Zhou Shaojin woke up from his sleep with sweat all over his forehead and sat up suddenly.
She dreamed of Cheng Lu again!
The ferocious expression, the shining scissors, the white hands stained with blood, the blue sky, the suffocating pain...all intertwined together, like a net, trapping her tightly in it.
My sister said that she was haunted by something bad.
But why does everything in the dream seem so real
She even clearly remembered the temperature of the blood splattered on her hands and the pain of having her neck strangled.
If this wasn't a dream, how could she escape from Cheng Lu's clutches, open her eyes again, and return safely to when she was twelve years old
Zhou Shaojin's heart was filled with confusion and puzzlement, as well as a little uneasiness.
A cordyceps silk curtain hung over the small lacquered bed. The faint morning light filtered in through the window frames covered with Korean paper. Faintly visible were the plum vases, flower vases and jade bonsai placed on the red-carved treasure pavilion by the window.
This is her boudoir.
Lived in the boudoir for twelve years.
In her memory, she would live here for another three years, until she was fifteen... Cheng Lu and Wu Baozhang were engaged, and she was tricked by Cheng Ji into the back garden, where she met the drunk Cheng Xu...
Zhou Shaojin shuddered and abruptly cut off the memory.
Something must have gone wrong!
She thought about it, threw off the quilt and got out of bed, and went to the ear room next door.
There were her boxes and a half-length peep show that her father had asked someone to bring back for her and her sister some time ago.
The person in the mirror has picturesque features, a slender figure, and an elegant appearance, just like a white orchid that has been carefully cultivated in a greenhouse, about to bloom.
This is clearly me.
But it seems not!
Another face appeared in Zhou Shaojin's mind.
Pale skin, furrowed brows, tired look, haggard face... The facial features are 70% similar to the person in the mirror, but the color is far less than one-third of the person in the mirror... It's as if the person in the mirror has suffered and the color has faded.
That seems to be me!
The thought flashed through his mind and Zhou Shaojin was shocked.
But once this thought came to my mind, it was like water flooding Jinshan Mountain, which could not be stopped.
She wasn't just having a nightmare; she was clearly living her life again!
But her sister is the person she trusts the most and relies on the most in her life. How could she lie to her
Zhou Shaojin bit his lip and wanted to get closer to the mirror to take a closer look, but there was a noise outside the door, and his sister Zhou Chujin's gentle, soothing but calming voice: "Is the Second Miss still not up? Did she sleep well last night? Did she talk nonsense?"
"No." The person who answered was Zhou Shaojin's wet nurse, Fan Liushi, "Or the calming incense you prepared yourself worked - the second young lady slept until dawn, Shi Xiang and I stayed by her bedside, and only stayed until dawn to let Chunwan go back to her room to wash her face."
Zhou Shaojin hurried out of the ear room and lay down on the bed.
The curtain flickered and Zhou Chujin walked in, supported by the head maid holding incense.
"Thank you for your hard work!" she said, "Later, Madam Fan will go to the bank and withdraw five taels of silver. This will be my reward for you to buy candy."
Shi Xiang and the others thanked him in a low voice.
Zhou Chujin walked over.
Zhou Shaojin closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Zhou Chujin didn't suspect anything. He leaned over and gently touched Zhou Shaojin's forehead, tucked in the quilt for her, then breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to Fan Liushi: "Since this incense is useful, you can light it when the second young lady rests in the future. I have obtained the consent of my grandmother, and I will go to Huiji Temple in the south of the city today. I heard that the talisman water of the abbess Jingfang there can drive away evil and cure diseases, and it is very effective. I will perform a ritual for the second young lady and ask for the talisman. You guys should serve the second young lady well at home, and don't make any trouble. I will be back before Shenzheng (4 pm). If anyone asks why you haven't seen the second young lady in the past two days, just say that the second young lady's cold has not healed yet, and it is not suitable for her to go out, understand?" At the end of her words, her tone suddenly became stern.
"Yes!" Seeing her serious expression, the maids and mothers all responded cautiously.
Zhou Chujin touched Zhou Shaojin's forehead again before leaving the inner room.
Zhou Shaojin's eyes were moist.
Her father's name was Zhou Zhen, with the courtesy name Dacheng. He was a second-class Jinshi in the Bingxu year of the Zhide reign. When he was young, he studied at the famous Jinling Cheng Clan School. Because of his outstanding appearance, good character and intelligence, he was appreciated by Cheng Yi, the eldest master of the second branch of the Cheng family, who was also studying at the Cheng Clan School. He acted as a matchmaker and married his cousin, Cheng He, the eldest daughter of the fourth branch of the Cheng family, to Zhou Zhen.
Cheng was pregnant when she got married, but she suffered from hemorrhage during childbirth and passed away, leaving behind her hungry daughter.
This girl is Zhou Shaojin’s sister Zhou Chujin.
A year later, Zhou Zhen married Zhou Shaojin's biological mother Zhuang Liangyu.
Zhuang Liangyu was born in a declining official family. She lost her mother at a young age and grew up with her elderly grandmother. When she got married, she was already over 20 years old. Zhuang's father pawned a painting handed down from his ancestors to barely get her a dowry of 24 loads.
Zhou Zhen was extremely satisfied with this marriage.
Zhuang Liangyu not only has a stunning appearance, but also a gentle personality. He is proficient in music, good at calligraphy and painting, and loves bronze and stone. Because he has no one to rely on, he treats Zhou Chujin like his own child, taking good care of her and educating her attentively. He is afraid that Zhou Chujin will be cold when it is cold and afraid that Zhou Chujin will be exposed to the sun when it is hot, and he has never let her suffer the slightest grievance. During the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Spring Festival, he would prepare generous gifts and take Zhou Chujin back to the Cheng family to visit her grandmother, Mrs. Guan, and chat with her to relieve her longing for her granddaughter. Mrs. Guan praised Zhuang Liangyu's virtue and generosity, and she couldn't help but look at Zhuang Liangyu differently. She never forgot to give Zhuang Liangyu generous gifts during festivals. Seeing this, the Cheng family also followed suit and respected Zhuang Liangyu very much.
Zhou Zhen not only had a beautiful wife and a confidante, but he was also good at managing the household. He held Zhuang Liangyu in his hands for fear of dropping her, and held her in his mouth for fear of her melting. He studied even harder, hoping to pass the imperial examination and win a phoenix crown and bridal robe for Zhuang Liangyu, so that she could show off her status in front of others.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. Zhuang Liangyu had a difficult labor when giving birth to Zhou Shaojin. Although the Cheng family sent her a hundred-year-old ginseng for emergency treatment, she didn't survive more than half a year and died.
Zhou Zhen was devastated and decided to observe three years of mourning for Zhuang Liangyu.
The Zhou family was originally from Rizhao, Shandong. Zhou Shaojin's grandfather had served as the prefect of Jinhua. After seeing the prosperity of Jiangnan, he was unwilling to return to his hometown and tried to settle down in Jinling. He had no news from his hometown for a long time. Zhuang Liangyu's grandmother and father had passed away one after another. There was only an uncle in the family who was a glutton, a whore, and a gambler. Zhou Zhen was an only child and had no brothers or sisters. If he did not remarry, who would take care of Zhou Chujin and the infant Zhou Shaojin? Especially Zhou Chujin, who was old enough to read and learn, who would enlighten her
Old Lady Guan thought about it again and again, and after discussing with Zhou Zhen, she took Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin to the Cheng family and raised them in her own room.
Zhou Shaojin didn't understand anything, but the seven-year-old Zhou Chujin felt that no matter how good the Cheng family was, it was not her own family, and no matter how good her grandmother was, she was not her own parents. Her behavior gradually imitated Zhuang Liangyu, like a little adult. The people in the Cheng family didn't notice anything about this, but felt that Zhou Chujin behaved generously and decently, and had the demeanor of a great family. Zhuang Liangyu had brought her up very well.
Zhou Chujin restrained herself more and more. She was respectful to her superiors, gentle to her subordinates, and courteous to her cousins. No one in the Cheng family did not praise her. Even Zhou Shaojin was liked by the Cheng family because of this. Everyone respectfully called her "Second Miss".
Seeing that his daughter had someone to take care of her, Zhou Zhen focused all his attention on her studies.
In the second year after Zhuang Liangyu's death, he was listed in the imperial examination, became a Jinshi, and was appointed as the magistrate of Pucheng County, Fujian.
For a time, there were many people proposing marriage proposals to Zhou Zhen.
However, Zhou Zhen kept his promise and politely declined all offers from girls, no matter how prominent their families were.
Mrs. Guan thought that Fujian was a place with poor mountains and bad waters, and the two children were still young, so how could they survive the long journey? She asked Cheng Yi to come forward and talk to Zhou Zhen, hoping to keep the two children with her.
Zhou Zhen was also worried about this matter. Old Lady Guan's words hit the mark. He immediately agreed, leaving his foster brother Ma Fushan and his wife to take care of the Zhou family's affairs and help look after the Zhou sisters, while he took two old servants and the legal advisor recommended by the Cheng family to take up his post.
In the 14th year of Zhide, Zhou Zhen had been promoted to the position of prefect of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.
He remarried.
He wrote a letter back to Jinling to pick up his two daughters and take them to Nanchang.
After seven years, even if you raise a cat or a dog, you will develop feelings for them, let alone two beautiful girls who sit by your knees every day? Mrs. Guan felt so heartbroken that she felt as if her heart was being cut out. She would not agree to send Zhou Shaojin and her sister away no matter what. She said, "Chujin is going to marry into the Liao family and become a clan wife. The new wife is from a merchant family and I'm afraid she can't even read a few words. How can she guide Chujin and Shaojin? It's better to let the two sisters follow me! This way, it will be easier for Shaojin to find a partner in the future."
At this time, the fourteen-year-old Zhou Chujin had grown into a graceful and elegant young lady, as elegant and dignified as a lotus emerging from the water. With the matchmaker Cheng Jing, the eldest master of the Cheng family's eldest branch, she was betrothed to Liao Shaotang, the eldest son of the Zhenjiang Liao family, who was also a family of officials in the south of the Yangtze River. She would have her coming-of-age ceremony next year.
Zhou Zhen had to compromise for the sake of his two daughters' marriage.
Zhou Shaojin and his sister lived in the Cheng family for another four years.
When Zhou Shaojin woke up after falling from the rockery, she opened her eyes and found that she had not only returned to Wanxiangju, where she lived when she was a child, but she had also turned back to her twelve-year-old appearance. She was so frightened that she could only look for her sister with a pale face. When she saw her sister, she had changed from a graceful and dignified thirty-year-old woman to a young girl of seventeen or eighteen. She blacked out and passed out.
When she woke up again, the room was still the same room, and she was still the same herself. Her sister and wet nurse were crowded beside the bed, one with an anxious face, and the other with red eyes from crying. Shi Xiang and Chi Xiang were even more anxious.
What exactly happened
How did she escape from Cheng Lu
Why didn't she reincarnate, but went back to when she was twelve years old
Zhou Shaojin didn't understand and was trembling.
Zhou Chujin thought Zhou Shaojin just had a nightmare and was frightened, so he hugged her and kept comforting her in a soft voice.
The warm embrace, gentle words, familiar breath, and trust in her sister gradually calmed Zhou Shaojin down. She sent away the servants in the room and told her sister about her experience with sobs.
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Sisters, forget everything you have seen before!
I’m starting to write again, hoping to bring you a pleasant reading experience.
O(∩_∩)O~
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