When Zhou Ningyue saw Zhou's mother lying on the ground, she exclaimed: "Mom, what's wrong with you?"
She ran over quickly, her face suddenly turned pale: "Mom, are you injured? What's going on?"
Father Zhou reprimanded his daughter with a cold face: "Don't scream in the middle of the night. What will the neighbors think if they hear you?"
"But mother is injured." Zhou Ningyue lowered her voice with a cry.
Zhou's mother stood up with Zhou Ningyue's support and comforted her daughter in a warm voice: "Mom is fine, she just has some burning pain. Apply some cooling ointment and it will be fine."
Father Zhou glanced at the disturbed servants and said in a deep voice: "Chun Ya, please clean up here. The others can go back to sleep. Nothing happened."
There are not many servants in the Zhou family, including a porter, a cook, a maid, and a maid who does menial work.
Chunya was the only maid. She packed up after her master's instructions. The other three didn't dare to ask any more questions and went back to the house silently.
"Yue'er, you should go back to the house." Father Zhou looked at Zhou Ningyue who was about to cry.
Zhou Ningyue didn't move: "I'll help mother get some medicine before she goes to sleep."
"No, go to sleep." Mother Zhou stroked her daughter's hair with her uninjured hand and said in a gentle voice, "Be obedient."
Zhou Ningyue looked at her mother who was enduring the pain, then at her father who was frowning, and finally nodded and walked to the west wing.
"Go in." Father Zhou's cool voice came from the dark night.
The courtyard gradually fell silent.
Beside the firewood pile, Xin You remained motionless, feeling a turmoil in her heart.
What does the conversation between Zhou’s father and Zhou’s mother mean?
Zhou's mother said that she killed Queen Xin, and the paper money was burned for Queen Xin.
Queen Xin...Xinyou...
No matter how shocking the guess is, when all the information is put together, it will naturally surface.
Her mother seems to be the Empress Xin that Zhou’s mother talks about...
Xin You didn't care about digesting the storm of emotions, and moved lightly to the window of the main house, listening through the cover of the banana bush.
The lights in the east room were on, and the sound of a woman's breathing could be heard from time to time. It was probably Zhou's mother who was treating a burn on her hand. Other than that, there is silence.
It wasn't until a long time after the lights were turned off that the conversation between the couple started again.
"I know you feel uncomfortable, but you should also think about our family and Yue'er. No matter how uncomfortable it is, you should keep it in your heart and don't do this kind of thing again in the future."
"Zhou Tong, don't you feel guilty at all?"
Zhou's mother's emotions were not relieved by the accidental injury: "You said that the one who has not given up looking for the Queen for many years has been waiting for the Queen to come back. As a result, he sent someone to kill her. The Queen's life... If I had known this, I shouldn't have told you that the woman I met on the way to Beijing seemed to be Queen Xin..."
"What's the use of talking about this now? I'm just a small householder. How do I know that the superiors originally planned this. How can I not report such a big thing to the superiors when I learn about it? It's the one who has the murderous intention, and the one who carries out the murder. Mr. He, if you and I are making trouble, what will happen to us if there is any news?"
After saying so much in one breath, Zhou Tong softened his tone: "Susu, you just don't think about me, you also think about Yue'er. Although our family is not rich and powerful, we raised Yue'er as the apple of our eyes. Don't you I can’t bear to watch her suffer, even—”
Mother Zhou seemed to be convinced and said nothing.
Zhou Tong let out a long sigh: "Go to sleep, and forget about this matter when you get up. Our family is in the capital, and good times are yet to come."
Mother Zhou remained silent.
After that, Zhou Tong didn't speak anymore, and after a while he snored slightly.
The wind blew the banana leaves, and in addition to snoring, there seemed to be faint sobbing.
Dark clouds passed by in the sky, covering the bright moon, and the yard became pitch black.
Xin You stood up slowly, moved her numb legs, and stumbled towards the courtyard wall.
The girl who stood in the darkness and raised her head slightly realized for the first time that the wall of Zhou's courtyard was so high that she fell down after jumping up for the first time. Fortunately, she didn't make any noise.
Xinyou breathed slowly, used all her strength to mobilize her hands and feet that did not obey orders, climbed up the wall again, and jumped out.
The long street was empty, with endless darkness. The girl in black walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow, as if stepping in a mire.
After an unknown amount of time, eyes that had adapted to the darkness finally saw the outline of Qingsong Bookstore.
The sleeping bookstore was no different from other houses, but the girl with a frozen expression blinked slightly.
A lamp in the east courtyard was still on for her. Xiaolian heard the knock on the door and quickly opened the door.
"Girl -" The next words stopped abruptly when he saw Xin You's pale face, and Xiaolian looked panicked, "Girl, what's wrong with you?"
She has never seen a girl look so lost!
"Xiaolian." Xinyou called out.
"Miss, please tell me." Xiaolian felt tears in her eyes, and her palms were all sweaty in panic.
At this moment, she realized very clearly that the girl had unknowingly become her backbone and her confidence in facing various situations.
"Xiao Lian, get me some hot water. I'm a little cold and want to take a dip."
"Okay, okay, just wait."
Xiaolian quickly prepared the hot water, and Xinyou immersed herself in the large wooden bucket, only exposing her shoulders.
Xiaolian's gaze fell on her shoulder uncontrollably.
The skin on her shoulders was like snow, and the drop-shaped red birthmark was particularly vivid.
This was the basis for Xiaolian to be sure that the person in front of her was not her girl. But at this moment, looking at the girl huddled in the bathtub, she felt that she overlapped with her girl's figure.
It turns out that girls are just like ordinary girls when they are sad and helpless.
"Xiaolian, please go out, I want to stay by myself for a while."
Xiaolian hesitated to speak, and finally just said yes and silently retreated.
With only herself left in the small room, Xin You blinked gently, letting her tears fall, and fell into the hot water.
There was warmth in the limbs and bones, and the rigid mind began to slowly rotate.
She has known since she was a child that she has no father.
My mother said that her father was a poor boy. They started from scratch and built a large family business. But after her father became a rich man, he changed his mind. They promised to be a couple for life, but they actually secretly raised several outlaws. When her mother found out, they even had children.
Disappointed, her mother took her personal maid away and gave birth to her.
When she was a child, her mother once asked her if she wanted to go see her father. If she wanted to go, she would not stop her, but she refused.
She doesn't want a father like this.
Now she knows that her mother, Jingchai Buqun, is the empress, and her wealthy father is the current emperor.
Her father betrayed her mother more than ten years ago and killed her mother more than ten years later.
And Mr. He, who helped her many times and who liked to read quietly, was the knife that slashed at her mother.
What a ridiculous truth this is.
Xin You sank into the water and cried silently.
Look at the title of the book, Golden Boughs, Golden Boughs, Golden Boughs! Did you just react now? In the past few days, my child suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized. I hope that I can hold on to the manuscript. I will also try my best to use the gaps to code and strive to keep updating. The second child had a high fever a few days ago, and he barely slept for two or three nights. His biological clock seemed to be affected and he couldn't sleep until three or four o'clock every night. Now that the elder brother is hospitalized, he has started a new round of suffering. There are old people and young people, and life is filled with fixed trivial matters and various emergencies. It seems that it is because of this that I have always loved the free and pure work of coding. Thanks for meeting you.
(End of chapter)
