Chapter 27: Suffocation

  Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and autumn returned with a vengeance. The cicadas sang their final song, as a vast expanse of blue sky stretched out without a cloud in sight.

  Lan lay on a small hill not far from the tomb, with thick grass covering her legs, and hundreds of wild chrysanthemums surrounding her like a circle, setting off her white dress to be exceptionally beautiful. But her whole face was covered by an old straw hat, her fingers were crossed behind her head, motionless, as if she was asleep.

  Three feet away, with nothing in both hands holding a piece of clothing, walking sideways while waving it, from time to time grasping it with one hand and throwing it out again.

  There were flowers running up the small hill to shout for people to eat, seeing no results like this, it's strange to death. Approaching to ask, just as Wu Guo rushed in her direction and threw his hand, drawing a light green line. She hadn't figured out what it was yet, feeling the green line fall on her hair, reflexively stretching out her hand to touch, unexpectedly catching a cicada.

  "My goodness!" she shouted loudly, throwing the grasshopper out, but it was in the direction of Lan Sheng.

  He suddenly narrowed his eyes, touched the back of his waist, pulled out a orange light, and instantly retracted it to the back of his waist. The action was so fast that Hua didn't even see what he had in his hand, only feeling a strong gust of wind brushing past her ear. And that grasshopper not only cut into two halves but also swept far away, falling into the grass, "destroying the body and erasing the evidence" cleanly.

  There were flowers touching her ears, but she caught a few strands of hair falling from the edge of her ear, knowing that they had been cut off by that ray of light. She was both frightened and furious, scolding, "You stinky useless thing, are you sick or what? You're just a grasshopper! If you accidentally disfigure me, I'll poison you to death!"

  "Be quiet, miss is sleeping." No response, her eyebrows were flat and her eyes were lifeless.

  Hua shouted loudly, "It's already noon, what sleep? Xia has come to tell us to eat, even if we're starving, don't take it out on ourselves, the one who's hungry is our own belly."

  There is Xia, no evening, is Ou Mei's personal maid.

  "It seems like you're the one who's out of breath, not me." Has this girl gone crazy? The straw hat fell into her hand, and Lan Sheng sat up. It was so noisy that even if she slept more soundly, she would still wake up.

  That night, Lan Sheng and Wu Guo barely escaped to Nan Yue Lingyuan, only to see You Hua standing alone in front of the thatched cottage. It turned out that You Hua hadn't brought reinforcements, but rather, Wu Mei didn't take it seriously, saying that summoning souls couldn't be delayed for a moment, and went ahead with the ritual with Ge Pozi as planned. This was within Lan Sheng's expectations, not expecting anything from her mother, so she wasn't disappointed either.

  Hua bit her lip, staring at Lan Sheng's healthy complexion for a while, before huffing and saying, "That's right, I'm suffocating. What about it? You can't even pretend to be a decent daughter. In the past, you'd get angry with your mother but wouldn't say anything, just sulking and hurting yourself instead. Now that things seem better, you're still distant from her. Like that night's incident, you could have thrown a tantrum. A daughter whining to her mother is only natural, just like I did with my own mother..." Her voice suddenly stopped.

  Lan Sheng smiled, this little girl was not bad by nature, so she couldn't bring herself to drive her away. "Do you still remember your mother?" She had memories from when she was three years old, not stupid at all.

  She forced herself not to cry, and murmured a vague agreement. She remembered the fragrance of her mother's embrace, and the little ditty she used to sing while holding her. Although it was just that, it was the most precious memory she treasured. Indeed, she sought a maternal bond with Madame, but also knew it couldn't compare to the selfless connection between a biological mother and daughter. Her life had been saved by Madame, who had raised her, so she thought Madame should be the best mother in the world. However, every time she saw the interactions between this pair of biological mother and daughter, it shattered her perception, making her resent Lan's lack of filial piety. So, she deliberately used her own relationship with Madame to provoke Lan, seemingly taking pleasure in Lan's jealousy and envy, but subconsciously hoping that Lan would become closer to Madame as a result.

  She always thought the lady had suffered enough, being driven away by the legitimate wife and leaving her husband for over a decade, it's inevitable that she would neglect her daughter. On the other hand, Lan Sheng not only didn't show any consideration, but also had a bad temper since childhood, making it difficult for him to get along with anyone, and his sensitivity was inexplicable. The more uncomfortable the lady felt, the more he would add fuel to the fire, no wonder he wasn't favored by the lady, it's all his own doing.

  But the night before last, she rushed here in a hurry, only to get a response from the lady that was brief and to the point, and suddenly felt like being drenched with a basin of cold water, realizing that the poor relationship between mother and daughter was not her fault. Lan Sheng's situation is clearly related to life and death, even she herself is worried sick, but the lady remains unmoved. She doesn't know if it's because she didn't express herself clearly enough, or if she should have knelt down and begged, but all she got in response was the lady's cold back as she walked away.

  "You should be angry," she said.

  Lan Sheng returned and rested in the carriage. The next day, he had dinner with his wife, but didn't mention what happened that night. His wife also didn't ask. However, the knot in her heart tightened and became painful, making her the most passionate of the three. Especially since she knew Lan Sheng's intention to send her away was to protect her, which made her even more entangled. She had been at odds with this young lady for over a decade, but it was the first time she felt jealous because of Lan Sheng's affection towards his wife, and it was really annoying.

  "I think she probably asked for divination beforehand and knew it was safe?" Along the way, her mother's daily homework was to use An Gong's six-yao method to divine auspiciousness.

  "That day, I parted ways with An Gongzi early and didn't see Zhan Suo." It can't be said.

  "Someone's coming." Lan Sheng said. She was a person who didn't dwell on yesterday's matters, and didn't want to be depressed by things that happened a few days ago.

  With flowers and no fruit looking out at the same time, the empty mausoleum grounds, winding earthen paths, only the sound of wind, where did anyone come from?

  But just for a moment, he was shocked and surprised. "Really, someone has come, it's a horse-drawn carriage. However, how did the young lady know?" He had practiced martial arts to have keen senses, but when did he become inferior to the young lady?

  "There's dust in the wind." Lan Sheng said, grabbing his grass hat and heading down the hill.

  Hua squinted for a while and asked in vain, "Can you see the color of the soil?"

  Shaking his head in vain, he didn't say much and jumped down with a swoop.

  There is a flower with a mouth, walking at the end of the head, saying a strange and ancient sentence.

  Lan Sheng walked along the dry dirt road to the mausoleum for a while, and soon heard the sound of wheels turning and horseshoes behind her. She turned back to see that the leading horses were two black glossy steeds, followed by two white steeds. The carriage pulled by the four horses was painted crimson, with a sturdy and majestic structure.

  As the carriage approached, Lan Sheng noticed that from the axle to the body of the carriage was painted with a mysterious and intricate pattern in dark blue ink. At first glance, she couldn't understand the meaning of the picture at all, but she felt that the owner of the carriage must be someone of high status. The dirt road was very wide, so she voluntarily moved onto the grass to let it pass. Having experienced two troubles already, she certainly didn't want a third unnecessary incident.

  However, most of the strange things in the world do not happen accidentally. This is where the tomb of Nan Yue's family is located, and it has not been long since Madame died. Nan Yue Ping must have already spread the news that Wu Mei and her daughter had come to the capital secretly, so the appearance of this carriage was actually inevitable.

  And every day on the hillside next to the mausoleum path, Lan Sheng spent most of his time there, and the probability of encountering a horse-drawn carriage was one hundred percent.