Lin Jinrong silently bid farewell to Zhi Ping and Zhi Qing, put on the purple Luo face veil, and led several women and the obviously quarreling Li Zhi and Gui Yuan back to the villa.

  As soon as she entered the door, Miao Ya suddenly emerged from the shadow beside the door, winking at her while saying: "Miss, we have a guest. Young Master Lu brought his study boy to tour the mountain and play in the water, but unexpectedly the bridge was rotten and collapsed into the river. My brother happened to meet them when he went to catch peach blossom fish, and saved them. At this moment, Madam is chatting with Young Master, let you come back and go over."

  Looking at Miao Ya's smiling and relaxed appearance, Lin Jian Rong knew that Lu Xian had not revealed the truth of the matter. However, he did not immediately go to the Tao family, but instead returned to his room, staring blankly at the window outside where a winter plum tree had already withered and sprouted new buds.

  "Miss, if you don't want to go over there, why not wash your feet and take a nap? I'll tell the madam that you're tired and can go over after dinner?" Litchi didn't know what had happened to Lin Jianrong outside today, but seeing her muddy shoes and gloomy expression, she could guess it wasn't good. Later, when she saw her send Miao Xia out to find Lin Shiquan, she guessed a few more points - most likely Lu Xian's servant falling into the water was related to her. Now seeing Lin Jianrong like this, she subconsciously guessed that she didn't dare go over there.

  "Uh-huh." Lin Jinyong didn't feel like going to see Lu Xian's face at this moment either, she needed to calm down. Plus, after struggling for a long time and climbing up and down, she was indeed extremely tired, her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep soon.

  The gloomy sky, the parched white earth, the withered reeds, the Jiang Shen Temple standing silently in the cold wind, and the refugees fleeing and wailing everywhere.

  Dazzling snowfield with blood-filled eyes, a piece of crimson red.

  Lychee was shouting desperately: "Run quickly, run quickly......"

  She ran desperately, her feet aching, her chest feeling like it had a burning fire inside, scorching her internal organs and throat, causing them to contract in agony...

  "Ah..." Lin Jian Rong sat up with a start, looking around at his surroundings in some confusion.

  The sun's shadow is slanting westward, the greenery outside the window is lush and vibrant. Under the window, there is a half-old, less-than-ten-thousand-word embroidered silk seat cushion with a white wicker stool, in the corner of which a celadon incense burner with carved floral patterns is emitting the fragrance of hundreds of flowers. On the old wooden table, a beautiful vase with a slender neck holds a resplendent peach blossom. Everything is telling her that she is in her own home.

  She let out a soft sigh, subconsciously hugging the quilt tightly, staring blankly at the plum blossom pattern on the quilt. Lately, she had been busy with things in the village and rarely thought about the past, but this dream just now was so real that there wasn't even a bit of the usual distortion or twist that often appeared in dreams.

  She tried hard not to think of that scene, but it always obstinately floated before her eyes.

  Those few days waiting for Lu Xun were the coldest in her memory, spanning two lifetimes. Every day, refugees waiting for boats would ignore the warnings of the temple guardians and dismantle everything that could be used to start a fire from the Jiangshen Temple. They would tear down the clothes and canopies on the statue of Jiangshen, use them as bedding and coverings, and then dismantle the wooden doors, windows, and offering tables to build fires in the main hall. On these fires, they would boil soup, stew medicine, and roast flatbread, filling the air with strange smells and the sounds of children crying, old people humming, men shouting in anger, and women complaining in hushed tones.

  She and Lychee were lucky, not having to squeeze with those people. When they didn't go out, they hid in the hidden storage room of the Jiangshen Temple, where the temple keeper and his adopted daughter locked the door, piled up a few stacks of dry grass, and the outside world was completely isolated from them. Although there was no heating brazier, the bedding on the small bed was very thin, but the two masters and servants huddled together tightly, yet they were not cold, nor did they have to worry about who would come to disturb them, the food was not good, but they could eat their fill, she was really satisfied.

  She was always worried, seeing countless people coming and going, but never saw a familiar face, so she couldn't ask about the situation of her family and Lu Xian. Until that morning, their eyes were sore from searching, they finally saw a familiar face, it was a man named Lu Zhi, a distant relative of the Lu family.

  Although Lu Ji was a collateral branch of the family, his family was poor and humble. However, he had often visited the Lu family before, until Lu Lun's death, when the Lu family closed their doors for a long time and refused to receive guests. She and Lu Ji hadn't interacted much, only meeting a few times, but in such turbulent and perilous times, seeing a familiar face, especially that of a clansman, always brought more joy and warmth than usual.

  She was surprised to let Lychee invite Lu Ji over for questioning.

  Lu Ji saw them master and servant, obviously took a shock: "How can Second Aunt be here?"

  She inquired about the news of her family and Lu Jian with him, full of hope. Lu Ji told her very briefly that he only knew that the Lin family had also suffered a disaster, but he hadn't seen anyone from the Lin family. When it came to Lu Jian, however, he glanced at her and hesitated for a long time before sighing: "Second sister, the situation is extremely critical, the bandits are about to arrive soon, you'd better not wait any longer, why don't you come with me first, and we can slowly reunite with second brother later? Although I'm not talented and have no special skills, at least I can take care of the two weak women's safety."

  She has always been a bit dull, unable to understand the implication of words, and simply shook her head: "No, I promised to wait for your second brother. What if he can't find me?" "Second sister-in-law..." Lu Ji sighed and shook his head, wanting to speak but stopping himself, with a face full of sympathy.

  She subconsciously felt afraid, her heart tightened, and she trembled with a voice: "What's wrong?"

  "It's okay, it's okay. You guys just leave first and hide from this disaster. I'll help you find your second brother later. As long as we have our lives, we won't have to worry about anything else. The bandits are scary when they come."

  The more he didn't speak, the more she was afraid, thinking that Lu Xuan had encountered a disaster, and bitterly begged him to say something.

  "I really can't bear to tell you... but Second Brother's actions are truly unscrupulous. I saw it with my own eyes, he took Third Uncle and Third Aunt on a donkey cart down another road, they must have crossed the river by now."

  This news was like a thunderclap on a clear day. It shocked her brain into a momentary blank, she couldn't believe it. He had given her most of his valuable jade pendants and entrusted the temple keeper to take care of her with a large sum of money, and even asked the temple keeper to help find a boat for him. How could he just leave her like that? Was the money and jade left for her to live on? And was finding a boat just an excuse? Did he actually want her to believe he would definitely come back?

  Then she only saw Lu Ji's lips moving non-stop, as if comforting her, and also as if urging her and Li Zhu to follow him quickly. Li Zhu pulled her hard, shouting her name loudly, she barely gathered her spirits, holding onto the last bit of hope, asking Lu Ji: "You've seen, is there anyone else?"

  Lu Ji smiled bitterly: "Second sister, I didn't dare to tell you earlier because I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. Look, you don't believe me now, do you? But why would I deceive you? Let me ask you, wasn't my second brother wearing a sky-blue silver-rimmed robe with black leather boots and a cyan-colored headband? And didn't we see him accompanying two old men on a donkey cart heading south on that road the other day?"

  He and his companion didn't know her, but the man's expression was absolutely certain: "That's right, we saw it with our own eyes. We even called out to him, but he pretended not to hear."

  "Could it be a mistake?" Litchi's voice trembled as she spoke.

  "Looked at it wrongly?" Lu Ji sneered: "We are relatives, not enemies, why would I cheat you? Whether or not to follow us is your freedom. It's because we're all from the same clan and you two are weak women that I'm willing to bother with this trivial matter, otherwise I'd be eating too much."

  His companion hastily intervened: "Why get angry? Think about it carefully, madam. The bandits are really coming soon, and if we don't leave now, it will be too late. You two single women, and you're young and beautiful, if there's no one to protect you, it won't be safe. There aren't any boats here anymore, but we have horses, so we can go to the county government ahead and take a boat..."

  She refused them. She wanted to wait a little longer.

  Lu Ji advised him twice more, but he couldn't be persuaded, and Lu Ji left directly.

  She leaned on Litchi's shoulder and couldn't cry. Litchi comforted her, saying that maybe she had misseen or been deceived by Lu Ji, it was not certain. But she thought, how could she have misseen? She and Lu Ji were also innocent, she couldn't think of why Lu Ji would deceive her, what reason he had to deceive her.

  She and Lychee waited until dusk, waited until the snow covered the ground, waited until there were fewer and fewer people, but in the end, they still didn't wait for Lu Xuan. What they waited for was bandits, what they waited for was death.

  That's it! Lin Jinyong rubbed his tired forehead and got out of bed, forbidding himself from thinking further.

  Osmanthus fragrans hurriedly walked in with a smile and said, "Miss, the lady has already sent someone to ask twice, did you sleep well?"

  "What's the question?" Lin Jinyong said gloomily.

  Osmanthus never stopped laughing: "Ask you why haven't you gone yet? Is your body uncomfortable, do you want to invite Mr. Shui to take your pulse?"

  "I'm fine." Lin Jinrong couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the bitter, sour and astringent medicine that Master Shui had prescribed for her irregular periods. No wonder Old Master Lin had complained about how hard it was to swallow; it really was unbearable. It's truly admirable that Mrs. Tao could take it for years on end without even furrowing her brow.

  "Master Bao caught a chill, and Old Master Shui has prescribed some medicine for him. They plan to stay in our village for two days. Madame asked Master Bao about Mr. Zhu's affairs, and from the sound of it, she seems to want our Seventh Young Master to study with Mr. Zhu as well."

  This girl, even Taoshi and Luchuan said something clearly, 100% in her own sleep time always appeared in Taoshi's yard, visiting Luchuan. Lin Jianrong frowned: "That was also a few years later. Seventh Master is still so young, just opened his eyes, the teacher will not accept."

  She had thought of this when Tie Huai's family first mentioned Zhu Mengyu, but considering Lin Sheng's young age, it was better to follow Old Master Lin. Becoming an apprentice would also be a matter for after the age of ten, so she didn't mention it.

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