Bird Reimu Dance · Returning Night

Her name is Wen Lian, her mother died early, and her father Wen Xiaoyuan was demoted to Qingzhou by Emperor Yan Zhao's imperial edict for offending King Murong Hui of Chu in a letter.

But the father hanged himself on the night of receiving the imperial decree.

Overnight, the mansion collapsed, and she was driven to the streets of Yanjing alone.

That year, she was only 11 years old.

Just as early spring arrived, there was a light snowfall.

She will always remember that there were sporadic snowflakes flying on the streets of Yanjing that day, as if everywhere was icy and pale, and no one was spared.

She was curled up at the corner of the street in thin clothes, dazed in a daze.

She didn't understand why her father committed suicide...why did he commit suicide because of a piece of bright yellow paper...

It's just to leave the capital... As long as you can be with your loved ones... No matter how hard it is, no matter how far away...

Why can't even a little girl understand the truth, but the father doesn't?

The snow under her body melted and seeped into her skirt, which was icy cold, but she still didn't move a bit, letting the overwhelming cold sweep over her little by little, pain like countless needles piercing her skin.

Consciousness gradually blurred, and she seemed to be the only one left in the vast white world.

Just before she was about to fall completely into darkness, a stunning girl who was clearer and more beautiful than Bai Xue walked in front of her.

The girl looked about the same age as herself. She quickly untied the luxurious fur cloak on her body, and stepped forward to tightly wrap her unconscious body.

When she woke up, she was already in Lengfu.

An elderly maid named Wu who worked in the East Kitchen told her, "Little girl, if our eldest lady hadn't spotted you with sharp eyes on the way back from the palace with the master, you would have died yesterday."

She said to Mrs. Wu that she wanted to meet that young lady and hoped that she could thank her in person.

Mrs. Wu shook her head, "Master doesn't like Missy getting close to us servants... You were lucky yesterday, and it happened that Master was in a happy mood, so you acquiesced in Missy picking you up... Hey, I heard that the emperor himself told the master yesterday that he would betroth the eldest lady to a certain prince..."

In this way, she became the most inconspicuous rough-handed girl, lived in a corner of the Lengfu, followed Wu's to do odd jobs in the East Kitchen, but never had the opportunity to thank the eldest lady in person.

As Wu said, the mansion is deep, and it is not easy for one person to meet another person.

It's still a matter of duty, doing one's own job well is the best repayment to the eldest lady.

Spring passed and winter came again, and in the blink of an eye, she had already stayed in Leng Mansion for hundreds of days and nights, and only on very occasional grand festivals did she get to see the eldest lady at a close distance.

At the age of 14, she has already been dubbed the number one beauty in Yanjing. In a few years, I don't know how beautiful she will be.

It's just that when the master is around, the eldest lady is always unsmiling, dignified and elegant, always maintaining the reserved and polite demeanor that a daughter of a family should have.

Until one time, on the way back to her room after finishing her work with a lantern, she accidentally saw a white figure passing by in the night.

In the direction of the Missy's boudoir.

She was worried about the eldest lady in her heart, so she hurriedly followed, and finally saw - the real eldest lady.

It was a very delicate and handsome young man in white robe, standing in front of the window pane, clutching his painful forehead, looking at the eldest lady dumbfoundedly, calling her 'Ge'er' in a low voice.

And the eldest lady bent over with a shameless smile, her eyes seemed to be filled with the brightest starlight, when she stared at the young man, she smiled so gently and happily.

It's unprecedented happiness.

The eldest lady spat "fool" lightly, then stretched out her hand, stuck out the pane, and gently rubbed the forehead of the young man, who also looked at her infatuatedly.

The two were silent, and it seemed like a thousand words.

At this moment, the moonlight suddenly poured down and shrouded the two of them, shining like a pair of jadeites.

Wen Lian was stunned, and even forgot to blink.

Looking at it from a distance, my heart is full of branches and vines, as if something is about to bloom.

Yanjing is cold, Lengfu is austere, and people's hearts are desolate, but suddenly, Wen Lian feels that she has become very warm.

It's really warm, so warm.

Many, many years later, she still dreams about this scene often.

Dreaming of this beautiful scene is like a mirror image.

She thought, how wonderful it would be if time could be frozen at that moment forever, then the eldest lady would always be the eldest lady, and would not become Princess Qi, Crown Princess, Empress, Queen Mother...

Later, she finally knew the identity of that young man, that was Dayan's Seventh Highness.

The Seventh Highness who has half the blood of the Hu people, the Seventh Highness who is the least favored, and the Seventh Highness who is the least favored by the master.

On the day His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince went to war, the master ordered the young miss to be locked in the room, and she was not allowed to see her off.

The eldest lady cried hoarsely in the room, but no one dared to let her out.

She was the only one who, without even thinking about it, grabbed a hatchet and slashed open the door forcefully.

"Wenlian, thank you!"

She hastily thanked her and rushed out without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, this was the first sentence she said alone with her.

She was stunned.

She was so dull that she didn't have time to say a word to her, but the one who should thank her should be herself.

Later, she was locked up in the woodshed by the furious master for more than a year, working hard day and night.

When he was released, because he couldn't see the sun all day long, he had abnormally pale skin, bloodless lips and a pair of rough and cracked hands that shouldn't have appeared on the girl's body.

It turned out that there was a happy event in Leng's residence, so she was released.

I heard from Mrs. Wu that the war is over and the young lady is getting married.

"Is it His Highness Seventh?" She blurted out.

Suddenly, he thought of the scene under the moonlight, and thought of the most gentle smile on the lips of the eldest lady, and felt that such beauty should continue forever.

She thought that as long as the eldest lady can be happy, then everything she has done and suffered will be considered as repayment to her.

But Mrs. Wu looked at her for a long time like she was looking at a strange person, but shook her head and left without saying anything.

Wen Lian would never have imagined that when she saw the eldest lady again, she would no longer be able to smile.

I haven't seen her for a year, and the young lady looks much thinner, but her appearance is even more stunning than a year ago, but her expression is no longer as bright and lively as before, but like a pool of calm and stagnant water.

The eldest lady was choosing her dowry maid, and when she saw her in a blink of an eye, she said quietly, "I'm sorry for causing you to be imprisoned for so long, and I will be Princess Qi from now on, so you can come with me to Prince Qi's residence."

She stared at her in a daze, and tears burst out of her eyes suddenly and uncontrollably.

"Are you wronged? Don't worry, the princess will not hurt you again in the future." A maid next to the eldest lady came to comfort her, "Don't cry, everything will be fine."

But she cried even harder and just kept shaking her head.

No one knew why she suddenly cried so sadly.

Only she knew that not only the Seventh Highness of Mobei, but also the eldest lady of Yanjing was killed in that war.

Only she knows that from now on, there will be no eldest lady in the world.

There is no more Leng Lange in the world.

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She often wondered whether the return of that person would be happiness or misfortune for the eldest lady.

Or in other words, is the return of that person, for her, the end or the beginning of the suffering?

Even in the inner palace, she could still hear about that person's deeds.

He is rebellious and murderous.

Those who commented on that person must have never seen that white-clothed boy holding his forehead in the moonlight, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, right?

Ever since that person ascended the throne, she has never been seen wearing a white robe again, nor has she ever seen her take a good look at the eldest lady.

Even when they are next to each other occasionally, the two seem to be forever, so close to each other.

Yes, one is the current emperor, and the other is the former empress.

Under such an identity, what else can he do?

Everything is a foregone conclusion and cannot be changed.

Many things, even the Ninth Five-Year Lord, can't change the powerless, right?

She thought, if it wasn't for the existence of Princess Ling, the two of them would only go further and further apart...

So if there was no glimpse of that night, Wen Lian would never be aware of many things.

That night, the eldest lady accompanied Princess Ling who was not yet one year old as usual, quietly rocking the cradle.

It was late at night, and the eldest lady looked a little tired, but when she persuaded her to go to sleep, she replied softly, just wait.

The eldest lady seemed to be very dependent on Princess Ling, she stayed with her until very late every night before falling asleep, and even sat by the cradle staring blankly at the temple beam several times all night.

The night was so long, she couldn't figure out what was going on in her heart, and she didn't know what she wanted to wait for after staying up so late.

She had no choice but to step aside and refill the burning incense burner. When she looked back again, the eldest lady seemed to have fallen asleep quietly leaning against the cradle.The long black hair hangs down, almost dragging the ground, and the long eyelashes are closed, like butterfly wings.

She was afraid that she would catch a cold, so she hurried to the side to get a thick fur and put it on her thin body.

At this moment, a drop of water suddenly fell on her cheek.

Wen Lian was taken aback, reached out to touch her cheek, and stared at the water in her palm in surprise.

The next moment, she raised her head abruptly.

The person peeking on the tiles on the roof of the hall was looking at the mother and daughter in the hall with red eyes in a trance. The moment he met her eyes, the man hurriedly raised a finger to his lips, He signaled her to be silent.

She nodded silently, then slowly took a few steps back.

Today's Holy Majesty is hiding on the top of the hall like a thief, staring at the peacefully sleeping mother and daughter below without moving.

If the historian finds out, I'm afraid it will add another absurdity to this person.

She stared at all this, thinking silently in her heart, an indescribable burning sensation slowly welled up in her eyes, but she smiled unconsciously.

Because she saw it again, saw the young lady's eyelashes trembling slightly, although they hadn't opened yet, there was a faint gentle smile on her lips.Just like the first time we saw each other.

It was so...

It turned out that this was what the eldest lady had been waiting for.

Wen Lian took another two steps back, to the distance where she saw His Highness the Seventh Highness and Missy for the first time.

Thinking about it now, it seems that many things in this world seem to have changed, but in fact they have not changed at all.

Even though half a lifetime had passed away, the moonlight that night was still beautiful.

And she also saw——

The clumsy seventh highness and the gentle young lady.