Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I live in Jiangnan.

It is a thousand miles away from the Capital.

When the nanny sent by Wen Yunqiao found me, I was in the courtyard, turning over a rack of wolf bones to dry in the sun.

The white-haired old woman squinted, looking me up and down repeatedly.

“Are you Miss Ah Fu?” she asked.

I turned around, casually sliding my dagger into the sheath strapped to my thigh.

I took the letter from her hand.

Wen Yunqiao knew I wasn’t very literate, so the letter was brief.

“Ah Fu, I am dying. Please come to the Capital to see me one last time, won’t you?”

I fell into a pensive silence.

Had Wen Yunqiao forgotten that when she left Jiangnan, we had already severed ties?

The old nanny didn’t know what I was thinking.

She simply said, “The Madam is very ill. No medicine or physician can save her now.”

“Aside from the young miss who just turned two, you are the person she misses most in her heart.”

I gave a cold snort. “Liar.”

“What about the Xie Yan she used to be so obsessed with? Why doesn’t she miss him?”

“…Lord Xie is now the General of Nanan. He has many concubines and chambermaids by his side; he hasn’t entered the Madam’s room in a long time.”

As the old nanny spoke, she wiped away her tears.

“Last year, the Madam was pregnant again. But the General brought a girl back from outside, claiming she was the true love of his life, and cursed the Madam for being a viperous woman.”

“The Madam was devastated by his cruelty, and then a favored concubine gave her a push. She lost the child that very night…”

I had already been about to turn back and continue tending to my wolf bones.

Hearing this, I stopped in my tracks.

A pair of birds landed on the courtyard wall, chirping away.

I suddenly remembered when we were very young.

Both Wen Yunqiao and I were orphans taken in by the Charity Hall.

She had a pure, kind nature and loved to talk.

Every day, she would pester me, prattling on incessantly.

I didn’t know where she found so much to say.

When she realized I was about to get annoyed, she would quickly come over and grab my arm.

“Ah Fu, you’re the best. You’re my best friend.”

“Everyone else thinks I’m too talkative and annoying, but I know that in your eyes, I’ll always be a refined and elegant lady, right?”

“…Mm.”

I would give in.

I let her talk as she pleased; it wouldn’t stop me from doing my work anyway.

But the old nanny said:

“The Madam fell gravely ill after her miscarriage. Once she recovered, she would just sit by the window. Aside from playing with the young miss, she hardly says a word. The General finds her dull and unlucky, so he’s even less willing to visit.”

The two birds huddled close together.

The slightly smaller one picked up a grain of wheat and fed it to the other.

Just like when we were little, and Wen Yunqiao, always hungry herself, would share her food with me.

I think it’s necessary for me to make a trip to the Capital.