As for where Mulberry and Mu Yun had gone to, this pair of siblings did not even pay attention to them.
On this cold winter night, the two siblings were trembling as they snuggled together to keep each other warm.
Mu Fengchai always liked to wear pink dresses because, unbeknownst to anyone, she had such a complex feeling in her heart.
When she was young, the first beautiful long cotton-padded jacket she received was personally made for her by Mu Rousang, her beloved cousin.
Who would have thought that at such a young age, she would already know how to be envious?
In that case, whenever her elder sister came back from her aunt's house, she would always show off her pretty dress to her.
Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought that the first clothes she would receive would be the new year festival gift from her cousin.
At the hem of the pink cotton robe, there were a few cute and silly white jade rabbits embroidered with gold threads. They were extremely cute and adorable.
Later, when she went out to scour the house during the new year, she found out that those white rabbits were actually carried with real rabbit skin.
At that time, Qin Taohua stretched out her little finger with a face full of envy, and fiercely poked her forehead, chattering non-stop: "Only if you are her little sister would she be so willing to waste it."
At that time, Mu Fengchai was only about four years old. She only knew that she had been extremely happy that New Year's Eve, because she had a beautiful, long, cotton-padded jacket that everyone admired, making her the prettiest outfit in her memories.
So many years later, when she was too old to wear a pink dress, she still loved the pink material.
At that time, she had already been in the palace for several years, and no one knew what kind of mood she was in as a palace maid or a eunuch. She had a daughter, and most of the dresses she made for her daughter were sweet and pink like this.
Although Mu Yiyang had pacified Mu Fengchai that day, she still hated his parents from the bottom of his heart. And because of his useless father, ever since he had gotten along with Widow Li in the village, there had been no peace in this house.
The two of them competed in the Martial Competition at home all day, and they sparred with each other every so often.
She was only four years old, but after experiencing this, her mind gradually grew.
Once, when she was playing in the village, she heard the old man talk about his neighbors. He said that his stepmother had treated her family's child badly, but that child was a monkey who would cry and feel wronged.
Right now, her stepmother couldn't even hold her in her arms, so she had to wait and see how she lived.
Only those who cried would have milk to eat!
Mu Fengchai pondered for a long time. After that, when her parents fight, she became more obedient and good, as this move was useless in front of Mu Yun. Even though she was sometimes slow, but when she was in front of her brother Mu Yiyang, she knew that everything was normal.
As a result, whenever Mulberry and Mu Yun fought, she would always hide far away. When her brother returned, she wailed loudly, it was like she was wronged!
She had always wanted to get rid of this pair of heartless parents, and the only place that could accept her was at her cousin's home.
Of course, at that time, she didn't know what scheming was. She had a feeling that if she went to her cousin's house, she would be better off than she was now.
At least, her parents wouldn't casually beat her up when they were arguing.
She didn't want to be beaten again, so she wanted to go to her cousin's house.
She liked her soft-spoken cousin, though she didn't seem to like her much.
However, her brother Mu Yiyang had said that she did the wrong thing, which was why her cousin was unhappy.
She did not understand what she had done wrong.
She wanted to go and stay at her cousin's house to get her cousin's love. She wanted her cousin to love her too, just like how she loved Qin Taohua.
Finally, she found a chance.
For some reason, one day, his father, his elder cousin, and his elder brother were once again in an argument. From the look of his elder brother's angry expression, it seemed as if his father had done something wrong.
However, she couldn't understand their words.
She was scared. Somehow, she felt like this was an opportunity.
It was really a subconscious feeling.
She, who had been frightened, cried out loud, drawing Mu Yun's dislike. He gave her two backhanded slaps, and her skinny little face instantly became swollen like a bun, like a fat version of a doll.
Mu Fengchai's head was spinning and her cheeks were burning up. She was crying so hard that her heart was splitting apart and she didn't want to stay in this house anymore.
"Wuu, wuu, I will be beaten to death, I will be beaten to death."
She did not know what was called bitter days, but she knew that her father had never liked her. When he was unhappy, he would beat her up.
She liked this cousin, wanted her to love her, wanted to be her own sister, the kind that was better than even sister Peach Blossom.
She did not deny that she was very jealous of her fellow village member, Qin Taohua.
However, due to Mu Yun's mistake, he was being beaten until his head was spinning and he did not have the time to care about.
Standing at the door, Mu Rousang, who was hiding far away, glanced at her.
Mu Fengchai hated her mother at times. Just like now, when both she and her brother had clearly been beaten up, in her mother's eyes, there would always be only this brother.
Fortunately, her brother treated her well.
In the end, because the day that their family's matter had turned over the sky, Mu Fengchai was brought back to their home as per his wish.
Many years later, she was already a concubine in the palace. At that time, she often thought how insensible she must have been when she was young, to have such a mother who didn't even tune herself out, and she actually didn't grow crooked, she really did burn incense.
's teachings were carved into her bones. When she first entered the palace, she was looked down upon by others, and they all laughed at her for being an ignorant countryside bumpkin!
After entering the palace for a long time, surprise appeared in their eyes from time to time. Mu Fengchai was deeply grateful to the heavens for showing mercy, allowing her to not live her life in vain.
She was also grateful to Widow Li. If it weren't for her urging her father on, she would have sold herself to a rich family and become a little girl.
It was unknown how long it would take before her relationship with her cousin truly improved.
Until her death, she had been able to straighten her back, and whenever she saw someone, she would say that she had a good cousin. Thus, even though she was born from a country bumpkin, she was still doted on by her cousin.
She had always thought about him and was grateful to her cousin.
Just like her entering the palace, everyone thought that she had fallen for Su Ruirui, the handsome emperor.
However, from the words of her cousin, she could tell that the duke's manor was as deep as the ocean. The palace was the biggest and most prosperous place in the Great Zhou, and was also where many of the beauties of the world resided.
Thus, at that time, she had followed her cousin's teachings and only thought of finding a suitable scholar to marry in the future, having children, and living a normal life.
However, she couldn't be like this in this world.
In the blink of an eye, Mu Fengchai had already reached the age of eleven or twelve years old.
Before she saw him, she had thought that she would follow her cousin's instructions and continue on her path.
She loved it when no one hit her, when someone doted on her life.
Such a life should not be too comfortable.
Until that winter.
It had been a long time since Mu Rousang had come to the quiet garden of a county.
When she was received into the quiet garden, she only heard from the servants that her closest cousin was actually sick. Not only that, her body wasn't feeling well yet.
Mu Fengchai saw Mu Rousang who was so skinny that it could even be blown away by a gust of wind once again, and anxiously ran over to her, tugging at her little hand and asking: "Cousin sister, what's going on with you, quickly tell your sister, according to your brother's letter, you're sick, how could you be sick? "Look at your face, it doesn't even have three taels of meat left."
The people Mu Fengchai cared about the most were his brother, Mu Rousang and Mu Jinzhi. Just these three people.
"I'm fine, hurry up and let elder cousin see. It's been a long time since we last met, you've grown quite a bit. Right, this time I'm going to come back to stay for a while, and I've also gotten someone to make you some winter clothes."
Mu Rousang indicated for Chun Yan to come over.
If it was in the past, Mu Fengchai would definitely smile when she heard this.
At this time, she anxiously pulled on Chun Rong who was about to leave and asked again, "What happened to my cousin? How did it become like this? "
Chun Yun turned his head to look at Owner, only to see Mu Rousang sitting there, lost in thought while looking out the window.
He sighed in his heart, but the knot in his heart was difficult to resolve.
Who would have thought that once again, there would be the matter of the Young Master's wedding. The First Uncle's wife was too busy, so the Lady took the initiative to ask for some tasks so that she could share her worries. Perhaps because she was tired, her body had not been able to find peace.
Mu Fengchai did not have a deep impression of the Left Lady, and grumbled: "Then Madam Lao Shi, do you know that our cousin is not well yet?"
"You misunderstand. My aunt never wanted me to be tired, but she was so busy all day long that her feet were dizzy and her grandmother was too old to make a fuss. I was just asking for some light jobs. Okay, don't worry, I'm really fine."
Mu Rousang reached out and gently patted her shoulder.
Mu Fengchai then said: "Cousin sister, how about we go back to the small mountain village to celebrate New Year this year?"
She felt that every time her cousin went to Shu City, she would not be in a good mood.
While staying in the quiet garden for the past few days, Mu Fengchai had faintly heard a few things related to a certain Duke of Xiangyang. Furthermore, she found out that the Duke's name was Su Ruirui.
It was said that she had an imposing appearance with the demeanor of a dragon and a phoenix.
She had already reached the age of a newborn calf, and could faintly feel that there was something going on between her cousin and the prince.
Not long after, the legendary cold faced Hades came knocking on the door.
Thus, he openly appeared in the quiet garden.
That day, because she was worried about her cousin, she wanted to pick some flowers to make her cousin happy.
Ever since they had arrived at the quiet garden, Mu Rousang had frequently sat there in a daze, for the better part of the day.
Mu Fengchai felt that her cousin was suffering, but she just didn't want to tell others.
After lunch that day, she heard the little girl say that the red plums in the garden were in full bloom. She thought that the red plums looked very festive, and her cousin also liked them, so she wanted to cut a few branches and send them to her room to coax her to be happy.