Lu Shi was helplessly sighing, no matter how good the rouge, gouache, balm, and jewelry could not cover up the passing years, she was suddenly touched by what she said, Lu reached out and picked up the balm on the table, opened it and smelled it.

Among the women of the noble families in Kyoto City, the most popular balm today is peony wood incense, of course, the Lu family also has it, otherwise she, the concubine of the General's Mansion who has not been supported for many years, will be laughed to death by the Xiao Zhou family of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

It's just that after Lu Shi smelled it, her eyebrows suddenly raised, as if she was thoughtful, and her eyes were a little hollow, she suddenly remembered that the aroma in the air just now was the most familiar to her, and she had often smelled that fragrance before.

Suddenly, in a muffled thunderstorm, the window was blown open by the wind, which made the distracted Lu Shi shiver.

The mother-in-law hurriedly closed the window and said, "Madam, you're not scared! Seeing this situation, it was bound to rain heavily, and at dinner in the evening, the black clouds in the sky were one by one. ”

Lu touched her chest with one hand and held the balm with the other, she didn't want to admit it, the familiar fragrance she remembered was the smell of the lady who was killed by her, but how could this be possible?

The old lady's maiden family is a special incense maker, so the balm used by the lady is all mixed by herself, just for the different taste of her body and others, Lu has also eaten vinegar, and tried every possible way to know how the balm is made, so many years have passed, where does this fragrance come from?

At this time, the first light rain outside has instantly turned into heavy raindrops, crackling down, and the wind seems to be wailing, squeezing into the window lattice, making people sound particularly uneasy.

Lying on the bed, Lu only let her mother-in-law block half of the bed curtain, she covered the quilt, and thought in her heart, today is the last day of Ling Zhiqiao's practice, and it is estimated that the little cheap hoof will not toss in this kind of weather.

Bang!

There was another burst of thunder and lightning, and the sound of the rain gradually increased, Lu couldn't help but cover his ears, maybe it was because he was thinking about things, or maybe it was this kind of rainstorm that made people want to sleep, or maybe it was too late, unconsciously, Lu fell asleep in a groggy dazed bed.

Seeing that Lu was asleep, the woman also leaned against the door and squinted, leaving only the portable lantern that she had used to guide the way just now and glowing faintly on the lantern shelf.

The rainstorm came and went quickly, and the rain stopped after half an hour, and the night after the rain seemed extraordinarily quiet outside, and only a few night bugs could be heard occasionally.

"Lu Xiaoniang"

A low, gentle voice rang out abruptly in the empty courtyard.

The unsinky Lu family who slept in the room and the mother-in-law who was squinting by the door didn't react yet.

"Lu Xiaoniang, are you there? My sister came back to see you. ”

The woman opened her eyes and wondered, how could there be people in the yard at such a late hour? She was just about to open the door when she heard Lu's voice in horror shouting in the bed curtain: "Don't open the door!" ”

The mother-in-law asked strangely: "Madam, but it seems that someone is shouting outside the door, but it is Lu Xiaoniang, but you are shouting?" ”

Lu's teeth chattered, and he shouted a little hysterically: "Don't open the door, put the door on top of the stool, you can look out from the crack in the door to see if there is anyone?" ”

Although the mother-in-law felt that the Lu family was a little excessive, since the master told her not to open the door, then she would obey and let her do whatever she wanted.

After the mother-in-law re-closed the door with a stool, she looked out of the courtyard through the crack in the door, and saw a black figure standing in the courtyard, but she couldn't see what it looked like.

This mother-in-law didn't think too much, and she wasn't afraid, because she was a mother-in-law who did chores, and she was temporarily called by her wife to keep vigil in the yard today, and besides, she didn't do anything wrong, so naturally she didn't add up so much.

The mother-in-law picked up the crack in the door, but couldn't help but ask outside the door: "Who are you?" How did you get in so late? ”

I saw that the black shadow outside the door suddenly moved, why did I say that it was moving instead of moving, because the mother-in-law saw that the black shadow seemed to float up, and moved forward very smoothly for a short distance.

Then the shadow made a voice and said, "Lu Xiaoniang is not here, then I will come to see her another day." ”

The mother-in-law has never experienced such a thing, although she doesn't believe in ghosts and gods, but it is the first time he has encountered such a situation, she swallowed her saliva, remembering that the day before yesterday, everyone heard Ling'er's corpse-like shout at night, and her heart couldn't help but start to get nervous, and even regretted why she opened her mouth just now.

Lu's face was frightened, she covered her body, even her head, and only showed half of her face and asked her mother-in-law, "What did you see?" ”

The mother-in-law was bold and looked out through the crack in the door again, but this time there was nothing in the courtyard.

The mother-in-law then returned to Lu's bedside and said, "Madam, there was a woman standing outside just now, but it was too dark outside to see her face clearly, but she said before leaving, if Lu Xiaoniang is not there, she will come back another day." ”

"Madam, who is Lu Xiaoniang? The door of the house has long been closed on this big night, how can anyone visit, and the slave and maid just saw that the person doesn't seem to be walking on his legs at all, but as if he is floating in the air, it can't be a ghost! ”

"Shut up! Say no more! Quickly extinguish the lantern, keep quiet, and keep an eye out the door. Lu Shi shook into a ball.

When the mother-in-law saw the figure, it was already the second half of the night, Lu sat on the bed and stared at her, she was not lazy to look out of the crack in the door from time to time, until her eyes were astringent, and the sky was about to light up when the fish belly was white, and they couldn't help but fall asleep.

The morning sun shone little by little, and when it shone into the courtyard after the rain, the mother-in-law also woke up, she stretched her sore waist, rubbed her eyes, stood up slowly, moved the stool, and prepared to go out to wash Lu's face.

When I opened the door, I smelled all the dirt and leaves, and the heavy rain last night seemed to wash everything clean, and as soon as the mother-in-law stepped out of the house, she was dazzled by a glowing thing on the ground in the yard.

She subconsciously covered her eyes with her hands, stepped forward, and found that it was a silver-haired hairpin, the mother-in-law glanced at the room behind her, and instinctively wanted to take the hairpin into her arms for herself, after all, there was no one in the yard at the moment.

It's just a coincidence that Ling Zhiqiao and Xiao Tao passed by the gate of the courtyard, and Xiao Tao called out to her: "Hey, what are you doing with a hairpin in the yard this morning?" As he spoke, he stepped forward and took away the hairpin in his mother-in-law's hand. ”

Not to mention that Ling Zhiqiao was behind Xiao Tao, even if Xiao Tao came by herself, the mother-in-law didn't dare to snatch the hairpin back, she knew that Mama Qin was gone, and now this little girl was a caring person next to the eldest lady, and I heard that she was still a palace maid in the palace, so her identity must be many times stronger than her old mother who did chores.

The mother-in-law hurriedly replied: "This is what the slave maid picked up in the yard, and she hasn't had time to give it to the lady yet?" ”

Ling Zhiqiao took the silver hairpin in Xiao Tao's hand, admired the sunshine, and muttered in her mouth: "Although the style of this hairpin is old, it can make a chrysanthemum out of red coral, and the craftsmanship is not to be mentioned, it is a valuable one."

She handed the silver hairpin to her mother-in-law and said, "Since I picked it up in Mrs. Lu's yard, let's go in and return it to Mrs. Lu!" ”

Seeing her mother-in-law turn around and go back to the house, Ling Zhiqiao didn't forget to tell her mother-in-law: "Tell Madame, go to the main hall to eat early, if you feel unwell, remember to tell the kitchen, I can have someone come to deliver the meal." ”

Ling Zhiqiao's deliberately raised voice was clearly heard by the Lu family, who was awake in the house, she rubbed her temples with a faint pain, and asked the mother-in-law who came in, "Why did that little cheap hoof come?" ”

The mother-in-law didn't dare to hide it: "The eldest lady should have gone to the main hall, passing by the gate of the courtyard, and saw the slave and maid picking up something before stopping, Madame gave, the eldest lady said that it was picked up in your yard, it must be yours, and said that this is very valuable." ”

The mother-in-law who wanted to hide something didn't hide it, so she could only take advantage of the situation and say it, maybe the lady was happy to reward her with something.

But who would have thought that when Lu saw the hairpin in her hand, he immediately screamed, rolled his eyes and fainted.

The mother-in-law was also startled, and hurriedly stepped forward to pinch the Lu family's people, and shouted loudly outside the house: "Madame has fainted, come quickly!" ”

Ling Zhiqiao and Xiao Tao, who hadn't left at all, heard the shouting at the gate of the courtyard, and the two of them clapped their hands excitedly, Ling Zhiqiao ordered: "Go to the main hall, see if the master is back, and then call Xiao Qinxue by the way, go quickly." ”

Xiao Tao ran towards the main hall with flowers, and shouted in a hurry: "Oh no! Madame fainted. ”

Ling Zhiqiao couldn't help laughing and then walked into Lu's room slowly, she looked towards the bed, and saw the mother-in-law kneeling beside Lu's side, panicked for a while, pinched people, and fanned with her hands, when she saw Ling Zhiqiao come in, she immediately shouted as if she had a backbone: "Miss, take a look, why is Madam dizzy?" ”

Ling Zhiqiao stepped forward and rolled Lu's eyelids first, and then took Lu's wrist, obviously she had already found out that Lu's was fine, but she still deliberately pretended to frown and touched for a while, at this time, Ling'er had already helped Xiao Qinxue, who had been a little better, into the house.

Although Xiao Qinxue was supported by Ling'er, in fact, she was fine, seeing Ling Zhiqiao there, she stepped forward and pushed away Ling Zhiqiao, who was diagnosing her pulse, and scolded in her mouth: "Use your fake mercy in this cat crying mouse." ”

Of course, Ling Zhiqiao knew that she came in, and she also knew that Xiao Qinxue must have held a grudge against her after the surprise of the previous night, with the strength of Xiao Qinxue's hand, she fell to the side, in the eyes of the mother-in-law, the second lady came down and pushed it ruthlessly.

Ling'er stepped forward and pulled away her mother-in-law, she put Lu Shi lying down, and asked Xiao Qinxue: "Miss, I'll go and ask Mrs. for a doctor!" ”

"Qiao'er can see it, what kind of doctor do you invite, don't you want to save your mother?"

Xiao Qian walked in with a calm face, and Xiao Tao, who followed behind her, immediately walked up to Ling Zhiqiao and helped her up, "Miss, does it hurt?" As he spoke, he patted Ling Zhiqiao's back long skirt.

Ling Zhi Qiao Wan'er smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay, maybe my sister is in a hurry, it's understandable." ”

"It's okay if you're fine, the old man came back late last night, what's going on?" Xiao Qian's face was gloomy and scary.

The mother-in-law hurriedly replied: "Master, it was the slave maid who picked up a silver hairpin in the yard in the morning, and showed it to Mrs., thinking that it was lost by Mrs., but Mrs. took a look at it, and fainted with a scream." ”

"What silver hairpin?" Xiao Qian wondered.

The mother-in-law hurriedly walked to the bed and rubbed around Lu's bed for a while, before she touched the red coral chrysanthemum hairpin that was thrown away by Lu at the end of the bed, and she hurriedly handed it to Xiao Qian.

Xiao Qian didn't care, but when he got closer, he was shocked, and he asked, "You picked it up in the yard?" ”

The mother-in-law nodded, and told the story of what happened last night again, the more Xiao Qian listened, the darker his face became, and in the end, Ling Zhiqiao looked at it and felt that his face was already blue in black, and green in green, even on the faces of Xiao Qinxue and Ling'er, Ling Zhiqiao also felt the word frightened.

Ling Zhiqiao was also afraid that Xiao Qian would have three longs and two shorts, so she immediately spoke: "Uncle don't worry, Qiao'er has diagnosed the pulse, and my aunt fainted only after being frightened. ”

Xiao Qian immediately asked, "Do you know?" ”

"Of course, if she hadn't been pushed away by her sister just now, Qiao'er would have finished applying the needle, and Mrs. would have woken up early."

"You're all going to step aside." Xiao Qian scolded Ling'er and Xiao Qinxue who were around Lu's bed, and Ling Zhiqiao took out a small cloth bag containing silver needles from her waist, she was very much looking forward to what Lu's first words would say when she woke up?