Annual Ceremony

Chapter 70 Lesser Cold (Part 3)

The first wife and her family quickly came out to greet them.

Shuyi called out to people: "Uncle, Aunt, Sister-in-law..."

"Eh." The First Madam met Shuyi's blank stare, reacted for a moment, and then softly replied, grasping her hand and leading her home: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're home, ah."

Zhu Shuangjing followed behind, her eyes questioning Wang Yuan and Zhenyi.

Wang Yuan sighed softly, while Zhenyi simply pursed her pale lips.

At the very back, Wang Xirui accepted Zhan Mei's bow and spoke with her. Zhan Mei asked in a low voice, "Where is Second Uncle?"

Wang Xirui: "He is in the side hall, discussing matters with several uncles who came from Tianchang... My dear nephew, you have had a long journey. Please come with me to the front study for tea and conversation."

Zhan Mei responded, "Yes."

Accompanied by Zhenyi and the First Madam and her daughter-in-law, Shuyi led Shanjie back to the unmarried courtyard.

The yard has been tidied up simply, but the family's fortunes have declined over the years, and the furnishings are no longer as exquisite and tidy as they used to be.

Orange followed Shuyi, constantly looking up to observe her. It felt that Shuyi was acting strangely; whenever they met, Shuyi would touch it.

Shuyi is even thinner this time, and looks even more pitiful, but at least she's home. Shouldn't she be happy to be home?

Shuyi didn't seem happy, but she wasn't sad either. She seemed to have lost her soul, as if it had been devoured by some monster.

On the way, Zhenyi noticed that her older sister's mind had become confused, her speech had become incoherent, and she was always lost in thought.

Shuyi's former bedroom had a leaky roof, which was difficult to repair in winter. Zhu Shuangjing cleaned up Shuyi's former embroidery room, moved in bedding and other furniture, and let the mother and daughter stay there temporarily.

The embroidery frame is still there, but the embroidery thread balls that were scratched by oranges back then have long since faded. And when Shuyi picks up the messy threads now, she no longer shows the same reproachful and annoyed expression as before.

Shan Jie'er was still a child, and she searched through the old yet novel embroidery room like a treasure hunter. She found a book, thinking that her mother would like it, so she presented it to her mother like a precious treasure.

Orange squatted to the side, tilting her head back and looking at Shuyi expectantly, hoping that she would smile a little.

Shuyi took the poetry collection she used to love in a daze and turned to a page.

That was Du Fu's poetry collection, and the first page contained that quatrain. Shuyi's lips moved slightly, but no sound came out; she only recited it in her heart: "The late sun shines on the beautiful rivers and mountains, the spring breeze carries the fragrance of flowers and grass, the mud thaws and swallows fly, the sand is warm and mandarin ducks sleep..."

As she read this, her eyes trembled, and she slowly turned to look out the window. But all she saw was no spring breeze, no flowers or grass, no swallows or mandarin ducks, only endless desolation and loneliness, utterly empty.

After settling her eldest sister in comfortably, Zhenyi, still weary from her journey, picked up the oranges and returned to the second room, only to find Chun'er busy moving things out of the study.

Those were Jingyi's old belongings.

After Jingyi's death, Zhenyi fell seriously ill and could not recover. Not wanting Zhenyi to be constantly reminded of her past, Wang Xichen had Chun'er move all of Jingyi's belongings to the study, which was almost empty after the fire.

But where will Chun'er move Jingyi's things now?
Zhenyi, carrying oranges, quickly stepped forward.

Chun'er, whose temples were half white, had red eyes and was holding Jingyi's old clothes. When she saw Zhenyi return, she suddenly burst into tears.

Chun'er told Zhenyi that all these things should be burned, as instructed by the Second Master.

Chun'er also said that this room should be vacated for the "young master" to live in, which was also the second master's order.

Zhenyi was stunned. Only then did she realize that the Tianchang clan members had come to finalize the matter of adopting one of their boys to Wang Xichen.

The clansmen believed that Wang Xichen's lineage had lost male offspring and could not suppress the evil spirits, which was why it was becoming increasingly weak. He lost his wife and daughter first, and then his only remaining eldest daughter caused a disaster that almost implicated the whole family.

As the Lesser Cold season draws to a close, a chill seeps from the floor tiles beneath your feet.

Zhenyi ran to the side hall but did not see her father. Qisheng told her that the second master had just gone to the study. Since the book burning incident, the door of Jifang Study had been locked for a long time. This time, it was opened to sell the books in the bookshelves.

Several scholars and two booksellers came to appraise and look at the books. Wang Xichen had arranged to visit them a few days ago.

Zhenyi rushed into the study, her eyes red, and stood in front of the bookshelves, while Juzi stood protectively in front of her.

“Father, this was left by my great-grandfather! It cannot be sold!” Zhenyi said resolutely, tears welling in her eyes.

Wang Xichen said in a deep voice, "This is not your business. Go back!"

Even when faced with her father's unprecedented rebuke, Zhenyi remained steadfast, resolutely stating, "When my father passed away, he personally said that he would leave all these books to me. I said I cannot sell them, and that means I cannot sell them!"

Wang Xichen suddenly raised his hand and slapped that stubborn and rebellious face.

Zhenyi was stunned, feeling as if the world was spinning.

The orange, which had become quite calm in recent years, suddenly howled like a madman and pounced on Wang Xichen, who suddenly seemed like a stranger to it.

Wang Xichen stood motionless, his hands hanging down with two bloody scratches from the cat's claws. Qi Sheng grabbed the orange in one swift motion.

Seeing this, the scholars and booksellers could only offer a few words of advice, then hurriedly bowed and took their leave.

Orange was still struggling, so Qisheng forcibly carried it out of the bookstore and closed the door.

Only the father and daughter remained in the dimly lit study.

Wang Xichen hung his head, closed his eyes, and let his braid hang down his thin, hunched back.

After a long silence, he murmured to himself, "I've thought about it too, I've thought about it too... I'll just ignore all those people and things outside, and hide away with you and Jing'er to live a quiet life. We'll live in secret, father and daughter, and maybe we can keep it a secret forever. For the past few years, I've held onto a sliver of hope, thinking, let's just live like this..."

“But I still couldn’t hide it…” Wang Xichen’s voice trembled slightly, hoarse and painful: “It proves that there are eyes everywhere in this world, and they won’t let out any outsiders! I couldn’t hide it! I was so wrong!”

Zhenyi's eyes trembled, and finally a single tear fell.

Father saw it too...

It turns out that the father also saw the truth.

Wang Xichen raised his face, which was covered in tears. He said with a mixture of hatred, pain, and pity, "Hate me for being a useless father! Blame me for being a girl! I couldn't protect you, and you couldn't transform into a Kunpeng or a phoenix!"

With tears welling in her eyes, Zhenyi looked at her father, whose hair had turned white, and said firmly, "I don't hate my father, and I don't blame myself. If there is an afterlife, I still want to be my father's daughter, and I want to be born as a daughter again!"

Wang Xichen revealed an expression that was both crying and laughing, slowly averted his gaze, placed one hand on the desk, and remained silent.

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Xichen finally moved his feet and turned around slowly. His back seemed to have aged considerably in an instant. As he dragged his heavy steps out, he murmured, "You should have gotten married long ago... I can't protect you, this family can't protect you, go."

The old door was opened by an old figure from behind.

The old, grayish-white scenery was jarring.

Wang Xichen stepped out and disappeared into the light and shadow.

As Zhenyi stepped outside, snow was swirling around her.

Orange ran out of the snow and pounced on Zhenyi, bringing with it the reinforcements it had requested, even though the "war" was over.

Zhenyi slowly picked up the cool-furred orange and held it in her arms, looking up at the people rushing over.

I'm sorry everyone, I've revised the last few chapters repeatedly and I'm not very satisfied with them. Also, I suddenly had other temporary work, so it took a while to finish. Plus, how should I put it, I kept wanting to escape this predetermined ending... But I'll finish it eventually, so don't worry.