I dress up as a poor noblewoman, and I bring my whole family home with my literary talent.

Chapter 39 Day Off 1 Big Sister
Officials in the Daliang Dynasty had a day off every half a month. Together with seasonal holidays and festival holidays, they could have more than seventy days of rest in a year.

The palace ladies took a day off and left the palace from Xuanwu Gate at the same time.

"Five girls!"

Azhu raised his hand to greet Song Lingyi who was standing confused at the foot of Xuanwu Gate.

Today she was wearing a fresh and elegant silver-red dress with her hair piled high. Her cheeks had become fuller in the past half month, and she looked more like a court lady. Azhu almost couldn't recognize her.

Song Lingyi looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Azhu who came to pick her up. She trotted over happily, "Azhu!"

"How are you doing lately?"

Azhu smiled and said, "Everything is fine at home."

"Who asked about the family? I'm asking about you." Song Lingyi said as she stepped on the stool. She thought that family was used to eating, drinking and having fun, so how could they be bad?

"I'm fine too." Azhu replied, his cheeks tinged with a blush.

The carriage swayed along Fenghuang Street, and the streets were bustling.

"This time the holiday coincides with the Ghost Festival, so I can take three days off!"

"Is the Zhongyuan Festival in Chang'an lively?"

Song Lingyi sat in the carriage without stopping, and lifted the curtain to chat with Azhu.

"Of course it's lively. On the day of the Ghost Festival, sky lanterns will be released all over the city. On the one hand, it is to take away the bad luck in the family, and on the other hand, it is to light the way to heaven for the deceased ancestors. However, the Ghost Festival is also known as the Ghost Festival. The Fifth Girl used to be timid and afraid of ghosts and gods, so she never went out on this day." Azhu said.

The past was the past, the present is the present

Song Lingyi didn't even flinch when she encountered a sneaky elder sister when she went to the toilet in the middle of the night, so why would she be afraid to go out during the Ghost Festival?
"I'm already an adult, so I'm not afraid of these things. Tomorrow is the Zhongyuan Festival, do you think the lady will arrange a big dinner for us?"

The food in the palace is just average.

Of course, I am referring to the food for the palace maids. The food for the nobles must be excellent.

Ah Zhu hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and complained, "The lady has been very frugal lately, so I'm afraid she won't be able to have a big meal, but she will have vegetables for every meal."

"..."

The carriage stopped at the gate of Song Mansion
As expected, the people who greeted her were only Song Lingwan and Zhou Xiaoniang.

Seeing Song Lingyi getting off the carriage, Zhou Xiaoniang was the first to go up to her and held her hand affectionately, "Liao Liao, you are finally back. Are you doing well in the palace?"

Song Lingwan's face froze slightly.

"Everything is fine. Thank you for your concern."

Whether Zhou Xiaoniang was sincere or insincere, Song Lingyi was happy to accept her flattery.

"Fourth sister," Song Lingyi let go of Zhou Xiaoniang's hand and turned to hold Song Lingwan's, "I missed you so much during this time in the palace."

Song Lingwan smiled faintly without saying anything, then raised her hand to stroke her fifth sister's hair.

The three of them entered the Song residence together. Everything was normal at home. Mr. Song would go out to have fun every other day. After the last incident of stealing money, Mrs. Song kept a closer eye on the key to the storehouse. Mrs. Zhao had fallen out of favor again and stayed in her room all day, complaining to herself in front of the bronze mirror. While returning to the east wing to put her luggage, Song Lingyi asked about her eldest sister.

Song Lingwan shook her head and sighed, saying that her elder sister hadn't even returned to the Pang family during this period of time, so how long could that box of property support her? It would be used up sooner or later.

Through the door of the room, the two heard Madam Song yelling a curse, saying that Mr. Song had forgotten the pain after his wound healed and was not coming home, and that the Song family's fortune would be squandered sooner or later.

Lunch was just as Ah Zhu expected, all green, the only meat was fried eggs with toon vegetables, it seemed like there was no meat at all.

In fact, with the reward from the government last time, the Song family was not so poor that they couldn't afford food. It was just that Mrs. Song was a person who would torture the whole family if she was not satisfied.

Everyone sees through it and chooses to remain silent
"Eat it if you want. If you don't want to eat, get out." Mrs. Song vented her anger wantonly. She picked up a piece of stir-fried vegetables with chopsticks and stuffed it into her mouth. The more she chewed, the uglier her expression became, and she forced herself to swallow it.

in the afternoon
Ah Zhu was going to the market to buy things for the Ghost Festival. Song Lingyi was craving for some snow mountain pastry, so she made an excuse to go out with her.

When she came out of the shop selling snow mountain pastry, she met her elder sister Song Zhirou who had disappeared for a long time. Only more than a month had passed, and Song Lingyi could no longer recognize her.

She was skinny, with prominent cheekbones, and her once plump breasts had become shriveled, as if she had aged a dozen years overnight. She was wearing thick autumn clothes in the summer, and she was not afraid of heatstroke and dehydration.

She obviously came for Song Lingyi. As soon as she saw Song Lingyi, her eyes lit up as if she had seen a treasure.

There were people coming and going on the street, and the two of them were at a certain distance. Song Lingyi didn't dare to blink, thinking whether to ask Ah Zhu to take the person back to the Song family, or to control the person first and then notify the Pang family.

Without waiting for her to come up with a suitable plan, Song Zhirou turned and walked towards an alley, intentionally trying to lead her to a place with fewer people.

Song Lingyi pondered for a moment and followed.

The alley was quiet and messy, with moss-covered walls. Song Zhirou was standing in the middle of the alley.

Behind her was the bustling street. Song Lingyi didn't think much about it. She took two more steps inside and said calmly, "Sister, why are you here?"

But the first words the eldest sister said were: "Le Le, now you are an official, do you have any money? Give me some help." She was like a drowning person grabbing at a piece of floating wood, desperate, fanatical, ignorant and terribly so.

Song Lingyi's slightly frown deepened a little, and she asked in doubt: "Didn't Big Sister take a box of valuables away before? Why is she asking me for money again?"

The other party is silent
Song Lingyi didn't know when Ah Zhu would come to see her, so she could only try to calm her down first. She took out a tael of silver from her sleeve pocket and said, "This is all I have. If you feel it's not enough, you can go home with me. The lady will definitely give you money."

"I don't believe it! Didn't you become an official in the palace? You must be rich. I know that stealing money last time was wrong, but... I beg you to lend me a little money to save my life. I will return it to you tomorrow." She seemed to be addicted to drugs, shivering and sweating. She didn't care about dignity, she almost knelt down and kowtowed to her younger sister.

It was dark that night and it was hard to see clearly. Now it was daytime and all the abnormalities of Song Zhirou were magnified and seen clearly. Song Lingyi was sure that the elder sister in front of her had taken some kind of addictive drug, similar to the modern magic water.

In the documentary, drug addicts eventually become inhuman, and even go crazy and forget their relatives just for a little pleasure. Song Lingyi couldn't do that, and just watched her elder sister fall into depravity.

She pursed her lips, her eyes and eyebrows turned colder, "Sister, it's not too late to turn back."

"You can't take the medicine anymore. Come back with me now!" He pretended to go forward and grab Song Zhirou.

Don't be fooled by Song Zhirou's frail appearance. She is actually very strong and Song Lingyi couldn't pull her even with all her strength.

The air was sultry and hot sweat oozed from the tip of Song Lingyi's nose.

The two sides were in a stalemate. Song Zhirou suddenly grabbed Song Lingyi's arm with a strange look on her face: "It's over, don't blame me, I have no other choice."

what?
Song Lingyi's eyes went dark and she completely lost consciousness.
(End of this chapter)