When I returned to Zhuangzi, it was already the fourth watch. Although she often comes out at night, it is the first time that Linglong has returned so late. Walking the mountain road is really time-consuming and laborious.

The rhombic window was not closed, and Linglong lifted the curtain of Xiangfei bamboo from the outside and quietly jumped in. Xingyu was napping in front of the window, and the soles of Zhengna's shoes in her hands fell to the ground.

Linglong smiled and stabbed her, she was startled, woke up suddenly, and saw that it was the young lady who came back, and breathed a sigh of relief: "My good young lady, why did you come back?" ”

"It's cool outside, I've been delaying for a while, you can go to sleep." Linglong locked her pockets in the cage and took off her nightwalk coat covered with dirt.

Xingyu went out, brought a kettle from the small charcoal stove outside, and added hot water to the mahogany gold-painted bathtub that had been prepared long ago.

"There is not much hot water, it's a little cold, you wipe the sweat a little, and I'll go to the stove at dawn to ask for hot water for you to wash."

Linglong smiled: "I know, you go to sleep, nagging like a little old lady." ”

Xingyu reluctantly left, and when she left, she didn't forget to sprinkle a handful of dried jasmine into the barrel.

Linglong rinsed up briefly, fell asleep, she was really tired tonight. But she didn't sleep well, and she had a terrible dream.

It was a man, a man whose face was covered with mulberry paper, which had been solidified by water to form a thick paper shell, and she trembled with her hands to uncover the paper shell, revealing the baby's pale little face.

She wanted to take the baby into her arms, but was snatched away by a pair of hands, and she chased it out, and saw the baby's small body, floating in the pool.

It was the pond of Rong Garden, and there were purple and red water lilies blooming on the water, and the baby's young body, like these water lilies, floated there quietly, and he could never grow up, and he would never know the joys and sorrows of this world.

Linglong woke up screaming, her face covered in sweat, and there were a bunch of people guarding the bedside, and she heard Linlang's voice: "Amitabha, finally woke up." ”

She struggled to sit up, but Xingyu hurriedly supported her, and put a blue miscellaneous cirrus dark satin cushion behind her to make her more comfortable.

"What's the matter, why are you here, Fourth Sister?"

Linlang wiped the sweat beads on her forehead with a handkerchief, and smoothed the plain satin summer quilt for her, and then said: "You have been burning for two days, and it is not easy for the fever to subside." ”

Run a fever?

"Am I sick?" Linglong was surprised, she felt like she had just slept and had a bad dream.

"It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let you bathe in cold water, I should have boiled another pot of hot water." Xingyu's eyes were dark, obviously she hadn't slept well in the past two days, and her eyes were red again when she spoke.

Linglong secretly said why her body was so delicate, the weather was hot, and she just washed her body with slightly cooler water and fell ill.

She hurriedly shouted: "Okay, no one is to blame, it's my own business, I'm hungry, hurry up and bring some food." ”

Huancui and Qinfei wiped her face with a basin and a hot towel, and rinsed her mouth with fragrant tea, Linglong wanted to get out of bed, but Linlang didn't agree, let her stay in bed and rest.

Wang's second daughter-in-law cooked a blue stem rice porridge and brought it over, Linglong drank a bowl, and was pulled by Linlang to lie on the bed for a while, she was worried about her mother, as soon as Linlang left, she immediately jumped up, changed into a homely moon-white tasseled plain satin jacket, jade-colored thread-picking skirt, slept fluffy hair re-combed, tied a double screw bun, looked in the mirror, a little face was a little pale, but it was not reduced.

She asked Xingyu: "Mother is okay these two days?" Did the third brother come to greet her? ”

Xingyu pouted: "How can the third master come, but the second master of the Xu family heard that the eldest lady was also in Zhuangzi, so he came with the other two masters to ask for peace, but he was stopped by the third master outside the courtyard, saying that the fifth lady also lives here, and it is not good to meet the foreign man accidentally, so he refused all the three masters." He knew that Miss Fifth was sick, and he wouldn't go out of the house to meet a foreign man, obviously he didn't want people to know that the eldest lady was sick. ”

Linglong sighed, she had already guessed that Jin Zifeng would do this, but there was nothing to be angry about.

"Third brother knows I'm sick?"

"On that day, the young lady wiped her body and fell asleep, and she didn't wake up until the third pole of the day, and the fourth lady came to find the fifth lady, and the maid called you to get up, only to see that your face was burned and red. The fourth lady immediately asked Xiu'er to go to the front yard to sue the third master, but the third master did not delay, and asked Jin Shun to invite Lang Zhong to the town and prescribe a prescription for the fifth lady. In the past two days, people have come to ask about Miss Five's condition every day, and the maid thinks that the third master is much better to Miss Fifth than the eldest wife. By the way, there was no one to serve around the second master of the Xu family, so he came to ask himself, and he was outside the courtyard, so that Liu Zhu met him. ”

Linglong and Xingyu were talking, and then they went out of the west wing, but they saw that the east wing where the Feng family lived had an open door, and the embroidered door curtain of fine-grained bamboo cloth was hooked, and there was no one inside.

The two of them left the hall and came to the courtyard, but they didn't see Feng and Dai Pozi in the four corners, and even the wisteria trellises that Feng liked were empty.

Linglong's heart sank, should the mother-in-law take advantage of her illness to poison her mother.

But this thought is just a flash, the mother-in-law won't, she doesn't dare, Song Xiuzhu won't be so reckless, if the mother-in-law can really say this, there is no need to wait until now.

Thinking so, she and Xingyu went separately to look for it, but at this moment, she saw the Dai Po Zi carrying a big kettle and walking in from outside, obviously going to the stove to get water.

"Substitute mother, what about my mother?" Linglong asked.

Dai Pozi was shocked: "The eldest lady was still asleep when the slave went out, is this time gone?" ”

At this moment, I saw Xingyu running over, making a silent gesture, and pointing over there, but saw a figure in an indigo dress faintly visible behind a holly tree, and the figure looked very short, as if sitting on the ground.

It's a rabbit nest.

Linglong tiptoed over, and saw her mother Feng sitting cross-legged on the ground of the green bricks, holding the little white rabbit in her arms, patting gently, her mouth seemed to be humming a nursery rhyme, the song was inaudible, occasionally one or two sentences floated out, Linglong's eyes were moist, this is what her mother often sang when she was young.

Feng's face was serene, immersed in his own world, Linglong walked lightly to her mother's side, sat next to her on the ground, Linglong rested her head on her mother's shoulder, Feng's figure was tall, Linglong was twelve years old and had just reached her shoulder.

Feng finally realized that Linglong was by his side, and her face was a kind smile: "Sister Long, you see how well-behaved Brother Wei is, he will be quiet when he grows up, like your father." ”

Brother Wei is the nickname of his younger brother, and as soon as he landed, his father named his second son, Jin Ziwei.

Linglong's nose was sour, and she didn't have much of an impression of her younger brother who died young, and she was only four years old at the time. But the mother has never forgotten the little son who was thrown into the pool by his own hands and drowned.

Feng even forgot that she was Feng Wanrong, but she still didn't forget her son.

Linglong remembered that terrible dream, thinking about it day and night. It wasn't a dream, it was the truth she guessed!