Chapter 122 - A Self-Created Cultivation Technique, A Baby Girl Is Born - Part 1
Creak!
The gate to the shanty district swung open, letting out a stale, musty draft. Xue Ning remained in the carriage outside. Li Yuan helped Yan Yu step over the threshold and into the small home where Bear and Feng’er had once briefly stayed.
Inside, everything was tidied up and spotless. A few patched garments, neatly folded, still sat in the wardrobe. Out in the courtyard corner stood a little flower bed bordered by smooth pebbles, with a single, unrecognizable sapling planted in the soil.
Yan Yu murmured, “Feng’er wanted to live here for a long time.”
Li Yuan thought back. “I haven’t seen her since she and Bear left. The Fragrant General’s people departed in two groups. I followed the first, so I didn’t see the second. Bear left later, so maybe he helped her settle down somewhere.”
After saying that, another possibility, much darker and more unpleasant, flashed through his mind.
Li Yuan quickly pushed it aside, not wanting to speak of such matters when his wife was with child.
But Yan Yu was too perceptive not to sense his worries. She said nothing, merely wandered through the rooms. In front of a polished bronze mirror, she picked up a wooden comb still entangled with a strand of long hair and whispered, “Feng’er left this behind.”
Li Yuan came up from behind and gently embraced her. “Perhaps she has a better one now,” he said softly.
She turned around, and they shared a tender smile. Then she said, “Husband, would you grind some ink for me? I’ll leave a note before we go.”
“All right.” Li Yuan went back to the carriage to retrieve paper, brush, and inkstone. Only then did Yan Yu sigh, calling Feng’er a silly girl under her breath, though she kept any further thoughts to herself.
She put the comb back where it was. Suddenly, a gust of icy wind howled in from outside, slamming the inner door shut with a raspy creak. Yan Yu shivered. Glancing at the mirror, she thought she saw the reflection blur for a moment. After rubbing her eyes, it cleared again.