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墨書 Inktalez
Abbot arrived at the room where Mei Shuang had stayed, and indeed, everything was neatly arranged.
On the bedside lay a letter, polite yet brief: "I apologize for the disturbance over the past few days. Thank you for your concern and care, Abbot. If there is an opportunity, I will surely repay your kindness. This place is meant for quiet reflection, and it is truly not suitable for too much disturbance. Farewell for now, until we meet again. Lin Yuxiang."
Abbot held the letter, noting the elegant yet unfamiliar handwriting, which was vastly different from Mei Shuang's original script. He sighed, realizing that this was indeed not the same Mei Shuang as before.
However, he had not yet figured out how to deliver the princess's letter and token to Mei Shuang when he found the place empty. He had assumed that with the emperor's visit, everything would proceed smoothly, allowing him to hand over both the letter and token to Mei Shuang.
Unexpectedly, things did not go as planned.
Looking towards Mountain Base, Abbot let out a heavy sigh. This Lin Yuxiang, though resembling the previous Mei Shuang in appearance, clearly had her own opinions.
He truly wondered how such a strong-willed character would manage to establish herself in the palace.
...
Before dawn, Mei Shuang hurriedly made her way towards Mountain Base with her small bundle on her back.
As she approached Mountain Base, daylight had already broken. The sun shone through thin clouds onto the earth, warm and bright.
Looking around, the sky was blue and the grass green; the air was fresh. It was clearly a fine day, yet she felt a heaviness in her heart akin to the severe smog of the capital city. There was a pent-up energy within her that seemed to have no outlet.
Suddenly, she noticed something in the distance shimmering under the sunlight, dazzling her eyes.
At first, she ignored it, thinking it might just be a piece of glass or something similar. But upon looking again, it continued to glimmer insistently.
She paused in her steps; could it be a golden Yuanbao? She knew she was utterly broke—if she could find something like Dog Head Gold, she wouldn't have to worry about being homeless.
With renewed energy, she quickened her pace to take a closer look but immediately felt deflated.
It turned out to be nothing more than a small porcelain bottle broken into two halves. She considered kicking it aside but found herself drawn to the exquisite design of the white porcelain bottle.
Even if she had no appreciation for fine things, she could tell that this small Porcelain Bottle was made of exquisite mutton-fat jade. The bottle had a crack, but the body was intact. When she picked it up to examine the bottom, the large character "Imperial" indicated that it was indeed a palace item.
Curiosity piqued, she tipped it over, and to her surprise, a gold-wrapped pill fell out. Gently unwrapping it, she found the pill white as jade, with extremely fine red patterns on its surface. Under the sunlight, the pill appeared crystal clear, and inside it seemed to contain something small resembling a fetus.
This revelation was astonishing. Mei Shuang hurriedly wrapped it back up and placed it into the broken Porcelain Bottle, then bundled both the bottle and its shattered pieces into a small package.
As she walked along, deep in thought, could this be a treasure?
After descending the mountain, she walked mechanically without regard for direction.
By midday, her legs were sore from walking, and after breaking a light sweat, Mei Shuang found a large tree to rest under. While cooling off, she took out a piece of dry bread and began to nibble on it.
Looking around, the small hill was far in the distance and barely visible. Surrounding her were only lush vegetable fields and grasslands; not even a cow was grazing nearby.
The dry bread was tasteless and felt even more like chewing wax at that moment.
It seemed that living was all about mood; when happy, even bitter herbs tasted sweet. But when feeling down, even bitter herbs felt doubly bitter.
She chewed on the bread for what felt like an eternity but couldn't swallow it. Memories of her simple yet fulfilling days in Jiangnan flooded back to her mind; the smiling faces of children seemed to appear before her eyes. As she reminisced, tears began to fall uncontrollably.
Looking at her current self—alone and homeless—her situation felt akin to being cast out onto the streets. In an instant, she felt abandoned by the entire world.
Overcome with sorrow, she threw the hard piece of bread away with all her might. Then she started to sob quietly before bursting into loud cries.
In the distance, the green wheat grew vigorously; the seedlings barely knee-high swayed in waves with the wind, resembling a green ocean.
A small child hidden among the wheat stalks listened carefully to his surroundings. Occasionally peeking through the thick wheat with his round face resembling that of a calico cat, his big eyes cautiously scanned for any movement. Hearing nothing, a sly smile crept onto his lips.
He knew this hiding spot was perfect.
He had hidden away upon hearing footsteps in the distance and remained still for quite some time. Surely his mother had come looking for him. However, he was confident she wouldn't find him here. He chuckled softly to himself.
Tired from lying down, he propped himself up slightly, and just as he poked his head out, bam! A hard object hit him on the head.
Wow, his mother actually learned this trick, using hidden weapons to hurt people.
He grimaced and rubbed his head while reaching for the hidden weapon that had rolled nearby.
His eyes widened in disbelief; it was half a hard bun.
Fuming, he stood up, holding the bun in his hand, and shouted angrily towards the trees, "Mother, how can you waste food like this?"
Immediately after, he heard someone behind the tree start to cry loudly.
Ah! Is Mother... crying?
The child was stunned and forgot to hide. He hurriedly ran out of the wheat field in a rush and dashed to the big tree. Huh? It turned out to be a strange woman.
He looked at the bun in his hand, scratched his head, and asked innocently, "Sister, how did you know I was hiding there?"
Mei Shuang was crying sadly when she looked up through her tear-filled eyes and saw a little boy standing before her. He looked about five or six years old, his coarse clothes covered in dust, and his little face was a mess.
She couldn't help but be amused by the boy's appearance. Wiping her tear-streaked face with her sleeve, she said, "Little friend, what did you just say?"
The little boy extended his dirty little hand, holding the half bun she had thrown earlier. He said seriously, "Sister, just now I was lying in the wheat field, and you hit me with this. Although I think your skills are impressive, how can you casually waste food?"
"......"
Mei Shuang was taken aback by the boy's question and fell silent, her face turning slightly red.
Just as she was about to speak, she heard hurried footsteps approaching along with a Young Woman's anxious voice saying, "Zheng Yi, what are you doing? Have you gotten into trouble again?"
Upon hearing this, the little boy exclaimed "Oh no!" and was about to hide when he saw that Young Woman had already reached him. She blocked Zheng Yi, pulling him over to Mei Shuang.
The woman looked at Mei Shuang, whose eyes were red and swollen with tear stains on her face, and was taken aback. She immediately thought it was her son's doing, surely he had played a prank that made the girl cry.
Feeling both anxious and angry, she dragged the little boy, who was hanging his head, over to her and raised her hand to hit him. "Zheng Yi, did you do something bad?"
Mei Shuang blocked the raised hand. "Sister, why are you going to hit the child without asking for clarification?"
The woman was stunned. "Did he not make you cry?"
"Cough..." Mei Shuang found it amusing yet helpless as she rescued the little boy from the woman's grasp. "I just passed by here and remembered something sad; it has nothing to do with him."
Upon hearing this from Mei Shuang, the little boy immediately became emboldened. He puffed out his cheeks and said to Mei Shuang, "Exactly! If you hadn't thrown that half bun at my head, I wouldn't have come out so early for my mother to find me!"
Mei Shuang quickly nodded. "Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thrown things around."
Seeing the bun in the little boy's hand, the woman frowned and said to him, "Zheng Yi, your mother said not to waste food carelessly. Aren't you going to return the bun to your sister?"
Mei Shuang looked at the woman. With a delicate face and a slender figure, she appeared to be around twenty years old, not much older than herself. Yet she had the child call her "sister." Earlier, she had referred to her as "Sister." Mei Shuang said, "Sister, it's fine. It was my fault for throwing the bun away, but it can't be eaten now anyway. Why not take it back and feed it to your geese or ducks?"
Although the woman's discipline seemed a bit strict towards the child, Mei Shuang admired her approach. At least that little boy understood the importance of food at such a young age. Sighing inwardly, Mei Shuang thought how much better he was than herself; she had only a few buns left in her bag and had carelessly thrown away half of one.
Seeing that Mei Shuang said this, the woman no longer scolded the little boy. She smiled apologetically at Mei Shuang and took Zheng Yi back home.
Mei Shuang felt a stir in her heart and stepped forward sincerely. "Sister, I am passing through here; may I ask for a bowl of water?"
The woman readily agreed with just one sentence: "If you don't mind the distance, then come along."
Thus, she led Mei Shuang toward her home.
After walking for quite some time without arriving yet, Mei Shuang wondered to herself why the woman had been so anxious to find her child; it truly was quite far. Moreover, the woman's home was not easy to find; it was located in a hollow on a hillside. The path was winding and complicated; from where they started under that tree to the woman's home took Mei Shuang at least half an hour.
Given this distance, Mei Shuang admired this woman for allowing such a young boy of five or six years old to walk this far alone.
In the distance, several large willow trees could be seen, their drooping branches touching the ground and swaying in the wind. Through the dense willow branches, a few scattered thatched cottages were visible in the valley, some partially hidden by dirt slopes, revealing only their rooftops. The woman's home was located at the innermost part.
Seeing this scene, Mei Shuang felt as if she had stepped into a story from Strange Tales—wild mountains and fields, a few thatched huts, a village surrounded by willow trees, and a woman with an unknown background along with her child...
Mei Shuang felt a chill rise from her back but noticed the woman ahead gently guiding the little boy while holding his hand.
The only thing that reassured Mei Shuang was that she could hear the woman softly speaking in Eastern Language. The little boy nodded frequently in response.
Looking down at the ground, even though the sun was high in the sky, two short shadows were clearly cast on the ground.
Mei Shuang secretly breathed a sigh of relief; whether it was a fox spirit or a ghost, they could be ruled out.
Zheng Yi pondered as he heard the woman turn around with a smile and say, "We're here." She then casually pushed open the wooden door.
Mei Shuang looked up and saw a thatched cottage that appeared to be hastily constructed; at least it felt like new materials had been used. Upon entering, she could still smell a faint scent of wood.
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