Chapter 7: Chapter 6 Hairpin_1
By the ti she returned to the inn, the sky was verging on evening.
Yin Zheng went downstairs to fetch hot water, while Lu Tong sat at the long table, lost in thought.
At the junction of the long table and the inner room, there was a wooden screen. Splashed ink depicted a courtyard bathed in the dusk of autumn on it. Lu Tong stared blankly at the screen, her gaze lingering over the clusters of hibiscus flowers in the painting. Gradually, she reached out a finger and traced the blooming branches.
The new wife of the Ke Family today also wore a silver hibiscus hairpin in her hair.
Lu Rou’s face flashed through Lu Tong’s mind.
Among the three children of the Lu Family, Lu Rou was gentle and radiant, Lu Qian was smart and stubborn, and she, being the youngest, was strictly forbidden by their father, yet always treated with indulgence in reality.
Though their family was poor, they never lacked food or clothes. Lu Rou, a few years older than Lu Tong, had already beco very beautiful when Lu Tong was still an ignorant girl.
Their mother took a silver and gemstone-encrusted hibiscus hairpin from her dowry box and fixed it into Lu Rou’s hair, then chose a jade-blue plain dress for Lu Rou to wear, hoping that at the riverside spring festival, her daughter would be the fairest of all.
Lu Tong, looking at her older sister who seed so different than usual, tugged at their mother’s skirt hem and pointed at the hibiscus hairpin on Lu Rou’s head, "Mother, I want that one."
"Not this one," her mother said with a smile. "You’re still young and don’t need it now. When our Tongtong is grown up, mother will pick another one for you."
Being young and spoiled without fear of consequences, she was relentless, "I want the one sister has!"
Until her father entered the room and saw her throwing a tantrum. Angrily, he punished her to stay ho from the flower-viewing festival and copy books a hundred tis.
She was left at ho alone, crying and copying books. When hunger struck around noon, and she wanted to grab so leftover pancakes from the kitchen, she suddenly slled a strange aroma.
Lu Rou walked in from outside, holding a paper-wrapped roast chicken, her new dress spotted with riverbank mud, her forehead glistening with sweat.
She was startled, "Why have you co back?"
Lu Rou pinched her cheek, "If I hadn’t co back, your eyes would be swollen as walnuts." She then unwrapped the paper and tore off the largest chicken leg, handing it to her mouth, "Crybaby, eat up."
"Didn’t mother say that today you were to et your future husband?" she asked with her mouth full of greasy chicken, her words indistinct. In Changwu County, where the area was small and neighbors well-acquainted, people often took advantage of the spring festival to scope out potential sons-in-law or daughters-in-law early on.
Lu Rou’s face turned red, simply saying, "What do you know?" After a pause, she laughed, "What husband is more important than my little sister?"
She was quite smug inside.
Lu Rou touched the flower hairpin on her head again, "Wait until tonight, after mother has gone to sleep, I’ll give you this hairpin, just don’t let mother find out. Such a fuss over a hairpin."
She ate the roast chicken, her hands now captives to gratitude, and as she looked at the hibiscus hairpin, which was quite becoming on Lu Rou’s head, she said, "Never mind, just keep it for
for now, I’ll co and ask you for it soday."
Lu Rou was nearly amused by her, teasing her back, "You better hurry up then, otherwise when I get married, you might wish to ask for it but won’t be able to get it."
When she heard this, she felt inexplicably upset, purposely saring her greasy hands on Lu Rou’s face, "Then wherever you marry, I’ll follow. After all, you’re my sister!"
"Creak—"
The door opened, and Yin Zheng ca in carrying a basin of water.
Lu Tong looked up, her nose still tinged with the gentle scent of lychee cream from her older sister. In the blink of an eye, all that was left in front of her was the cold screen.
Yin Zheng placed the basin on the table and turned to close the door. Lu Tong picked up a handkerchief and slowly wiped the red rash from her painted face.
"Miss," Yin Zheng asked cautiously, "Did you say today that the eldest miss was killed by the Ke Family?"
Lu Tong fell silent before speaking, "When we were in Changwu County, what was the ti when the Lu Family received the news of the death from the Capital City?"
Yin Zheng thought for a mont, "It was in March."
"Correct," Lu Tong said calmly, "but today the people of the Ke Family said that Lu Rou died in the sumr."
Yin Zheng was startled, and looked at Lu Tong in astonishnt.
Lu Tong’s eyes were cold.
Today, after being provoked to anger by her, Madam Ke blurted out, "If it weren’t for her jumping into the pond and ruining the feng shui of my new house, why would I need to spend so much silver to fill the pond and plant peonies instead. What a pity for the newly blossod red lotuses...
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