Alternative Telling of Dream of Red Mansions: Cherishing Spring

Chapter 2
Deeper and longer nights.The cloud board on the second door was knocked four times, and the sound was long and sudden, which shocked Rongguo Mansion's dark and deep dream.

Xichun was a light sleeper, and couldn't fall back asleep when she heard the servant girl caressing her skirts and the soft footsteps.

So he woke up and lifted the curtain.

"Into the picture," she called.In the painting is her close-fitting big girl, who sleeps outside in the warm pavilion.

Enter the painting in response.

Xichun saw that she was only wearing a small red silk padded jacket, her arms were bare and her feet were uneven, so she said, "Frozen carefully. Even though I called you, why did you panic like this? It doesn't matter what happened to you." We can't come here, we can't do it." He waved his hands and said, "Come here, stay here." Ruhua moved to the side of the bed according to his words, Xichun took her hand, tucked her in the quilt again, and asked , "Is it warmer?"

There is warmth and heat in the quilt——I have served Xichun in the painting for several years, and I know that she has a withdrawn personality and is difficult to get close to.It's rare to say something personal like today's, and I can't help feeling hot in my heart.

"What's the matter outside? It's so bad that it makes people sleep uneasy." Xichun asked coldly, playing with her beautiful temple hair. "Go back to the girl, something seems to have happened in the East Mansion." Ruhua's hands were buried in the quilt without daring to move. He raised his head and glanced at Xichun. He saw her expression was cold, and a ray of moonlight was shining through the flowers and trees outside the window. Turning around, the light came in and was reflected on Xichun's face, making her more sculpted from ice, her complexion as frosty.

"What shameful thing happened again?" Xichun's heart skipped a beat, as if a string had been broken.Pain, but no sound.

"Girl, I don't want to say that. Uncle Zhen is your elder brother. You are the serious master of the East Mansion. Except for Uncle Zhen, who can surpass you?"

Xichun stared at her with a half-smile: "Hey, how rare do you think I am? Tomorrow I'll shave my head and become a sister-in-law. Are you willing to come with me when you enter the painting?"

It's hard to get into the picture.Although Zhi'er and the others often come here, they are vegetarians during Qingzhai, and their faces are refreshing and not ugly, but without that black hair, it's like a tree full of flowers whose flowers have been pinched, leaving only Zheng Rong branches.To be a woman, you have to look like a woman, can you still look like a woman without hair?

"If you don't want to, forget it. Doesn't it mean that Buddha is destined, so go away." Xichun stared at Ruhua, saw that she didn't answer for a long time, with a hesitant expression on her face, and turned her face away.Xichun suddenly felt a dull pain in her heart, for no reason.A drop of cold tear gently slipped from her eye socket.

"Girl, I was wrong!" Ru Hua said helplessly.She had sat up from the bed and stood on the ground.

She stood there, wishing Xichun could turn around and look at her.

Xichun did not.never.On that night, Grandma Zhen from Dongfu disappeared.

Qin Keqing is dead!
The next day, when Xichun heard the news, she was painting.With a trembling heart and a trembling hand, the mandala flower was destroyed like this.

The meaning of flowers has been lost, and the meaning of painting has been lost.

She was stunned, looking at the residual flower, tears streaming down her eyes.The best rice paper and the best paintings were stained badly.

The flowers flow by themselves.

"Girl, the old lady is calling!" Ruhua waited at the door, his clear voice swayed to her ears through the curtain.

I dare not enter the painting.

Everyone in the family knew that Miss Fourth had a weird temper.Usually nothing but indifference and few words.There is only one point: no one can be disturbed when painting the silent scriptures.The last time Youshi stopped by to see her, but there was no one there, so Youshi came all the way, when Xichun saw her, she immediately threw down the curtain, and hurriedly asked the maids to bring tea to see off the guests, making Youshi so ashamed that she couldn't stand .

Report it to the old lady. The young girl doesn't like to put on makeup, but prefers to paint by silent scriptures.Most of the paintings are clear mountains and cold water, and the white mandala is like snow, what's the reason?
The old ancestor was bright-eyed and smoothed things over with a smile: "Fourth girl is young, so I have to give her an apology from my old lady. If the fourth girl is a kid, I won't allow her to do this anymore. Painting by silent scriptures all day long is not a serious achievement, it is humiliating. Needless to say, Lan'er, Rao Baoyu'er is so weak, I asked Brother Zhen to take him to practice more. It's a girl again, so she doesn't need to start a career to become an official, and serve the country with martial arts. It's so calm It's hard for her, she has the charm of a young lady at such a young age. Pass on my words, and in the future, the fourth girl will silently paint, and outsiders should not disturb her, let her be clean."

What the old lady said made Youshi speechless.No one expected that the old lady would protect Xichun.With the old lady protecting him, he had to laugh about it.Since then, You Shi never took the initiative to go to Xichun's place to provoke anger, but secretly called her a cold person.

"Come on." Xichun restrained her emotions and responded lightly.While taking out the handkerchief to wipe away tears, he went to the bronze mirror and brushed his hair.He walked out as usual.

Go out of Baosha, walk through the corridor, pass the screen wall, and arrive at Jiamu's place. The mandarin ducks come out early to welcome them, carrying Xichun with one hand, and ordering the maidservant to wait outside with the other.

There is a cool and stale fragrance in the spacious main room, which is the smell of a noble family with a small population.It's ridiculous that the storybooks of the market talk about wealth and honor, such as jade halls, golden horses, and colorful flower clusters, are just vulgarities in the dreams of poor people.This is true of the real rich and noble, calm and dimly lit distant pavilions.

Only the Xiang curtain that hangs down to the ground moves slightly occasionally.

A cloud couch is still a cloud couch.It's just that there are no more children and grandchildren around Jia's mother.She seemed to be asleep, but Xichun felt that she was awake at all times, she was sober and sharp, like a peerless Longquan sword, the more dangerous she was, the more she could rely on for help.Usually, she would rather hide under the gorgeous sheath, let her children and grandchildren rub her shoulders and beat her legs, and listen to those witty words flying out of the mouths of people around her.She enjoys family happiness.

Xichun's footsteps were light and light.She really couldn't bear to disturb the old man, even though she was as calm as a mountain and as wise as the sea, she was old after all.No matter how wise old people are, they can't resist fatigue. They need more rest.

Xichun stood there, motionless.

The old lady opened her eyes, and her eyes were as bright as stars in the dark hall.As Xichun felt, she could understand everything in this mansion, every plant, every tree, everyone's thoughts.

"Fourth girl, come here, come to grandma." She beckoned.

Xichun's tears fell, and she leaned against her kind grandmother, tears falling like rain.

"Look, why is our fourth girl like Lin girl? She loves to cry." Jia Mu turned to Yuanyang and said, "Go and tell the kitchen to make some desserts that fourth girl likes. Don't let people say that I made my granddaughter cry from hunger." .”

Yuanyang went away with a smile, closed the door casually, and told everyone under the steps to wait, not to enter without permission from the ancestors.The second master Bao and Miss Lin blocked the way when they came, saying that the ancestors were sleeping in the middle of a rest.

This is the fine point of mandarin ducks.There must be a reason why Jia's mother came to find Xichun alone, but didn't ask her to wait.

Yuanyang has a good idea.In the house, Mother Jia is comforting Xichun.

The whimpering gradually became thinner.

Xichun lay on Jia Mu and wept bitterly.

Then she decided to follow her grandmother's order to keep Qin Keqing's spirit.

The night was cold and the wind was cold, and Bai Ling couldn't help flying under the bewitching wind.Xichun felt that the wind was faint blue, and it was pushing towards her, approaching her body full of gaps.Slowly, nothing existed in the body, and the omnipresent wind had washed them away.Buddhists say that form is form, and the body is the skin.She felt that the Buddha's words were true.She is now like an inflated skin, but she doesn't know if she has been cleansed of her original sin.

do you died?Finally dead?she asked herself.Do I want her to live or die?That woman, a woman who was lying in a coffin and could never get up again.Do I love her or hate her?
The conclusion was made after the coffin was built, but even if she built the coffin, she couldn't make a conclusion for her.

Xichun stood up and walked towards the coffin.She wanted to look at her again.In this life, she was the first woman she loved and also the first woman she hated.

Perhaps, also the last one.

Xichun stroked her face.Keqing is as beautiful as when she was born.During their lifetime, they rarely had the opportunity to have such a close and unobstructed eye contact.There are too many people between her and her.

Xichun caresses her eyebrows and strokes her own.The woman lying in the coffin has a body like a willow, a face like a lotus, and a pair of peach blossom eyes closed.There was a scar at the bottom of her neck, a scar that cut off her life.Xichun closed her eyes, and seemed to see her hanging on a high beam, having settled the grievances and grievances of the whole life, her body seemed light and small.

Xichun glimpsed the emptiness of life prematurely, so she can understand Keqing's pain and ease when he died.She talked to her as if she could hear—

"King, you also have fine lines at the corners of your eyes. I've grown up, and you're getting old too; but Qing, what do you think of your eyebrows and my eyes? And your mouth is small. It's bright red; but dear, your fragrant lips, he must be afraid of melting in his mouth..."

As Xichun said this, she smiled, her fingers pulsating on Qin Keqing's face and her own face, like a dexterous and strange fish playing among the floating aquatic plants.

What a beautiful stunner——Xi Chun smiled with emotion, she inherited her appearance, but not her gentle and affectionate character.But if Qing is submerged in a man's water, she can only be regarded as ice that is piercingly cold.

"Time is enough, you should go back—"

Behind Xichun came a deep male voice.Under the shade of long stacked white flags, a man walked over with a lantern.

Huangquan Road, Naihe Bridge.This person is her soul emissary.Xichun trembled in her heart, the energy that had been filling her heart just now was gradually fading away, she didn't know if it was because of the cold, or the fear brought by this man.Her hands trembled on Qin Keqing's face, breaking through the calmness and indifference she had when facing the dead just now.

"Brother Zhen, you're here!" Xichun gathered herself together, turned her head, and looked at him.The ceremony cannot be discarded, and she performed a ceremony as usual.

Jia Zhen, dressed in plain clothes and wearing filial piety, nodded silently and accepted the gift.

"Fourth sister, you can go home now. Your sister-in-law will die in peace when she knows you are here." Jia Zhen turned and walked towards the coffin, stroking the coffin.The cool candlelight and the deep shadows made his face look like a hole that had been forcibly opened.A dark, deep wound.

sister in law!Xichun's chest felt tight, and she gritted her teeth to resist the feeling of nausea.

"Just go back, Brother Zhen." She deliberately called the word "brother" clearly and sweetly.

Jia Zhen looked normal.A candle was flickering on and off, and the faces of both of them looked shady.

Xichun said back, but she didn't intend to leave. She turned around and flicked Qin Keqing's face, and said with a smile, "What a skin that can be broken at the first blow. What a stunning beauty, it's a pity to die like this. Now how do the men in the East Mansion live?"

"Fourth girl." Jia Zhen changed her face, held back after thinking about it, and said to Xichun, "The dead are respected. Fourth sister, please don't offend the dead. I'll take you back. The boy has set up the car outside."

Yes, she died!Xichun suddenly felt that she had nothing to be afraid of!She shouldn't have provoked him. He is an elder brother in terms of etiquette, and he is also the head of the Ningguo Mansion. If he offended him, she would not have a good life, but so what?She has never been better since that incident.

Xichun forced Jia Zhen in front of her and asked, "I'm going back! Where am I going back? I'm the master of which house. What am I, and what are you?"

Jia Zhen's hand that was holding the lantern kept trembling. Xichun's words pierced his heart very deeply.

— What are you again.

The lantern shattered and fell to the ground in ashes.The embankment of her heart was broken, and Jia Zhen cried bitterly on the coffin.

He knew that he loved Qin Keqing more deeply than anyone he had ever met in his life.Youshi is basically a dispensable vase placed in the room, a tool to vent his desire when he is irritable.

He knew very well that no matter what Keqing had done, once she died, he would still be in pain.

Xichun looked at him, seeing the defeat of the person she had always hated, without any pleasure.Actually they are two evil fruits on one evil tree.

Qin Keqing is their root, and Jia Jing is their root.

She thought of two lines of poem: They were originally born from the same root, so why rush each other?Sorry! "Brother—" Xichun stretched out her arms to embrace him.Jia Zhen pushed her away.Xichun fell to the ground, and she saw Jia Zhen's face full of jealousy because of love, which was as ferocious as the Gobi after the wind and sand.

Jia Zhen let out a scream like a howling wolf, not at all like the usual gentle and courteous doctor.The sound echoed in the empty mourning hall, far away.He is not afraid of being heard, these days, everyone in the whole house thinks that he is almost a lunatic, and almost no one dares to talk to him.Ke Qing's sudden death caused a lot of discussion among the people, and he didn't intend to keep people from talking about it.There are no real secrets in this world, it's just that everyone is used to doing things that hide their ears and steal their bells.Qin Keqing is dead, he doesn't care about many things anymore.Except for Xichun, the pain her presence brought to him was like a nail piercing his eyes, no less than Keqing's departure.He saw her as the embodiment of sin, the fruit of shame.Xichun's appearance always reminded him of everything that should have perished with time, which made him unforgivable.

"Jia Xichun! Get out!" Jia Zhen stared at Xichun and shouted, "Why did you come to Dongfu? Why do you come to worship her? You are a thorn in my side, a thorn in my flesh! You are her shame, I don't Understand why she chose to give birth to you! You bastard, you should never have been born in this world. I curse you, to perish with your birth, with all your sins, never to be reborn forever!" Jia Zhen grabbed Xichun's shoulders were determined as if they wanted to smash her to pieces.Hate like that, only hate left.

Xichun was speechless, her heart shattered with fear.The man in front of her, the coffin, and the entire East Mansion turned into giant beasts waiting to be devoured and rushed towards her.She shrank to the ground, terrified but unable to cry out.At this moment, even if Jia Zhen stretched out her hand and strangled her to death, no one would save her again.

He can do it.And the person who saved her is now lying in the coffin.

In the dark night, hug yourself with your arms.She remembered that Mother Jia once said, child, if you are cold and afraid, you should hug yourself and warm yourself like your mother hugs you.

Xichun asked: "Where is my mother? Why haven't I seen her? Has she ever hugged me?"

Jiamu told her quietly: "Your mother is dead." Then she remained silent.She found that there was no smile on her grandmother's face, and Xichun never asked about her mother again.It doesn't matter whether the person who has never existed, the love that has never existed, exists or not. It is the same to be hugged by grandma and loved by grandma.

Xichun doesn't know when Jia Zhen left, it seems like it never happened.Xichun told Yuanyang who came to pick her up that she was so sleepy that she fell asleep on her knees.

(End of this chapter)