Nalan Jinlian took a deep breath.
Mrs. Xu reached out and hugged her, offering silent comfort.
No matter what, there were some feelings between mother and daughter.
Back at the Marquis Residence, Nalan Jinlian returned to Qinglian Garden.
Nanny Qin immediately came forward to greet her, "Miss is back!"
"Nanny!" Nalan Jinlian called softly, smiling gently and tenderly.
She discreetly sized up Nanny Qin.
In this courtyard, all the maids called her Nanny Qin, even treated her with great respect, never daring to contradict her.
"Miss, it’s quite cold outside, let’s go inside first. Would you like some sweet soup or hot tea?"
"Hot tea. But I’d like to have some plum blossom tea made by Old Madam Zhao. Nanny, how about I go learn from her, so in the future, I can make it for you to try?"
Back in the warm room, Chunqiu immediately came forward to attend to her. Nalan Jinlian glanced at her, noticing her red eyes, obviously from crying. She asked in puzzlement, "Chunqiu, what’s wrong with you?"
"N-No, it’s nothing!" Chunqiu quickly responded, lowering her head.
But in doing so, accidentally tugged Nalan Jinlian’s hair.
"Ouch!" Nalan Jinlian cried out in pain.
Chunqiu was stunned upon hearing her cry, realizing she had grabbed Nalan Jinlian’s hair.
Startled, she dropped to the ground in a kneel, "This servant deserves to die, it wasn’t intentional, please forgive me, Miss!"
Nalan Jinlian shook her head slightly, "You may rise, just be more careful in the future." She turned and went into the bedroom, sitting by the dressing table, she untied her hair and gently combed it herself.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of a flute.
Like mandarin ducks who have lost their companion, or someone waiting sorrowfully for their beloved to return.
Her hand holding the comb paused, then quickly twisted her hair into a bun.
For some reason, she wanted to go see.
"Nanny, where’s my cloak?"
"Yes, I want to see who’s playing the flute so well!" Nalan Jinlian said, a bit hurried.
Nanny Qin promptly fetched the cloak, Nalan Jinlian took it, draped it on herself, and hurriedly left Qinglian Garden.
She followed the flute sound. Official source is novęlfire.net
But found that the sound was coming from the outer courtyard.
There was an old woman guarding the entrance; normally, people were not allowed to pass, but Nalan Jinlian was different. She could enter the old Marquess’s study and was quite favored by the old Marquess.
"Sixth Miss wants to go to the outer courtyard?"
Nalan Jinlian nodded slightly, glanced at Chunqiu who followed behind, "Yes!"
And then she exited the inner courtyard.
Following the flute sound, Nalan Jinlian walked quickly, Chunqiu following behind.
Until the flute sound grew closer, only separated by a wall, Nalan Jinlian leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.
Then the flute sound stopped, but Nalan Jinlian wasn’t afraid of not finding this person, so she was not anxious at all.
She stood and tidied her clothes and hair, then slowly walked forward.
Saw a man approaching with a flute, dressed in a brocade white outfit, his face slightly smiling, extremely gentle.
Nalan Jinlian frowned slightly.
But it doesn’t feel right, how could such a gentle and jade-like man produce such mournful and poignant music?
"Miss?" Zhou Yunshen called softly.
Even though aware that she had forgotten everything, seeing her confused expression couldn’t help but soften his tone.
Nalan Jinlian nodded slightly, "Was it you who just played?"
Nalan Jinlian pressed her lips together, "You played very well, does this melody have a name?"
"Not yet, it was just an impromptu inspiration, didn’t think of a name!"