Chapter 258: Old and Failing Eyesight
Fan Shishi was nearly pulled off balance by her.
But as she stumbled, her peripheral vision caught the reflection in the water basin in front of Qin Hua, and she froze as well.
“Heavens! There really is a reflection!”
In the far-from-clear water, the mountain scenery was vividly mirrored, along with a row of several bright, white-walled, wooden-windowed houses with grand tiled roofs.
Fan Shishi whipped her head around to look at the buildings behind them—the houses in the water reflection looked completely different from the ones at Shaoyin’s home!
The two exchanged glances, thoroughly panicked.
Just then, Ruan Xiang and the wet nurse came over carrying the congee. Seeing them standing in a daze in the courtyard, the nurse asked what was wrong. The two trembled, their mouths hanging open for a long time, completely at a loss for how to explain the bizarre phenomenon they were witnessing.
“What on earth is going on here?” the nurse asked, bewildered.
Ruan Xiang, however, caught sight of the water basin and instinctively glanced at it—and with that single look, she understood everything immediately.
She hurriedly set down the things in her hands, grabbed Qin Hua and Fan Shishi, and sprinted toward the backyard.
The nurse, left behind with the congee, called out anxiously, “Hey? What’s going on? Why are you running? Aren’t you going to drink the congee?”
The three young ladies ran fast. Clutching the congee, the nurse couldn’t possibly catch up, and she stamped her feet in frustration. “How am I supposed to carry all this by myself?! Oh, these young mistresses!”
In the end, she had to make two trips alone before she could bring over all the congee and the steamed mantou.
On the other side, Ruan Xiang pulled Qin Hua and Fan Shishi into a deserted corridor. She looked left and right, her eyes flashing with a mix of shock, joy, worry, and anticipation.
“What did you see in the water?”
With her arm firmly gripped by Ruan Xiang, Qin Hua swallowed hard before she managed to stammer, “It felt like… like seeing an immortal’s temple.”
Qin Hua described it: “There seemed to be five rooms, or was it six? There’s a corridor between each room. The windows are huge, and though the doors aren’t very large, it’s exceptionally bright inside. There are also many desks arranged in the rooms, stocked with needles, thread, and fabric.”
The alarm in Fan Shishi’s heart suddenly cooled down. Even though it had been the same fleeting glimpse, she had only seen several tall, bright buildings and sprawling green mountains. She had merely found it elegant, fresh, grand, and archaic, conveying a profound sense of peace and protection.
Yet Qin Hua could perceive so many intricate details.
As expected, someone who studied painting was truly different.
Although Ruan Xiang had never seen the academy before, based on this description, it was highly likely a structure within the manor.
Shaoyin had already gone to the manor. After a brief contemplation, Ruan Xiang quickly gave a few instructions: “That is the Xingxia Manor I told you and Shaoyin about. The master of that manor is the one who saved us, and she’s also the one who provides us with work.”
“I don’t know how you stumbled upon this destiny, but you must go. Once you reach the manor, everything will defy common convention, but you mustn’t be afraid. You can trust the Manor Owner, Madame Lin, and Auntie Pang…”
Ruan Xiang quickened her pace: “Shaoyin went to the manor today as well. Perhaps you will see her.”
Qin Hua and Fan Shishi had no idea why Ruan Xiang had suddenly grown so urgent. They listened for a while and managed to commit everything to memory, but—
“Where exactly is that manor? How do we get there? And how do you know we will go?”
The two asked hurriedly.
But Ruan Xiang didn’t answer, worried that if they missed the window of destiny, they wouldn’t be able to go at all. She looked around, and seeing that the coast was clear, she only had time to say a single “Go quickly!” before reaching out to push them both straight into the pond beside the covered veranda.
“Ah!”
“Ah—”
Caught completely off guard, Qin Hua and Fan Shishi only felt a top-heavy sensation as they were shoved into the pond by Ruan Xiang.
At the other end of the veranda, Butler Chen, who was sweeping the floor, jolted.
It was truly bizarre. Lately, he kept hearing the sound of things splashing into the water, and the commotion wasn’t small either, sounding exactly like people jumping into the pond.
Today was even stranger; the noise was significantly louder than a single person jumping into the water, sounding as if two people had plunged in together!
Old Chen mused in his heart that he must have misheard again, just like before.
However, the noise today was simply too loud. Old Chen endured it for a long while, but in the end, adhering to the principle that a butler must meticulously manage all affairs within the residence, he carefully inspected the side of the covered veranda.
After checking the entire loop, nothing was amiss.
Old Chen let out a heavy sigh, his heart weighed down. “Sigh, I’m getting old, getting old…”
His auditory hallucinations were becoming more and more severe.
On the other side, before Qin Hua and Fan Shishi could even comprehend the wall of text Ruan Xiang had just thrown at them, they were pushed past the railing.
Before they could even begin to process why Ruan Xiang had done such a thing, they tumbled down onto the bench inside the pavilion of the Manor Academy.
The tall structures from the water reflection were displayed right before their eyes, leaving them completely flabbergasted.
Qin Hua gripped Fan Shishi’s hand tightly. “Shishi, are we… are we going mad?”
In the past, they had always heard people say that once a person entered a place like Feiyue Pavilion, they would never be normal citizens again. They could never leave Feiyue Pavilion; if they insisted on leaving, they would either end up dead or mad.
They had been thinking over these past two days that it turned out they didn’t necessarily have to rely on Feiyue Pavilion to survive.
Renting and living at Shaoyin’s home, though devoid of the bustling glamour and extravagant revelry of Feiyue Pavilion, was perfectly sustainable as long as everyone pooled their efforts together.
All that talk about either dying or going mad upon leaving such a place was likely just a pack of lies made up by people like Manager Yue to trammel and restrict them.
It was even possible… that those were underhanded ploys enacted in the shadows to force them to remain at Feiyue Pavilion.
Therefore, although the sisters had found things grueling over these past few days, they felt the future held promise. After all, they had left Feiyue Pavilion, and they were neither dead nor mad.
But now…
Qin Hua trembled violently with fear. “It’s over, it’s over, I’ve definitely gone mad. I’m seeing so many bizarre and peculiar things… things I’ve never even witnessed in my dreams!”
Fan Shishi’s mind went entirely blank, her mouth muttering continuously, “Like a dream, like an illusion, like reality, like a lie, a myriad of bizarre sights, hard to find even in dreams…”
One went mad and the other became a simpleton; both were completely dazed.
Fortunately, Shaoyin had long been waiting nearby. Spotting her two sisters, she rushed over instantly, taking one by each hand. “Shishi! Huahua!”
The two snapped out of their daze as if waking from a dream. “Yinyin?! Why are you here?”
Shaoyin’s smile was as bright as a flower. “Have you forgotten? The garments we’ve been making over these past few days were all commissioned by the Owner of Xingxia Manor. This place—is precisely Xingxia Manor!”
“This place is Xingxia Manor?” The two were dumbfounded.
“That’s right!” Shaoyin pulled them along. “Are you hungry? Come, let’s go get something to eat, and I’ll explain everything to you slowly.”
With Shaoyin there, Jian Xingxia and Lin Sanniang were spared a great deal of explanation.
Before long, the final apprentice for the sewing class, Sun Dongniang, arrived as well.
Sun Dongniang was a young woman around twenty-five or twenty-six, her attire exceptionally simple and clean.
A newcomer to this strange land, she was startled out of her wits.
But very quickly, two little young girls took her by her left and right hands respectively. “Are you Madame Sun? I’m Taoya / Xing Ya!”
Sun Dongniang froze. “Taoya? Xing Ya? Whose children are you?”
She had never heard of them; they shouldn’t be from the nearby streets and alleys.
Taoya was well-prepared. Instead of answering, she simply asked with a warm smile, “Madame Sun, did you beg someone because your household is in dire straits, wishing to come and learn needlework and embroidery?”
Sure enough, no amount of shock and bewilderment could match a single word striking directly at the matter Sun Dongniang worried about most.
“Indeed… my household is impoverished. Now that the severe cold is fast approaching, the garments at home are thin and the blankets are sparse, with no winter clothes to shield us. The rice jar is gradually emptying, yet my embroidery skills are poor, and my handkerchiefs keep getting rejected by others…”
“There truly was no other way forward, so I begged the immortals to let me learn a trade, so that I might sell my handkerchiefs and earn some grain…”
Sun Dongniang possessed a gentle and timid disposition. Under the gentle prompting of Taoya and Xing Ya, she slowly detailed her family circumstances.
Xing Ya clapped her hands and laughed. “Then everything is correct! Madame Sun, this is precisely the immortal assistance you begged for. This place is an immortal residence called Xingxia Manor, and you can learn a trade here to sustain your livelihood!”
Sun Dongniang’s eyes widened. “Truly?”
“Truly.”
