Chapter 208 – The Fallen Leaves Of Winter
Wei Yuewu kept staring coldly at Nanny Hong. When she found that Nanny Hong’s eyes flickered, a sneer slid through her eyes. It seemed that Nanny Hong must know some inside stories.
“Nanny Hong, since my father has always been missing my mother, he would never allow my mother’s courtyard to become desolate in ruins, right? I want to borrow the key to my mother’s courtyard so that I could clean it up before my father arrives.” Wei Yuewu smiled and said.
“Well…” Nanny Hong hesitated.
Marquise Hua Yang’s courtyard was not a place that anyone could go. The Madam Dowager sometimes found it rather difficult to handle the courtyard. She only hoped that everyone would ignore the existence of that courtyard.
“Is that impossible? Or did you say those words merely to make me feel better? Could it be that my father didn’t care about my mother at all and would rather like to see the courtyard where my mother lived become desolate?” Wei Yuewu frowned slightly. Her long eyelashes flashed for a moment with a wisp of sadness.
Anyone girl would feel sad if her biological mother died when she was a kid and her biological father kept ignoring her mother’s old residence and allowed it to be desolate.
“No… it’s not as you imagine…” Nanny Hong, who had always been sophisticated, couldn’t help but even stutter at the moment. Today, Nanny Hong was merely coming to deliver a message on behalf of the Madam Dowager and to express Concubine Dong’s goodwill towards the Sixth Young Lady. But how did the topic deviate to Madam Marquise’s courtyard?
Moreover, she could not deny the deep affection Lord Marquis had towards Madam Marquise. She had always been a witness of their deep emotion, and many people in the mansion also knew about it. Moreover, Lord Marquis’s intentions had always been hard to guess. Nanny Hong didn’t dare to comment on this issue.
In the past, the Sixth Young Lady was sent away and when Lord Marquis was not in the mansion, it didn’t really matter to talk about this issue. But now that the Sixth Young Lady had come back, Nanny Hong was afraid that she might land herself in trouble if she said anything wrong.
Nanny Hong suddenly regretted not having someone tidy up Madam Marquise’s courtyard earlier.
“Nanny, if you find it difficult, then forget it. After my father returns to the mansion, I will directly ask him! I just want to know why he would allow my mother’s courtyard to become desolate like this since he has always cherished her for so many years.” Wei Yuewu wasn’t in a hurry as she looked at Nanny Hong and said leisurely.
However, the meaning behind her words was clearly quite serious!
Cold sweat started to appear on Nanny Hong’s forehead. No one ever dared to report that to Lord Marquis. Once Lord Marquis became angry upon hearing the news, Nanny Hong was clear that even the Madam Dowager might not be able to protect her.
“Sixth Young Lady, you don’t have to report to Lord Marquis. You are different from the other young ladies in the mansion since you were born by Madam Marquise. You can certainly tidy the courtyard up. I have the key on me and I’ll immediately give it to you.” As Nanny Hong spoke, she untied a bunch of keys from her waist.
She picked one key from the bunch and handed it over to Wei Yuewu respectfully.
Jin Ling received the key from the aside and thanked Nanny Hong with a smile, “Thank you, Nanny Hong! With this key, our young lady can clean it up first, so that when Lord Marquis returned to the mansion, he wouldn’t be angry with the desolate look of Madam Marquise’s courtyard.”
“This is my fault. I should have sent someone to clean it up a long time ago. However, the Second Young Lady came across frequent incidents. I have been busy helping the Madam Dowager handle those incidents. That’s why I forgot about this matter for a while. It’s truly my fault to let the Sixth Young Lady worry about this matter. I hope that you can forgive me!” Nanny Hong said apologetically, making Wei Yan the scapegoat for all her mistakes.
Nanny Hong’s implication was clear: she had been so busy that she forgot to tidy up the courtyard. She didn’t deliberately neglect her duty.
“It’s alright, Nanny Hong, please go back. I’ll go tidy it up in a moment!” Hearing this, Wei Yuewu silently swept her gaze across Nanny Hong’s face while slightly curving the corners of her lips.
“Yes, yes… I’m leaving…” Nanny Hong subconsciously wanted to leave. Suddenly, she remembered why she had come here. So she stopped, turned around again, and said with a smile, “Sixth Young Lady, the Madam Dowager asked you and the Third Young Lady to greet Lord Marquis and Concubine Dong tomorrow.”
Nanny Hong had been quite panicked. She almost forgot about her errand. When she remembered why she was here, she felt something strange in her heart. Hadn’t the Sixth Young Lady intentionally digressed from the topic?
“I got it. Nanny, you may leave now!” Wei Yuewu smiled silently and nodded to show her agreement.
Seeing that Wei Yuewu had agreed so readily, Nanny Hong secretly wiped away her sweat and took her leave.
“Miss, what did the Madam Dowager mean? It’s quite normal for you to greet Lord Marquis. But why did she ask you to greet Lord Marquis and Concubine Dong? She is merely a concubine and doesn’t really deserve to be greeted by you.” Jin Ling put the key on the table and said indignantly.
Wei Yuewu stood up and walked to the window. Her delicate little face was illuminated by the mottled sunlight outside the window. After a while, she said slightly, “I guess she wants to show her affection for me.”
In any case, Concubine Dong was merely an excuse. The Madam Dowager did ask Wei Yuewu to greet her father and Concubine Dong. But in the popular rumors, people would only say that Wei Yuewu went to greet her father. Moreover, Wei Yuewu could learn from the conversations between the Madam Dowager and Nanny Hong that Concubine Dong was a tricky person. Even though the Marquis never promoted Concubine Dong’s status, Concubine Dong kept serving the Marquis diligently without complaining anything.
In this case, everyone would think that Concubine Dong was a nice person.
Therefore, Concubine Dong would never embarrass Wei Yuewu in public. Instead, Concubine Dong would even highly praise Wei Yuewu. By doing so, she would portray herself as a virtuous woman who was wholeheartedly serving Marquis Hua Yang without seeking any status promotion or personal gains.
Wei Yuewu could even figure out why Concubine Dong asked to be greeted by her and Wei Yuejiao. In fact, Concubine Dong was trying to let more people see that Wei Yuewu and Wei Yuejiao were having a harmonious relationship and that she cared about Wei Yuewu, perhaps even more than she cared about her own daughter.
This would make everyone feel that Wei Yuewu, a motherless legitimate daughter, was not only arrogant and rude but also disrespectful of the elders…
“It’s fine. Let’s greet them tomorrow. Since Concubine Dong would like to deliver a wonderful performance tomorrow, we need to cooperate with her.” Wei Yuewu raised her head and looked out of the window. A leaf drifted down from the window. The leaf, which was already on the verge of falling down, finally fell from the tree and became withered.
“Huamo, you grew up in the countryside, didn’t you?” Wei Yuewu stretched out her fair and tender hand. Coincidentally, the dim yellow leaf had fallen into her palm.
In contrast with the dim yellow leaf, her snow-white skin gave off a strange and incoherent feeling. But one could easily see her hand and the leaf with a single glance!
“Yes, I was raised up in the countryside. Although I was very young at that time, I still remember that I had a very happy childhood. Sometimes, I even took my brothers and sisters out with me. I really enjoyed my childhood in the countryside.” Every time she remembered her happy and free days in the countryside during her childhood, Huamo would be very happy.
Wei Yuewu and the other maids had all heard her talk about those interesting stuff in the countryside.
“I still remember you said that you could form various shapes of insects with leaves, and the insects you made looked very similar to real ones.” Wei Yuewu looked at the leaf in her palm.
“Yes, I know how to make insects with leaves. But now it’s winter and the leaves are rather withered. I’m afraid that the form of insect might not maintain very long because the leaf would break into pieces once I move it a little bit.” Huamo said while looking at the leaf in Wei Yuewu’s hand.
Summer leaves and winter leaves varied greatly in terms of flexibility and resilience. It was impossible for winter leaves to maintain for a long time.
“It’s alright. I only need the fake insect to keep its form for a while!” Wei Yuewu’s face didn’t change. Her butterfly-like eyelids flashed twice, and she continued focusing on the fallen leaf in her hand. A meaningful smile appeared on her cherry lips…
The door of the courtyard was pushed open. Somehow, Wei Yuewu felt her heart sank.
It could be seen that the courtyard had been cleaned up. But because it had been cleaned a long time ago, there were faint traces of withered grass in the cracks along the path. The ground was covered by a thick layer of fallen leaves.
Wei Yuewu walked in while pulling up her skirt. With every step she made, she could feel the leaves under her foot. She bit her lips and suppressed the pain in her heart.
It used to be the courtyard of Marquis Hua Yang’s favorite wife. But now it had become desolate like this.
The courtyard was very big. It was actually a little bigger than the Lotus Courtyard. One could even imagine how prosperous it had been in its prime Standing in the courtyard, Wei Yuewu closed her eyes slightly. Some intermittent fragments seemed to have passed through her eyes.
Everything else was blurry. Only a clear and elegant face would appear in her memories from time to time…
That was her mother’s beautiful and tender face with a kind and benevolent gaze, which seemed to have traveled across space and time. Wei Yuewu pressed on her own chest. She felt slightly stifling and painful. It wasn’t her delusion, but it really hurt. She squatted down due to the pain.
“Miss, what’s wrong with you?” Shufei was the first one to find something wrong about Wei Yuewu and cried out in surprise.
“I’m fine!” Wei Yuewu gritted her teeth and kept feeling the pain receding like a tide inside her body as if the ache at that moment had been merely an illusion.
“Miss, let me help you inside to take a break.” Huamo stopped picking up tree leaves and hurriedly said.
“No need. You continue to pick up leaves!” Wei Yuewu shook her head and stood up with the help of Shufei’s support. She wiped away the cold sweat that had instantly come out during that painful moment with a handkerchief. Then, she stood firmly and calmed down for a while.
“Miss, are you really alright?” Jin Ling also asked with concern.
“It doesn’t matter!” Wei Yuewu shook her head. She let go of Shufei’s hand and walked into the room.
As the door was opened, a smell of dust came over. Looking at the thick layer of dust on the table and the flower stand, one could tell that no one had cleaned the room for a long time.
She walked to the other side of the flower stand and came into the slightly raised inner room. Although some dust was found in the inner room, it looked very neat and tidy. Without the dust, one would even believe that the mistress of the room was still leaning against the bench, handling the accountant books and doing some embroidery works occasionally. Wei Yuewu could even imagine that her mother’s eyes were filled with gentleness when she looked at the girl playing in the room at that time.
Seeing that Wei Yuewu’s face was too pale, Jin Ling couldn’t help but suggest, “Miss, you go and have a walk in the courtyard. There is a lot of dust here. I’ll let someone clean it up first. You can come in again later.”
“That’s right, Miss. Please go and take a look in the courtyard. The window is tightly shut. It’s very stuffy here.” Shufei walked to the window and gently pushed it open. A cold wind blew in and some dust was blown up.
Wei Yuewu nodded. She went out and walked towards the backyard.
Jin Ling and Shufei led the maids and old maidservants they had brought from the Lotus Courtyard to clean up the courtyard together.
Wei Yuewu led Huamo to the backyard behind the main room. There was a small garden. It was not big but was built with rockery and flowing water, which couldn’t be found in any other courtyard in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
The pond had long dried up, and there was not even the slightest bit of moisture at the foot of the rockery. In the past, the smaller half of the rockery should be in the pond.
“Huamo, you go and pick some leaves. I’ll stand here for a while!” Wei Yuewu squinted and looked at the rockery that was located at a high position. She did remember the rockery. But she couldn’t clearly remember the detail because a long time had passed and she was too young at that time.
Looking at the thick leaves on the path, Huamo nodded. However, she was worried about Wei Yuewu and said with concern, “Miss, then I’ll pick some from the side. If you have anything for me to do, just call me.”
“I’m fine!” Wei Yuewu slowly walked to the rockery and reached out her hand to gently touch the rockery. Her face became increasingly paler because of the realistic feeling. This was the place where she lived during her childhood, which used to be the most central courtyard in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l