The dark, damp death row struck with the smell of decay, and the shallow moonlight gave the last glimmer of light to the desperate cage through the narrow skylight. A thin figure huddled in a corner, the chill of late autumn made her shiver in only a thin prison suit, and the sparse thatch on the ground became her only remaining protection from the cold. The turbid air robbed her of her sobriety, and she had no time to care about the embarrassment of her situation, and only one question was repeated in her mind: Who blamed me for the sin?

Perhaps Ning Yue's happiness has long since dissipated with her mother's departure......

On a rainy night, the moon was dark, the wind was cold, and the icy rain dripped from the cracks in the incomplete rubble onto the floor of the room, converging into several puddles of water of various sizes, and the bitter wind swept through the holes in the paper windows to sweep the only trace of warmth in the room. In the tattered and swaying gauze tent, a pair of calloused and rough hands trembled but used all their strength to hold another pair of small hands that were also full of calluses but white as frost, and the flickering candlelight reflected the face of thirty years old but whose face was already engraved with traces of hard work.

"Yue'er, ahem...... Don't blame your dad, love can't be forced...... At least he gave me a lovely daughter, as long as you live well and be happy, it will be the greatest reward for me...... Ahem......"

Two lines of crystal tears on the snow-white face couldn't help but slide, and the voice was already choked, "Woo...... Mother, don't talk, rest well, it'll be fine......"

Three months ago, the doctor told Ning Yue that her mother had always been frail, and with the addition of old diseases, she might not be able to survive this winter. "Doctor, please save her, no matter what medicine you want, I will find a way to raise money to buy it." Ning Yue cried urgently, hurriedly knelt in front of the doctor, kowtowed a few times, she knew that she was just a little maid in the Shangshu Mansion, and the meager salary was not enough to buy good medicinal materials for her mother to treat her illness, but it was a matter of life, and there was no other way. "The medicine stone has no spirit...... The old man can only prescribe a prescription for her to make up for the deficiency, and how long she can last depends on the destiny of heaven. "I just beg you not to tell me the truth about my mother...... The doctor shook his head and walked away slowly, leaving Ning Yue alone still on his knees on the ground, his eyes full of desolation.

In the past three months, Ning Yue has been taking the prescription prescribed by the doctor every day for her mother, although it has not improved, but it is still fine. In recent days, it has begun to be windy and rainy, the mother and daughter's room is dilapidated and disrepaired, very cold, I wanted to steal some firewood from the kitchen and burn it in the room to make the mother's sickbed warmer, but the eldest lady of Shangshufu deliberately made it difficult, and finally could not do it. Later, my mother's illness began to worsen, and tonight my mother knew that she had reached the time of returning to heaven, hoping to take advantage of her strength to tell Ning Yue Wanmo to have a grudge against the people in the house.

"Yue'er, don't hate them, ahem...... Your father and I have different identities, and I understand that they don't want to give me a name, but you are obviously a daughter but you can only be a maid, ahem...... Mother, I'm sorry for you......" Mother looked at Ning Yue's childish face with tears in her eyes, full of guilt and reluctance.

"Mother, don't say that, Yue'er is very good, you love me so much, I am much happier than the young masters and ladies in the house. Okay, don't talk about it, can you have a good rest? Ning Yue broke free of her mother's hand and covered her with the quilt again. Is it warm? "Well, it's warm, Yue'er come in quickly, don't freeze." Ning Yue gently got into the quilt, touched her mother's not warm body, couldn't help but have a sour nose, tears silently stayed, such a cold day, only a thin quilt was distributed to our mother and daughter, why did the eldest lady embarrass us so much.

The cold hit people, Ning Yue pretended to be calm even if she was shivering with cold, and she didn't want to disturb her mother's sleep, so she didn't sleep until the fourth watch.

Fifth watch, Ning Yue got up as usual to start the day's work, she gently got up from the narrow wooden bed, habitually looked back to see if the mother on the bed was okay, and left with confidence, however, the excessive silence of the person on the bed attracted Ning Yue's attention, she reached out to stroke the mother's face, but felt unusually cold, no breath. "Mother! Don't leave Yue'er behind! Woo woo ......" A mournful cry pierced the silent dawn and alarmed the entire Shangshu Mansion.

"What's going on!" The eldest lady who was awakened angrily called her personal maid Qinghe, "Go and arrest that evil slave who disturbs people's dreams!" "Yes, the slave and maid will go at once." Qinghe bowed and hurriedly walked in the direction of the cry. "I'm afraid it's Yue'er's mother...... Ning Zhenhai, the Shangshu Lord beside the eldest lady, looked at the slowing wind and rain outside, revealing a trace of amazement.

"Second lady, don't get out of bed, let the slave go and see what happened." Fang Tao saw that the second lady was about to get up, so she hurriedly stepped forward to help. "Go and take a look, if the eldest lady wants to punish Yue'er, come back and tell me, if it's okay, I'll deal with it tomorrow." The second lady said slowly.

The two thousand Jin Ningxue of Shangshu Mansion also woke up from her sleep with a cry, and she was only thirteen years old and didn't know too much about the situation in the house, so under the comfort of her personal maid Yumei, she re-entered the dream.

Qinghe rushed to the small room where Ning Yue's mother and daughter lived, and saw Ning Yue kneeling beside the bed, already crying, "The eldest lady asked you to go over." "Although I couldn't bear this twelve-year-old girl, I had no choice but to obey the order, so I went to pull Ning Yue up." No! Sister Qinghe, please, don't force me to leave my mother, woo woo......" Ning Yue broke free of Qinghe's hand and lay on her mother's body, crying bitterly. "Xiaoyue, the eldest lady is looking for you, go over quickly, otherwise you will be punished again...... It's not a way for you to stay next to your mother like this, so let's go and see what the master is going to do. Ning Yue only thought when she heard the words, and now she can only rely on the master to settle her mother properly. She got up slowly, rubbed her eyes misty with tears, and looked at her mother reluctantly, "Sister Qinghe, I'll go with you to see the master and the eldest lady." ”

"It's only five watches, what kind of system is the loud noise!" The eldest lady glared at Ning Yue fiercely and said sharply. followed Qinghe to the living room of the eldest lady's room, where the lord and the eldest lady were already dressed and were sitting on it. The living room is richly decorated, the windows are hung with delicate embroidered silk cloth to protect from the wind, several wooden shelves are furnished with all kinds of antiques, the tables and chairs are made of the best wood with excellent carving, the charcoal stove is burning brightly, the incense burner wafts out of the incense burner, and the carpet on the floor is thick and soft to step on. The warmth and comfort of the room made Ning Yue's eyes misty with tears again, the old man was willing to use one-ten-thousandth of these as a caregiver for his mother, why should she do this! "Yue'er, don't blame your father......" Mother's last words sounded in my ears, Mother, I will be obedient!

Ning Yue bowed to the two of them, and said in a choked voice, "Master, eldest lady, my mother...... My mother passed away...... Woo woo...... "I wanted to ask Ning Zhenhai to settle my mother properly, but before I said a word, two lines of tears couldn't flow out of my own eyes." The eldest lady was not moved after hearing this, only glanced at Ning Zhenhai and did not say much. "Hey, I know, let the housekeeper arrange it tomorrow and bury her." Ning Zhenhai looked at Ning Yue, who was crying silently, and suddenly felt unbearable, and waved his hand, "Tomorrow, you will take care of the burial with the housekeeper, and others will help take over other things for a day." Well, everyone is also disturbed, hurry back and have a good rest. Ning Zhenhai got up, glanced at the eldest lady beside him, and motioned for him not to blame Ning Yue again. Thank you, master......" Ning Yue bowed again, tears flowed endlessly, the master was unwilling to send his mother on the last journey!