by her joy. She carefully lifted her skirt and successfully stepped over the brazier. The ashes in the brazier were blown by the gentle breeze raised by her skirt. They fluttered onto the top of her shoes and then were blown to the ground by the wind as she walked. It seemed that all the sufferings and illnesses of the past year had disappeared in an instant.
Lady Bai pulled her to sit down and told someone to bring a bowl of stewed milk with bird's nest. "Your uncle and cousin have gone to the palace for a banquet tonight. They won't be back until the end of the Xu hour. So, you'll have to have the reunion dinner with me. I'm sorry to make you suffer this inconvenience."
"How could it be an inconvenience? Zhenzhen is more than happy to have dinner with Aunt!" Fu Zhen quickly replied.
It was a great honor to be able to attend the palace banquet. Only important officials were invited. In previous years, only the marquis went to the banquet. But this year, the old emperor had decreed that Chen Tingfeng should also go to the palace.
"People said that it was requested by the Second Prince, and His Majesty agreed." Lady Bai said, "The Second Prince and Shaochuan have been together since childhood. To put it bluntly, they are as close as if they were wearing the same pair of pants. It's not really strange that the Second Prince requested the old emperor to let Shaochuan enter the palace."
Fu Zhen lowered her eyes, thinking of the handsome Second Prince she had seen before. For a moment, her mind began to stir.
But as a girl living in the inner chambers, it was really difficult for her to see him.