After entering the winter month, the weather became colder day by day. Half a month before the Winter Solstice, the first snow of this year's winter began to fall, and it didn't stop for half a month, covering everything in a silver white color.

  Lin Xiao sat in the Qingque Tower of the Wu Guo Gong Fu, surrounded by other women of the Lin family and Old Lady Zhuang.

  The room has windows on all four sides, and at this time the window frames are wide open, with a broad view of the outside snow scene. The cold wind blows in fiercely, but with the fire basin lit inside, it doesn't feel cold.

  Lin Ya threw a chestnut into the brazier, and the brazier made a "crackling" sound. Then she took the tongs to pick up the roasted chestnuts, listening to Lin Huan and Zhuang Lao Furen discussing future husband's family affairs on the other side.

  The old lady was half-reclining on a taishi chair, covered with a white quilt, and the years had left deep wrinkles and wind and frost on her face, but the brightness of her youth could still be seen.

  Lin Yan sat beside her, looking up at Old Lady Zhuang and said: "...... My wedding date is set soon, I'll be getting married next month. My wedding dress is already embroidered, but I still want to personally embroider a pair of shoes and socks for my future father-in-law and mother-in-law. They are also my uncle and aunt, and have doted on me since I was young, so I want to do something special for them with my own hands. However, my embroidery skills are not good. Old Lady, I heard you have excellent embroidery skills, can you guide me when the time comes..."

  Madam Zhuang nodded and said: "Right, right." Then she asked again: "So you're saying that the one you want to marry is your cousin?"

  Lin Yan nodded and said, "Yes, we grew up together since childhood."

  "Eldest Young Master is indeed good, and having grown up together since childhood is also good. It's a relationship with feelings, men will be gentle and treat you well."

  Lin Yan's face turned red and she said, "He dares not treat me well."

  Next to her, Zheng Shi patted her already bulging belly and teased her, saying: "Hey, it seems that our Junniang will be a shrew in the future, and our young master will be miserable."

  Lin Yanhong's face turned red as she glared at Zheng Shi and said with a mix of annoyance and shyness, "Third sister-in-law, you're teasing me."

  The old lady Zhuang looked at him and smiled happily.

  Lin Yan turned her head back, and with a smile, she said to Old Lady Zhuang: "Let's not bother with them. We were just discussing something. Ah yes, shoes and socks. What should I embroider on the shoe surface? What pattern should I embroider on the socks? Should it be twining flowers, or peony flowers? Or would paeonia be more auspicious?"

  "Everything is fine, everything is fine. My dear daughter-in-law made them with her own hands, and they like whatever she embroiders."

  Lin Xuan thought for half a day but couldn't make up her mind, thinking that this was good but soon rejecting it, and then sighed in distress, saying: "Getting married is really troublesome." As she spoke, she looked up at Old Lady Zhuang and asked: "Old lady, what pattern did you embroider on the shoes and socks for your parents-in-law when you got married?"

  Madam Zhuang said: "I didn't have such good fortune as you, when I got married, my father-in-law was just a mountain bandit leader, he himself didn't even know who his parents were, nor did he know what his surname was. The surname 'Lin' was given by Old Master Guo after he followed him. After Lin'er was born, she also took my surname. I didn't have the chance to make shoes and socks for my in-laws." Then with some regret, she said: "It's a pity that my good embroidery skills were wasted."

  Lin Yan's interest was piqued, and she shifted her posture, looking up at Old Lady Zhuang and asking: "Old Lady, how did you meet Master back then? According to what you said, you were the daughter of a wealthy merchant family in Jiangnan, while Master was just a bandit from the grasslands. You didn't have any opportunities to interact with each other, so how did you end up marrying Master?"

  The Zheng and Cheng families suddenly became interested, and they all walked to the side of Old Lady Zhuang, preparing to listen to this extraordinary and extremely tragic story.

  The old lady moved her body slightly, her eyes looking out the window, but her gaze seemed a bit distant, as if recalling that past event. After a moment of silence, a very faint smile appeared on her face, and she said: "It wasn't my intention to marry him back then, it was he who took me away..."

  Lin Yan and Zheng Shi were shocked, exclaiming "Ah!" in unison, their faces filled with incredulous expressions.

  Lin Di lowered her head and smiled slightly, looking at the chestnuts roasting in the brazier.

  This story about her maternal grandparents was something Lin Dai had heard from Zhuang Shi before.

  At that time, my paternal grandmother had been engaged to a family, although the two were not childhood sweethearts, but the two families were also considered to be in good relations. My paternal grandmother was a merchant's daughter, beautiful and elegant, while the man was the son of a rural gentry, young and promising, and had passed the imperial examination at a young age, making them a well-matched couple.

  When the grandmother was eighteen years old, the two families set a wedding date. The groom went to welcome his bride, but something happened on the way - they encountered mountain bandits who robbed them.

  The groom official saw the mountain bandits and thought that saving his life was important, he didn't care about the money anymore, and fled with his guards, leaving the bride behind.

  At that time, Lin Yue, the leader of the mountain stronghold and Lin Huan's great-grandfather, looked at the group of people who were scared away like birds and beasts, and he also felt a toothache. He originally just wanted to rob some silver money and didn't plan to hurt anyone, but before he could even give an order, one by one they were scared off, fleeing in all directions with their pants wet, and it really didn't show off his abilities.

  Then he saw the old lady of the village, who had been left behind, wearing a wedding dress and trembling with fear. He thought to himself that he was also at an age where he could marry and have children, so he decided to take this beautiful bride back home as his own wife. It would be a good deal, after all, she was already dressed in her wedding attire, they could just head straight for the bridal chamber.

  Although Mrs. Zhuang was raised in a boudoir, she was also a fierce woman. She was brought back to the mountain stronghold and tied up, forced to marry Lin Yue. On their wedding night, in the bridal chamber, she held a dagger against her own neck and said bluntly: "If you dare touch me, then touch my corpse."

  At that time, Lin Yue was also young and vigorous, thinking that he didn't believe in evil, and didn't believe that even a little girl couldn't be conquered, he had to make her willingly stay here as his mountain bandit wife.

  That night Lin Yue left the bridal chamber, but starting from the next day he launched a gentle pursuit attack on Zhuang Lao Furen.

  She was just a young lady from a wealthy family, how could she possibly fall for a bandit, being trapped in the mountain stronghold, feeling that her life was already over, spending her days crying and feeling depressed.

  Lin Yue had always been with a group of men and hadn't seen many women. Now there was a woman who appeared before him every day, with beautiful looks, slender figure, gentle temperament, and good upbringing that was different from his own crudeness.

  Lin Yue originally wanted to move Mrs. Zhuang's heart, but unexpectedly ended up moving his own heart instead.