Chapter 6

Li Mu came out of the house and heard Li Yunxi’s excited voice, “We agreed, no cheating!”

By the stone table under the tree, Li Yunxi and Li Ying each sat on one side, both holding eggs. Li Ying’s hard-boiled egg was still in her hand, while Li Yunxi’s raw egg was already standing on the table, making it clear who had won and who had lost.

“I won’t cheat,” Li Ying, despite her bad temper, was straightforward about winning and losing. Besides, Madam Liu, her biological mother, doted on her like a precious gem, so asking her to make a few pastries was no big deal.

Li Mu sat down to watch them play and listened for a while before realizing that the hundred-fruit cake wasn’t something Li Yunxi would eat immediately. Instead, she planned to invite a few friends over to her house on the third day of the third lunar month to taste it.

March 3rd, the Shangsi Festival, was also Li Yunxi’s tenth birthday.

This dynasty didn’t particularly celebrate this festival, making inviting people easier than other holidays. Li Yunxi had prepared the invitations properly, inviting her second cousin, who was already married, her maternal cousins, and some close friends.

Li Yunxi also formally invited Li Ying and Li Mu. Li Ying was pleased and seriously prepared a birthday gift for Li Yunxi.

Li Mu politely declined Li Yunxi’s invitation and only sent her a gift through Feixing on her birthday.

Li Mu’s birthday gifts for Li Yunxi included a pair of bracelets prepared by the old madam and a small crochet bouquet she made herself. Without wire for the flower stems, she used dried twigs, fixed them with glue, and wrapped them with green thread for reinforcement. It looked decent.

Feixing returned with some food and a plate of hundred-fruit cake, telling Li Mu about the lively scene at Li Yunxi’s place.

Among Li Yunxi’s guests was Princess Kangning, Lin Qiwu. Madam Qian, fearing any mistakes that might offend the guests, specially prepared a courtyard for entertaining the female guests. The old madam also set up a small but sufficient flowing cup table for Li Yunxi, creating a fitting scene for the occasion.

From the description, Li Mu felt that the flowing cup table resembled the curved water flowing cup tables she had seen on social media before transmigrating. The table had a channel for holding water, allowing cups and bowls of food to float along the water channel on the table.

The small courtyard also had swings, kites, butterfly wings, shuttlecocks, and other items. When Feixing delivered the birthday gift, the little girls insisted on flying the kites themselves without the help of the maids, and the kites could be seen flying high from the old madam’s courtyard.

“Princess Kangning knew I was delivering the gift on your behalf and specifically asked about you. She was quite disappointed to hear you wouldn’t be coming,” Feixing casually mentioned Lin Qiwu while Li Mu buried her head in her lunch, pretending not to hear.

After all, she was already considered foolish, so occasionally pretending to be deaf was normal.

After lunch, Li Mu walked around the courtyard to aid digestion, attempted a nap but failed, and decided to read a book instead.

She hadn’t been reading for long when she heard a commotion outside. Guessing that the old madam had returned from the banquet, she got up and went to the door, hearing the old madam’s head maid, Cuilian, instructing the servants to light incense rarely used and to inform the kitchen to prepare snacks and tea for guests.

Li Mu froze in place.

Guests?

Cuilian hurried back and, seeing Li Mu, worried she might be startled. She gently explained, imitating Nanny Qiao’s manner, “Fifth Miss, the old madam met old madam Ning from Second Miss’s husband’s family at the banquet. Second Miss returned this morning to celebrate Eighth Miss’s birthday, so the old madam invited old madam Ning to visit. The carriage should be at the main gate now. You… Oh! Fifth Miss!”

Moving unusually quickly, Li Mu grabbed the unfinished book from the table and strode out—she needed to leave before the old madam brought the guests into the courtyard.

Qianyun and Feixing quickly put down what they were holding and chased after Li Mu. The three of them rushed out of the house and the old madam’s courtyard like a gust of wind. When Nanny Zhao returned with a bowl of osmanthus-flavored custard, she found the main hall bustling, but the east wing was empty, not a soul in sight.

Li Mu avoided the path from the main gate to the old madam’s courtyard and headed straight for a small garden in another direction.

The small garden was secluded, with barely passable early spring scenery. It was full of rockeries and strange stones, making it easy to get lost, which gave Li Mu a sense of security. She had run there more than once to avoid the old madam’s visitors.

Qianyun and Feixing were familiar with the place. They knew the path well, as Li Mu always went to a specific spot to sit and read, staying there for a long time.

Qianyun looked at the sky, seeing that the sun was mild and that no rain clouds were in sight. She told Feixing to stay with Li Mu while she went back to the courtyard to fetch some snacks and drinks.

After Qianyun left, Feixing followed Li Mu further in. When they reached Li Mu’s usual spot, Feixing, out of her spy habit, observed the surroundings. Suddenly, she paused, turned to look at a rockery, thought for a moment, and then squatted down to whisper to Li Mu, who was already sitting on a flat stone, “Miss, stay here and don’t wander off. I’ll go back and get you an insect-repellent sachet.”

It was indeed the season for many insects, but why whisper?

Li Mu was puzzled but nodded.

After Feixing left, Li Mu slowly flipped through the book, trying to translate its contents and learn this era’s writing style and common knowledge.

After a long time, a faint sobbing sound came with the cool spring breeze, giving Li Mu goosebumps.

What was that?

Li Mu looked up, searching for the source of the sobbing while comforting herself.

Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Think positively. It might not be a person; maybe it’s a ghost.

Li Mu quickly pinpointed the direction of the rockery five steps away. She tiptoed over, climbed up the rocks, and saw a girl, no more than twenty years old, with her hair in a woman’s bun, leaning against the other side of the rockery, sobbing.

Li Mu had seen the girl during the New Year. She was her second cousin, Li Zhi, the poor girl in the book who was abandoned by her husband’s family after the Li family was raided.

Li Zhi was ten years older than Li Yunxi and didn’t know any of Li Yunxi’s young friends. The reason she accepted the invitation to Li Yunxi’s birthday banquet was just to find an excuse to return to her parents’ home. So, after giving Li Yunxi her gift and sitting for a while, she went to the second house’s courtyard to talk with her mother and have a meal together.

Li Zhi’s mother was Li Mu’s second aunt, who usually spoke harshly. Today, she was probably in a bad mood and said a few rude words to her daughter.

Li Zhi endured the grievance, unwilling to stay with her mother any longer and not wanting to return to her husband’s house immediately. She wandered into the small garden, dismissed her maid, and hid alone in the rockery where she used to play hide-and-seek as a child. After sitting for a long time, she couldn’t help but cry quietly.

Confirming it was a person, Li Mu held her breath and carefully climbed down from the rock, not wanting to be discovered. Just as one foot was about to touch the ground, a classic scene from historical dramas flashed through Li Mu’s mind—eavesdropping always makes a noise and gets noticed.

Then Li Mu stepped on a pebble in the grass and slid a big step outward. Fortunately, she quickly grabbed the rockery behind her, stabilizing herself and avoiding a fall.

The sudden silence was unsettling, even Li Zhi’s sobbing had stopped.

Li Mu: “…”

From the other side of the rockery came Li Zhi’s hoarse voice after crying, “Who’s there?”

Li Mu tried to run again but failed once more.

Li Zhi, more familiar with the small garden, lifted her skirt and quickly circled around through a hidden gap, blocking Li Mu’s path.

“Little Five?” With red eyes, Li Zhi looked at Li Mu’s face, which showed utter despair, and asked, “Why are you here alone?”

Li Mu remained silent.

Li Zhi misunderstood Li Mu’s reaction, forced a smile, and gently said, “Did I scare you?”

Although they weren’t very close, Li Zhi’s reaction made Li Mu feel a bit of pity amidst her fear.

Oh no, she’s already so sad. Why force a smile and worry about others? It’s exhausting.

Li Mu raised her hand awkwardly.

Seeing this, Li Zhi genuinely smiled for a moment, grabbed her hand, and said, “Don’t be afraid. Sister is fine. Sister just loves to cry.”

As she spoke, her tone gradually became more relaxed, “You don’t know, I cry a lot, even when there’s nothing wrong. I just can’t help it.”

Li Zhi smiled faintly, mocking herself in a light tone, “I even annoy myself.”

The unspoken words were that her tendency to cry so easily was why her husband’s family and mother were impatient and annoyed with her. But she kept these worries to herself. It was too embarrassing to share them with her younger sister. She adjusted her mood and was about to ask Li Mu if she was lost and if she needed help getting back to the old madam. Before she could speak, she heard Li Mu say, “Crying is not a bad thing.”

Li Zhi was stunned. She knew about Li Mu’s illness that had left her mentally impaired and had never heard Li Mu speak during the New Year. Hearing her talk now was quite surprising.

Perhaps because there was only Li Zhi in front of her, Li Mu spoke more smoothly, though her words lacked the flavor of ancient speech and were somewhat stiff from not having spoken long sentences for a while: “Crying is not a sign of weakness or unreasonable behavior. Crying is a way to release emotions. People who cry are more emotionally stable and easier to get along with than those who don’t. Crying is also the quickest way to calm down.”

Li Mu hadn’t spoken so much in a long time and was a bit carried away. Fearing Li Zhi wouldn’t understand, she added an analogy: “If you think of a person as a sack, sad feelings are like things put into the sack. If you keep filling it without emptying some, the sack will break.”

“So crying is not a bad thing.” Li Mu’s tone and expression remained unchanged, but her ears turned red uncontrollably.

Li Zhi nodded blankly, still processing Li Mu’s words, when she heard Li Mu add two more sentences—

“The people and things that make you cry are the bad ones.”

“You are not wrong; don’t blame yourself.”

Li Zhi blinked, took a few seconds to digest, then finally closed her slightly open lips, a gentle smile forming at the corners of her mouth, though her eyes welled up with tears: “Yes, Little Five, I’ll remember what you said.”

Li Mu, who had started to regret her rambling, was instantly healed: What a great listener. She’s an angel.

“Miss, why are you here?” Qianyun, who had been gone for a long time, came around a corner with a food box, saw Li Zhi, and called out, “Second Miss.”

Li Zhi turned aside, pressed a handkerchief to her eyes, took a deep breath, and then turned back, asking Qianyun, “Why did you leave your miss alone here?”

“I went to get some snacks for her. I left Feixing here. Where is Feixing?” As soon as she finished speaking, Feixing came running from the corner where Qianyun had appeared, holding a bag of mugwort sachets, panting and complaining, “Why did you walk so fast? I couldn’t catch up.”

Then, as if just noticing Li Mu and Li Zhi, she quickly said, “Miss, Second Miss, I saw mosquitoes here, so I went to get an insect-repellent sachet for my miss.”

Qianyun didn’t suspect anything and was fooled. Having suffered much at her husband’s house, Li Zhi didn’t fully believe it. But, being married, she couldn’t interfere with her younger sister’s household. She planned to mention it to the old madam later to prevent Li Mu from being bullied by the maids.

Li Zhi thought it was just the maids being inattentive, not knowing that Feixing had the mugwort sachet with her all along and had never left, hiding in the shadows. She had even noticed someone behind the rockery early on. Though she didn’t know who it was, she thought that whoever it was, Li Mu might show a different side when alone without the maids.

Since this was the back courtyard, it had to be a woman, so Feixing wasn’t too worried about Li Mu’s safety. Even if Li Mu encountered someone with ill intentions, she would appear in time to save her. Her superior did not instruct this rough plan; it was her own decision. Her superior had never asked her to confirm if Li Mu was pretending to be foolish, only to investigate if any strangers had visited the Li family during the time Li Mu nearly died from illness last March, if there were any suspicious people entering or leaving the old madam’s courtyard, and which doctors had treated Li Mu. Besides that, she was to follow Li Mu and see if there were any spies around her or if Li Mu had contact with unknown people. She only needed to do these things, but on the night of the ninth day of the first lunar month, she impulsively thought that no truly foolish master would apologize to servants. Not wanting the Jinyiwei to conduct extreme tests on Li Mu out of suspicion, she added a few sentences to the report, asserting that Li Mu was genuinely foolish.

Recently, she had become increasingly doubtful, thinking that verifying the truth would make up for her mistake, thus leading to the scene just now.

Feixing recalled Li Mu’s recent behavior, showing no sign of her thoughts. When she turned her head, she met Li Mu’s thoughtful expression.

Feixing’s heart skipped a beat, but Li Mu calmly looked away before she could panic.