Xiaoxi and the young novice monk quickly came over to pull her. Song Ruotang's heart was still pounding, but she quickly stopped Xiaoxi. "Xiaoxi, don't come over. First, sweep away the snow on the ground."
If Xiaoxi slipped like her, then they would both fall.
Xiaoxi also realized this and quickly dug away the snow on the ground with a shovel. Then she asked the novice monk to hold her from behind while she went to pull Song Ruotang. They walked up the slope carefully. Only when they finally reached a safe area did Song Ruotang let out a sigh of relief.
By now, her clothes were completely dirty. The snow and wet mud had soiled both her cloak and the clothes inside. But she still tightly held the two plants of Snow Heart Grass in her hand. Without much hesitation, she took Xiaoxi to find the abbot again and asked him to make the medicine quickly.
The abbot sighed when he saw Song Ruotang in such a sorry state. While making the medicine, he said, "I didn't expect that madam would really find it. Last time, Lord Pei, the minister of the Court of Judicial Review, came here with people but didn't find it. It seems that this grass is really fated to be with madam."
Song Ruotang lowered her eyes. So Pei Zhiyan also came here to look for the Snow Heart Grass last time...
While the abbot was making the medicine, Xiaoxi helped Song Ruotang clean her dirty clothes. But since they had walked up the mountain, there were no spare clothes in the carriage. They could only clean them as much as possible and change when they got back to the mansion.
Song Ruotang had the same idea. If she didn't let Pei Zhiyan see the evidence of her efforts, wouldn't this trip be in vain?
After the abbot finished making the medicine, Song Ruotang took Xiaoxi down the mountain. By this time, it was already getting late. Xiaoxi was urging the coachman to drive faster so that Song Ruotang could change her clothes earlier and avoid the gossips about a new bride returning late.
It started to snow again. Song Ruotang felt uncomfortable all over. Although the wet clothes had been dried in the Green Mountain Temple, she had worn them for so long and was still affected.
Song Ruotang wrapped her cloak tightly. The fox fur was a bit thick and not completely dry yet. It was still damp. She shrank inside, listening to the sound of the carriage wheels rolling on the snow, and silently tightened the medicine in her bosom.
The snow was getting heavier and the carriage was moving slowly. A carriage with a low - key yet luxurious decoration was coming from the opposite direction. The coachman was very observant and pulled the carriage to the side to avoid offending the noble people.
But the snow was piled up thickly and the horse's hooves slipped. Song Ruotang's carriage directly crashed into the other one, which startled both sides and caused a commotion.
After finally calming down the frightened horse, Song Ruotang steadied herself. Before she could do anything, she heard a man scolding outside, "Are you blind? How dare you crash into our Pei Mansion's carriage?"
"Your honor, please forgive me. I originally wanted to avoid it, but the road was really too slippery..." The coachman nervously explained, but the other side refused to let it go. "Stop talking about the slippery road. You crashed into our Pei Mansion's carriage. You have to give us an explanation! Otherwise, you'll have a long stay in the prison of the Court of Judicial Review!"
"I'm really sorry..." The coachman was still apologizing, but Song Ruotang understood that the other side wanted the owner of this carriage to get off and apologize in person.
Song Ruotang stood up, lifted the curtain and got off the carriage. She pulled up the apologizing coachman beside her and walked to the Pei Mansion's carriage. She gently bowed and said, "I'm sorry to have disturbed Young Master Pei. I apologize to you here. I hope you can forgive me."
As soon as she finished speaking, a contemptuous laugh came from the silent carriage. Song Ruotang looked up. The servant standing in front of the carriage lifted the curtain, revealing Pei Yu's mocking face.
Pei Yu got out of the carriage and looked down at Song Ruotang from the front of the carriage. There were some stains on her clothes. When the cold wind blew, her soft hair fluttered around her ears. Along with her slightly red cheeks, her almond eyes were slightly lowered and her long eyelashes trembled slightly. She looked like a delicate willow swaying in the wind, which made people feel pity for her.
Pei Yu sized her up for a while and said with a smile, "I didn't expect that after you became a concubine, you would be so down and out."
Song Ruotang remained silent. Pei Yu didn't see the expression he wanted to see. He got off the carriage, approached Song Ruotang and whispered, "Look at yourself. Do you regret rejecting me back then?"
He watched Song Ruotang's eyelashes tremble violently and slightly curved his lips. "If you had been more sensible back then, how could you have suffered like this today?"
As he said this, a few snowflakes fell on Song Ruotang's eyelashes. Just as she looked up, her eyelashes fluttered and the snowflakes fell off, looking like a frosted pearl, extremely beautiful.
Pei Yu was a bit stunned. He only thought Song Ruotang was a bit pretty back then. But now when they met again, he wondered how in just a few days, Song Ruotang had become so charming, with a kind of beauty that could bewitch people's minds.
He composed himself. Anger rose in his heart because Song Ruotang had rejected him. But he couldn't bear to say harsh words to those beautiful eyes. He just turned his head impatiently and said, "Alright, stop blocking my way. If you want to go, just go."
Song Ruotang didn't say anything. She just bowed again, then turned around and got back into her carriage, ordering the coachman to drive away.
Pei Yu stood in the snow, watching the carriage that Song Ruotang was in disappear in the distance. He tightened his hand hidden in his sleeve.
This woman. She clearly liked him so much back then, but she would rather marry an old man as a concubine than marry him. This state she was in now was her retribution!
When he looked back again, Pei Yu originally wanted to get back into the carriage. But he accidentally caught a glimpse of a small red patch on the ground. He walked over curiously and saw that it was a handkerchief embroidered with blood - red plum blossoms. Although most of it was covered by snow, the vivid plum blossoms were still very eye - catching.
"Heh..." Pei Yu picked up the handkerchief and played with it in his hand. How could he not recognize that the fabric of this handkerchief was the one he gave Song Ruotang to make clothes with.
But the fabric was snatched away by the servants in the manor. Song Ruotang only got back a little scrap and embroidered this handkerchief. She treasured it very much.
Pei Yu knew about this at that time, but since Song Wanying instructed him not to interfere, he didn't do anything.
He didn't expect that Song Ruotang still kept it. It seemed that she still couldn't forget him in her heart.
Pei Yu showed a satisfied smile. He knew that Song Ruotang couldn't let him go easily.
At this time, Song Ruotang was on her way back to the mansion. She deliberately threw away that handkerchief just now. If Pei Yu didn't pick it up, it was just like throwing away trash. If he did pick it up, it was also within her plan.
Pei Yu, Song Wanying, just wait...
It got dark early in the wind and snow. When the carriage returned to the mansion, it was completely dark. When Song Ruotang walked into the yard, she found that the yard was brightly lit. There was a tall figure standing in front of the corridor, and there were countless servants below.
"Master?" Song Ruotang called out in confusion. She looked at the servants around and asked, "What happened?"
Pei Zhiyan's originally gloomy face softened when he saw her, but his eyebrows were still slightly frowned. "The wind and snow are so heavy. Why did you come back so late?"
Song Ruotang glanced at the old maid standing beside her with her head down. She knew that the old maid had already told Pei Zhiyan about her going out. So she took a few steps forward and said to him with a smile, "Your concubine went to the Green Mountain Temple to get two doses of medicine today."