Ji Xinglou tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. He had been accustomed to sleeping on a bed since childhood, but here, after two days on the warm kang bed, he found it somewhat uncomfortable.
Hearing footsteps, Ji Xinglou sat up immediately. He remembered that Changfeng had gone out in the evening to find the others who had been separated. Could it be that Changfeng had brought his sister back?
“Sister!”
It must be his sister!
Ji Xinglou didn’t even put on his shoes, jumping down from the kang with his bare feet. He ran to the door and opened it, a gust of cold wind rushing in and making him shiver.
He craned his neck to look towards the courtyard gate. Seeing Ji Xinglan in that instant, his eyes brightened, and he shouted loudly, “Sister!”
Nestled in Changfeng’s arms, Ji Xinglan turned her head, her little face numb from the cold immediately lighting up with a radiant smile.
“Brother!” Ji Xinglan called out joyfully in her childish voice. She gently pushed Changfeng and said, “Put me down.”
As soon as Changfeng put her down, she ran towards Ji Xinglou. She was wearing a thick cotton jacket, making her look round and chubby. She waddled towards Ji Xinglou, and when she was three to five steps away, she stretched out her arms and leapt into her brother’s embrace, hugging him tightly.
“Brother, brother! Brother…” She clung to him, calling out repeatedly.
Ji Xinglou sighed in relief, the worry in his heart finally easing. He tried to control himself, but couldn’t suppress the smile on his face. He reached out to hug his sister, gently patting her back with his small hand.
Gu Jianli heard the commotion, hurriedly putting on a coat and coming out. Seeing the two children hugging each other, a gentle smile gradually spread across her lips.
Gu Jianli looked towards Changfeng, her gaze sweeping around behind him. The smile on her face slightly faded. She frowned and asked, “Changfeng, where are Jixia, Changsheng, and Nanny Lin?”
“They’re all behind.”
Gu Jianli immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Changfeng added, “Jixia broke her leg. Changsheng is carrying her, so they can’t move quickly.”
Gu Jianli’s heart, which had just relaxed, tightened again.
Yuanshun had also woken up and hurried to the kitchen to boil hot water and cook hot porridge, so the people who had just returned could have something warm to eat and refresh themselves. She remembered how much she had longed for a sip of hot water when she first arrived here.
Busy as she was, she turned her head towards Changfeng at the door and said, “Come in and help!”
Changfeng glanced at her and walked into the kitchen, sitting down by the stove to tend the fire.
Yuanshun added water to the large iron pot. The ladle wasn’t big, so she kept pouring scoop after scoop of cold water into the pot. As she repeated this action, she suddenly remembered something. How could she dare let a Xuanjing Discipline light a fire for her?
The thought made Yuanshun freeze. She quickly turned her face to steal a glance at Changfeng, then swiftly looked away.
Changfeng spoke, “If you want to look, just look. No need to steal glances. I can sense it anyway.”
Yuanshun’s hand shook, and the ladle fell into the pot, splashing three or five drops of water onto her face. Fortunately, the fire had just been started, and the water in the pot had not yet boiled.
Gu Jianli kept watching from the small courtyard gate until she saw Jixia. Changsheng carried Jixia into the house, and Gu Jianli hurried to check Jixia’s leg, her eyes reddening with distress.
“It’s okay, it will heal sooner or later. It’s not a big deal!” Jixia said with a smile.
Gu Jianli stayed in the room with Jixia for a long time, giving her some advice and precautions. Jixia responded repeatedly, even jokingly saying, “We are close master and servant, aren’t we? You broke your leg before, so I had to break mine once too. I remember all the precautions from when you were bedridden. Now I can apply them to myself! It’s so late, madam. You should go back to your room and rest. We can talk more tomorrow.”
As they talked, Yanshun brought in hot porridge. Jixia, Changsheng, Nanny Lin, and Ji Xinglan each had a big bowl. Then they all went to rest.
Gu Jianli touched Ji Xinglan’s head and picked her up.
“Sister will sleep with me!” Ji Xinglou stood up immediately.
Gu Jianli paused, looked down at Ji Xinglou, then shifted her gaze to Ji Xinglan. Ji Xinglan obediently looked at her without saying a word.
But Gu Jianli could see in the little girl’s eyes that she also wanted to be with her brother.
Gu Jianli hesitated.
In the past, she would have agreed without hesitation. But now she knew that these two children were not biological siblings. They were already five years old, and even if they were biological siblings, they shouldn’t share a bed anymore, let alone when they were not.
Ji Xinglan hugged Gu Jianli’s neck and looked back at her brother, saying, “Brother, I’ll stay with mother. I’ll be with you tomorrow, okay?”
“No!” Ji Xinglou ran to the door, spreading his legs and arms in an “X” shape, blocking the way.
Ji Xinglan blinked and looked at Gu Jianli, softly pleading, “Mother, can I stay with brother? I’ll stay with you tomorrow, okay?”
Gu Jianli thought for a moment, reasoning that these two children had grown up together and had never been apart for a day. They knew nothing, and it was she who was overthinking it. She bent down and put Ji Xinglan down.
Ji Xinglou took his sister’s hand and pulled her into the house. He ran all the way to the kang bed, climbed onto it, and patted the blanket. “I heard the noise and knew you were back, so I warmed the bed for you! Come quickly!”
Ji Xinglan handed her brother her hand, climbed onto the kang bed, and snuggled into the blanket.
“Wow, it’s so warm!” Ji Xinglan’s eyes sparkled.
Ji Xinglou climbed to the other end of the kang bed, tucked in the other side of the blanket, wrapping Ji Xinglan’s small feet tightly, not letting any wind in. Only then did he get into bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
“Brother?” Ji Xinglan tilted her head to look at him.
“What is it?” Ji Xinglou had already closed his eyes, feeling sleepy.
“Lanlan missed brother. Missed you so much.”
Brother missed you too.
Before they could talk, walk, or even understand the world, they knew each other first. They had been together since they were little, eating together, living together, playing together, except for that time Ji Xinglou caught smallpox and was thrown out of the Ji residence. They had never been apart for half a day.
Ji Xinglou moved closer to Ji Xinglan under the blanket, grabbed his sister’s hand, and intertwined his fingers with hers, holding them tightly.
Ji Xinglou gently hummed and said, “From now on, we’ll be together every day!”
“Okay…” Ji Xinglan nodded, yawning sleepily. She closed her eyes and snuggled up to her brother, falling asleep. No matter how many storms she had faced, she wasn’t afraid anymore because she had found her brother and could lean on him.
Two days later, the villagers who had gone out to search began to find the others who had escaped separately.
Initially, Gu Jianli was very worried about Wen Jingshan. Due to her poor health and weak legs, she was always on her mind. However, when Wen Jingshan was found, she was in relatively good condition.
It was Yanping and Yan’an who encountered some trouble.
Day by day, they still couldn’t find the two of them, which made Gu Jianli increasingly worried. Unlike the other groups Gu Jianli had separated, which all had a man to protect them, Ji Xinglan, Jixia, and Nanny Lin had Changsheng with them, and Wen Jingshan and Lizi had Changlin with them.
But Yanping and Yan’an were just two maidservants with no strength to fight, and when they separated, Yanping’s leg was injured. Even without the Imperial Guards chasing them, they wouldn’t have known how to survive in the snowy mountains for these past few days.
Finally, on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, the villagers found the two maidservants, barely alive. They had been buried in the snow, their faces ashen, with only one breath left. If the searchers had been half a day later, they would have been frozen to death.
That night, on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, Ji Lan paced back and forth in the hall, feeling unexpectedly anxious.
Dou Hongyan stood quietly to the side, not daring to speak casually. He frequently glanced at Ji Lan’s expression, hoping to find the right moment to offer some comfort.
Ji Lan suddenly stopped and said, “Ji Zhao and his group have been hiding in the snowy mountains for quite some time now.”
Dou Hongyan immediately understood; it turned out that His Majesty was worried about this matter. With a smiling face and a gentle voice, he said, “Your Majesty, do not worry. Although the Imperial Guards were unable to eliminate Ji Zhao and his rebellious group before returning to the capital, those vast snowy mountains are also a dangerous place. Most of Ji Zhao’s group are weak women and children. After being trapped in the snowy mountains for so long, their chances of survival are slim.”
Despite Dou Hongyan’s words, Ji Lan’s face did not show much joy. This made Dou Hongyan uncertain; had he said something wrong? Was His Majesty not worried about the survival of Wen Jingshan and her child?
Ji Lan’s gaze drifted, lost in thought. He couldn’t help but recall Gu Jianli’s features.
Was she doing well, trapped in the snowy mountains? Would she truly freeze to death there, her body never to be found? No, it couldn’t be. She wasn’t an ordinary weak woman; no matter how dire the situation, she should have the strength to turn things around…
After a while, Ji Lan sighed softly.
He had long suspected there was a traitor among them. After thorough investigation, he discovered that Xiao Liuzi had private dealings with Ji Jingyi, which made him furious. Further investigation only made him feel colder.
He couldn’t let Wen Jingshan and her child live; he had given the order to kill without hesitation.
In truth, when he gave the order that day, he had hesitated. He had hesitated about how Gu Jianli would survive the barrage of arrows.
But time was pressing, and the situation was critical. He couldn’t afford to think too much. Nor could he issue an edict in such a situation to kill everyone else but spare Gu Jianli.
Between the throne and beauty, if forced to choose one, he could only choose the throne.
Over the past few days, he had been tormented.
He hoped the Imperial Guards would kill all those who had fled to the snowy mountains, yet also hoped that Gu Jianli had survived…
“Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!” A young eunuch hurried in from outside. “The Qifeng Palace is on fire, and the flames are getting bigger!”
Ji Lan frowned.
“Prepare the carriage.”
Before Ji Lan even reached Qifeng Palace, he saw the towering flames from a distance. The red fire blazed fiercely, illuminating the sky and the night. The scorching heat waves rolled in, and the fire grew bigger and bigger.
Palace servants ran around with water buckets, trying to douse the flames, turning the palace into chaos.
By the time the fire was extinguished, the entire Qifeng Palace was in ruins.
Several palace maids knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly.
“What about the Empress?” Ji Lan asked.
“Your Majesty, the Empress took shelter in a small side room to avoid the fire. The flames hadn’t reached the side room before the palace servants extinguished the fire. The Empress wasn’t harmed by the fire,” the young eunuch reported tearfully. “But the side room was sealed and had no ventilation… The Empress has passed away…”
Ji Lan looked at the weeping palace maids, who had all come with Sun Yinzhu when she married into the palace.
Sun Yinzhu’s innocent and cheerful image floated before his eyes, and Ji Lan was momentarily lost in thought.