After the marriage, the cousin was spoiled by the whole family of the Marquis's Mansion

Chapter 56: Dad is still alive?

In the temple, the evening drum and the morning bell sound, as soon as the sky is getting light, you can already faintly hear the sound of monks chanting sutras during the morning prayers.

There are already pilgrims arriving in front of the main hall, all wanting to be the first to burn incense.

Lanterns swaying in the wind were hung in the corridor of the wing room. Only a few servants woke up in the wing courtyard and started cleaning and working.

Perhaps because she slept too much yesterday, Rong Peilan woke up early. She looked at the misty morning fog on the windowsill and felt a little uneasy.

After leaving the wing room, the sound of the temple bell became clearer and the Xiangguo Temple in the mist looked even more solemn and focused.

Rong Peilan exhaled lightly, and her mind became clearer.

A little ways around the corner from the wing courtyard is the vegetarian room, where the chefs have already started preparing vegetarian meals.

There were also a few cooks from various families who had brought their own food into the dining room and were cooking on the stoves that had been borrowed from them.

At the other end of the long cobblestone path is a rest pavilion.

During the day, most pilgrims who have finished burning incense would rest here and eat dry food.

The pavilion is lower than the red maple forest of yesterday and is adjacent to the main hall.

From here you can see the abandoned path of Xiangguo Temple more clearly.

Rong Peilan has something on her mind. The two people who are most important to her have left her, but she can't resolve the doubts in her heart.

From a distance, she suddenly stopped, her eyes trembling slightly.

Under the pavilion, a man in white stood with his hands behind his back. His hair was untied and he was holding a brush in his left hand, painting the beautiful mountains and rivers.

Rong Peilan was a little dazed, just like her father.

He often painted with his hair loose, and he always said that tying his hair restricted him and prevented him from painting freely.

She came to her senses and realized that it was not her father, he did not know how to paint with his left hand.

"Uncle Mu."

Hua Yuan ran over from the main hall holding the hem of her skirt. Rong Peilan was far away and couldn't see her expression, but she could see that she was happy and excited.

The little girl ran happily to Muchun with an expression of seeking credit on her face.

"I have lit the first incense stick. I made a wish to the Buddha, hoping that Uncle Mu can eliminate all the remaining toxins in his body this time!"

Mu Chun's warm voice came, "Thank you, Princess."

Hua Yuan was a little unhappy, "Uncle Mu, can't you just call me Lan'er like before?"

Princess Huayuan's maiden name was Meng Junlan.

Rong Peilan turned around and wanted to leave, but she heard a sad voice from Muchun, "I will never see Muchun's Lan'er again in this life."

For some reason, she felt a pang of pain in her heart when she heard this.

"The princess is the Clivia of the royal family, she is noble, but she is not Muchun's orchid."

Rong Peilan pulled her cloak tighter around her, but her heart seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand. She quickened her pace, as if this would ease her heartache.

Her eyes were slightly hot. She hadn't dreamed of the figure who had once been the most majestic in her heart for many years.

The year her father brought her and her mother back to Beijing, they lived in a small courtyard on the outskirts of the city. There was a swing in the courtyard. Her father replaced the hemp rope with a new one and would let her hold the rope tightly and push her high.

As she swung higher and higher on the swing, she put aside the sad words her aunt said. Lan Jie'er was nine years old and still couldn't do needlework. How would she find a husband in the future?

Daddy would say, "My Lan'er is smart and clever, as smart as any other man in the world. Daddy's house will always be Lan'er's home!"

Now, this similar back figure suddenly caught her eye, and she still couldn't calm down.

Haitang woke up and didn't see anyone in the wing room. She looked over and saw the young lady with a pale face, "Young lady!"

Rong Peilan pulled the corner of her lip and blinked her eyes to make her tearful eyes clearer. "I'm fine. I must be hungry."

Haitang supported her, "Xiangwu has already brought the vegetarian food. We didn't bring a cook, but Marquis Wenyuan's mansion did. Madam specially asked the marquis's wife yesterday to make a portion for you every day." Rong Peilan nodded randomly, and couldn't help but look back at the figure under the pavilion.

The man had disappeared, leaving only Princess Hua Yuan angrily tearing up his painting.

A gust of morning mountain breeze blew up the scraps of paper on the ground, and a piece of it floated in front of her.

The painting is not so delicate. There is a small bridge at the foot of the mountain, and a human figure is drawn on the bridge with just two strokes.

Rong Peilan grabbed the scraps of paper and her eyes instantly turned red.

She turned and ran towards the pavilion.

"Eh? Young Madam!" Haitang was caught off guard.

The corridor was empty, and the debris on the ground was blown away, leaving only a piece of debris on the ground with only half a sentence of poetry left on it.

An inch of lovesickness is an inch of ashes.

Rong Peilan squatted on the ground holding two pieces of paper and finally couldn't help sobbing.

"Young Madam..." Haitang slowly walked into the pavilion.

"Miss!"

A familiar voice came closer and closer, and a moment later, she fell into a slightly cool embrace.

Ji Yunzhang pulled her into his arms and put his cloak around her.

Rong Peilan didn't dare to look up, and could only say in a trembling voice, "I miss my father and mother..."

This was the first time Ji Yunzhang saw her cry like this.

He patted her back gently and said, "Lan'er, I remember you said that your parents took you to the grassland to ride horses. When our child is born, I will take you and your mother there."

"Not only the grasslands, but also the vast sand dunes. Go and walk through the mountains and rivers you have walked through."

Rong Peilan grabbed his collar and cried uncontrollably, as if she wanted to cry out all the grievances she had suffered over the years.

She lost her father and mother at a young age. Although she had the protection of her uncle and had no worries about food and clothing, she had to swallow all the bullying and cold looks from the Xie family's backyard for two taels of rice.

She was once a carefree girl, but overnight, her world collapsed.

She can only provide a roof over her head for herself and for Kuan'er.

Rong Peilan raised her tearful little face and couldn't help looking at him hopefully, "Maybe my father is still alive."

Ji Yunzhang held her red face and gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. He opened his mouth but didn't know how to persuade her.

After a long while, he said softly, "My wife, your father protected you when you were young, and I will protect you in the future. No matter what situation you are in, I will never abandon you!"

Rong Peilan pursed her lips, and the hopes in her heart were dashed bit by bit.

She lowered her eyes to look at the scraps of paper in her hand. The painting was crude and the handwriting was sloppy. There was no trace of her father at all.

With just a back view and half a line of poetry, she gave rise to a hope that was impossible to discover.

She crumpled the paper into a ball and said in a hoarse voice, "Let's go back."

Ji Yunzhang picked her up horizontally, tightened his strong arms, and held her tightly in his arms, just like the promise he made to protect her for the rest of her life.

After the few people left, another gust of mountain wind blew the paper ball abandoned by Rong Peilan.

The ball of paper rolled down next to a pair of soft boots as white as the moon.

A pair of slender hands picked up the paper ball, and when it was unfolded, it was the human figure on the bridge that was simply drawn with two strokes. The fingers caressed the figure on the paper lovingly.

Then there was a soft sigh and a whisper that drifted away in the mountain breeze.

　Please give me a monthly ticket, please give me a ticket, ladies, please move your fingers (*^▽^*)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)