Chongfei Manual

Wei Luo's luck wasn't very good. Just as she reached the entrance, it started raining when the weather had been perfectly good a few moments ago. The rain became heavier and heavier. Drop after drop successively landed on the ground in front of Wei Luo. Wei Luo's eyebrows twisted and she took a step back.

A thunderstorm had erupted outside of the inn. The cold wind mixed with raindrops blew onto Wei Luo. She lifted up a handkerchief to wipe her face. In a short moment, the entranceway was filled with water. Her bright and limpid eyes were overflowing with the reflection of water. Without waiting for Jin Lu, who was in the carriage across from her, to bring her an umbrella, Wei Luo lifted up her skirt, stepped into a puddle, and walked in the direction of the carriage.

Zhao Jie immediately took off his black cloak embroidered with golden thread and covered Wei Luo's head, then he pulled her back inside. "It's raining so heavily. There's no reason to leave right this second. It won't be too late if you wait for your servant girl to bring your umbrella over. I'm worried that you'll get sick from the chilly rain."

A long time later, Wei Luo's voice came out from underneath the cloak, "I don't want to stay here."

Zhao Jie held her hand, "This prince can send you back."

Wei Luo wasn't married to Zhao Jie yet and it wasn't appropriate for him to do this. But, of the people here, who had the energy to care about this?

A moment later, Jin Lu came over while holding an opened oilpaper umbrella with a hibiscus pattern. Wei Luo walked underneath the umbrella with Zhao Jie's cloak draped over her shoulders.

“Sweetie!” A voice suddenly called out from behind them.

Wei Luo stopped walking, but she didn’t turn around.

Jiang Miao Lan arrived at the inn's entrance. Holding the doorframe, she looked at Wei Luo with an anxious expression.

Wei Luo turned her head and said to Jin Lu, "Let's go. When I came out, I didn't say anything to paternal grandmother. She'll worry if I don't go back to soon."

Jin Lu nodded, lifted Wei Luo's skirt, "Miss, be careful while walking."

The heavy rain poured down and smashed underfoot. A moment later, their shoes and socks were splashed wet, even their skirts became wet.

Wei Luo continued walking forward. She heard hurried footsteps behind her. Before she reached the carriage, Jiang Miao Lan arrived in front of her.

Wei Luo's eyes were calm as she motionlessly looked at Jiang Miao Lan. She didn't know why she had chased her over here. Wei Luo coldly asked, "Madam, were you calling me before?"

Jiang Miao Lan was stabbed by the indifference in Wei Luo's eyes. The falling rain fell down from the umbrella and formed a curtain around Wei Luo. Jiang Miao Lan had to take a step forward to clearly see Wei Luo's face. "Sweetie, I'm..."

Wei Luo tilted her head and interrupted her words, "I don't want to know."

Jiang Miao Lan's stretched out hand stopped in mid-air. She felt helpless and embarrassed.

At this moment, Jiang Miao Lan realized that Wei Luo had already known. She had treated her so apathetically because she already knew. Raindrops fell into Jiang Miao Lan's eyes. The various emotions she had been feeling in her heart changed into mist that rushed up into her eyes. Crying, she asked, "Sweetie, do you hate me?"

If it weren’t raining so heavily, who knows how many people would have seen this scene? However, at this time, there were only a few people on the street and they passed by them in a hurry without pay any attention.

Wei Luo's expression didn't change. "Madam, you recognized the wrong person. I don’t know you."

Then, Wei Luo didn't continue looking at her. She stepped onto the carriage pedal to enter the black-lacquered, flat-roof carriage.

Original translation is from fuyuneko dot org. If you’re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.

However, in the moment when Wei Luo bent over to enter the carriage, Jiao Miao Lan shouted while crying, "I'm your mother!"

Wei Luo finally stopped. She straightened, turned around, and looked at the soaked woman outside of the carriage. Wei Luo stared at her for such a long time that Jiang Miao Lan thought time had frozen. Occupying the higher ground, Wei Luo slowly asked, "What did you say?"

"Sweetie, I'm your mother." Jiang Miao Lan repeated while she sobbing.

Wei Luo heard her words clearly and her mind also became more alert. Her voice was even colder than before as she said, "My mother died a long time ago. I don't have a mother."

Jiang Miao Lan’s face became deathly pale.

"When I was a child, there was a time when I was very sick. When other children were sick, they all had a mother by their side to take care of them, but I only had servant girls and a governess. Chang Hong and daddy would also frequently come over to keep me company and coax me into drinking medicine." Wei Luo's words seemed very nonsensical. She looked directly at Jiang Miao Lan's eyes as she said the following words, "From that time, I knew that I only had a father and young brother. I don’t have a mother."

Jiang Miao Lan's body tilted and she almost fell down onto the ground.

This time, Wei Luo heartlessly entered the carriage and ordered the carriage driver, "Go back to Duke Ying's residence."

The carriage drove away and quickly disappeared into the rain.

Fu Xing Yun walked forward, took off his outer robe, draped it over Jiang Miao Lan, and gathered it over her shoulders. "Your health isn't good to begin with. You'll get sick if you stay out here in the rain."

Jiang Miao Lan's heart ached. There was nothing more painful and hopeless than being hated by your own daughter. Her face was full of tears. She kept repeating, "Sweetie hates me. She hates me... But, I miss her and Chang Hong so much. There hasn't been a single day when I wasn't missing them."

Fu Xing Yin led her back to the inn, asked the waiter to bring a dry cloth, gently wiped the water from her face and hair, and comfortingly said, "You have to give her time to think things through. You haven't seen each other in several years. There's no need to rush into things right now."

After two of them said these words, they noticed that Wei Kun and Zhao Jie hadn't left yet.

At some point, the inn's customers had left. They were the only four people left in the lobby. Zhao Jie was sitting at a square table. Without saying a word, he was turning the cup in his hand with an attitude of thinking things through.

In contrast, when Wei Kun heard the conversation between Jiang Miao Lan and Fu Xing Yun, there was a painful and complicated expression on his face. He stared at Jiang Miao Lan and asked, "Why is your health bad?"

Jiang Miao Lan finished wiping away the rainwater on her face and lowered her eyes. A long time later, she said, "I injured my body when I gave birth to sweetie and Chang Hong back then. I won't be able to have another child for the rest of my life."

(T/N: Thank you everyone for taking the time to write out your thoughts and answer my question from yesterday ^^.)