Fragrance Returned

Mrs. Zhang carried Ding Xiang to bed, opened the small window, and threw a handful of incense tablets into the incense burner to light it.

He complained in a low voice, "You can't sweat more, what's wrong..."

Ding Xiang muttered, "I had a nightmare, I was scared."

Turned over and fell asleep again.

Mrs. Zhang knew that her daughter was very tired every time she sweated too much, so she had no choice but to let her continue to sleep.

Ling'er and Aunt Wei came to serve in the upper room, but she stopped her and said, "Xiangxiang didn't sleep well last night. Let her sleep a little longer."

Ding Zhuang didn't see Ding Xiang getting up to have breakfast and asked, "Where is Xiang Xiang?"

Mrs. Zhang said, "I didn't sleep well at night, so I'm still sleeping."

Ding Xiang didn't get up until late in the afternoon, feeling listless.

Ling'er served her after breakfast.

Ding Xiang said, "I had breakfast and lunch together. I still want to sleep, so don't let anyone disturb me."

Ling'er worriedly said, "Sister, are you sick? I'll go ask Doctor Zhao."

"I'm not sick, I just have insomnia and don't fall asleep until dawn."

I vaguely recounted the "insomnia" I had in my previous life.

Ling'er said, "Loss of cotton? What kind of cotton have you lost? What kind of disease is this? No, I have to tell Aunt Wei and quickly invite Dr. Zhao to see the doctor."

Zhang went to Jiulu Zhixiu Pavilion to deliver goods, and Ding Zhuang went to "Baotie". The master was not at home, so he had to talk to Aunt Wei.

Ding Xiang said impatiently, "What's the matter with you? You don't even listen to what I say? Go out and close the door to the east courtyard. No one is allowed to disturb me."

It was rare for the young master to be so powerful. Ling'er didn't dare to say anything more and went out to close the door.

Ding Xiang closed the door and closed the window, and started running and jumping in the house again. My body feels very tired, like stepping on cotton, but I still persevere.

She had to know if Ding Pandi was okay today, so she had to use up the last quota for this year.

Feifei stared at her in surprise.

Smell the fragrance continuously, is this a good thing?

When it was sure that this was a good thing, it jumped onto the bed with a cry of "GooGoo".

Lilac sweated more and more, and the aroma in the room became stronger and stronger.

She climbed onto the bed and lay down, and Feifei immediately followed her.

The dark fog dissipated in front of my eyes, and it immediately became brighter. The sun was shining brightly and the blue sky was far away.

The camera slowly slides down to see a house. The house is very large. The layers of cornices divide the house into countless squares. It is hidden among the green trees and red flowers, and there is also a sparkling lake.

Ding Xiang was sure that this was the Su family's residence.

The camera continued to look down and saw a large and lush banyan tree with several rows of wing rooms behind the tree.

The camera moves forward, through a screened window.

The room was sparsely furnished, with a table and two chairs. A girl in green clothes was sitting on the ground leaning against the table legs.

Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were dull, her face and lips were pale, there were bright red whip marks on her neck, and there were many bloody whip marks on her clothes. It looked like she had been whipped, and the beating was severe.

Place your hands, palms up, on your lap.

It is Ding Pandi.

She kept this expression as if she was stupid. If her eyes hadn't had a small slit, and a tear occasionally rolled out of the slit, Lilac would have thought she was dead.

Ding Xiang also noticed that her palms and fingers were white, delicate, shiny, and smooth like silk.

Ding Pandi has been doing menial work since he was a few years old. His hands are dark yellow, rough, and covered with calluses. No matter how much he takes care of his palms, they will never become like this.

Ding Xiang figured it out. People who do this kind of work must be strong, tender and careful.

Anyone with particularly strong strength will not have tender hands. So I had to find a girl like Ding Pandi who was used to rough work and was young to take care of her hands.

Poor Pandi, I don’t know what she has encountered in the past few years.

Ding Xiang's heart clenched.

Suddenly, Ding Pandi sat upright, his eyes bulged, and he looked ahead in horror.

An old woman walked over and knelt down, lifted Ding Pandi's chin with one hand, cursed something, and slapped her face with the other hand.

After being punched several times in the mouth, Ding Pandi's mouth bled and half of his face became swollen.

But his expression was dull, and he didn't even plead for mercy.

This old woman is Aunt Jin, who is several years younger than the Aunt Jin that Ding Xiang saw a few years ago. I don’t know if she put on makeup before or if she also took flower essence pills.

Even if you see her profile, you can see how angry she is at this time.

Not long after, a man brought a copper basin, and Ding Pandi's eyes became even more frightened.

A woman came over and held down Ding Pandi's left hand. Aunt Jin grabbed her right hand and put it in the basin and pressed it down. Ding Pandi opened his mouth wide in pain and whined, his facial features were deformed, and his body kept twitching.

Lilac couldn't hear it and could imagine how miserable the scream was.

A man thrust a veil into her mouth.

The hand was pressed into the basin for half a quarter of an hour and then taken out. The other hand was pressed into the basin for half a quarter of an hour and taken out.

Her hands were still spread upward, and the palms of her hands had turned pink, as tender and beautiful as peach blossoms in spring.

Two women came over and lifted Ding Pandi up. Her hands were still stretched forward, palms upward. He entered the side door and threw her on the bed.

The bedding on the bed is of high quality, made of gauze and silk.

Ding Pandi was lying on his back, with his palms up on both sides of his body. The tears on his face had dried, and there were no tears in his eyes, which were frighteningly empty and dry.

Aunt Jin walked in, poured five silver ingots from her purse and placed them on the small table beside the bed. Two taels each, five taels.

She said something, turned and left.

Ding Pandi's expression remained unchanged, staring blankly at the top of the bed.

A quarter of an hour later, a woman brought a dish and soup on a tray and placed it on the small table next to the bedside.

It's loofah stewed with shrimps, some sort of white soup.

The mother-in-law seemed to ask her if she wanted to eat, but Ding Pandi ignored her and went out.

After a while, Ding Pandi's expression finally changed, and he said three words repeatedly.

Ding Xiang understood that it was "survive".

The despair in her eyes turned into perseverance. She sat up and said a few words, and the woman who delivered the food came in to feed her.

This woman was different from the fierce women before. Even if she looked at her face from the side, she spoke kindly and even wiped the corners of Ding Pandi's mouth with a handkerchief.

Ding Pandi only took a few bites, and the scene disappeared.

When the time came, Lilac woke up.

She opened her eyes, feeling weak all over and confused in her mind. I glanced at the window screen, which was illuminated white by the sun, and fell into darkness again.

Mrs. Zhang was so worried about Lilac that she didn't even eat lunch in the county town. She hurried back after delivering the goods.

Hearing that Ding Xiang was still sleeping, he became worried.

As soon as she entered the main room, she smelled the special fragrance of cloves.

Knock on the door quickly, "Xiangxiang, Xiangxiang, open the door quickly..."

"Gu Gu Gu Gu..."

It's Feifei's voice.

Mrs. Zhang continued to knock on the door.

After knocking for less than half an hour, the "cuckoo" sound turned into a "ouch" sound, but there was still no sound of lilac.

Mrs. Zhang and Ling'er and Aunt Wei who came later were frightened. Ling'er cried and asked Li Maigao to come over and knock on the door.

The door opened and Ding Xiang lay motionless on the bed. Feifei pushed her little head hard against her little master, trying to wake her up. (End of chapter)