Perhaps it was because the knot in her heart had loosened or because of the family reunion, but other than the occasional thorny gaze from Du Kexin, Du Xiaoli had a very good meal.

After lunch, Du Xiaoli had Du Yunfei go to her courtyard. The snow from yesterday had continued to fall for one day and one night, piling up to a height of ten to twenty centimeters. After noon, the sky began to clear and the sun shone onto the snow, creating a reflection of crystalline light.

Du Xiaoli stepped on the snow, causing “crunch crunch” sounds.

Du Yunfei followed Du Xiaoli to the Cyan Bamboo Park, and seeing that she was staying in such a remote, small courtyard, asked, “Why are you living here?”

“There were no courtyards to live in when I arrived so I’m staying here now. I quite like it here, so I never moved,” Du Xiaoli explained.

She had Du Yunfei wait in the parlor for a little bit. After Xia Yuan brought over a few silver needles, she inserted them into his arm.

“Third Uncle, are you all leaving tomorrow morning?” Du Xiaoli asked as she packed up the needles.

“Yes. We want to go back earlier since we still have to prepare for New Year’s Eve and everything once we get back, and we’re afraid we might not have enough time.” Du Yunfei pulled his sleeve back down as he replied.

“Then tomorrow morning before leaving I’ll treat you again. Adding on the prescription I gave you, after taking it for almost a month you can go see a doctor. If the doctor says you’re fine, don’t eat anymore.”

Xia Yuan had already prepared a brush, ink, paper, and ink stone. She sat to the side, wrote out a prescription, and handed it to Du Yunfei.

Du Yunfei tucked away the prescription, acquiescing, “I will.”

Du Yunfei sat in Du Xiaoli’s courtyard for a little longer before leaving. Du Xiaoli had nothing to do so she went upstairs and practice martial arts all the way until dinner.

In the evening, it began to snow outside again. As Du Xiaoli was eating, she had the sudden urge to get together with everyone one last time before parting.

“Xia Yuan, tomorrow morning go to the farm and see if there are any vegetables. There should be some of the greenhouse vegetables they were taught to grow previously. If there are fresh vegetables, just bring all of them over for me.”

“Miss, aren’t those vegetables grown as experiments– what’s the point of bringing them back?” Ying Ge asked, puzzled.

“I’ll invite Jiangzhuo-jiejie and the other girls over for dinner tomorrow. We can’t be so negative. Although they are leaving, perhaps it’s to find their own happiness. Tomorrow let’s have hotpot.” Du Xiaoli said. “I’ll go write the invitations now, for now I won’t eat.”

Finished speaking, she went to write the invitations and had Xia Yuan and the others send them before it got dark. Although they were somewhat surprised, the girls all said they would come. Even Han Mingxiang agreed, as she had Han Mingyi enter the palace to tell her.

And so the next morning, Xia Yuan went to the farm and brought back fresh vegetables that she prepared with Qiao Zhu and Ying Ge in the Wolf Park.

Du Xiaoli treated Du Yunfei with needles again in the morning before sending Old Madam Du and the others on their way, speaking briefly with Du Yunhan. Then she went to the Wolf Park.

Around 8:00AM, Fu Yalan, Meng Jiangzhuo, Ji Liuxia, and Han Mingxiang arrived at the Wolf Park one after another, each of them expressing surprise at the sight of so many fresh vegetables.

“These are just things I’ve grown as experiments. If they’re okay, perhaps we can grow them on a larger scale in the future.” Du Xiaoli explained. “Today is just a get together between us sisters, so I didn’t invite anyone else.”

“Great, I had assumed I wouldn’t be able to get together with you guys again until my wedding! I didn’t expect Xiaoli would follow through– I was beyond happy when I saw your invitation. I told Mother and when she saw that it was from you, she let me come.” Meng Jiangzhuo was dressed in soft white fox fur, framing her small face and accentuating her beauty. Speaking of today’s get together, her spirits were high.

“Isn’t it so. It was so late last night when Fifth Brother suddenly entered the palace, looking for me. I thought something bad had happened! When he gave me the invitation, I was taken aback. He said he had already spoken with the emperor so I’d be allowed to come out today. Hah, you don’t even know my emotions at that moment, I instantly felt so much better.” Han Mingxiang said with a smile.

This smile of hers put everyone in high spirits. After all, it had been quite some time since she had last smiled so brightly and genuinely.

“Okay, let’s go inside first. It’s too cold outside.” Du Xiaoli said.

“Mm, let’s go in first. My face is about to freeze.” Meng Jiangzhuo said, smiling.

The five of them crossed through the courtyard and came to a guest room. Each of them wore a cloak of fox fur– Meng Jiangzhuo in white, Ji Liuxia in red, Han Mingxiang in pale yellow, Fu Yalan in sky blue, and Du Xiaoli in an aquamarine green– when they stood together, they appeared particularly eye-catching.

They all knew this gathering had not been easy to make happen, and all avoided speaking of sad matters, instead choosing to talk about the happy matters of the past.

“Xiaoli, what are we eating today?” Ji Liuxia asked, coming up to Du Xiaoli’s side.

Du Xiaoli reached her hand over and pushed Ji Liuxia aside, saying, “Look at you, you’re the only one with her mind full of food.”

“Not true, I bet they are all thinking the same questions in their heads, they just didn’t ask.” Ji Liuxia protested.

“Pfft, you’re actually quite accurate.” Fu Yalan said, “We were also wondering about this internally, but we knew you would ask so we just waited.”

References

MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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