Chapter 1: One Thought

When her mother watched her brother die, what was her state of mind? Wei An lay on the bed, her thoughts muddled. She clutched the bedsheet tightly beneath her, sweat trickling down her forehead, mixing with her tears and spilling out of her eyes, bitter and unbearable.

Her thoughts seemed to freeze, and only the clear and intense sensation of pain in her body remained. She slowly arched her body, drenched in sweat and blood, finally feeling a warmth leaving her body.

The incessant clamor in her ears finally vanished in an instant, replaced by a continuous rush of heat flowing from her body. She was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, like a dying dog in the heat of summer, stretching out her tongue, exerting all her strength to keep herself from falling asleep.

Her blood-soaked clothes, sticky with sweat, emitted a nauseating stench of blood, unbearable to endure.

But Wei An endured. She struggled to open her eyes, wanting to see her child. There were figures moving by the bed, and on the floor lay scissors entwined with red strings and several red-dyed eggs. Her child was among the group of people, probably being cleaned.

A new life, she exhaled a breath, trying to ignore the discomfort and pain, preparing to lift the corners of her mouth. But she could only manage a slight curve before a sharp cry suddenly pierced her ears.

The cry caused her chest to heave violently, and the light that had gathered in her eyes immediately disappeared. She forced herself to sit up and turn her head to look, but the door suddenly swung open, and the summer wind, accompanied by thunder and rain, brought a chill into the room. She shivered, only managing to catch a glimpse of Peng Caichen's dark and angry face and eyes before her consciousness faded into a blur.

When she woke up again, the rain had cleared, and she could see the beautiful peonies and the clear blue sky that filled the courtyard through the wide-open window.

She breathed a sigh of relief, a thin smile appearing on her delicate, fragile face, as she waved to Peng Caichen standing outside the window, "Brother Caichen, bring the child for me to see..."

Peng Caichen ignored her.

She awkwardly forced out a pleasing smile, then turned to see Yu Qing's tearful face.

Yu Qing was her maid from her maternal family, who had been with her for many years. She was already thirty years old and still unmarried. Wei An sighed, not daring to trouble Peng Caichen again, and asked Yu Qing, "Yu Qing, Brother Caichen is ignoring me. Bring the child for me to see..."

Yu Qing also ignored her, like a speechless and motionless puppet.

Her wet nurse came in, pushing her roughly into the room, throwing the bedding into a basket, and then leaving without a word.

The room fell into a silent stillness, and even the noise made by the wet nurse's actions seemed to be swallowed by the silence.

She felt a sense of panic and called out to her wet nurse's retreating figure, "Nurse, nurse..."

The nurse didn't stop, showing no signs of the tenderness she had shown before when Wei An was pricked by a thorn. She simply left Wei An with her back turned.

The pink embroidered gauze canopy hung by the bed without a breeze, and Yu Qing remained motionless and silent, like a dead person. Then, the usually talkative Lan He entered with a crystal dish. Wei An finally felt happy again and called out to Lan He, but Lan He also stood there with vacant eyes, like a wooden doll.

Finally, she realized that something was wrong and cried out in panic, "Someone! Someone!"

Perhaps because she cried too hard, the previously hazy and unreal feeling suddenly dissipated, like the dispersal of clouds and mist. She finally heard a sound in her ears, the sound of the door being pushed open. There were still people here after all. She was filled with joy and slowly looked towards the person who appeared in her line of sight.

A bright halo of light made it difficult for her to open her eyes for a moment. She blinked and blinked again, finally seeing a blurry figure.

It was Wei Jie, her elder brother, who had never let her suffer. Her grievances and panic finally burst out completely, and she turned over, not caring about the bloodstains on her body. She cried and reached out to her brother, "Brother, why did you only just come? No one paid attention to me..."

Wei Jie reached out to her, with a fond smile on his face, just as always.

Her previously tense nerves finally relaxed, and she reached out to touch her brother's hand. But even though his hand was clearly within reach, she couldn't touch it. She reached out and grasped at thin air.

The sunlight streamed through the window, casting a warm glow, but Wei An felt as if she had fallen into an icy cellar in the dead of winter, shivering uncontrollably. She watched as Wei Jie's figure gradually became transparent.

"No!" She instinctively covered her head and let out a painful wail, then stumbled and fell off the bed.

The previously stagnant time seemed to move again in an instant.

Wei Jie's previously clear figure quickly became blurry and then disappeared. Before he vanished, he seemed to open his mouth as if to speak to Wei An.

"The waters of the Ganges are so cold..."

Wei An felt as if she could see a puddle where he had been standing. She felt as if she had fallen off a cliff in an indescribable fear and panic, crying out for Yu Qing and Lan He.

Yu Qing and Lan He finally moved and turned to look at her, their faces blurred and grotesque.

She cried out in shock, tears and snot streaming down her face, and she kept shrinking back until she rolled off the bed.

She didn't feel the pain, only fear. She hugged her knees, wanting to move away, but suddenly someone grabbed her hand and lifted her up.

"How did you get here?!"

It was the voice of her mother, Princess Changning, and she cried out and immediately threw herself into her mother's arms.

"Quick, go!" Her mother, however, was in a panic, dragging her by the hand out of the room to the lakeside, and forcefully pushing her down. "Hurry, go, go!"

The feeling of weightlessness made her kick her feet and jump up, opening her eyes.

What she saw was still the original tent, with incense still emitting a faint smoke on the table. She breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away the sweat.

It was just a nightmare.

Her brother and mother, Yu Qing and Lan He, were already dead, they wouldn't appear again.

Thinking of this, the relief she had felt was immediately swallowed up, making her feel suffocated.

They're all dead... they're all dead...