Spring had yet to arrive.
In the mansion of the Marquis of Ruoqiang, it was filled with joy.
Liu Yuan was walking in the long corridor, wearing a smile on her face.
Qiu Ying, Liu Yuan's personal maid, seeing her beaming, said, "Miss will be back soon, my lady. You've been missing her badly these three months."
Liu Yuan shook her head.
"Who cares about that girl?"
"Then what are you so happy about?"
Liu Yuan sat down in the corridor, looking at the delicate embroidered handkerchief in her hand and said, "Yingniang, don't you think this whole thing is quite interesting?"
"Indeed it is."
"That Ye Qingluan was so arrogant, and the daughter she doted on so much was actually born by me, Liu Yuan. And her own daughter might be running wild somewhere by now."
Qiu Ying looked at Liu Yuan's smug look and thought that, as expected, not only was there a difference in their birth between Liu Yuan and Ye Qingluan, but also in their conduct.
"My lady, aren't you so happy because Miss is coming back?"
"Of course it's because she's coming back."
"Then my lady was just being stubborn and refused to admit that you missed Miss."
"No, Yingniang. I'm not happy about that. Once that good-for-nothing Luo Feiyan comes back, she will surely displease the marquis. By then, Ye Qingluan, Luo Feiyan's birth mother, will also be implicated."
"How would Hao know that the daughter he had high hopes for would turn out to be such a disappointment? From now on, every time he sees Luo Feiyan, he will be annoyed, and he won't treat Ye Qingluan any better either."
Qiu Ying thought that Liu Yuan used to have a bit of humanity.
Over the years, in order to win the marquis's favor and keep her own child, she had swapped the identities of the two girls. Now, as time passed, the little bit of kindness she once had was gone. All that remained in Liu Yuan's bones was the desire to see Ye Qingluan unhappy.
What Liu Yuan said was infuriating, but there was some truth to it.
By fate, Luo Feiyan had been in the spotlight since birth.
Luo Hao had always had high hopes for her.
But as one year passed and then another, Luo Feiyan's spiritual power showed no sign of growth, and there was not even a glimmer of her mental power.
Gradually, Luo Hao's patience wore thin.
Ye Qingluan and Luo Hao had different attitudes towards things. She only hoped that her daughter would grow up safely.
Because of this, Luo Hao often had disputes with Ye Qingluan.
As they quarreled more, Luo Feiyan's personality was also affected and became weak and easily bullied.
Liu Yuan was sitting in the corridor.
After a while, a servant brought over some ginger tea.
Ye Qingluan was arranging for the servants in the mansion to put up red cloth. Passing by the corridor and seeing Liu Yuan drinking tea inside, she walked over.
Back then, because Luo Qiu had the mark of Loulan on her back, Liu Yuan had lost her own child.
As a mother, Ye Qingluan naturally knew how painful it was for a mother to lose her child.
Therefore, over the years, she had taken good care of Liu Yuan and hadn't let her worry about any of the affairs in the mansion.
Seeing Ye Qingluan walking towards her, Liu Yuan quickly got up.
"Sister—"
"Why did you get up, Lady Liu? Spring hasn't arrived yet, and it's still cold. You're not in good health. If you have nothing to do, don't go out."
"Thank you for your concern, sister. I've been cooped up in the room all day and I'm really bored, so I came out to take a look. I know that Feiyan will be back in a few days. I'm sure you'll be too busy to take care of everything. I came to this courtyard to see if there's anything I can do to help."
Ye Qingluan took Liu Yuan's hand and walked with her towards the side courtyard.
"You're in no condition to help with anything. I'll take care of everything. You just need to take good care of yourself."
She sent Liu Yuan back to her room.
They chatted for a while.
After a while, a servant rushed in.
"Madam, something's wrong."
Ye Qingluan stood up.
"What's going on?"
"The marquis is back from the Kingdom of Cangwu."
Ye Qingluan understood immediately.
"Sister, I have to go first."
"Take care, sister."
Ye Qingluan walked out of the side courtyard with a heavy heart and a thoughtful look on her face.
"Yingniang, did you hear that? Hao is back. There's going to be a good show in the main courtyard today."
"The mistress of the main courtyard is going to have a hard time today."
Luo Hao's return was much earlier than Ye Qingluan had expected.
She had only dared to make such arrangements because he wasn't in the mansion.
Now that he was back and saw these red cloths, he would probably be even angrier.
Sure enough, when Ye Qingluan reached the front hall, she saw Luo Hao sitting on the main seat with a gloomy face.
"My lord, you're back."
Luo Hao didn't reply but looked up, with anger faintly visible between his eyebrows.
He was holding a red embroidered ball made of red cloth and threw it in front of Ye Qingluan.
"What is this?"
Ye Qingluan wasn't angry. Instead, she knelt down and picked up the red embroidered ball.
"My lord already knows, doesn't he?"
"All for that good-for-nothing?"
"My lord, Feiyan is our child. You can't describe her like this just because she doesn't have spiritual power or mental power and can't meet your expectations."
Ye Qingluan's eyes were a bit bloodshot.
Luo Hao sighed and felt that he had spoken too harshly.
His tone softened a bit and he said, "Madam, I didn't mean to upset you. I understand that you love your child, but isn't it inappropriate for you to make such arrangements just to welcome her home for a visit every three months?"
"What's inappropriate? In the three years, she could only come home and take a look during the first year. My lord, you clearly knew that Yan'er couldn't do anything, but you were so heartless to send her to the Changkong Academy. The Changkong Academy is a place full of powerful people. With our Yan'er's personality, who knows what kind of bullying she would suffer in the academy."
"My lord, I accepted your heartlessness. Yan'er is sensible and has never complained about you. But is it her fault that she doesn't have spiritual power? Over the years, you've said so many words to discourage her. You know it better than I do. After all this time, I just want to take this opportunity to let Yan'er come home and see that we're welcoming and caring about her, so that she won't feel so bitter in her heart. Is that not okay?"
"Madam, my daughter is just useless. And you're making such a big fuss. Isn't this just letting everyone know that my daughter is a good-for-nothing? What you're doing will only make the people of Ruoqiang laugh at our Luo family."
Ye Qingluan stared straight at Luo Hao.
Her eyes were wide open.
Obviously, every word Luo Hao said had hit a sore spot for her.
"Madam—"
"Luo Hao, do you have any conscience? I'm telling you today. I don't care what the people of Ruoqiang think of your Luo family or how they discuss your shortcomings. I just want my daughter to come back and see that we all have her in our hearts!"
Home should be a haven from the storm. Here, one shouldn't have to suffer even more violent storms.