Pampered Consort of the Fragrant Orchard

After two days, Du Kexin also came of age. To keep up appearances, Du Xiaoli had Xia Yuan send over a gift and she went for a walk during dinner.

On the tenth day of the first month, Du Xiaoli made a table of delicious food for Niu Jing, so he could eat a beautiful, fulfilling meal before his departure.

On the morning of the eleventh day, she accompanied Niu Jing to the city gate.

“Little Junior Sister, I’ll go wait for you at the Medicine King’s Valley. You’d better come sooner rather than later, don’t come after I die,” Niu Jing said.

“Blah blah blah, you’re saying such nonsense again.” Du Xiaoli waved him off, saying, “Don’t worry I’ll come visit you all in the Medicine King’s Valley next year.”

“It’s a deal, I’ll go back and tell master!” Niu Jing said.

“Tell him, tell him.” Du Xiaoli swept a glance at him before taking the bag in Xia Yuan’s hand and handing it to Tong Tong, “There are some pastries inside here that I prepared for you guys to eat along the way. I also had Blacksmith Wang make a burner for you guys. You can put charcoal fire into it and put it in your carriage to keep you all warm, but make sure you don’t burn the carriage down.”

Xia Yuan and Ying Ge brought the stove from Du Xiaoli’s carriage to Niu Jing’s carriage, also preparing a batch of charcoal.

Niu Jing listened to Du Xiaoli advising him on all of this and could tell that she had put great thought in for him. He warmly patted her shoulder with gratitude before turning around to get on his carriage.

Although he did not have a son or daughter in this life, the blessings from his last life must have gone towards having a little sister like Du Xiaoli.

The driver lashed the whip and the carriage gradually began to move. Niu Jing peeked out of the rear window and saw Du Xiaoli waving at him, making him recall the girl carrying the rabbit outside a courtyard in a distant mountain village.

“Grandpa Niu, are you home?”

“I caught this yesterday when I went into the mountains. Big Brother said mountain rabbits taste good so I especially brought half of one over for Grandpa Niu. While I’m at it, I was told to pay back the medicine bill I owe you.”

From then on, that little, little girl became like a relative to him.

“Miss, let’s return. Looking at this weather, it seems it will snow heavily soon.” Seeing, Du XIaoli dazedly watching Niu Jing’s carriage, Xia Yuan urged her.

Du Xiaoli gazed up at the sky, and it did seem to foreshadow snow, so she said: “Let’s return.”

In the afternoon, the snow fell like goose feathers. This was the heaviest snow she had ever seen in the world, and the ground was quickly blanketed with a thick layer of snow. By the time dinner was served, the snow on the ground rose up farther than the tops of her shoes.

Du Xiaoli had Xia Yuan simmer a pot of wine and prepare a few small dishes. Then, by herself, carried them to Du Xiuheng’s courtyard.

“Miss.” Xi Gu greeted, seeing Du Xiaoli.

“Where’s Big Brother?” Du Xiaoli asked.

“Young Master is in the study,” Xi Gu answered.

Du Xiaoli carried the food and wine to the study and found Du Xiuheng still studying. Last time the Emperor had rewarded her with the Night Pearl and she had given it to Du Xiuheng as a light. Although it wasn’t as bright as a lightbulb in modern times, coupled with candle flames, it still improved the lighting in the room significantly.

“Little Sister.” Du Xiuheng heard her voice and set his book down.

“I don’t have anything to do, so I had a few small dishes made and came here to drink a little bit with you,” Du Xiaoli placed the tray down.

“Great!” Du Xiuheng agreed readily and put all the books on his desk away on the bookshelf behind him.

Du Xiaoli brought out the dishes and arranged them on the table. Pushing the tray aside, she poured both of them a cup of wine.

“Today, Eldest Senior Brother left the capital and returned to the Medicine King’s Valley.” Du Xiaoli spoke first.

“He left? I actually didn’t even know and didn’t see him off.” Du Xiuheng said with a trace of chagrin.

“Eldest Senior Brother said you have to study for your exams, so not to disturb you.” Du Xiaoli drank the wine, and a fiery taste rushed down her throat and into her body.

Du Xiuheng also picked up his wine cup, downing it in one gulp.

“Big Brother, do you still remember the first time it snowed after I came to this world?” Du Xiaoli asked.

“I remember, it just happened to be on New Year’s day and it snowed so little but you were still so excited.” Du Xiuheng reminisced on that year, and smiled as he recalled Du Xiaoli’s excitement over the snow.

“Where I lived previously, I rarely saw snow, but I travelled everywhere and saw several heavy snowstorms. Mm, some of them were even heavier than this snow today,” Du Xiaoli said.

“You seem to love snow a lot?” Du Xiuheng observed. When she had been in the Du Manor before, it rarely snowed. In total, there were only three or four instances of snow, each very light, but she had been overjoyed every single time.

“Yes.” Du Xiaoli rose and went to the window, opening it and allowing a gust of cold air to suddenly burst in, making the warm study instantly colder. Observing the snow in the courtyard, Du Xiaoli leaned against the window and said, “I love the snow. I love to see the snow pile up, covering the dirty world and hiding the things I down’t want to see. I can still see my footprints where I came in.”

Winter used to be her favorite time of year. Back then she had just been starting out, and her target was a character in the northeast. She shot him in the head and he had collapsed on the side of that desolate street, spattering blood everywhere. The snow had been heavy that day, and after she returned from slowly eating a meal nearby, the body had already been carried away. The thick snow covered the entire street and those spatters of bright red blood, as if nothing had ever happened.

From that day onward, she had fallen in love with the snow, she had fallen in love with the way it camouflaged the world.

But she was very clear what a dirty world lay beneath that pristine, white snow.

“Little Sister, you shouldn’t stand by the window. The weather is so chilly now, be careful of catching a cold.” With heartache, Du Xiuheng gazed at the melancholy and desolation emanating from Du Xiaoli’s body.

He did not know what kind of things she had experienced in her previous life, but he knew it was not as simple as the way she described it. The murderous aura she occasionally revealed and the occasional sorrow lingering in her body all suggested to him that her previous life was complicated and tangled. But he wouldn’t inquire too much, because he knew that his sister was the girl in their present life, not her past life.

MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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