A piece of Japanese incense

My cousin smiled and teased, "Maybe he's worried that I'm too dazzling, and that you'll fall in love with me at first sight and be seduced by me!"

I curled my lips and said disdainfully, "Tsk! If you are really my cousin, then we are close relatives! Who would fall in love with their elders at first sight? How narcissistic!"

"Oh~ Your father also inquired about it for nearly a year, and only recognized me during the Qingming Festival this year. However, he did not completely trust me. So, it is possible that we are not close relatives."

"This year's Qingming Festival? Is this true?!"

"It's up to you whether you believe it or not. That day at Lingshan Temple, I was only mourning my deceased mother. But, it's up to you whether you believe it or not."

"Your mother? Did she pass away on the Flower Festival?"

He was sad, raised his glass and drank, saying with a sense of loss: "She had been seriously ill for a long time, but in order to concentrate on my imperial examination, she used the excuse of chanting sutras and praying for me in Lingshan Temple. When the monks found her body, I don't know when she had passed away."

I was a little overwhelmed for a moment. I pretended to eat and swallowed the vegetables in the bowl. Suddenly, I remembered a line from the movie "Coco" I had watched before, so I told him: "Death is not the end of life, but forgetting is. As long as you remember your mother, she will live forever in your heart. You see, it is spring now, but spring is not a season, spring is hope!"

He turned his head and chuckled: "What are you talking about?"

"It's just... it's just... it's harmful! I don't know. I'm not very good at comforting people."

He turned to me, still smiling, and said word by word: "Allow everything to be as it is."

I replied without hesitation: "Yes! You are the top scorer now! You have a promising future!"

"What? You don't doubt me anymore?"

"For now, I guess you've passed." I lowered my head and took a few mouthfuls of rice.

Yu Nianyin was a second-class Jinshi, so he needed to take another imperial examination for selection. Only those with excellent results could enter the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi. He said that after entering the Hanlin Academy, one still had to study and take the examination after three years, and only after passing the examination would one be assigned a job.

I was overwhelmed by what I heard. Yu Nian's injury has not healed yet. Fortunately, the injury is only on the right arm, and the left hand is fine. As a left-handed person, this is a blessing in disguise.

My mother confined me to my yard again. Except for eating, I was allowed to leave the yard. The rest of the time I had to stay in the house embroidering handkerchiefs.

I am not good at embroidery. Yutuan and Yuyi, who were sitting next to me, were also very anxious.

Yuzhu knocked on the door "bang bang bang". The knocking sound was like thunder, as if it was going to shake down the whole house.

"Yuzhu! Are you in a hurry to reincarnate?" Yutuan opened the door for him and shouted.

"Girl! Master Nian came back from the exam and couldn't find the carriage. On his way home on foot, he saw a horse with its head chopped off standing at the corner of our alley, dripping with blood. Master Nian was so frightened that his soul flew away on the spot. His hands and feet were cold, his whole body was shaking, and he was twitching!"

The embroidery needle in my hand pierced into my nail bed. I frowned in pain and ran to Yu Nian's yard.

Yu Nian's face was as pale as snow, his hands and feet were shaking constantly, cold sweat the size of beans broke out on his forehead, goose bumps appeared all over his body, cold sweat was pouring out of his body like a waterfall, and his throat was so frightened that he couldn't make a sound.

My mother was also panic-stricken and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. When she saw me come in, she quickly covered my eyes.

I pried open my mother's hands. Aunt Hong held a handkerchief and kept wiping the sweat off Yu Nian, while my grandmother inserted silver needles into Yu Nian's body.

Seeing beads of sweat on my grandmother's face, I took the silver needle from her hand and said solemnly, "Grandma, let me do it."

"Ah He! Stop messing around!" My mother pulled me over and pushed me out of the house.

Amid the commotion, my grandmother said with a worried look on her face, "He He, He'er is also worried about Anian, so let her stay here."

Even though she was anxious, Aunt Hong still forced a smile and said, "He He, let He Yatou return to her own courtyard. She is also worried. Why not let her stay here to take care of it."

My mother gently let go of my hand and stepped aside.

Throughout the night, Yu Nian's condition did not improve at all.

Everyone gathered in Yu Nian's bedroom, with their heads lowered, in a state of half asleep and half awake.

Until Jueming's panicked figure rushed in from outside the door, stepped over Xuanming who was still dozing on the threshold, and shouted: "Old lady!"

Everyone was awakened by him, and their eyes were focused on Jueming. "Master is back?" Grandmother asked anxiously.

Jueming shook his head, looking panicked: "It's already late, I was expelled after knocking on the palace gate twice."

Grandmother was very disappointed. She returned to the bedside and waved her hand, saying, "We'll go again after the morning hour..."

"Madam, I have invited a witch doctor. The young master might have lost his soul. When I was a child, I saw a neighbor's child being frightened and crying. An old woman was responsible for calling the soul back, and the child stopped crying. Therefore, I specially invited this witch doctor to help the young master call back his soul." Jueming said cautiously.

Isn’t this feudal superstition? I was thinking to myself.

However, Aunt Hong spoke first: "Quick, please invite her in!"

Cassia left like the wind.

After a while, he led an old woman in a dark dress into the house.

Her skirt is as wide as clouds, fluttering lightly in the wind; she wears a pointed hat on her head, the brim of which is inlaid with mysterious runes, flickering with faint light; her face is thickly painted with makeup, her lips are as red as blood, and her eyes are as deep as the sea; her hands are tightly holding a long golden sword, the top of the sword is inlaid with a crystal clear gem, exuding a mysterious aura.

Her entire outfit was full of mystery and majesty, as if she could really control the cycle of life and death.

She held a bowl full of millet in her hand, hovered over Yu Nian and spun around for a few circles, then patted the bed and called out Yu Nian's name.

"Yu Nian! I'm back!"

"Yu Nian! I'm back!"

"Yu Nian! I'm back!"

After shouting several times, he patted the ground with his hands, then patted back to the bed, and repeated this three times.

Finally, he hugged Yu Nian and shouted, "I'm back... I'm back..."

However, my thoughts were still not getting better, and I had the urge to drive this person away. In a medical family, they actually invited a shaman, which was really ridiculous.

I called Yuzhu and asked him to wait outside the palace gate early. As soon as the palace gate opened, I would send a message to my grandfather in the palace and ask him to invite a reliable imperial physician to treat Yu Nian as soon as possible.

After Yuzhu left, the witch had already asked Aunt Hong to help Yu Nian put on clothes, shoes and socks, and prepare him to get out of bed.

I patted Yutuan and asked in confusion, "What's going on here?"

"He said he wanted to take Master Nian to the place where he was frightened."

I was immediately furious and said angrily, "You guys are just kidding! Brother Nian is sweating so much, and you still want to take him outside. Isn't that going to make him even colder? She is just a charlatan, don't believe her!"