In the depths of winter, the moment the sun set, everything turned pitch black, leaving only the howling north wind pouring endlessly in through every collar, chilling people to the bone with shivers.
Unless there was some grand banquet, the people of the northern desert clan never went out once night fell!
At this moment, the entire northern desert had sunk into boundless, endless silence.
Only Yu Xiaomeng, alone, struggled forward carrying Ziqing on her back, pushing against the wind and snow that grew heavier by the moment!
Though the lights at the foot of the mountain were visible in the distance, that courtyard was still quite a ways from the town after all.
Ever since climbing the mountain in search of the red sandalwood, Yu Xiaomeng hadn’t had a single proper night’s rest — in truth, she had been forcing herself along, gritting through it, all this time!
Her strides had originally been quite large, but gradually she found herself unable to keep walking, her waist bending into a ninety-degree angle. Seen from a distance, her silhouette looked just like an old woman bent under a heavy load!
And yet, even so, she gritted her teeth and pushed on. This time, she felt even more strength in her heart than before, all because of that faint glimmer of light ahead!
She had made up her mind — since no one else was willing to care for this girl, she would leave her with young master Xuanyuan. His house was spacious after all, and he was home all the time. Though he couldn’t possibly watch over her every single moment, at least he could check in on her now and then!
Besides, young master Xuanyuan understood medicine — far better than she did.
She really couldn’t keep watch over this girl day after day. She had too many things to do, she needed to go out — she’d been the one holding up this household since she was young. Just going hunting in the forest alone took a full day to complete.
Her mother had grown muddled in her old age, arguing with her over this — she herself couldn’t afford to lose her head over it!
Of course, it would be a lie to say she had no selfish motives at all. She wanted to see Xuanyuan Lige, wanted to stay in touch with him!
Even knowing full well she could never marry him, surely being friends was still allowed, wasn’t it? She would slowly learn to hide away her own feelings of admiration!
Just as ordinary friends — at the very least, she could see him, talk with him, and care for each other a little.
Just as Yu Xiaomeng was sinking into her own beautiful imaginings, a sharp scolding voice suddenly rang out from behind her — Madam Yu’s. “You wretched girl, what do you think you’re doing!”
Yu Xiaomeng was startled and didn’t even dare look back. Carrying Ziqing, she broke into a run, gritting her teeth and pushing hard, stepping deep and shallow through the snow.
“You’re still running? Stop right there!”
“Yu Xiaomeng, have you no shame at all!”
“Stop right there! If you still call me your mother, then stop!”
Madam Yu ran after her, panting and shouting, not daring to raise her voice too loud for fear of disturbing others.
But this time, Yu Xiaomeng was dead set on not listening. She didn’t look back, didn’t answer, just kept pushing forward with all her strength.
“You wretched girl, stop!”
“Do you hear me? Your mother is doing this for your own good — stop, I forbid you to go!”
“What exactly do you want? Do you still want to get married or not!”
…
Since Yu Xiaomeng was carrying someone on her back, Madam Yu soon caught up beside her and grabbed her arm forcefully. Yu Xiaomeng struggled, but with no strength left, her arms went weak, and she actually dropped Ziqing onto the ground!
She was so shocked she nearly lost her wits and hurried to help her up, but Madam Yu grabbed her hand instead. “That’s enough out of you!”
“You’re the one who’s had enough!” Yu Xiaomeng shook her off, her voice cold. “What exactly do you want from me? I just won’t get married, so what!”
“You! You!” Madam Yu was so furious she could barely get the words out. “You’ll regret this! Your mother has eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice. That Xuanyuan boy clearly already has someone in his heart, and you keep throwing your warm face at his cold backside day after day. Don’t you know a girl needs to have self-respect, self-love? A girl is supposed to wait for someone to come pursue her, to court her — pursuit, courtship, do you understand!”
“No, I don’t!”
“Go home, come back with me right now, I’ll explain it until you do understand!”
“No! I can’t take proper care of her on my own — asking young master Xuanyuan for help is only natural, there’s nothing shameful about it! There’s no question of dignity or lack of it here!”
“You’re still making excuses — you clearly want to see him, want to be with him!”
“Is it not allowed to just be ordinary friends? If we can’t be together, must we become strangers who never speak again for the rest of our lives?” Yu Xiaomeng said, choked with frustration, while Ziqing lay collapsed in the snow, still unconscious, snowmelt gradually soaking through the quilt into her clothes.
“Child! You’re far too naive. If you can’t become lovers, you can never remain ordinary friends either! You’re still an unmarried maiden — if you keep this up, who will dare want you in the future, what will people say about you, how will they talk about you behind your back! You may be able to throw away your own face like this, but our Yu family cannot afford to lose face!” Madam Yu was furious, yet her words carried genuine heartfelt concern too. “Come home. I’ve already arranged the matchmaking meeting, it’s tomorrow morning. I can look after her for you.”
“Too late!” Yu Xiaomeng blurted out without even thinking.
“What?” Madam Yu’s voice rose several decibels higher.
“I said, it’s too late. I’m not going. And I don’t need your help either!”
Yu Xiaomeng was resolute, bending down to pull Ziqing up. Madam Yu took deep breath after deep breath, and finally, unable to hold back any longer, grabbed Yu Xiaomeng’s hand forcefully, ignoring her resistance, and turned to drag her away!
“Let go! You have no right to do this!”
“I’ve listened to you obediently since I was little. Whatever you told me to do, I did. Whatever a proper young lady should do, I’ve done. And whatever isn’t proper for a young lady — chopping wood, hunting — I’ve done that too! Enough is enough! This matter, I’ll decide for myself! Fine, I won’t marry — then it’s young master Xuanyuan or no one!”
As she spoke, Yu Xiaomeng suddenly lunged and bit down hard on the back of Madam Yu’s hand. Madam Yu endured the pain, letting her bite down, but refused to let go, dragging her backward step by step.
Mother and daughter fought so fiercely that neither of them spared a single thought for Ziqing, still lying in the snow!
By now, Ziqing’s entire back was soaked through with snowmelt, an icy sensation spreading from her back all the way through to the front, coursing through her whole body!
She drifted in a haze, faintly aware, yet able to feel nothing but the cold!
She had no idea what had happened to her, no idea what was going on around her — she only felt a bitter taste on her lips, perhaps due to the orphaned island-child’s inborn sensitivity to poison.
Even unconscious and unaware, she could faintly sense poison on her lips — a sedative drug.
She struggled to wake up — she still had something very important to do!
She couldn’t sleep!
She had to get Yelu Qianqian back! She absolutely could not let that old woman from Dongqin succeed!
But she was so powerless, without even the strength to open her eyes.
Beside her, Madam Yu and Yu Xiaomeng remained locked in their standoff. Suddenly, Yu Xiaomeng let go, and Madam Yu breathed a sigh of relief — but who would have guessed Yu Xiaomeng would simply shift position and bite down instead on the pulse point of her wrist!
The pain made Madam Yu instantly let go. Yu Xiaomeng, nearly shouting, cried out, “I’m telling you this one last time — I, Yu Xiaomeng, will marry Xuanyuan Shang and no one else!”
Having shouted this, she turned angrily to run off — but the moment she turned, she froze completely!
There stood young master Xuanyuan, not far behind her — no telling how long he’d been there — watching the two of them, mother and daughter, with a cold, silent gaze.