Cui Jintang said she would move, and immediately sent people to empty all her belongings.
The Autumn Water Courtyard was in a complete mess. Everyone was sighing, except Ying Lan, who was laughing unusually.
Holding her slave contract in her hand, she pretended to be scared and dodged the swats from her companions.
"I can't help it. The young lady just wants me to serve her~"
The maids packing up the valuables were furious. "Get out! Get out of here! Don't come here to annoy us!"
Ying Lan giggled, reached out to hug a large stack of scrolls, and skipped out.
As soon as she stepped out of the door, she bumped into Pei Zhaolin.
Seeing Pei Zhaolin's cold, expressionless face, the smile on Ying Lan's face faded quickly. She lowered her head in panic. "Eldest Young Master."
Pei Zhaolin stood in front of the courtyard gate, watching the items being carried out of the Autumn Water Courtyard one by one.
His mind was in a complete mess. It was as if thousands of silk threads scorched by fire were tightly wrapping around his whole body, bringing searing pain.
He raised his hand to press on his chest, trying to stop the pain.
"Is the eldest young master here to see the young lady?"
Ying Lan stood on the steps below and asked in a low voice.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, rolling up the scrolls in Ying Lan's arms.
Ying Lan didn't hold them firmly, and the top scroll "slapped" to the ground.
Ying Lan quickly squatted down and picked it up while saying, "This is the most satisfactory painting the young lady has ever drawn. It mustn't be damaged!"
Pei Zhaolin came back to his senses and subconsciously lowered his eyes to look.
He saw that the unmounted scroll was blown open by the wind, revealing the colors inside.
— It was a painting of a man teasing a cat under the eaves in the rain.
In the whole scroll, the rain curtain slanted down from the upper right. The ink color gradually faded from dark to light, and the whole world was a dull grayish-blue.
In the middle of the painting, a courtyard stood in the fine rain and mist.
And on the stone steps under the eaves, there stood a man in a moon-white robe.
The man bent over, with his elbows slightly bent.
He stretched out his fingertips, teasing a snow-white cat.
And in the shadow of the eaves on one side, a young lady was quietly standing.
Not much of the young lady's face was shown, but her gaze, from beginning to end, passed through the rain threads and landed on the man.
Pei Zhaolin originally wanted to shift his gaze, but it was as if it was caught by a thin thread. His eyes were firmly fixed on the scroll.
— Familiar.
This scene made him feel extremely familiar.
The light rain, the white cat, the green tiles, and even the bit of skylight about to fall at the eaves all made him feel extremely familiar.
His heart skipped a beat first, and then lost its rhythm, pounding against his eardrums like a disordered drumbeat.
The veins on his forehead twitched slightly. Pei Zhaolin subconsciously raised his hand to press on his forehead.
Something in the depths of his memory stirred, making his head ache as if it was about to split.
"Did you just say that this painting was drawn by Miss Cui?"
Ying Lan was stunned for a moment while holding the scroll. Seeing Pei Zhaolin's slightly painful expression, a flash of inspiration came to her mind.
She unfurled the scroll again, pointed at the painting on it, and spoke very slowly and clearly, word by word.
"Replying to the young master, this painting depicts the scene when the young master and the young lady first met in the Pei Mansion."
"This man is precisely you, the eldest young master."
"This woman is also the young lady."
"And this white cat was picked up by the eldest young master from outside. Its name is Facai. Since Facai is especially fond of sticking to the young lady, this cat has always been raised in the Autumn Water Courtyard."
Pei Zhaolin felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if it was being grabbed by a hand.
He reached out to touch the painting in a bit of a panic.
His slightly trembling fingertips stroked the strand of wet hair on the painting.
The ink marks were slightly raised, giving off a slight coolness.
In that bit of coolness, Pei Zhaolin heard a very soft "click" in his heart —
It was like an old rusty lock being pried open for the first time by a very thin key.
Previously, Pei Zhaolin always thought that even if there was something between him and Cui Jintang before he lost his memory, it must have been Cui Jintang's one-sided wish. She might even have bewitched everyone in the Pei Mansion to create the false appearance of their love.
But these inexplicable heartbeats again and again, and being involuntarily occupied by her in his sight and mind...
At this moment, Pei Zhaolin suddenly had a faint feeling in his heart that perhaps before he lost his memory, he really regarded Cui Jintang as his beloved.
Pei Zhaolin's emotions were surging.
He forcefully suppressed that emotion. Suddenly, he remembered the promise he made to Luo Xiang for saving his life.
Although he was annoyed by Luo Xiang's repeated actions, a gentleman's promise is unbreakable.
Pei Zhaolin's fingertips slid and landed on the white cat.
He raised his eyes, and his eyes suddenly became extremely cold. "You said this cat's name is Facai?"
Ying Lan hesitated to speak. After a long while, she just nodded.
Just now, it seemed that the eldest young master had remembered something.
She was even a bit happy for a moment. But it turned out that after looking for so long, he only remembered a cat named Facai?
Sure enough, the charm of silver is the greatest!
Pei Zhaolin rubbed his fingers for a moment and squinted his eyes.
This white cat was clearly the one from the Pei Mansion.
Songzi? Hmph.
—
The Cui Mansion on Shili Street.
Looking at the gilded characters "Cui Mansion", Cui Jintang waved her hand in disgust, calling for Zhu Er. "This name is inauspicious. Have someone change it."
Zhu Er stared blankly at the plaque on the gate for a long time, not reacting at all to where it was inauspicious. "Isn't 'Cui Mansion' good? What does the young lady want to change it to?"
"Cui Mansion sounds like 'debt collection'. How is it good?"
Cui Jintang glanced at him and stepped over the threshold. "Whatever. Go pick up A Xun later."
Zhu Er thought for a while and nodded. The straightforward Zhu Er didn't think much and just went to get busy.
As a result, when the servant who was going to change the plaque came to ask what to change it to, he blinked and blurted out, "Whatever."
Of course, this is a later story.
The Jinyu Workshop.
"Miss A Xun isn't here?" Zhu Er was puzzled. "Just now when I passed by the Qingyun Academy, the teacher said that Miss A Xun didn't go to the academy at all today!"
Yan Liangwen was busy counting the money. Hearing this, he didn't even raise his head and said indifferently, "What's the big deal? Maybe she was just being playful and ran out on her own."
"Parents shouldn't keep a young girl on such a tight leash. She won't appreciate it."
Zhu Er was too lazy to explain more to Yan Liangwen.
In Zhu Er's heart, Miss A Xun had always been a timid and well-behaved girl who would never skip school and run out on her own!
"Please tell me, Young Master Yan, where does Miss A Xun usually go?"
Yan Liangwen's hand counting the silver coins paused, and he frowned.
The usually glib man managed to squeeze out only three words after a long while. "I don't know."
Zhu Er: "..."
Mistress Yun walked forward with a smiling face to smooth things over. "A Xun. This little girl usually likes to play the zither and read books. When she's free, she'll go to the library to read and buy books. Why don't you go to the library and look for her, young master?"
"Thank you."
After saying that, Zhu Er leaped out of the window.
Yan Liangwen's eyes twitched.
Sure enough, none of the people around Cui Jintang were normal!
Yan Liangwen counted the money again. Halfway through, he sighed and stopped. He reached out to call Mistress Yun.
"Tell the servants below to go out and look for her too. Don't let her really get lost."