“This is my mother.”
Jiang Xingyan looked at the portrait, recalling when she was young. Seeing other children had mothers and fathers, she had also run home to ask her grandfather.
“Grandfather, why doesn’t Yanyan have a mother or father?”
Her grandfather dismissed everyone, took her to the study, and slowly unrolled scroll after scroll for her to see.
“This is your grandmother. The one she holds in her arms is my daughter, your mother. You must remember, her name is Jiang Feiwan. She is the person in this world who loves you the most. More than your grandfather.”
The young Jiang Xingyan stared blankly at her mother, growing scroll by scroll from an infant into a young woman who had just reached marriageable age.
Her countenance was bright and captivating, her bearing elegantly peerless.
She was always smiling, making anyone who looked at the painting smile along with her involuntarily.
“Mother is so beautiful! Just like a fairy from the stories.”
It wasn’t until one painting abruptly featured a man standing beside her.
That man’s face was exceptionally handsome, without a single flaw. Especially those mesmerizing phoenix eyes, their gaze deep, burning one’s heart with a fiery warmth.
In that painting, Jiang Feiwan had completely shed the innocence and immaturity of a young girl, becoming charming and alluring.
Her cheeks were tinged with shy pink, her eyes brimming with love so full it seemed about to overflow.
The man looked at her with tender affection, a genuine heartache in his gaze.
The two were a match made in heaven, a pair that should envy neither lovebirds nor immortals.
But after that painting, the man never appeared again.
In the scenes that followed, only Jiang Feiwan remained.
A look of lovesick worry replaced her smile, a sight that pained the heart.
Gradually, her belly swelled, and her face regained hope and longing.
The image of her holding newly made baby clothes, her face full of maternal love, was deeply imprinted in Jiang Xingyan’s memory.
After having her daughter, Jiang Feiwan couldn’t bear to put her down.
Even through a thin sheet of paper, one could feel the weight of her profound maternal love.
Holding her in her arms to lull her to sleep, nuzzling her little face with her nose, catching fireflies with her tiny hand, both of them hugging a piece of watermelon to munch on—
When she was little, she didn’t understand. Looking back after growing up, she could see Jiang Xingyan growing day by day, while Jiang Feiwan grew thinner with each passing day.
Until after her second birthday, the monthly portraits no longer featured Jiang Feiwan, only her grandfather.
Jiang Haiji, eyes red, sighed. “Wanwan was frail since childhood. To stay with Yanyan as she grew, she had already held on for far too long. Yanyan, don’t blame her.”
How could Jiang Xingyan blame her mother?
She only blamed herself, wondering why she didn’t grow up faster, if she had drained her mother’s vitality.
From then on, whenever she missed her mother, she would take out the portraits and carefully study the features of the woman in the paintings.
Imagining that if her mother were still alive, she would surely hold her, lull her to sleep, call her Yanyan.
Her grandfather had instructed that these scrolls were not to be shown to anyone.
Not even Yun Chunfeng had seen them.
Jiang Xingyan hadn’t told Li Yishu either, so by a fortunate coincidence, they were all preserved.
A blessing amidst misfortune.
As for her father, Jiang Xingyan simply considered him dead.
If he wasn’t dead and she found him, she would end his life with a single stroke of her blade.
The first time she saw Shangguan Luoyue today, Jiang Xingyan had been stunned.
Her appearance was so similar to her mother just after reaching marriageable age.
Only she lacked that air of cool, refined talent and held an indescribable depth instead.
Because of this, she was worlds apart from Jiang Feiwan.
“She resembles Mother so much and is enfeoffed as Princess Huaiwan. It’s all too coincidental.”
Jiang Xingyan carefully put away the scroll.
Yun Chunfeng had already clasped his hands behind his back and began divining using Plum Blossom Six Ren.
He had barely started when Jiang Xingyan used the scroll to knock his hand away.
“I didn’t have time to settle accounts with you in the carriage earlier, and now you’re divining again? Oh, I see. Brother Yun is now the State Preceptor, so this Young Lady’s words don’t carry much weight anymore, is that it?”
Yun Chunfeng hurriedly stopped, lowering his eyes, his tone timid. “Young Lady, Brother Yun knows he was wrong.”
He picked up a granite paperweight from the table, holding it out respectfully. “Don’t damage the scroll. If the Young Lady is still upset, use this to teach Brother Yun a lesson.”
Jiang Xingyan was both angry and amused, feeling an inexplicable surge of shyness. She chided him, “Hmph, such smooth talk! What kind of behavior is that!”
Yun Chunfeng, like a child caught misbehaving, lowered his head and mumbled, “Brother Yun just didn’t want the Young Lady to worry. Things Brother Yun can handle shouldn’t make the Young Lady exert herself. Brother Yun couldn’t bear it.”
Jiang Xingyan sighed helplessly.
She remembered the words she had wanted to say to Brother Yun in last night’s dream, words she hadn’t had time to say before he angered her awake.
She composed her expression, turning utterly serious. “Brother Yun, you must remember. In front of me, Brother Yun can be anyone, say anything, do anything. I’m not that cowardly.”
Yun Chunfeng’s heart trembled violently. He looked up sharply at Jiang Xingyan, tears welling uncontrollably in his eyes.
Jiang Xingyan felt a pang of heartache. It was a pity it was still daytime; they had to endure. She enunciated each word clearly, stating her feelings:
“You don’t need to consider everything thoroughly for me. Believe that your Young Lady certainly has the ability to cope. Most importantly, don’t harm yourself. Didn’t Brother Yun promise to accompany me for a lifetime?”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The little deer in Yun Chunfeng’s heart almost burst through his chest and leaped out.
His whole body trembled slightly.
What virtue did he possess to receive such deep affection from the Young Lady?
Hot tears rolled down his cheeks involuntarily. “Young Lady, Brother Yun is overwhelmed—”
Crash!
The sound of a flowerpot shattering came from outside the door.
Before Jiang Xingyan could shout a question, the urgent voice of a young maid came through. “Miss! What’s wrong with you?”