My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 544 - 355 Unforgettable memories like smoke, having black hair turn to white in this lifetime is more than enough_3.

Chapter 544: Chapter 355 Unforgettable memories like smoke, having black hair turn to white in this lifetime is more than enough_3.

Hmm, this was also the home of Zhao Rong, Lingfei, and herself.

Their little secret.

Qian’er, silly and earnest, had also become Rong’er’s "second wife."

During the day, Rong’er would often come to the back mountain, leading her on wild romps across the hills.

Because he knew the terrain well, and she was slight of build, they managed to avoid detection by those within the Duke Mansion.

Every other day, the young lady would also find an opportunity to come out and join Rong’er on the back mountain to play with her.

Food, clothing, shelter—Qian’er lacked for nothing.

The young lady often brought delicate, tasty pastries and pretty clothes, while Rong’er liked to tinker with things and cooked meals outdoors.

The three of them had a delightful time on the back mountain.

She became Rong’er’s little follower, doing things she wouldn’t have dared to dream of when living in the foundling home.

Beyond the high walls, large gates, and cold floors of the Duke Mansion, there was green water, Qingshan, blue skies, white clouds, and people who were very kind to her.

When night fell and Rong’er and the young lady descended the mountain to leave, Qian’er would stand on tiptoes, waving goodbye with smiling eyes and a radiant grin.

However, once their figures disappeared among the trees, she would feel a fleeting sense of disorientation and loss, looking around at the nighttime wilderness and the distant row of dark mountains.

But at that moment, Qian’er was not afraid, for she had a warm little wooden cabin, rebuilt with Rong’er and the young lady, and two peers who were as close as family, if not by blood.

Reflecting on those days now, Zhao Qian’er still considers them to be among the happiest of times.

And the big boy who, despite having named her and given her a place, still liked to call her a dopey girl, became her sole reliance during that period.

Her whole world revolved around him.

Every time Zhao Qian’er remembered, she couldn’t help but curl the corners of her lips.

As for what happened later.

She, the hidden denizen of the Duke Mansion, was eventually discovered.

Zhao Qian’er didn’t know the exact cause, but she remembered it was a sunny midday; after playing all morning with Rong’er and the young lady, they were sitting in a tree in front of the cabin eating lunch when the esteemed lady from the fourth room descended like a bolt from the blue.

Accompanied by Uncle Kun, Aunt Liu, Uncle Xiao Bai, and a horde of maids and servants, they all appeared together.

On that day, Zhao Qian’er recalled that the three of them cried bitterly.

Rong’er, accused of "hiding a beauty in a golden house," spoke back to the lady of the house to protect her.

He was harshly punished, without Aunt Liu’s intervention.

The young lady was confined to her quarters.

As for her, she was the first to receive a slap from the lady of the house herself.

She was chastised for being a mere lowly maid who forgot her place.

It was because the lady of the house had silently witnessed the young lady picking fish bones for her to eat.

It was that slap that made Rong’er talk back to the lady of the house.

And from that slap on, after Qian’er became the young lady’s maid, she always strictly adhered to the appropriate hierarchy in public.

Even later, after entering Taiching Prefecture, where she became the pride of the Zhao Family, adored even by the old mistress; with cultivation talent second only to the young lady, and many men in Taiching Prefecture courting her, she could have easily shed her maid identity, gaining a status not inferior to the young lady’s, whom would have happily consented. Yet, Zhao Qian’er remained the young lady’s personal maid.

And then, she spent three whole days starving outside the door until the fourth room opened it in the middle of the night and welcomed her in.

Later, I learned that Miss had pleaded earnestly with the lady for this favor.

Thus, Zhao Qian’er became the Miss’s personal maid and part-time playmate.

From that moment on, she became an inseparable part of the family, growing up alongside Rong’er and the Miss.

Years drifted by.

Latterly, the lady passed away.

The day she left, there were some things that Zhao Qian’er vividly remembered.

At that time, the Miss, who had been by the bedside for several days, had shortly stepped out with Aunt Liu to pray at the Daoist Temple, while the lady still lay in a comatose state in her bed.

One morning, she seemed to rally and woke up, loudly calling for the Miss and asking to see her.

After Zhao Qian’er urgently sent someone from the mansion to look for the Miss, she went to keep watch by the sickbed.

As she tenderly fed the lady her medicine,

The lady, tearful and barely clinging to life, mistook her for someone else.

This esteemed figure who Zhao Qian’er deeply respected gripped her hands tightly, mistaking her for the Miss, and with barely a breath, stammered, "Lingfei, Lingfei, my little Lingfei, don’t go..."

Zhao Qian’er stood bewildered and at a loss, not knowing how to respond. She just nodded vigorously, holding onto her hands, not daring to speak, silently acquiescing.

But until the very end, the Miss failed to return in time.

In the lonesome room, there were only the two of them.

It was another spring morning, with the sun still spilling onto the windowsill, but unlike the time at the abandoned baby home’s great hall, this time, both Zhao Qian’er and her savior, the noble lady, were inside the room.

At some point, the haggard woman on the bed finally closed her eyes and let go, yet the word of thanks Zhao Qian’er had always wanted to say to her remained unspoken.

Moving forward, the next vivid memory was of the swing that Rong’er had personally made for her, the stubborn girl.

That first swing of hers, set in motion one summer’s day, still sways beneath the tree with the little wooden hut at the back hill.

The last time she returned to accompany the Miss for her wedding, during their wedding night, she sat there alone, swinging away into the night, biting her lip and gazing blankly at the light from Rong’er’s bridal chamber below, her lips curling into a faint smile...

These smoky memories have also become indelible marks within the clear Heart Lake of Zhao Qian’er, etched onto the pristine lakebed.

Rong’er said, "Words carved in stone last for ten thousand years."

So it was with her.

Whether it be during a twilight evening, as the moon rises above the tree branches, or in the quiet depth of night when her eyes open in solitude,

These remembrances would often surge back to her.

At this very moment, Zhao Qian’er, abandoned by her parents, had finally made the boy she grew up with, Rong’er, turn around and take her hand willingly.

It was no longer like the old days when, as a little follower, she would have to run hard behind him, longing for a glimpse of his retreating figure and calling, "Rong’er, wait, wait," yet always struggling to keep up, fearful that he too would carelessly lose her like her neglectful parents had.

At last, she would be the second wife they had promised each other they’d become when they were young.

Zhao Xiaochai felt this was enough for a lifetime.

As for the profound meaning behind the name of the Old Zhao Family that Rong’er had always prompted her to think about...

Her smile was radiant.

This servant’s name is Qian’er, born into the Zhao Mansion with a delicate constitution.