Dai Ruyan held Gong Yu tightly and refused to let go, as if even the sound of her breathing had been suppressed a lot, Gong Yu listened to the beating heartbeat and asked, "What happened?"
"Mother is crazy, she's being driven crazy." Dai Ruyan muttered with her face pressed against Gong Yu's cheek, "The Dai family's old house in Changzhou is full of bad people who cannibalize people."
"What bad guy?"
"Hush! Be quiet, they will find you."
Gong Yu stared at Dai Ruyan's face full of going away and replied: "Okay, I won't talk, just tell me slowly."
Dai Ruyan caressed Gong Yu's face lightly with his palm, looked at Gong Yu with empty eyes and murmured: "Don't be afraid, I will tell you everything."
The hall was silent, even the candles in the palace lanterns were very quiet, only the wind and snow outside the window was blowing, as if to blow everything away, and even Dai Ruyan's thoughts drifted away a little bit. It seems to be back to the old house of the Dai family in Changzhou.
The Dai clan is the largest family in the palace country, and Changzhou has almost become the territory of the Dai clan.
But there is an unheard of rule for the daughters of the Dai clan that they should not show up until they are 12 years old, and they will not enter the capital until they are 12 years old.
The pregnant Mrs. Qing Ji was sent overnight to the old house of the Dai family in Changzhou. When a baby girl was born, the old house of the Dai family was busy.
The mother and baby were named Ruyan by Dai's grandmother. They could read and write at the age of three, and were extremely intelligent since childhood.
But Mrs. Qingji suffers from a strange illness, and she often yells, curses and laughs like crazy at night. Everyone knows about the maids and servants in the backyard of Dai's old house, but she dare not say a word.
There is a girls' school in Dai's old house, and only Dai's grandmother hired a nanny who specializes in teaching piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and Dai's grandmother often appears on the sidelines to check homework.
Among the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, Dai Ruyan is the best at chess, and his chess moves are unpredictable, especially his grandmother admires him, praising him as a person who is good at strategy in the future.
In the early morning, Shi Ruyan rushed to the small attic to pay her respects to Mrs. Qing Ji. The maidservants opened the door, Dai Ruyan walked back to the room, and saw her mother was holding a pearl hairpin with blood dripping on it, and her face was full of smiles. He called out, "Yan'er, come here."
Although the young Dai Ruyan still doesn't know why her mother stays in this small attic with narrow windows for ventilation.
But the servants in the mansion were all talking about it, and my mother was suffering from madness and went crazy.
Dai Ruyan stepped forward hesitantly, raised his head slightly to meet his mother's gaze, the hand hidden in the sleeve robe was dripping with blood, thick blood lingered in the small cubicle.
Why would a mother want to hurt herself?
"Mother, you are hurt."
"Yan'er, mother is fine. I heard that you were praised by grandma today."
Dai Ruyan was not completely ignorant of the rumors about the mansion, and even felt that her mother was very afraid of her grandmother, and even hated her a little.
But the young Dai Ruyan couldn't empathize with the word hate, but he had seen this word in the book, but he couldn't understand why his mother hated his grandmother.
Dai Ruyan looked at her mother who was smeared with a lot of makeup and replied: "Well, grandma praises Yaner for being smart."
The mother's eyes were full of smiles, but her face looked terrible, and even the strength of holding Dai Ruyan's wrist was much stronger.
"Mother, I'm in pain." Dai Ruyan called out in pain.
"Don't shout!" The mother looked at Dai Ruyan with red eyes and scolded angrily.
The young Dai Ruyan looked at the mother who seemed to be a different person in front of her, and couldn't help but wanted to run away in fear, but was held tightly and couldn't move.
The mother, who was full of viciousness just now, suddenly burst into tears and hugged the young Dai Ruyan, hot tears fell on the side of Dai Ruyan's face.
"Mom, what's the matter with you?" The young Dai Ruyan thought he had bumped into his mother, so he stopped crying out for pain.
The mother smiled and said: "Yan'er is good, study hard, you will be able to bring mother back to the capital in the future, you know?"
"Ah."
capital?
In fact, the young Dai Ruyan didn't even know where the capital was, and even the father he called only saw him once from a distance.
Dai Ruyan had to review all her homework early on when her grandmother inspected poetry, calligraphy and chess.
But the laughter that often came from the garden outside the window made Dai Ruyan a little scared. The person who smiled brightly was her aunt, and she was also the person Dai Ruyan was most afraid of besides her grandmother.
Grandmother often asks Dai Ruyan to play chess with her aunt, who is so good at chess that even the teacher is ashamed of herself.
If he wins the chess game, Dai Ruyan can eat at the table, if he loses, he can only starve in the study.
Of course, if it was just starvation, the young Dai Ruyan would not feel terrible.
Grandmother closed her eyes and meditated, Dai Ruyan thought about the chess game, and put down the white chess with her small hand.
The aunt moved quickly, almost never giving Dai Ruyan a chance to think.
In the beginning, Dai Ruyan also often lost, but slowly Dai Ruyan discovered the flaws in her aunt's chess game. Once, after the second and third rounds, Dai Ruyan's aunt's chess game was broken one by one by Dai Ruyan.
When the rain stopped outside the window, my aunt held the chess piece and slowed down, showing displeasure between her brows, and refused to make any more moves.
The grandmother on the side took a sip of tea and said, "It's over today, you go and receive the punishment."
Auntie put down the chess pieces, seemed to tremble, and lowered her head in response: "Yes, mother."
Dai Ruyan put down the chess piece that was tightly held in her hand, it was still stained with sweat, and saw her aunt leaving without looking back.
After lunch, Dai Ruyan had a short time to stroll around the garden, this was the only chance she didn't have to stay in the room.
The aunt was chatting and laughing with the maidservants, when she caught sight of Dai Ruyan concentrating on a bright flower, the flower was broken suddenly.
"Ayan likes this flower?" Auntie asked with a condescending smile.
Dai Ruyan looked at her aunt with some fear and replied, "Yes."
The next second, the flower was crushed by the aunt in the palm, and the bright flower juice dripped down the palm to the clean ground, like blood.
"Oh, aunt, what should I do if I accidentally use too much force?" Auntie stretched out her hand and put it lightly on Dai Ruyan's shoulder, revealing the bluish-purple imprint on that arm, and the bright flower juice was stained on Dai Ruyan's light yellow dress. very.
Dai Ruyan, who couldn't move, blinked and replied: "It's okay, there are still many beautiful flowers in the garden."
The aunt shook her head and said, "Those flowers are not something you can touch."
"Does Yan know why?"
Although the young Dai Ruyan didn't know that people's hearts were sinister, the pain he pinched Dai Ruyan was enough to warn Dai Ruyan that her aunt was as terrifying as her mother.
"I do not know."
"Because, if Ayan wins a game against Aunt next time, Aunt will be angry and burn Ayan's favorite flowers."
Dai Ruyan blinked and asked puzzledly, "Why?"
The aunt still smiled very happily, but her eyes were menacing and she whispered: "Look at the little girls over there, they can replace Ayan at any time."
"If aunt is not happy, she can also lock Ayan in the small attic like her mother, and never let her out."
This is the real appearance of the aunt who laughs the most on weekdays.
Dai Ruyan looked at the group of girls who were similar to her, but she was not particularly scared, because she knew that her grandmother was stronger than her aunt, and as long as her grandmother was happy, everything would be fine.
Just why was the mother locked up in the small attic?
The pure Dai Ruyan wants her mother to come out of the attic, so she is willing to work hard to complete any homework that her grandmother tells her.
Until Dai Ruyan beat her aunt again in the chess game, her grandmother was very happy and even gave Dai Ruyan a pair of jade pendants.
This jade pendant is a symbol of the dignity of the Dai family, and Dai Ruyan held the jade pendant and nervously proposed to her grandmother that she wanted her to move out of the attic.
Grandmother smiled, put down the teacup in her hand and said: "Okay, Yan Er will play a game of chess with Grandmother, and if he wins, he will promise Yan Er, how about it?"
"Ah."
This chess game was more difficult than Dai Ruyan imagined, until late at night Dai Ruyan looked at this chess game and had to put down the white chess in his hand in frustration.
"Yan'er, don't be disheartened." Grandma was still smiling, but in the next second she asked someone to close the door and window.
The mother was in the next cubicle, Dai Ruyan stared blankly, and saw the grandmother picked up the crutch beside her hand and walked to the mother's side.
Dai Ruyan watched the crutch hit her mother like a puppet, and the grandmother said with a smile: "You should be damned for asking Yan'er to intercede for you!"
The heavy muffled sound seemed to hit Dai Ruyan's body, the servants around just bowed their heads in silence, no one dared to speak.
In the rumors circulating in Dai's old house, no one has ever told Dai Ruyan that her grandmother loves to torture others so much.
The blood was flowing in front of Dai Ruyan, like the juice of the flower that was pinched by the aunt in the palm of her hand. The mother was dying, and the grandmother just stopped, looked sideways at the young Dai Ruyan and said with a smile, "Come here, Yan'er."
Before Dai Ruyan could react, the women on both sides had already moved Dai Ruyan to the grandmother with Dai Ruyan in their arms.
"The following crimes should be punished like this, does Yan'er know?"
The grandmother took off the rosary beads in her hand and handed them to the mother-in-law, Dai Ruyan was stuffed with a kerchief in her mouth, unable to move, watching the rosary beaded arm rapidly swell up, which was exactly the same as the scar on the aunt's arm.
The pain made Dai Ruyan choke up silently and tried to ask for help, but no one could make a sound, even the mother who had woken up beside her, just huddled in a corner in fear.
When the curtain swayed slightly, Dai Ruyan saw the aunt hiding behind with a bright smile on her face.
From then on, the descendant Ruyan was locked in the small attic together with her mother.
The attic where the windows were sealed was pitch black, and the pain made Dai Ruyan sleepless all night, while the mother beside her laughed and scolded all night, and even strangled Dai Ruyan's neck from time to time, as if she really wanted to kill her. Can't do without her.
"Useless things!" The mother kept chanting like this, as if she wanted to take all her anger on Dai Ruyan.
I don't remember when I was able to come out of the small attic, Dai Ruyan squinted slightly to look at the dazzling light outside, and he still didn't recover, but the whole person was already so thin that he was out of shape.
Grandma sat in the chair and drank tea and said, "Do you know what's wrong?"
Only then did Dai Ruyan understand that in this big Dai family's old house, only obedience can survive, and she responded in a low voice: "Yan'er knows I was wrong."
When the small attic on the side was quietly closed, Dai Ruyan turned his head to look at the mother who was still locked in it, as if he was holding a thin person in his arms, and Dai Ruyan didn't care about his head.
As usual, I studied the homework assigned by my grandmother, and accepted monthly checkups from the nanny, as if everything had returned to the way it was the night before the nightmare.
My aunt still likes to torment the maid who serves beside her, so Dai Ruyan spends all day in the study in order to avoid trouble.
In the winter, it began to snow heavily in Changzhou, and the snow fell crisply on the roof tiles. Thinking tick-tock-tock, on behalf of Ruyan, I went to the small attic to visit my mother in the name of my grandmother.
At that time, the maid who was outside was eating melon seeds around the fire, when Dai Ruyan came, she opened the door unhurriedly.
Dai Ruyan entered with his coat in his hands, the small attic was very dark, even as cold as a hole in ice.
"Why didn't you set up a charcoal basin?" Dai Ruyan turned his head and asked the two maidservants.
Obviously the charcoal basin next to the two maidservants should be placed in this small attic.
After the charcoal basin was moved into the small attic and the maid lit the candlesticks, Dai Ruyan saw her mother shivering in a corner.
The old wooden boards made the sound of branches when stepped on, or because they hadn't seen the sun for many years, they had a rotten smell.
As Dai Ruyan approached, he suddenly stepped into a big dream, and couldn't tell whether he had never gone out of the attic.
This small attic seemed to be the safest place in the entire Dai family's old house. He put his coat aside and called softly, "Mother?"
"Hush! Your sister just fell asleep." Mrs. Qing Ji glared at Dai Ruyan, then hummed a little tune softly.
This was the first time that Dai Ruyan saw her sister was weak and helpless, just like herself who was in pain all night but didn't dare to call for pain.
It snowed heavily one after another, and when it got warmer in spring, the snow dripped down the eaves.
Dai Ruyan stretched out his hand to catch the falling snow water, and the cold snow water made his entire palm turn red.
Looking at the little girls on the side, there will be a test every spring at the beginning of a year.
They only have one chance to bring down Dai Ruyan, but Dai Ruyan has three chances, once they fail, they will be wiped out of existence.
When the curtain was suddenly lifted, the aunt was holding the ruler, looked at this side casually and said with a smile: "Ayan, you can't be careless today."
Because of her aunt's secret tricks, Ruyan has sometimes been unprepared in the past few years, so this is the last chance left.
Dai Ruyan blinked lightly, then smiled and replied: "Thank you for worrying, Auntie."
In the past, Dai Ruyan would still be puzzled why her aunt would target her like this, but the longer she stayed in Dai Ruyan, Dai Ruyan understood that torturing others was just a pleasure for her aunt.
When the test was over, Dai Ruyan got up, and saw those little girls were led away from the courtyard one by one covered with black cloth.
The aunt knocked on the ruler and sighed: "A Yan is getting more and more uninteresting."
The tingling pain hidden in Mai Mai's palm reminded Dai Ruyan that the ruler should be smeared with something else.
When she was alone in the study, Dai Ruyan looked at the pustules on her hands, and carefully applied ointment to bandage the wound.
In the middle of the night, the mother's illness became more and more serious, and the younger sister who was nested in the small attic was very afraid, so Dai Ruyan often went to accompany her.
When the spring thunder sounded, Dai Ruyan huddled in a corner of the small attic, stretching out her arms to protect her thin sister.
And the mother on the other side walked in the small attic with scissors in hand, sometimes hissing in pain, and sometimes laughing loudly, as if it was really like the rumors in Dai's old house that the mother was crazy.
But obviously everyone knew that mother was driven crazy, but no one dared to speak out.
Dai Ruyan clearly understood that in this mansion, no one dared to disobey her grandmother's order, and that day he was severely punished for public display because he offended her grandmother.
You can only return to the capital when you are 12 years old, and my aunt has never been to the capital because of one incident.
Even her grandmother didn't notice this matter, but Dai Ruyan accidentally discovered that her aunt had a private meeting with a man.
That man is Liang An, the teacher invited by the grandmother to come into the mansion to teach.
He is a man of considerable literary talent and fame, but his aunt keeps getting entangled with him for no reason.
If grandma finds out about this, she will be severely punished, but Dai Ruyan didn't do anything, just quietly waited and watched, even adding fuel to the flames.
Until her father came to welcome her aunt back to the capital, Dai Ruyan quietly arranged for two maidservants to go to the capital with her aunt.
Only after learning that her aunt wanted to flee with Liang An did Dai Ruyan let someone release the news, and even sent a letter to Liang An.
The letter didn't write anything else, just told him what his aunt had done in the past and told him that the news had leaked out.
This Liang An is a smart man, he faked his death to trick the Dai clan, and even left the capital.
Hearing that her aunt who used to have a bright smile seemed to be crazy and didn't eat or drink, Dai Ruyan finally stretched her brows and smiled.
The reason why she was severely punished by her grandmother that year was that her aunt secretly added a lot of rumors.
Without her aunt in Dai's old house, Dai Ruyan's life became much more monotonous.
When the flowers in that garden are in full bloom, Dai Ruyan will be broken and crushed to make rouge. When the bright flower juice drips into the bottle, it is as bright as the flower juice crushed in the palm of my aunt. very.
I don't remember when Ruyan discovered that the taste of the supplements she took every day seemed a little strange.
The woman in charge, with sharp eyes, told Dai Ruyan to open her mouth to check after taking the decoction on Dai Ruyan.
Or when the head gradually grows taller, the maidservants beside her will also show more respect, Dai Ruyan likes this feeling very much.
It's just that she didn't expect that maidservants would often have scars on their bodies. Dai Ruyan didn't like to punish disobedient maidservants in stupid ways like her aunt.
Grandmother rushed to the capital because of her aunt, and no one in the old house could stop Dai Ruyan.
Dai Ruyan entered the small attic with the pastry in her hand, and her mother looked towards her and said, "Sister, she has been waiting for you for a long time."
"There is a delay."
When the spring was shining outside, Dai Ruyan had someone dismantle the sealed attic, and the inside was much brighter.
The younger sister hid in Dai Ruyan's arms, as if she was a little afraid of light, so Dai Ruyan let her tug on her clothes, stretched out her hand to hold the pastry and asked, "Would you like to try it?"
The mother on the side looked pale, as if she was no different from ordinary people.
Dai Ruyan poured tea and looked at her sister who was stuffing cakes into her mouth, reached out and stroked her cheek with a smile, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
When I go to the capital in the future, maybe my mother's illness will gradually improve.
As long as she escapes from Changzhou, without being bullied by her grandmother, her mother will be fine, Dai Ruyan thought hopefully.
Unexpectedly, the appearance of his father broke Dai Ruyan's only hope.
When my father and grandmother returned to Changzhou, the weather was sunny, and my mother was wearing bright and eye-catching dresses and delicate makeup, but her eyes were dull.
Dai Ruyan looked a little at the father who was called Prime Minister Dai, but he never looked at Dai Ruyan.
Serving tea and eating is the same, the only difference is that the mother was brought into a garden by the father.
For the next few days, Dai Ruyan never saw her mother, and was not even allowed to see her.
Until one night when her mother suddenly ran out of the garden, Dai Ruyan saw her father dragging her back to the garden by her hair, and the servants and maids along the way turned a blind eye.
It was like Dai Ruyan, who was standing in a daze outside the stone pavilion, listening to the sound of his mother crying till dawn.
After her father left, Dai Ruyan looked at her mother who was huddled in a corner, holding the scissors, and for the first time in her life wondered what was the difference between living and dying.
Even if he leaves Changzhou, the capital will only be a deeper cliff, and his father will not be a parasol, but rather cowardly and afraid of his grandmother.
Sure enough, no one in this world can be relied on.
Dai Ruyan was bathed in the scorching sunlight, softly humming the little tune her mother often hums, and chuckled as if she had figured it out, making it impossible for others to guess whether the smile was true or not.
Grandma loved to laugh, and so did my aunt, and even my mother was still smiling even though she was enduring the torture in unbearable pain.
Mother's illness was getting worse day by day, just when everyone was getting used to it.
A black cat accidentally broke into the garden, and Dai Ruyan let someone catch and tame it for half a month, and gave it to her sister in the small attic to amuse herself.
One day, when she entered the small attic, the two maidservants were nowhere to be seen, and the tip of her nose was filled with the strong smell of blood.
Dai Ruyan frowned slightly, and when he got closer, he found that the black cat was covered in blood, but his sickly sister didn't care, and hugged it tightly.
Turning to the side, the two maidservants were already dead, and the blood was dripping down the cracks in the planks, and the maidservants should find out soon.
The mother was still holding the pearl hairpin in her hand, with dried blood on it, she looked at Dai Ruyan with a smile in her eyes and said: "Yan'er..."
"Mom, what are you doing?" Dai Ruyan stopped where she was, not daring to approach.
The younger sister holding the cat called happily: "Sister, are you here?"
Dai Ruyan was so numb that he didn't know how to react normally.
"The cat always sneaks out at night, and my mother thought of a way for me to make the cat behave."
The younger sister spoke very seriously. Although her face was a little pale, she couldn't hide her bright eyes.
"Just put it down, the cat is dead." Dai Ruyan tried to move forward.
"Impossible!" The younger sister's eyes suddenly turned menacing, she glared at Dai Ruyan and said, "I can't take my cat away."
Dai Ruyan froze and frowned and said, "The cat in your hand is already dead."
"It's not dead, it will stay with me forever."
Such firm words made Dai Ruyan realize that her sister might also be crazy with her mother.
The corpses of the two maidservants were still lying on the side, but the younger sister and mother turned a blind eye.
If the grandmother knew, the mother and sister would be in danger!
"Be obedient, throw it away!" Dai Ruyan stretched out his hand and pulled up his sister forcefully, and the black cat's body suddenly fell aside.
The younger sister seemed to be stimulated, and she yelled frantically, which made Dai Ruyan's ears hurt badly.
The mother who was holding her hand in the corner suddenly pulled Dai Ruyan away fiercely and shouted angrily: "You are crazy!"
Dai Ruyan took a few steps back, staring blankly at her mother and younger sister covered in blood, flustered and at a loss for the first time.
Grandma knew it would kill for real!
"Why did mother kill them?" Dai Ruyan approached slowly and asked.
"Your sister said that these two maidservants bullied her." The mother guarded against Dai Ruyan who was approaching, and protected her sister with one hand.
"Sister, why don't you help me?" My sister complained.
"Help you?" Dai Ruyan approached with the pearl hairpin in his palm, "Why didn't you tell me about those two maidservants?"
"Those two maidservants are bad people, so what if the mother is killed?"
I never thought that my sister, who has always been well-behaved and obedient, would say such words.
"Crazy, you are all crazy." Dai Ruyan pushed her mother away, held her sister's hand in one hand and questioned, "I'll ask you again, why did you let your mother kill them?"
"Damn them."
"What about the cat?"
The younger sister blinked her eyes and responded without any fear on behalf of Ruyan: "Sister, you helped me kill the cat, have you forgotten?"
Dai Ruyan frowned slightly and said, "What?"
"Look at the lot of blood on your hands!" The younger sister said jokingly with Dai Ruyan as usual.
Following the words and looking at the palm of his hand, Dai Ruyan didn't see any blood, and even more annoyed, he pressed the hairpin to his sister's neck and said, "You're crazy!"
"Sister..." The younger sister was so painful that she couldn't resist, she whispered: "Sister, are you going to kill me?"
"Yes, kill you!"
Otherwise, grandma will definitely kill you too!
Dai Ruyan's eyes were red, as if he couldn't see or hear anything.
Until he fell into confusion, Dai Ruyan leaned against the wall exhaustedly, his palm soaked in blood, as if the whole cubicle was only left with a little light from the window.
When it was very noisy outside, the servants stopped outside one after another not daring to leave, Dai Ruyan looked at the blood in the room, and she was holding her lifeless sister in her arms.
The mother seemed to be in deep thought, pulling her hair with her fingers and muttering in pain: "Blood, a lot of blood!"
The door was pushed open, revealing the dazzling light outside, Dai Ruyan squinted slightly, looking at the grandmother and father outside, as if looking at flowers in the moon mist in the water.
Dai Ruyan fell down tiredly, saw his blood-covered self reflected in his mother's terrified eyes, and was still very calm, until he saw the black cat in his arms, and then panicked.
What about my sister?
The domestic servant and the nimble old woman who rushed in controlled Dai Ruyan who was at a loss, and suddenly plunged into darkness.
Is this a dream?
No, this is not a dream.
Dai Ruyan, who was imprisoned in the study, was not allowed to leave the study, and was not allowed to go to the garden to bask in the sun.
Every day, Dai Ruyan lay lazily on the bed like this, thinking day after day, is it the sister who died or the black cat?
The longer the time, the more blurred Dai Ruyan's memory was, and he even began to forget the appearance of his younger sister a little bit, only vaguely remembering that he had a younger sister.
From the sunny day to the heavy snowfall in winter, when the snow fell by the window, Dai Ruyan was immersed in reading the books in Nuo Da's study.
It seems that this way, we can understand why the mother and sister are crazy.
However, it is recorded in the book that the disease of insanity is an evil spirit like a body, and it needs to be burned to death before the house can be peaceful.
Dai Ruyan was holding the book in fear, only then did he realize that if he didn't deal with it well, maybe his grandmother would deal with it together with him.
So Dai Ruyan sent someone from Dai Ruyan to investigate the situation, and Dai Ruyan looked sideways at the person who came in carefully, wearing a Taoist robe, which looked more like an exorcism.
The terrified Dai Ruyan tried her best to look like an ordinary person, and was wary of those who approached.
He dealt with the people sent by his grandmother again and again, and even took all the medicines sent by his grandmother until he left the forbidden study again.
It was already a sunny summer day outside, Dai Ruyan squinted his eyes slightly, his eyes were full of smiles, he stretched out his hand to lightly block the scorching sunlight and said in a low voice: "I really don't want to be locked up anymore."
The maidservants on both sides lowered their heads in fear and did not dare to speak, as if Dai Ruyan had become someone not to be mentioned in Dai's old house.
Dai Ruyan walked from the study to the small attic, where there were more maids guarding than in the past.
Stepping into the small attic, the inside had already been tidied up, Dai Ruyan touched the candlestick lightly with her fingertips, holding the candlestick in her hand, she walked towards her mother who was shrunk inside.
"Don't come here!" Mother yelled in fear.
"Mother, are you sick?" Dai Ruyan approached with a smile, sat aside, and stretched out his hand to open the closed window to illuminate the dim small attic.
The light that fell in suddenly illuminated Dai Ruyan's side face particularly brightly. The two of them sat quietly, as if returning to that night of nightmare.
Dai Ruyan blinked lightly, looked at the arm wrapped in gauze in her mother's hand and asked, "Is mother still hurting herself?"
"Isn't it because you wanted revenge that you took all your anger on the black cat and the two maidservants?"
"You are crazy!" The mother looked at Dai Ruyan with red eyes and said, "I am your mother, why did you report me to grandma?"
"I can keep my mother alive if I live. Doesn't the mother understand?"
"What about your sister?"
"My sister is sick, I want her to rest for a while." Dai Ruyan blinked her eyes lightly, and answered while drinking tea.
The mother frantically scattered the teacups on the ground, her face was ferocious, but she stopped cowardly and murmured: "Your sister wants the cat to stay with her forever, so I killed it, what's wrong with that? "
Dai Ruyan put down the teacup, looked sideways out of the small window and smiled, "Mom, do you know where I buried that black cat?"
"what?"
"I heard that it's safest to keep the things you love close by, so I buried the black cat in the garden, and it's there, mother."
Along the window in the small attic, I happened to see the pear blossom in full bloom. My mother looked at it in a daze, and suddenly smiled and said, "Well, the pear blossom is so beautiful."
Dai Ruyan drank tea and responded, "Yes, I heard that the pear blossoms in Dai Garden in the capital are more beautiful."
"Yan'er, are you leaving your mother?"
"No, mother will go to the capital too, won't she?"
My mother, who had never smiled before, smiled brightly twice that day.
It seemed that because Dai Ruyan fulfilled her mother's expectations, her mood gradually stabilized, and she didn't even mention her sister anymore.
Until her mother fell asleep peacefully, Dai Ruyan smiled and looked at the small attic with an indifferent expression, as if the light from the small window was not enough to illuminate the small attic.
It was still dark as far as he could see, Dai Ruyan reached out to close the window, lightly pressed the wick of the candle with his fingertips, the light of the flame suddenly went out after a slight tingle.
This small attic seems to have become the small attic where Ye Dai Ruyan was thrown into.
As if being abandoned, Dai Ruyan smiled softly in the black night where he couldn't see his fingers, as if everything was over, and it seemed that everything had just begun.
It was rare for Dai's old house to return to tranquility, and Lihua began to sit under the tree all day for Dai Ruyan, and only returned to the study when Dai Ruyan fell like white snow.
Because of the grandmother's confession, the maidservants dared not mention the maidservant in the small attic.
In order to deal with the doctor sent by the grandmother, Dai Ruyan even deliberately pretended to be overly frightened and restless all day long.
At night, Dai Ruyan is used to lighting up the lights one by one, and then holding the scissors to cut off the lights one by one.
Dai Ruyan, who was leaning against the corner alone, listened carefully to the slightest noise in the room until the maids who were outside quietly left.
Dai Ruyan still couldn't sleep, because once she closed her eyes, she seemed to be able to see the blood that filled her eyes.
Often in the middle of the night, Dai Ruyan would feel restless because of this, and would even stay up all night.
It seemed that every time she fell asleep, she would dream of the bloody scene, and Dai Ruyan would wonder again and again whether it was her sister or the black cat that she was holding in her arms?
Did the mother kill the black cat, or did the sister kill it?
Or he couldn't help being tired, and when Dai Ruyan fell asleep in a daze, he heard a cat meowing vaguely.
There seemed to be a light in front of him, Dai Ruyan walked forward slowly along the light until he stepped into the small attic.
The mother hugged the black cat safely. Although the black cat was covered with wounds, it was still alive.
When Dai Ruyan got closer, the mother holding the black cat suddenly said:
"Hush! Your sister doesn't have time to see you today."
Dai Ruyan looked around in bewilderment, although it was very dark, he could still see clearly, and even felt a little cold.
But Dai Ruyan found that she couldn't speak, is this a dream?
After a while, the door was opened, and the maid came in with cold food.
The cat in the mother's arms jumped and came, and the maidservants kicked the cat fiercely in disgust and said: "This black cat is very evil!"
Dai Ruyan frowned slightly and wanted to make a sound, but found that she still couldn't make a sound, but saw the younger sister who was hiding in the corner suddenly reaching out to hug the kicked black cat.
Because it was too dark, Dai Ruyan couldn't see clearly, but her mother talked to her sister as usual: "Come, eat some."
The younger sister obediently ate the cold porridge, everything seemed to be in harmony, Dai Ruyan looked at it quietly, and couldn't help but feel happy.
Until the mother held the pearl hairpin and scratched her arm again and again with blood flowing down her face, it seemed that her face became happier. Such scenes were weird and frightening.
But the younger sister continued to eat as if she didn't see it. The mother's self-harm behavior caused a maid who came in to clean up the dishes to dissatisfy: "Crazy woman, you have to trouble me to clean up again!"
As soon as the words came out, the mother suddenly went crazy and stabbed the nearby maid, the younger sister sat quietly at the side, smiled suddenly, got up and walked to the door that was not closed, looking at another maid who was knocking sunflower seeds outside, He waved lightly.
The maid stood up impatiently and approached the small attic. The mother stretched out her hand to grab the maid and walked inside.
Like a stranger, the younger sister reached out to close the door, and even helped her mother find a kerchief and stuffed it into the mouths of the two maidservants.
Such a scene, just like the grandmother abused the mother back then, the younger sister looked at the mother with a smile and said, "Is the mother happy like this?"
"En." The mother, whose face was stained with blood, replied, but the hand holding Zhuchai never stopped.
Only then did Dai Ruyan understand why the black cat had so many scars.
Mothers will also abuse the weak and helpless, even more serious each time.
When the two maidservants were dying, the mother stopped in a daze as if she had lost all fun.
The younger sister at the side was eating cold porridge, and the black cat seemed to be calling uncomfortably, which seemed a bit too noisy in the hall.
Sure enough, the mother suddenly reached out and hugged the black cat, her eyes sparkled, as if she didn't know what she said to her sister, and the two had reached an agreement.
Dai Ruyan stared blankly at the black cat losing its breath, and her mother handed it to her sister as if wrapped in a gift, stroking her cheek with her palm, very peaceful.
The younger sister hugged the black cat with a smile, as if she didn't notice anything wrong here.
The scene seemed to stop at this point, Dai Ruyan didn't wait for her arrival, as if what she thought was going to happen before didn't happen.
Until the servants suddenly knocked open the door of the small attic, it was very bright outside, Dai Ruyan was dizzy, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw the black cat in his arms, his hands were full of blood, and his mother gently Looking at it, he said, "This is a gift from my mother to Yan'er."
When the voice rang clearly beside his ears, Dai Ruyan was pulled back to the small attic. The servants looked at him in horror, while he was covered in blood and hugged the black cat, while his mother was still insane.
When panic and panic rushed to his head, Dai Ruyan was on the verge of collapse. Why did he hug the black cat?
Why did the servants look at me holding the black cat?
Why would grandma lock herself up in the study afterwards?
difficult
"Mother is crazy, she's being driven crazy." Dai Ruyan muttered with her face pressed against Gong Yu's cheek, "The Dai family's old house in Changzhou is full of bad people who cannibalize people."
"What bad guy?"
"Hush! Be quiet, they will find you."
Gong Yu stared at Dai Ruyan's face full of going away and replied: "Okay, I won't talk, just tell me slowly."
Dai Ruyan caressed Gong Yu's face lightly with his palm, looked at Gong Yu with empty eyes and murmured: "Don't be afraid, I will tell you everything."
The hall was silent, even the candles in the palace lanterns were very quiet, only the wind and snow outside the window was blowing, as if to blow everything away, and even Dai Ruyan's thoughts drifted away a little bit. It seems to be back to the old house of the Dai family in Changzhou.
The Dai clan is the largest family in the palace country, and Changzhou has almost become the territory of the Dai clan.
But there is an unheard of rule for the daughters of the Dai clan that they should not show up until they are 12 years old, and they will not enter the capital until they are 12 years old.
The pregnant Mrs. Qing Ji was sent overnight to the old house of the Dai family in Changzhou. When a baby girl was born, the old house of the Dai family was busy.
The mother and baby were named Ruyan by Dai's grandmother. They could read and write at the age of three, and were extremely intelligent since childhood.
But Mrs. Qingji suffers from a strange illness, and she often yells, curses and laughs like crazy at night. Everyone knows about the maids and servants in the backyard of Dai's old house, but she dare not say a word.
There is a girls' school in Dai's old house, and only Dai's grandmother hired a nanny who specializes in teaching piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and Dai's grandmother often appears on the sidelines to check homework.
Among the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, Dai Ruyan is the best at chess, and his chess moves are unpredictable, especially his grandmother admires him, praising him as a person who is good at strategy in the future.
In the early morning, Shi Ruyan rushed to the small attic to pay her respects to Mrs. Qing Ji. The maidservants opened the door, Dai Ruyan walked back to the room, and saw her mother was holding a pearl hairpin with blood dripping on it, and her face was full of smiles. He called out, "Yan'er, come here."
Although the young Dai Ruyan still doesn't know why her mother stays in this small attic with narrow windows for ventilation.
But the servants in the mansion were all talking about it, and my mother was suffering from madness and went crazy.
Dai Ruyan stepped forward hesitantly, raised his head slightly to meet his mother's gaze, the hand hidden in the sleeve robe was dripping with blood, thick blood lingered in the small cubicle.
Why would a mother want to hurt herself?
"Mother, you are hurt."
"Yan'er, mother is fine. I heard that you were praised by grandma today."
Dai Ruyan was not completely ignorant of the rumors about the mansion, and even felt that her mother was very afraid of her grandmother, and even hated her a little.
But the young Dai Ruyan couldn't empathize with the word hate, but he had seen this word in the book, but he couldn't understand why his mother hated his grandmother.
Dai Ruyan looked at her mother who was smeared with a lot of makeup and replied: "Well, grandma praises Yaner for being smart."
The mother's eyes were full of smiles, but her face looked terrible, and even the strength of holding Dai Ruyan's wrist was much stronger.
"Mother, I'm in pain." Dai Ruyan called out in pain.
"Don't shout!" The mother looked at Dai Ruyan with red eyes and scolded angrily.
The young Dai Ruyan looked at the mother who seemed to be a different person in front of her, and couldn't help but wanted to run away in fear, but was held tightly and couldn't move.
The mother, who was full of viciousness just now, suddenly burst into tears and hugged the young Dai Ruyan, hot tears fell on the side of Dai Ruyan's face.
"Mom, what's the matter with you?" The young Dai Ruyan thought he had bumped into his mother, so he stopped crying out for pain.
The mother smiled and said: "Yan'er is good, study hard, you will be able to bring mother back to the capital in the future, you know?"
"Ah."
capital?
In fact, the young Dai Ruyan didn't even know where the capital was, and even the father he called only saw him once from a distance.
Dai Ruyan had to review all her homework early on when her grandmother inspected poetry, calligraphy and chess.
But the laughter that often came from the garden outside the window made Dai Ruyan a little scared. The person who smiled brightly was her aunt, and she was also the person Dai Ruyan was most afraid of besides her grandmother.
Grandmother often asks Dai Ruyan to play chess with her aunt, who is so good at chess that even the teacher is ashamed of herself.
If he wins the chess game, Dai Ruyan can eat at the table, if he loses, he can only starve in the study.
Of course, if it was just starvation, the young Dai Ruyan would not feel terrible.
Grandmother closed her eyes and meditated, Dai Ruyan thought about the chess game, and put down the white chess with her small hand.
The aunt moved quickly, almost never giving Dai Ruyan a chance to think.
In the beginning, Dai Ruyan also often lost, but slowly Dai Ruyan discovered the flaws in her aunt's chess game. Once, after the second and third rounds, Dai Ruyan's aunt's chess game was broken one by one by Dai Ruyan.
When the rain stopped outside the window, my aunt held the chess piece and slowed down, showing displeasure between her brows, and refused to make any more moves.
The grandmother on the side took a sip of tea and said, "It's over today, you go and receive the punishment."
Auntie put down the chess pieces, seemed to tremble, and lowered her head in response: "Yes, mother."
Dai Ruyan put down the chess piece that was tightly held in her hand, it was still stained with sweat, and saw her aunt leaving without looking back.
After lunch, Dai Ruyan had a short time to stroll around the garden, this was the only chance she didn't have to stay in the room.
The aunt was chatting and laughing with the maidservants, when she caught sight of Dai Ruyan concentrating on a bright flower, the flower was broken suddenly.
"Ayan likes this flower?" Auntie asked with a condescending smile.
Dai Ruyan looked at her aunt with some fear and replied, "Yes."
The next second, the flower was crushed by the aunt in the palm, and the bright flower juice dripped down the palm to the clean ground, like blood.
"Oh, aunt, what should I do if I accidentally use too much force?" Auntie stretched out her hand and put it lightly on Dai Ruyan's shoulder, revealing the bluish-purple imprint on that arm, and the bright flower juice was stained on Dai Ruyan's light yellow dress. very.
Dai Ruyan, who couldn't move, blinked and replied: "It's okay, there are still many beautiful flowers in the garden."
The aunt shook her head and said, "Those flowers are not something you can touch."
"Does Yan know why?"
Although the young Dai Ruyan didn't know that people's hearts were sinister, the pain he pinched Dai Ruyan was enough to warn Dai Ruyan that her aunt was as terrifying as her mother.
"I do not know."
"Because, if Ayan wins a game against Aunt next time, Aunt will be angry and burn Ayan's favorite flowers."
Dai Ruyan blinked and asked puzzledly, "Why?"
The aunt still smiled very happily, but her eyes were menacing and she whispered: "Look at the little girls over there, they can replace Ayan at any time."
"If aunt is not happy, she can also lock Ayan in the small attic like her mother, and never let her out."
This is the real appearance of the aunt who laughs the most on weekdays.
Dai Ruyan looked at the group of girls who were similar to her, but she was not particularly scared, because she knew that her grandmother was stronger than her aunt, and as long as her grandmother was happy, everything would be fine.
Just why was the mother locked up in the small attic?
The pure Dai Ruyan wants her mother to come out of the attic, so she is willing to work hard to complete any homework that her grandmother tells her.
Until Dai Ruyan beat her aunt again in the chess game, her grandmother was very happy and even gave Dai Ruyan a pair of jade pendants.
This jade pendant is a symbol of the dignity of the Dai family, and Dai Ruyan held the jade pendant and nervously proposed to her grandmother that she wanted her to move out of the attic.
Grandmother smiled, put down the teacup in her hand and said: "Okay, Yan Er will play a game of chess with Grandmother, and if he wins, he will promise Yan Er, how about it?"
"Ah."
This chess game was more difficult than Dai Ruyan imagined, until late at night Dai Ruyan looked at this chess game and had to put down the white chess in his hand in frustration.
"Yan'er, don't be disheartened." Grandma was still smiling, but in the next second she asked someone to close the door and window.
The mother was in the next cubicle, Dai Ruyan stared blankly, and saw the grandmother picked up the crutch beside her hand and walked to the mother's side.
Dai Ruyan watched the crutch hit her mother like a puppet, and the grandmother said with a smile: "You should be damned for asking Yan'er to intercede for you!"
The heavy muffled sound seemed to hit Dai Ruyan's body, the servants around just bowed their heads in silence, no one dared to speak.
In the rumors circulating in Dai's old house, no one has ever told Dai Ruyan that her grandmother loves to torture others so much.
The blood was flowing in front of Dai Ruyan, like the juice of the flower that was pinched by the aunt in the palm of her hand. The mother was dying, and the grandmother just stopped, looked sideways at the young Dai Ruyan and said with a smile, "Come here, Yan'er."
Before Dai Ruyan could react, the women on both sides had already moved Dai Ruyan to the grandmother with Dai Ruyan in their arms.
"The following crimes should be punished like this, does Yan'er know?"
The grandmother took off the rosary beads in her hand and handed them to the mother-in-law, Dai Ruyan was stuffed with a kerchief in her mouth, unable to move, watching the rosary beaded arm rapidly swell up, which was exactly the same as the scar on the aunt's arm.
The pain made Dai Ruyan choke up silently and tried to ask for help, but no one could make a sound, even the mother who had woken up beside her, just huddled in a corner in fear.
When the curtain swayed slightly, Dai Ruyan saw the aunt hiding behind with a bright smile on her face.
From then on, the descendant Ruyan was locked in the small attic together with her mother.
The attic where the windows were sealed was pitch black, and the pain made Dai Ruyan sleepless all night, while the mother beside her laughed and scolded all night, and even strangled Dai Ruyan's neck from time to time, as if she really wanted to kill her. Can't do without her.
"Useless things!" The mother kept chanting like this, as if she wanted to take all her anger on Dai Ruyan.
I don't remember when I was able to come out of the small attic, Dai Ruyan squinted slightly to look at the dazzling light outside, and he still didn't recover, but the whole person was already so thin that he was out of shape.
Grandma sat in the chair and drank tea and said, "Do you know what's wrong?"
Only then did Dai Ruyan understand that in this big Dai family's old house, only obedience can survive, and she responded in a low voice: "Yan'er knows I was wrong."
When the small attic on the side was quietly closed, Dai Ruyan turned his head to look at the mother who was still locked in it, as if he was holding a thin person in his arms, and Dai Ruyan didn't care about his head.
As usual, I studied the homework assigned by my grandmother, and accepted monthly checkups from the nanny, as if everything had returned to the way it was the night before the nightmare.
My aunt still likes to torment the maid who serves beside her, so Dai Ruyan spends all day in the study in order to avoid trouble.
In the winter, it began to snow heavily in Changzhou, and the snow fell crisply on the roof tiles. Thinking tick-tock-tock, on behalf of Ruyan, I went to the small attic to visit my mother in the name of my grandmother.
At that time, the maid who was outside was eating melon seeds around the fire, when Dai Ruyan came, she opened the door unhurriedly.
Dai Ruyan entered with his coat in his hands, the small attic was very dark, even as cold as a hole in ice.
"Why didn't you set up a charcoal basin?" Dai Ruyan turned his head and asked the two maidservants.
Obviously the charcoal basin next to the two maidservants should be placed in this small attic.
After the charcoal basin was moved into the small attic and the maid lit the candlesticks, Dai Ruyan saw her mother shivering in a corner.
The old wooden boards made the sound of branches when stepped on, or because they hadn't seen the sun for many years, they had a rotten smell.
As Dai Ruyan approached, he suddenly stepped into a big dream, and couldn't tell whether he had never gone out of the attic.
This small attic seemed to be the safest place in the entire Dai family's old house. He put his coat aside and called softly, "Mother?"
"Hush! Your sister just fell asleep." Mrs. Qing Ji glared at Dai Ruyan, then hummed a little tune softly.
This was the first time that Dai Ruyan saw her sister was weak and helpless, just like herself who was in pain all night but didn't dare to call for pain.
It snowed heavily one after another, and when it got warmer in spring, the snow dripped down the eaves.
Dai Ruyan stretched out his hand to catch the falling snow water, and the cold snow water made his entire palm turn red.
Looking at the little girls on the side, there will be a test every spring at the beginning of a year.
They only have one chance to bring down Dai Ruyan, but Dai Ruyan has three chances, once they fail, they will be wiped out of existence.
When the curtain was suddenly lifted, the aunt was holding the ruler, looked at this side casually and said with a smile: "Ayan, you can't be careless today."
Because of her aunt's secret tricks, Ruyan has sometimes been unprepared in the past few years, so this is the last chance left.
Dai Ruyan blinked lightly, then smiled and replied: "Thank you for worrying, Auntie."
In the past, Dai Ruyan would still be puzzled why her aunt would target her like this, but the longer she stayed in Dai Ruyan, Dai Ruyan understood that torturing others was just a pleasure for her aunt.
When the test was over, Dai Ruyan got up, and saw those little girls were led away from the courtyard one by one covered with black cloth.
The aunt knocked on the ruler and sighed: "A Yan is getting more and more uninteresting."
The tingling pain hidden in Mai Mai's palm reminded Dai Ruyan that the ruler should be smeared with something else.
When she was alone in the study, Dai Ruyan looked at the pustules on her hands, and carefully applied ointment to bandage the wound.
In the middle of the night, the mother's illness became more and more serious, and the younger sister who was nested in the small attic was very afraid, so Dai Ruyan often went to accompany her.
When the spring thunder sounded, Dai Ruyan huddled in a corner of the small attic, stretching out her arms to protect her thin sister.
And the mother on the other side walked in the small attic with scissors in hand, sometimes hissing in pain, and sometimes laughing loudly, as if it was really like the rumors in Dai's old house that the mother was crazy.
But obviously everyone knew that mother was driven crazy, but no one dared to speak out.
Dai Ruyan clearly understood that in this mansion, no one dared to disobey her grandmother's order, and that day he was severely punished for public display because he offended her grandmother.
You can only return to the capital when you are 12 years old, and my aunt has never been to the capital because of one incident.
Even her grandmother didn't notice this matter, but Dai Ruyan accidentally discovered that her aunt had a private meeting with a man.
That man is Liang An, the teacher invited by the grandmother to come into the mansion to teach.
He is a man of considerable literary talent and fame, but his aunt keeps getting entangled with him for no reason.
If grandma finds out about this, she will be severely punished, but Dai Ruyan didn't do anything, just quietly waited and watched, even adding fuel to the flames.
Until her father came to welcome her aunt back to the capital, Dai Ruyan quietly arranged for two maidservants to go to the capital with her aunt.
Only after learning that her aunt wanted to flee with Liang An did Dai Ruyan let someone release the news, and even sent a letter to Liang An.
The letter didn't write anything else, just told him what his aunt had done in the past and told him that the news had leaked out.
This Liang An is a smart man, he faked his death to trick the Dai clan, and even left the capital.
Hearing that her aunt who used to have a bright smile seemed to be crazy and didn't eat or drink, Dai Ruyan finally stretched her brows and smiled.
The reason why she was severely punished by her grandmother that year was that her aunt secretly added a lot of rumors.
Without her aunt in Dai's old house, Dai Ruyan's life became much more monotonous.
When the flowers in that garden are in full bloom, Dai Ruyan will be broken and crushed to make rouge. When the bright flower juice drips into the bottle, it is as bright as the flower juice crushed in the palm of my aunt. very.
I don't remember when Ruyan discovered that the taste of the supplements she took every day seemed a little strange.
The woman in charge, with sharp eyes, told Dai Ruyan to open her mouth to check after taking the decoction on Dai Ruyan.
Or when the head gradually grows taller, the maidservants beside her will also show more respect, Dai Ruyan likes this feeling very much.
It's just that she didn't expect that maidservants would often have scars on their bodies. Dai Ruyan didn't like to punish disobedient maidservants in stupid ways like her aunt.
Grandmother rushed to the capital because of her aunt, and no one in the old house could stop Dai Ruyan.
Dai Ruyan entered the small attic with the pastry in her hand, and her mother looked towards her and said, "Sister, she has been waiting for you for a long time."
"There is a delay."
When the spring was shining outside, Dai Ruyan had someone dismantle the sealed attic, and the inside was much brighter.
The younger sister hid in Dai Ruyan's arms, as if she was a little afraid of light, so Dai Ruyan let her tug on her clothes, stretched out her hand to hold the pastry and asked, "Would you like to try it?"
The mother on the side looked pale, as if she was no different from ordinary people.
Dai Ruyan poured tea and looked at her sister who was stuffing cakes into her mouth, reached out and stroked her cheek with a smile, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
When I go to the capital in the future, maybe my mother's illness will gradually improve.
As long as she escapes from Changzhou, without being bullied by her grandmother, her mother will be fine, Dai Ruyan thought hopefully.
Unexpectedly, the appearance of his father broke Dai Ruyan's only hope.
When my father and grandmother returned to Changzhou, the weather was sunny, and my mother was wearing bright and eye-catching dresses and delicate makeup, but her eyes were dull.
Dai Ruyan looked a little at the father who was called Prime Minister Dai, but he never looked at Dai Ruyan.
Serving tea and eating is the same, the only difference is that the mother was brought into a garden by the father.
For the next few days, Dai Ruyan never saw her mother, and was not even allowed to see her.
Until one night when her mother suddenly ran out of the garden, Dai Ruyan saw her father dragging her back to the garden by her hair, and the servants and maids along the way turned a blind eye.
It was like Dai Ruyan, who was standing in a daze outside the stone pavilion, listening to the sound of his mother crying till dawn.
After her father left, Dai Ruyan looked at her mother who was huddled in a corner, holding the scissors, and for the first time in her life wondered what was the difference between living and dying.
Even if he leaves Changzhou, the capital will only be a deeper cliff, and his father will not be a parasol, but rather cowardly and afraid of his grandmother.
Sure enough, no one in this world can be relied on.
Dai Ruyan was bathed in the scorching sunlight, softly humming the little tune her mother often hums, and chuckled as if she had figured it out, making it impossible for others to guess whether the smile was true or not.
Grandma loved to laugh, and so did my aunt, and even my mother was still smiling even though she was enduring the torture in unbearable pain.
Mother's illness was getting worse day by day, just when everyone was getting used to it.
A black cat accidentally broke into the garden, and Dai Ruyan let someone catch and tame it for half a month, and gave it to her sister in the small attic to amuse herself.
One day, when she entered the small attic, the two maidservants were nowhere to be seen, and the tip of her nose was filled with the strong smell of blood.
Dai Ruyan frowned slightly, and when he got closer, he found that the black cat was covered in blood, but his sickly sister didn't care, and hugged it tightly.
Turning to the side, the two maidservants were already dead, and the blood was dripping down the cracks in the planks, and the maidservants should find out soon.
The mother was still holding the pearl hairpin in her hand, with dried blood on it, she looked at Dai Ruyan with a smile in her eyes and said: "Yan'er..."
"Mom, what are you doing?" Dai Ruyan stopped where she was, not daring to approach.
The younger sister holding the cat called happily: "Sister, are you here?"
Dai Ruyan was so numb that he didn't know how to react normally.
"The cat always sneaks out at night, and my mother thought of a way for me to make the cat behave."
The younger sister spoke very seriously. Although her face was a little pale, she couldn't hide her bright eyes.
"Just put it down, the cat is dead." Dai Ruyan tried to move forward.
"Impossible!" The younger sister's eyes suddenly turned menacing, she glared at Dai Ruyan and said, "I can't take my cat away."
Dai Ruyan froze and frowned and said, "The cat in your hand is already dead."
"It's not dead, it will stay with me forever."
Such firm words made Dai Ruyan realize that her sister might also be crazy with her mother.
The corpses of the two maidservants were still lying on the side, but the younger sister and mother turned a blind eye.
If the grandmother knew, the mother and sister would be in danger!
"Be obedient, throw it away!" Dai Ruyan stretched out his hand and pulled up his sister forcefully, and the black cat's body suddenly fell aside.
The younger sister seemed to be stimulated, and she yelled frantically, which made Dai Ruyan's ears hurt badly.
The mother who was holding her hand in the corner suddenly pulled Dai Ruyan away fiercely and shouted angrily: "You are crazy!"
Dai Ruyan took a few steps back, staring blankly at her mother and younger sister covered in blood, flustered and at a loss for the first time.
Grandma knew it would kill for real!
"Why did mother kill them?" Dai Ruyan approached slowly and asked.
"Your sister said that these two maidservants bullied her." The mother guarded against Dai Ruyan who was approaching, and protected her sister with one hand.
"Sister, why don't you help me?" My sister complained.
"Help you?" Dai Ruyan approached with the pearl hairpin in his palm, "Why didn't you tell me about those two maidservants?"
"Those two maidservants are bad people, so what if the mother is killed?"
I never thought that my sister, who has always been well-behaved and obedient, would say such words.
"Crazy, you are all crazy." Dai Ruyan pushed her mother away, held her sister's hand in one hand and questioned, "I'll ask you again, why did you let your mother kill them?"
"Damn them."
"What about the cat?"
The younger sister blinked her eyes and responded without any fear on behalf of Ruyan: "Sister, you helped me kill the cat, have you forgotten?"
Dai Ruyan frowned slightly and said, "What?"
"Look at the lot of blood on your hands!" The younger sister said jokingly with Dai Ruyan as usual.
Following the words and looking at the palm of his hand, Dai Ruyan didn't see any blood, and even more annoyed, he pressed the hairpin to his sister's neck and said, "You're crazy!"
"Sister..." The younger sister was so painful that she couldn't resist, she whispered: "Sister, are you going to kill me?"
"Yes, kill you!"
Otherwise, grandma will definitely kill you too!
Dai Ruyan's eyes were red, as if he couldn't see or hear anything.
Until he fell into confusion, Dai Ruyan leaned against the wall exhaustedly, his palm soaked in blood, as if the whole cubicle was only left with a little light from the window.
When it was very noisy outside, the servants stopped outside one after another not daring to leave, Dai Ruyan looked at the blood in the room, and she was holding her lifeless sister in her arms.
The mother seemed to be in deep thought, pulling her hair with her fingers and muttering in pain: "Blood, a lot of blood!"
The door was pushed open, revealing the dazzling light outside, Dai Ruyan squinted slightly, looking at the grandmother and father outside, as if looking at flowers in the moon mist in the water.
Dai Ruyan fell down tiredly, saw his blood-covered self reflected in his mother's terrified eyes, and was still very calm, until he saw the black cat in his arms, and then panicked.
What about my sister?
The domestic servant and the nimble old woman who rushed in controlled Dai Ruyan who was at a loss, and suddenly plunged into darkness.
Is this a dream?
No, this is not a dream.
Dai Ruyan, who was imprisoned in the study, was not allowed to leave the study, and was not allowed to go to the garden to bask in the sun.
Every day, Dai Ruyan lay lazily on the bed like this, thinking day after day, is it the sister who died or the black cat?
The longer the time, the more blurred Dai Ruyan's memory was, and he even began to forget the appearance of his younger sister a little bit, only vaguely remembering that he had a younger sister.
From the sunny day to the heavy snowfall in winter, when the snow fell by the window, Dai Ruyan was immersed in reading the books in Nuo Da's study.
It seems that this way, we can understand why the mother and sister are crazy.
However, it is recorded in the book that the disease of insanity is an evil spirit like a body, and it needs to be burned to death before the house can be peaceful.
Dai Ruyan was holding the book in fear, only then did he realize that if he didn't deal with it well, maybe his grandmother would deal with it together with him.
So Dai Ruyan sent someone from Dai Ruyan to investigate the situation, and Dai Ruyan looked sideways at the person who came in carefully, wearing a Taoist robe, which looked more like an exorcism.
The terrified Dai Ruyan tried her best to look like an ordinary person, and was wary of those who approached.
He dealt with the people sent by his grandmother again and again, and even took all the medicines sent by his grandmother until he left the forbidden study again.
It was already a sunny summer day outside, Dai Ruyan squinted his eyes slightly, his eyes were full of smiles, he stretched out his hand to lightly block the scorching sunlight and said in a low voice: "I really don't want to be locked up anymore."
The maidservants on both sides lowered their heads in fear and did not dare to speak, as if Dai Ruyan had become someone not to be mentioned in Dai's old house.
Dai Ruyan walked from the study to the small attic, where there were more maids guarding than in the past.
Stepping into the small attic, the inside had already been tidied up, Dai Ruyan touched the candlestick lightly with her fingertips, holding the candlestick in her hand, she walked towards her mother who was shrunk inside.
"Don't come here!" Mother yelled in fear.
"Mother, are you sick?" Dai Ruyan approached with a smile, sat aside, and stretched out his hand to open the closed window to illuminate the dim small attic.
The light that fell in suddenly illuminated Dai Ruyan's side face particularly brightly. The two of them sat quietly, as if returning to that night of nightmare.
Dai Ruyan blinked lightly, looked at the arm wrapped in gauze in her mother's hand and asked, "Is mother still hurting herself?"
"Isn't it because you wanted revenge that you took all your anger on the black cat and the two maidservants?"
"You are crazy!" The mother looked at Dai Ruyan with red eyes and said, "I am your mother, why did you report me to grandma?"
"I can keep my mother alive if I live. Doesn't the mother understand?"
"What about your sister?"
"My sister is sick, I want her to rest for a while." Dai Ruyan blinked her eyes lightly, and answered while drinking tea.
The mother frantically scattered the teacups on the ground, her face was ferocious, but she stopped cowardly and murmured: "Your sister wants the cat to stay with her forever, so I killed it, what's wrong with that? "
Dai Ruyan put down the teacup, looked sideways out of the small window and smiled, "Mom, do you know where I buried that black cat?"
"what?"
"I heard that it's safest to keep the things you love close by, so I buried the black cat in the garden, and it's there, mother."
Along the window in the small attic, I happened to see the pear blossom in full bloom. My mother looked at it in a daze, and suddenly smiled and said, "Well, the pear blossom is so beautiful."
Dai Ruyan drank tea and responded, "Yes, I heard that the pear blossoms in Dai Garden in the capital are more beautiful."
"Yan'er, are you leaving your mother?"
"No, mother will go to the capital too, won't she?"
My mother, who had never smiled before, smiled brightly twice that day.
It seemed that because Dai Ruyan fulfilled her mother's expectations, her mood gradually stabilized, and she didn't even mention her sister anymore.
Until her mother fell asleep peacefully, Dai Ruyan smiled and looked at the small attic with an indifferent expression, as if the light from the small window was not enough to illuminate the small attic.
It was still dark as far as he could see, Dai Ruyan reached out to close the window, lightly pressed the wick of the candle with his fingertips, the light of the flame suddenly went out after a slight tingle.
This small attic seems to have become the small attic where Ye Dai Ruyan was thrown into.
As if being abandoned, Dai Ruyan smiled softly in the black night where he couldn't see his fingers, as if everything was over, and it seemed that everything had just begun.
It was rare for Dai's old house to return to tranquility, and Lihua began to sit under the tree all day for Dai Ruyan, and only returned to the study when Dai Ruyan fell like white snow.
Because of the grandmother's confession, the maidservants dared not mention the maidservant in the small attic.
In order to deal with the doctor sent by the grandmother, Dai Ruyan even deliberately pretended to be overly frightened and restless all day long.
At night, Dai Ruyan is used to lighting up the lights one by one, and then holding the scissors to cut off the lights one by one.
Dai Ruyan, who was leaning against the corner alone, listened carefully to the slightest noise in the room until the maids who were outside quietly left.
Dai Ruyan still couldn't sleep, because once she closed her eyes, she seemed to be able to see the blood that filled her eyes.
Often in the middle of the night, Dai Ruyan would feel restless because of this, and would even stay up all night.
It seemed that every time she fell asleep, she would dream of the bloody scene, and Dai Ruyan would wonder again and again whether it was her sister or the black cat that she was holding in her arms?
Did the mother kill the black cat, or did the sister kill it?
Or he couldn't help being tired, and when Dai Ruyan fell asleep in a daze, he heard a cat meowing vaguely.
There seemed to be a light in front of him, Dai Ruyan walked forward slowly along the light until he stepped into the small attic.
The mother hugged the black cat safely. Although the black cat was covered with wounds, it was still alive.
When Dai Ruyan got closer, the mother holding the black cat suddenly said:
"Hush! Your sister doesn't have time to see you today."
Dai Ruyan looked around in bewilderment, although it was very dark, he could still see clearly, and even felt a little cold.
But Dai Ruyan found that she couldn't speak, is this a dream?
After a while, the door was opened, and the maid came in with cold food.
The cat in the mother's arms jumped and came, and the maidservants kicked the cat fiercely in disgust and said: "This black cat is very evil!"
Dai Ruyan frowned slightly and wanted to make a sound, but found that she still couldn't make a sound, but saw the younger sister who was hiding in the corner suddenly reaching out to hug the kicked black cat.
Because it was too dark, Dai Ruyan couldn't see clearly, but her mother talked to her sister as usual: "Come, eat some."
The younger sister obediently ate the cold porridge, everything seemed to be in harmony, Dai Ruyan looked at it quietly, and couldn't help but feel happy.
Until the mother held the pearl hairpin and scratched her arm again and again with blood flowing down her face, it seemed that her face became happier. Such scenes were weird and frightening.
But the younger sister continued to eat as if she didn't see it. The mother's self-harm behavior caused a maid who came in to clean up the dishes to dissatisfy: "Crazy woman, you have to trouble me to clean up again!"
As soon as the words came out, the mother suddenly went crazy and stabbed the nearby maid, the younger sister sat quietly at the side, smiled suddenly, got up and walked to the door that was not closed, looking at another maid who was knocking sunflower seeds outside, He waved lightly.
The maid stood up impatiently and approached the small attic. The mother stretched out her hand to grab the maid and walked inside.
Like a stranger, the younger sister reached out to close the door, and even helped her mother find a kerchief and stuffed it into the mouths of the two maidservants.
Such a scene, just like the grandmother abused the mother back then, the younger sister looked at the mother with a smile and said, "Is the mother happy like this?"
"En." The mother, whose face was stained with blood, replied, but the hand holding Zhuchai never stopped.
Only then did Dai Ruyan understand why the black cat had so many scars.
Mothers will also abuse the weak and helpless, even more serious each time.
When the two maidservants were dying, the mother stopped in a daze as if she had lost all fun.
The younger sister at the side was eating cold porridge, and the black cat seemed to be calling uncomfortably, which seemed a bit too noisy in the hall.
Sure enough, the mother suddenly reached out and hugged the black cat, her eyes sparkled, as if she didn't know what she said to her sister, and the two had reached an agreement.
Dai Ruyan stared blankly at the black cat losing its breath, and her mother handed it to her sister as if wrapped in a gift, stroking her cheek with her palm, very peaceful.
The younger sister hugged the black cat with a smile, as if she didn't notice anything wrong here.
The scene seemed to stop at this point, Dai Ruyan didn't wait for her arrival, as if what she thought was going to happen before didn't happen.
Until the servants suddenly knocked open the door of the small attic, it was very bright outside, Dai Ruyan was dizzy, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw the black cat in his arms, his hands were full of blood, and his mother gently Looking at it, he said, "This is a gift from my mother to Yan'er."
When the voice rang clearly beside his ears, Dai Ruyan was pulled back to the small attic. The servants looked at him in horror, while he was covered in blood and hugged the black cat, while his mother was still insane.
When panic and panic rushed to his head, Dai Ruyan was on the verge of collapse. Why did he hug the black cat?
Why did the servants look at me holding the black cat?
Why would grandma lock herself up in the study afterwards?
difficult
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