Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn

Chapter 16

Lin Zhao has been transferred here for more than ten days now, and the three of us are getting along better and better. Song Zhixuan doesn't talk much, but he's very thoughtful. Lin Zhao is about the same age as him, but he always takes care of her, and so do I.

At night, sitting by the window listening to the soft sound of snow falling from the trees, I felt a little chilly.

Song Zhixuan poured me a cup of hot tea and placed it in my hand, asking, "What's wrong with you these past few days?"

"I miss my mother and brother," she whispered, burying her head in her arms.

“We haven’t seen our relatives in a long time. Why don’t we ask our master for leave tomorrow and go home together?” Lin Zhao, who was sitting opposite us, suggested.

Song Zhixuan's expression turned cold, and he said, "You guys go ahead, I'll stay here."

I know that Song Zhixuan only has his gambling father at home, so naturally he won't go back to see him.

“Even if you don’t want to go home, you can go out for a walk. Why don’t you come to my house?” Lin Zhao said.

I nodded in agreement, and after thinking about it, Song Zhixuan agreed.

The next day, when we told Jiang Ming, he readily agreed and said with a smile, "I can go out and find people to drink with too, but you have to come back early, because you won't be able to enter this gate after 5 pm."

The three of us agreed and took the so-called release slip written by Jiang Ming. We went back to our room to change clothes, then went to find Uncle Wen. We got our waist tokens from Uncle Wen and went out through the side gate, which was the closest to our compound.

They all lived in the west of the city, so they traveled together and agreed to meet at the crossroads at Shenshi (3-5 PM) to return to the Prince's Mansion together.

After the breakup, I practically ran all the way to Aunt Wu's house and knocked on the door. Chunming opened the door, but he clearly didn't recognize me.

“I’m Huai En,” I said.

He glanced at me and said, "Why are you dressed like this?"

"Shh, I snuck out." Of course, I wouldn't tell them that I disguised myself as a man and went to Prince Qing's mansion.

Chunming led me into the house. Aunt Wu wasn't there; she had gone out to buy groceries. Pushing open my aunt's door, I saw Zinuo and Chunxiu sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) writing, while my aunt lay beside them watching.

"Auntie, Zinuo," I called softly. Zinuo looked up and saw me, first with an expression of disbelief, then with some anger, and turned her head away from me.

"Huai'en," my aunt called to me, telling me to hurry up and warm up on the kang (heated brick bed).

"Where did Huai'en go? He must have suffered a lot. He's so dark and thin now." The aunt's eyes were filled with tears.

"I went to Prince Qing's mansion to work as a maid. Today, someone came out, and I secretly followed them out," I lied.

The aunt choked back tears and said, "It's all my fault, I've dragged you down again."

“Auntie,” I cried as I hugged my auntie. The days of practicing martial arts are really tough and tiring. Right now, we’re only learning fists and feet. Jiang Ming said that when we learn weapons in the future, bleeding and getting injured will be commonplace.

Chunxiu, afraid of disturbing us, sensibly went out, and I jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and closed the door.

I lay down in bed and took out the twenty taels of silver from my bosom to give to my aunt. My aunt burst into tears again. We received five qian of silver every month at the Prince's mansion. I never expected that. But I didn't bring it with me. I'll just keep it there for now.

I whispered to my aunt and Zinuo, "The name I use in the Prince's mansion is Lin En. If anyone investigates anything in the future, please tell them that your surname is Lin. I sold myself here as a boy to accompany the young prince in his studies, so I can't have the name Huai En anymore. Only the three of us can know this, otherwise I might get beaten to death."

Zi Nuo nodded in fear, hugged me and cried, "Sister, how could you lie to me like that? I waited for you all day and you didn't come back. It was dark when Aunt Wu told us that you had sold yourself. How could you just sell yourself like that!"

I hugged Zinuo and patted his back, coaxing him, "Sister was wrong, I won't do it again."

"Is there no future at all?" Zinuo said. "Zinuo is useless. I can't protect my mother or my sister."

“Isn’t Zinuo still young? And Zinuo is taking very good care of his mother right now,” I said reassuringly.

Zinuo continued to sob in my arms. Seeing the characters she had written on the kang table, I realized they had improved a lot and were much better than mine. My heart ached slightly, and I said, "Zinuo, your handwriting is very good. It's a pity that your sister can't teach you to read anymore. You should practice your handwriting first, and I'll teach you to read when I have time, okay?"

Zinuo nodded obediently and said, "Okay, I also taught Sister Xiu how to write. Aunt Wu was very happy."

“Zinuo is the best,” I said with a smile.

Soon after, Aunt Wu returned and came to see me in my aunt's room.

I got off the kang (heated brick bed), bowed to Aunt Wu, and said, "Thank you, Aunt Wu, for taking care of my aunt and Zinuo."

Aunt Wu smiled and said, "Not at all, we've all taken care of each other. Although your aunt's legs are not very convenient, her hands have helped me a lot. Nuo'er is also very good. Even though he is the younger brother, he teaches Xiu'er to write like an older brother."

I laughed too; they really are all sensible children.

Aunt Wu asked me a few more questions, then told me to keep my aunt company while she went to the kitchen to make lunch.

My aunt said that after she felt better, she started helping Aunt Wu with embroidery. Aunt Wu took all the work home to do, and with two more people, there were more chores to do. My aunt did most of the embroidery.

I took my aunt's hand; her fingers had developed new calluses.

"Auntie, it's fine to do some work during the day, but please don't work so hard at night, it's bad for your eyes," I said.

Auntie laughed and said, "I know, my eyes are bad, I can't do anything well during the day."

Looking at her aunt's legs, she felt so sorry for her that she wanted to cry. She called Zinuo over and taught him how to massage her aunt, hoping it would make her feel better.

Before long, Chunxiu came to call us for dinner. Zinuo and I carefully helped Auntie up and carried her to the small hall. Aunt Wu had already set out hot food. The family sat down and prepared to eat.

Chunxiu chatted warmly with us, but Chunming didn't say much. Aunt Wu enthusiastically helped to serve him food.

It's been a long time since I've felt this warm.

After dinner, I took Chunxiu and Zinuo to build a snowman in the yard. We'd never had such heavy snow in Pingcheng; it was always just a thin layer, never enough to build a proper snowman. We rolled two snowballs, one big and one small, and placed the smaller one on top of the larger one. Then I asked Chunxiu to find two small stones and attach them to the smaller snowball for eyes. We broke off a small twig and stuck it horizontally for a mouth. A strange-looking snowman was born! Zinuo jumped around the snowman, having a wonderful time.

After building a snowman, we had a snowball fight. Seeing how enthusiastically we were playing, Chunming, who had been watching us the whole time, joined in. Everyone laughed and shouted wildly, while Aunt Wu and Aunt Wu watched with smiles from the doorway.

After playing until they were tired, they took Zinuo back to their aunt's room.

The thought of not knowing when I would see my aunt and Zinuo again made me feel a little anxious.