The spring rain tapped on the window ledge all night, and as the sky outside gradually lightened, a sudden sharp cry echoed from a certain courtyard within the deep recesses of the Marquis Mansion.
Erqing, who was on night duty outside, threw on a shawl and briskly stepped inside, concerned, "Miss, are you having nightmares again? This can't go on. Once it's daylight, we should call the mansion's doctor to check your pulse."
For the past month, their young lady had been waking up with screams, losing weight visibly.
As she approached, she was startled to see her mistress's face covered in tears, "Miss, what happened? Are you feeling unwell?"
Facing her lively personal maid, Xie Wanqing bit her lip in disbelief. It was only when she felt genuine pain that she murmured, "I had a dream. It was terrifying."
"Is it the same dream you've been having recently?" Erqing took out a handkerchief to wipe her mistress's tears and gently advised, "Miss, don't be afraid, dreams aren't real."
Xie Wanqing held her hand dazedly, then suddenly smiled, "Yes, they're all false."
She had intermittently dreamt for half a month that Lu Ziyuan, who had gone to suppress bandits, returned safely to the Capital but brought back a concubine.
Rumor had it that although the concubine was born a maid, she was strikingly beautiful.
Rumor had it that he loved the concubine dearly and defied his mother for her.
Rumor had it that he intended to break off their engagement for the concubine, only agreeing to abide by the betrothal due to Old Madam Lu's threats.
Her elder brother personally went to the Lu Mansion to demand he dismiss the concubine, but was refused. Her parents advised her to find another match, yet she stubbornly insisted on marrying him, as if blinded by infatuation.
They had grown up together as childhood friends, with an engagement set from youth, she never imagined marrying another.
Previously, the dreams were always faint and misty, and she did not take them seriously, until tonight.
Erqing died before her eyes, ordered to be beaten to death by Lu Ziyuan himself in the dream; the realism of the scene and the remorse felt by the dream's version of her affected her deeply, making it impossible to ignore.
...Is this really a dream?
Xie Wanqing pursed her lips, wiped away her tears, and asked, "Did Old Madam Lu mention yesterday that Lu Ziyuan sent a letter? When is he returning to the Capital?"
"In just the next couple of days." Her mistress usually referred to the Princely Heir as Brother Ziyan, so it startled Erqing when she suddenly used his full name. She paused briefly, then asked, "Miss, you don't look well, are you still going to Wuyuan Marquis Mansion today?"
Lu Ziyuan had been dispatched by the Holy Emperor to Bianzhou to suppress bandits, and before his departure, he specifically instructed Xie Wanqing to visit Wuyuan Marquis Mansion to keep company with his elderly grandmother and widowed mother and aunt.
The Lu family was renowned for their loyalty and sacrifice; Lu Ziyuan's grandfather, uncles, and father had all perished on the battlefield, leaving only a few women to maintain the large household. Lu Ziyuan was the sole male heir of the Lu Family.
Not only were the Lu family women unwilling to let him go to the front lines, even the current Holy Emperor was reluctant to let the hundred-year-old Marquis Mansion's line be extinguished. Apart from less dangerous tasks like suppressing bandits or investigating cases, he was never sent to the frontline.
A couple of years ago, when the border was in crisis and there was a dire need for capable generals, Lu Ziyuan repeatedly petitioned the Emperor but to no avail. Taught personally by General Lu, he excelled in both military strategy and martial arts, yet the Holy Emperor remained firm, insisting that only after securing heirs for the Lu family would anything else be considered.
Therefore, shortly after Xie Wanqing reached adulthood, their wedding was already on the agenda.
Not only Lu and Xie families paid attention to their marriage, but even the Holy Emperor was concerned. In her dream, on the wedding day, several imperial consorts from the palace contributed to her dowry.
By all appearances, it was a well-blessed union.
Yet within half a month of her marriage, news of Liu Manrou's pregnancy reached her.
Xie Wanqing closed her eyes, unwilling to recall further. She swallowed the emotions rising again and hoarsely said, "Go."
The Xie and Lu families had close ties, and she and Lu Ziyuan were childhood friends. The Lu ladies treated her as if she were their own daughter. However, in the dream, after Liu Manrou's pregnancy, their attitude towards the concubine-born noble woman softened.
They, in turn, advised her that as the Lu family's main wife, she should consider the heir's future and be virtuous and magnanimous.
Eventually, after the illegitimate eldest son's birth, they agreed to Lu Ziyuan's request to raise Liu Manrou as a concubine.
The Lu family's lineage was too sparse; they had longed for grandchildren for too long. Xie Wanqing could understand their actions, but it didn't mean she wouldn't feel heartbroken.
In the dream, she was truly heartbroken.
The elders who had been kind and protective of her before the wedding changed completely after the concubine's pregnancy.
Yet today, she had to go to the Lu Mansion. Xie Wanqing remembered that in the first dream, when Lu Ziyuan returned home, she was coincidentally visiting the Lu ladies.
Perhaps it would be today, and she certainly had to go.
She needed to confirm if the scenes from her dreams were divine pity, granting her a preview of the future.
......
The sky was lightening as the rain, which persisted all night, gradually ceased. Xie Wanqing pushed open the window, letting the spring morning light fall on her face, and the long-missed warmth made her lips involuntarily curve into a smile.
Er Xia walked in from outside with a smile, just in time to see her mistress leaning by the window, her face radiant with life, outshining even the budding spring begonias in the courtyard, momentarily entrancing her.
Xie Wanqing turned back from the dawn light, pausing briefly upon seeing her.
Snapping back, Er Xia softly said, "Breakfast is ready, including the Four Happiness Meatballs you requested yesterday."
"Take it away," Xie Wanqing said, "I'll join my mother for breakfast."
With that, she moved towards the door but noticed movement behind her. Turning back, she instructed the person following closely behind, "You don't need to accompany me today, just stay home and look after the courtyard."
Er Xia's expression stiffened, confused about why her mistress was suddenly cold towards her. She paused, slowly bowed, and said, "...Understood."
Xie Wanqing didn't look back, instead leading Erqing out of the courtyard.
Even if she was a maid who had grown up with her since childhood, with the uncertainty of whether the dream was true, she couldn't face this maid, who in the dream would climb into Lu Ziyuan's bed, with the same kindness as before.
After a night of rain, countless petals and leaves were blown down, and a few servants were busy sweeping the scattered debris.
Walking on the cobblestone path, Xie Wanqing noticed Erqing's hesitant expression and couldn't help but smile, "Why the face? Can't I just be happy taking you out alone today?"
Upon hearing this, Erqing's eyes curved with laughter, "If Miss is happy, anything is fine."
Ah, their young lady, the pearl of the Xie family, raised with boundless love and care, who could bear to go against her wishes and make her unhappy?
The Xie family in the Capital, originally from Xiangzhou, was a noble family tracing back several dynasties, having produced countless scholars and literati. This lineage supported the current dynasty's rise to power and moved with the founding emperor to the Capital. The family's inheritance as a hereditary Marquis Mansion had lasted for over a century.