After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

As night deepened, in her dream, Old Madam Lu pushed open the door that had been blocking her way.

The snow had stopped, but the wind was still cold, and her embroidered shoes crunched on the snow. After taking a few steps forward, Old Madam Lu suddenly realized that this was not Fulin Courtyard, and the nanny who served her was not with her.

I stopped and looked back; the door that had just been pushed open slammed shut.

The old lady was startled, clutching her chest, and instinctively called out the old woman's name. There was no answer, as if she were the only living person left in the entire courtyard.

The old lady panicked and staggered around the yard searching for her.

No, that's not right. It's not even winter yet, how could it be snowing? This isn't Fuyuan or Fangfei Courtyard, where is this? Where is Huai'er? Where is Ji Wanwan? Where are all the servants and maids? Where have they all gone?

My shoulder bumped into someone, and I turned around abruptly to see a somewhat familiar face.

"who are you?"

"This servant greets Madam in the twelfth lunar month!"

The man was dressed in dark clothes and held a red umbrella with specks of white on its surface, looking like unmelted snow. His name sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it; he was probably a handyman in some courtyard.

"Where is this? Is this the Pingnan Marquis's residence?" asked Old Madam Lu, looking around. "I don't remember there being such a garden in the Marquis's residence."

“The Marquis’s residence is large, so it’s not surprising that Madam doesn’t remember such a small garden.” Layue raised the umbrella high and covered the old lady’s head: “There is charcoal inside, Madam, please go in and warm up.”

The wind swept snowflakes against people, and Old Madam Lu, wearing only a thin shirt, shivered from the cold. She subconsciously moved closer to Layue and found that Layue was even colder and stickier, giving her a particularly uncomfortable feeling.

Without explanation, December led the old lady to the room where the light was still on. Upon closer inspection, the room seemed strange, as if it were upside down. After much thought, she still couldn't recall when such a strange place had appeared in the Marquis's residence.

"What's the name of this garden? When was it built? And when did this snow fall?" As she climbed the steps, the old lady habitually tapped her toes. There were words on the steps, but they were obscured by the snow.

"It has no name. It was built more than ten years ago. As for the snow, it fell in the evening. Madam, please watch your step."

Old Madam Lu slipped, but Layue caught her in time. Through her thin clothes, one could feel the roughness of her palms. Upon closer inspection, her palms were covered with scars, densely packed and crisscrossing, the cause of which was unknown.

"Your hand..."

"I made a mistake in the twelfth lunar month and was punished."

"So many wounds from punishment?" Old Madam Lu gently touched them. "What was used to hit them? What could inflict such wounds?"

“It’s a branch from a Sichuan pepper tree.” Layue hid her hand under her sleeve. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, but the wound looks a bit scary.”

"Which head maid punished you? I am in charge of the Marquis's mansion, and I didn't even know that such punishments existed here." Old Madam Lu was a little angry, not noticing the coldness in Layue's gaze.

The house was small and empty, but thankfully there was a charcoal fire burning, making it much warmer than outside. Just as Old Madam Lu sat down, she heard crackling sounds coming from outside. Out of curiosity, she asked Layue, but Layue stood motionless at the door.

Madam Lu stood up and heard a familiar voice say, "Kill her! Let her try to seduce the Marquis, she doesn't even know what kind of person she is."

Trying to seduce the Marquis?

The Pingnan Marquis's Mansion has only one Marquis, her son Lu Huai.

Xie Chaoyun left, and Ji Wanwan stayed with Lu Jingyuan at Fangfei Courtyard. Who is that in the courtyard?

Before she could finish her thought, a piercing scream shattered her eardrums.

Old Madam Lu stared intently at Layue's retreating figure, and said in a daze, "That screaming sounded like you!"

"Is that so?" Layue turned around, her pale face filled with pain.

Madam Lu swallowed hard: "You have a younger sister with a voice similar to yours? She served Huai'er?"

Huai'er's courtyard had several maids. He was handsome and a marquis, so it was inevitable that some women would be attracted to him. The servants in the marquis's mansion also treated people differently based on their status, forming cliques and factions. Among them were quite ruthless and bullying others.

"If she really is your sister, I'll stand up for you." Reaching the doorway, she looked outside and saw a group of people gathered in the white snow. Judging by their attire, they were all servants from the Marquis's mansion. Clearing her throat, she adopted the air of the old mistress of the Marquis's mansion and said, "I'd like to see what kind of person is behind this beating!"

No sooner had she spoken than Old Madam Lu appeared in front of the crowd.

She recognized her personal maid, recognized her when she was young, and recognized the maid who was lying on the stool, beaten to the point of near death.

I remember now, that maid's name was Layue, she was a maid that the old Marquis brought back from his estate in a neighboring county.

That year, a blizzard collapsed several houses on the estate and killed a couple. The couple was Lu Yue's father and mother, who died protecting the estate's property.

The old Marquis was deeply moved and personally went to the neighboring county to bring back the twelfth month.

She was sixteen years old in the twelfth lunar month, with bright eyes and white teeth, and was very beautiful, not at all like someone raised on a farm. Because of her parents, the old Marquis took great care of her, not only caring about her food, clothing, and shelter, but also hiring a tutor to teach her to read and write.

The old Marquis had never treated Madam Lu like this before, which aroused her jealousy. Taking advantage of the old Marquis's absence, she found a pretext to beat her to death.

Layue, lying on a stool, wore a light blue dress stained with blood. Beside the stool was a white umbrella with a red plum blossom painted on it. Because of Layue's blood, the red plum blossom was covered in bloodstains, and at first glance, it looked as if the red umbrella was covered with white plum blossoms.

Old Madam Lu's limbs were ice-cold. She tried to get up, but was held down by the expressionless servants. Then she looked again, and the servants turned into paper figures, and the paper figures into skeletons. She tried to close her eyes, but they wouldn't obey her. She tried to open her mouth to beg for mercy, but it felt like someone was choking her.

Layue twisted her body and climbed up from the stool, walking step by step to Old Madam Lu.

"I have never seduced the Marquis, why don't you believe me?"

"How can you expect me to trust you?" Old Madam Lu was extremely anxious, thinking to herself, "The Marquis and I were his first wife. We've been married for many years, and I've borne him children. He has never treated me like he treats you. He has never smiled at me and always looks down on me! I come from a poor background and can barely read. When I first married him, I wanted him to hire a tutor for me, but he said it was a waste of the Marquis's money. To be a good mistress, I had to humbly learn from the literate maids, nannies, and accountants in the mansion. Even when I learned incorrectly, he would ridicule me."

Thinking back on the past, Madam Lu felt as if a hole had been ripped out of her heart.

"Huai'er is my only child, but not the first child I bore for him." Old Madam Lu looked into Layue's eyes: "Our first child was named Shuran, Lu Shuran, a girl who looked exactly like him. When she was almost a year old, she developed a high fever. Instead of going to get a doctor for the child, he complained that I hadn't taken good care of her. Back then, the Marquis's mansion wasn't like it is today; we didn't even have a carriage. I couldn't ride a horse, so I carried Shuran out. The wind was so strong, and the rain was so heavy; I had to use all my strength to keep Shuran in my arms."

The scene from that day flashed through my mind.