Good Ending: She Swears She Will Not Let Him Die!

Chapter 207: Chapter 206: Caught in the Rain

Du Yunluo had a good night’s sleep, and early the next morning, she got ready and went to Lianfu Garden.

Old Mrs. Xia’s spirits were average, but she was in a great mood, and Yunluo heard her laughter even before entering the main house.

The little maid guarding the door lifted the curtain to invite her in.

"Yunluo, come sit by your grandmother." Old Mrs. Xia greeted her with a smile.

Du Yunluo paid her respects, sat on the Arhat Bed, and said with a grin, "Grandmother, now that my second sister-in-law has married in, you can’t just dote on her and not on me."

"Oh, oh, oh!" Old Mrs. Xia pinched Du Yunluo’s nose, laughing heartily, "It’s only the first day! What did you eat this morning? So sour!"

Old Mrs. Xia was delighted, and the maids and servants in the room joined in the merriment. As people from various rooms and courtyards arrived, it became even more lively.

Du Yunlang and Xia Anxin arrived together.

Xia Anxin wore a pleated skirt with pomegranate flowers, her hair neatly styled like a married woman’s, and adorned with a palm-sized begonia flower, looking both elegant and radiant.

Old Mrs. Xia liked her no matter how she looked at her, and after Xia Anxin offered tea, she handed over a weighty red envelope.

It was said to be acknowledging kin, but everyone already knew Xia Anxin; it was just a matter of changing how she addressed them.

The Liao family heard her call "Fourth Auntie" and handed over a prepared red envelope, also weighty.

Though she felt some pain for the silver, she had to save face for Old Mrs. Xia and didn’t want to be thought stingy, so she was exceedingly generous, comforting herself that when Jiang Si Niang married in, the money would come back.

With the household celebrating, the servants also received quite a bit of reward silver, and everyone was all smiles.

When Du Yunluo returned to Anhua Courtyard, Jin Ling was discussing with Jin Rui about taking silver home.

Jin Rui leaned against a post and asked, "You’ve saved quite a bit?"

"A bit," Jin Ling whispered, "You know, my brother is quite sickly, so I’m keeping a bit more for my mother. In case something urgent comes up, we won’t be stuck."

Jin Rui pursed her lips and said nothing. These days, Jin Ling had often gone out with the young lady and even to the hunting ground; who knows how much reward money she had saved. In comparison, she was completely overshadowed.

But thinking of Jin Ling’s family burdens, both the older and younger ones, Jin Rui nodded in agreement, "After the second young lady returns to her parents, the house will be quiet for a while; you should take the chance to go home."

The next day, Du Yunlang and Xia Anxin returned to the Xia family.

After the third day of returning home, this wedding was considered fully settled.

The Miao family could finally take a breath, but they couldn’t rest for long as they had to prepare for the Ghost Festival in July and were also concerned with Du Yunying’s big ceremony.

In Anhua Courtyard, Du Yunluo received a red envelope sent by Du Yunlang. She held it, laughed for a while, and then distributed it among the maids and servants.

Jin Ling had added more reward money and stored it safely along with the previously saved silver, telling Du Yunluo, and then took her pass to leave the residence.

With nothing to do that day, Du Yunluo lay on the couch in the study reading a book. Glancing up, she saw Jin Rui sitting at the table, drawing patterns, and couldn’t help but get interested, leaning over for a look.

It wasn’t until outside the sky turned gloomy that Jin Rui snapped back to reality, took a fire striker, and lit a lamp.

Du Yunluo looked outside through the window, seeing heavy clouds gathering; it was about to rain.

Jin Rui frowned and said, "Why hasn’t Jin Ling come back by now?"

"Perhaps something’s going on at her home," Du Yunluo said casually.

Jin Rui curled her lips. Jin Ling went back just to hand over the silver, help her nearly blind mother tidy things up, then fetch the doctor to see her brother, and that’s it; what else could be there? Jin Ling went out in the morning, and by now it was nearly the third quarter of the hour; how could she not be finished?

No idea where she was wandering.

Jin Rui kept her complaints to herself; she couldn’t say such things in front of Du Yunluo.

Muffled thunder rumbled in the distance.

It rumbled for a quarter of an hour, and large raindrops began to fall, pattering on the plantain leaves outside the back window.

Someone from Qinghui Garden came to say that since it was raining, Du Yunluo should stay in her room for meals rather than risk getting soaked outside.

Jin Rui sent someone to fetch food from the kitchen, served Du Yunluo her meal, yet Jin Ling still hadn’t appeared.

"Was she delayed by the rain?" Du Yunluo rested her chin in her hand and took a bite of melon, feeling a bit concerned.

Jin Rui handed the cleaned food box to a young maid to return to the kitchen. Just then, she saw someone entering from outside the courtyard. By the light of the lanterns on the veranda, Jin Rui recognized them as Jin Ling and Nanny Hua.

"Why did you come back together?" Jin Rui quickly went to meet them, "You’ve been gone long enough; the young lady has inquired several times."

Nanny Hua closed the umbrella. She and Jin Ling had shared one umbrella, and both were in a sorry state, especially Jin Ling, whose raincoat was soaked through, making her shiver from the cold.

Jin Rui grabbed Jin Ling’s wet hand, "Go inside quickly and dry off, change your clothes. The young lady is waiting for you."

Jin Ling didn’t respond, allowing Jin Rui to lead her a few steps before almost stumbling.

Jin Rui gave Jin Ling a curious look, then lifted her gaze to Nanny Hua.

Nanny Hua shook her hands frantically, "Don’t look at me, young lady, I don’t know."

Jin Rui didn’t argue with Nanny Hua, pulling Jin Ling into the west wing.

After the door to the west wing closed, Nanny Hua huffed and rolled her eyes, "What a temper she has now."

"She wasn’t talking about you; keep your voice down, don’t provoke her," Nanny Shui came out of the porter’s lodge, passing a cloth towel to Nanny Hua.

Nanny Hua wiped her face, "Isn’t I being careful, only speaking after she closed the door? Let me tell you, Miss Jin Ling was acting strange today. I met her at the corner gate; she was wearing a raincoat, hadn’t even opened an umbrella, completely drenched."

"It’s just that it rained as she was returning, and she didn’t bring an umbrella," Nanny Shui said casually.

Nanny Hua shook her head, "No umbrella, yet where did the raincoat come from?"

Inside the west wing, Jin Rui was lighting a lamp while urging Jin Ling to wash up. Turning around, she saw Jin Ling standing motionless by the door, rainwater dripping from her raincoat and forming a puddle at her feet.

Jin Rui frowned and said, "What are you spacing out for? Hey, this raincoat doesn’t fit at all; where did you get it?"

After speaking, Jin Rui took two steps forward and helped Jin Ling remove the raincoat. Her frown deepened.

Jin Ling was wearing a light green coat underneath, which was clearly not the lake-blue outfit she wore when going out in the morning. The clothes were already soaked through, and though the material looked quite nice, Jin Rui knew exactly what clothes Jin Ling had since they shared a room. This outfit, Jin Rui had never seen before.

Such a light color wasn’t something Jin Ling’s mother would wear.

"What’s going on? Why did you change clothes? Where did these come from?" Jin Rui kept asking.

Jin Ling stared wide-eyed at Jin Rui, opened her mouth but couldn’t speak, and then suddenly burst into tears.

Jin Rui was startled and quickly covered Jin Ling’s mouth, "Quiet, quiet, if someone hears you crying, who knows what they’ll say! Quickly change your clothes, then go tell the young lady if there’s anything."