Chapter 3: The Auspicious Knot

  Wen Chunyi was a clever and agile girl, with a sweet mouth, who recognized people early and spoke early. Her grandfather had once praised her intelligence in front of the whole family with a smile. How did Wen Chunyi get into trouble? She herself fell into the water half a year ago and began to speak after that. She forgot what had happened before. And her sisters who were present at the time all proved that they had nothing to do with this matter, which was an unsolved case.

  At that time, all the girls present were no more than ten years old. Everyone was gathered around the lake to admire the lotus flowers, chatting and laughing, when Wen Xueyi was called away by a big girl under the pretext of calling her grandmother to see guests, while Wen Chunyi, who loved to play, insisted on staying behind to admire the flowers. Wen Xueyi looked at her own sister, who was relatively far from the lake, and called out to Sanbojia's Wen Yueyi to keep an eye on her, before following the others with peace of mind. Afterwards, Wen Yueyi said that she remembered talking to her sisters, and had only slightly loosened her grip on Wen Chunyi's hand for a moment before tightening it again. It wasn't until later that she discovered she was holding the hand of Wu Shu's daughter, Wen Yuyi.

  There are secrets that cannot be uncovered everywhere, and everyone is the most innocent person. No one saw Wen Chunyi in the crowd, so how could he have been squeezed out? Two little girls standing by the lake, at that time because of a small argument, started pushing each other, and unintentionally pushed Wen Chunyi directly into the lake water. Wen Chaoqing finally accepted it as an accident according to his elder brother's words. Jin Shi thought this was not an accident, but she had to keep silent. From then on, Wen Chunyi rarely went out of her own courtyard gate. The monthly routine of visiting ancestors on the 1st and 15th days also didn't require her to follow along under their tacit consent.

  When the good news of Jin's pregnancy spread, Wen Chunyi finally spoke up again, but she was no longer as clever and quick-witted as before. She spoke stiffly, slowly enunciating each word, and only said a maximum of three words at a time. Wen Chunyi eventually spoke up, but her mind had become half-diminished. After their initial heartbreak, the couple secretly consoled themselves that their daughter was alive and well, looking just like any ordinary child, which in their hearts was already a great blessing. After Wen Chunyi's incident, Old Lady Wen, out of concern for her granddaughter, specially sent over two knowledgeable women to serve Wen Chunyi.

  Wen Chunyi was not a child in the true sense of the word, and after hearing the whispers of the maidservants, she had some guard against them. Old Lady Wen was not her biological grandmother, and her own mother was probably a thorn in Old Lady Wen's side, having given birth to two sons for Old Master Wen, one of whom was his youngest son. Wen Chunyi had never married, but she had been a woman before. Old Master Wen was wise and capable, and she was still a woman. A woman's jealous heart arose, and how could she not resent the woman who had taken her things? The two maidservants sent by Old Lady Wen were extremely capable and knowledgeable, serving Wen Chunyi wholeheartedly.

  Xun Chunyi couldn't help but continue pretending to be a fool, but she knew that things couldn't go on like this forever. Could she really spend her whole life being a fool? Xun Chunyi observed her parents and eventually chose to slowly open up in front of Jin Shi, gradually revealing her lively personality as a child. Jin Shi was relieved and hugged her tightly, whispering: "My Snowflake isn't stupid, she's just been scared before and didn't dare speak, pretending to be mute, right? Mother is at ease now, Snowflake, you're still young, you must listen to your mother's words, except when you're in front of me, you can be carefree. Outside, you need to change slowly, not too quickly. Let's hide for two years first and worry about the rest later."

  Wen Chunyi sat under the shade of a tree, softly sighing. Such days, when would they come to an end? Jinshi had told her that for now, the most important thing was to wait until she grew up a bit more and could stand on her own two feet. According to the rules of the manor, when the young ladies turned six years old, they no longer needed women to attend to them personally. At that time, they could request two older maidservants to serve them. As for the women who had been attending to them personally, they would generally be reassigned to other tasks, and only a very small number of people would be allowed to continue serving by the young lady's side, waiting until she got married so that they could become her housekeeper.

  When Xiang heard about the situation in the house, she knew that Wen Xueyi had not kept any of the women who had taken care of her before. When it was Wen Chunyi's turn, she naturally followed the previous rules. Wen Chunyi was willing to listen to Jinshi talk about things in the mansion, and Jinshi didn't want her to be fooled again without knowing what was going on. So, regardless of whether the children could understand or not, she poured out her words with one mind. Fortunately, Wen Chunyi still understood the meaning behind her words, but just to avoid scaring her, she often had to pretend to be confused and look at her with a bewildered expression. Jinshi looked at her like this, often laughing and sighing, saying: "It's your parents who have made things difficult for you, girl. In the future, I will definitely ask for a good marriage for you."

  Jin Shi gazed at her daughter's clear eyes, she always felt that her daughter understood her words, but then thought that she was being too anxious, such a young child, no matter how intelligent, couldn't understand the twists and turns of adult matters. Jin Shi secretly let out a sigh of relief, the marriage of her eldest daughter Wen Xueyi, the Wen family looked at her appearance and didn't dare to neglect her.

  But after hearing about Chunyi's marriage, she had such a reputation that it might not be too pleasant. Jinshi furrowed her brow in thought and couldn't help but put down the nearly finished auspicious knot in her hand. Chunyi picked up the auspicious knot and examined it carefully, seeing the intricate flower pattern in the center of the knot, more complex than the safe and sound knot she had seen in her previous life. The more Jinshi looked at it, the more she felt that this auspicious knot was tasteful. After thinking for a while, Jinshi couldn't find a good solution, but when she saw Chunyi holding the auspicious knot with a fascinated expression, her eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her face: "Xueduo, you have a heart to learn, mother will teach you."

  Wen Chunyi thought that Jinshi was only teaching her when no one was around, starting with the simplest Ping'an knot, and repeatedly reminding her that she must not mention this matter to anyone. Wen Chunyi nodded obediently, watching as Jinshi would hide the intricately tied knot in the bottom of her needlework basket whenever someone came, pretending to be sewing clothes. Wen Chunyi felt that Jinshi had a secret, and that secret was beneficial to their small family. Jinshi never asked Wen Chunyi to hide the awkwardly twisted thing in her hands, instead smiling and saying to others that when children have something to fiddle with, they will sit quietly, and mothers and daughters can chat together.

  Wen Chunyi's heart felt a slight pang as she gazed at Jinshi, who was being extremely cautious. She couldn't help but feel a sense of bitterness in her own room, where she still had to be so careful and defensive. This kind of life was unbearable for someone like her. Wen Chunyi's heart had grown cold, and she knew she had to behave like an ancient woman, adhering to the strict rules of the household. But it was precisely these rules that were most stringent towards women. Wen Chunyi had never seen Wen Xueyi smile so boldly before; her smile was as subtle as a gentle spring breeze on a sunny day. Wen Chunyi's mouth, which had been about to curve into a smile, quickly closed again upon seeing Wen Xueyi's expression.

  How can she learn that kind of smile, which doesn't show her teeth but is still so beautiful? Xun Chunyi thought it was fortunate that there was the incident of falling into the water, so she could stay in the courtyard. Otherwise, with her carefree personality from her previous life, she would probably be picked apart by the clever housekeeper from head to toe as soon as she went out.