1 It was just a bad dream

The moon was high and bright in the starless nocturnal sky, it was already past midnight but an elegant and tranquil courtyard was brightly lit in an immense state.

Inside, in an elegant chamber, a delicate woman dressed in a simple white robe was seated on the bed; she was a stunning beauty with bewitching eyes and a beauty mole below her left eye, but she was paler as snow now and looked so frail as if she will break down at any time.

In one hand, she was holding a white outer robe while with the other one was sewing with white thread.

The embroidering was almost complete, it had white flames in the lower part; feathers fall in the front and a dragon and phoenix coiled together at the back; she was now beautifully trimming the end of a wide sleeve.

It had been a pretty difficult needlework because the thread was as white as the white fabric she was embroidering on; after finishing each pattern, she will always caress it with soft eyes.

The thread was the Eternal Frozen Silk; though it was called as such, it could warm you in the coldest environments. This silk was made after the Icy Jade Silk Worms had become Icy Jade Butterflies and copulated, because of this it was also called Eternal Love Silk; a pure love as crystalline ice and as warm as the joy brought from it.

Her husband had given it to her after she stopped him from making her a soft inner armour with it; he didn't ask her why and gave it to her.

When she was lost in her thoughts a shadow went out from the darkness. He paid courtesy and said, "Xuan Yi sees the Madam. The Patriarch is coming".

Her hands slightly trembled and she said, "Ah, you all go outside". The man covered in black hesitated for a brief moment before finally going out with other three shadows.

She heard the steady footsteps entering; she put down the things in her hands and stepped down from the bed, going to the antechamber.

The man who entered didn't sit and just stood near a jade table; she knew he was going to be brief. She approached and knelt down paying her respects, saying, "Bing Qing greets father-in-law". She didn't stand up nor looked up.

The Patriarch in front of her was a middle-aged man with a sturdy constitution; his skin was bronze coloured as the ones that usually work under the blazing sun and was clad in a dark green robe with purple embroidering which matched his skin.

His sharps eyes looked down at the kneeling figure, all white with silky black hair scattering down. He unconsciously frowned before sighing in his heart and said with disguised concern, "Has my daughter-in-law been all right?"

"Yes, Bing Qing has been very good. Bing Qing doesn't dare to let father-in-law worry", she replied softly.

He snappily frowned, looked around and put a sound enchantment before saying, "That is all right, then. Father-in-law didn't want things to develop like this but I had warned both of you". Saying so, his tone grew sombre, "A woman with almost no background and no strength, how did my eldest son dare to bring you in as a wife? How did you dare to accept and follow? Do you know how much harm have you done to him?"

Seeing her not even excusing herself, he got angry and berated, "You don't know; then, this Lord will tell you about it. You are a witch that only knows how to provoke men, because of this Xiao Shu broke ties with the Imperial family; though our family has nothing to fear but one added enemy is just a hanging stone that no one knows when it will smash down. And not only them but also the loyal servants around my son, he had now become the laughing stock as the news already spread out…"

She had been listening quietly and her palms and feet grew cold, that wasn't like that and he obviously knew it. She didn't say anything and continued to kneel quietly but her head bowed lower and lower with each passing second.

"… You can't even fulfil the main duty as a wife. A woman who can't give birth to children still dares to monopolize my son, you had to bewitch him so that every woman this Lord has put in his backyard has been neglected. What a good daughter-in-law!" He took a pause to catch his breath and looked at the now trembling white figure.

He took a jade bottle out; he put it in front of her on the floor and said in a low but cold tone, "If you want to be a good daughter-in-law, you will know what to do". He then strode out after retiring the enchantment.

She didn't hear the footsteps going away; the ringing sound of the jade touching the floor and a pill colliding against jade resounded in her ears, frosting her heart and making it sank in a deep abyss.

She snapped out when she felt the four breaths entering the chamber, she hastily put the bottle inside a purple space ring as she stood up and walked back to bed to finish her needlework.

Before reaching her bedside, she heard, "Seeing the Madam. Is everything all right?"

She turned around and looked at the person who knelt in one knee, saying with a beautiful smile, "Xuan Yi, everything is all right. Father-in-law just told me to behave and be a good daughter-in-law, nothing to be worried about".

The man clad in black looked up and saw her smiling with calm eyes and tranquil breath, from time to time the Madam will give him the illusion of seeing his Master, looks who one can't possibly be able to read; he shook his head secretly and didn't think about it anymore. He excused himself and went back to the darkness.

She saw the shadow guard disappearing into the darkness and picked up the things on the bed before sitting and resuming her embroidering. With each stitch, her eyes reddened but she held her tears back. Still, her eyes blurred making difficult her needlework; she took deep breaths to calm her mood down.

Half an hour later, she finally ended her work; she hung it up on a wooden rack next to the bed.

She walked around the white robe and nodded to herself at the exquisite work.

She blinked to dry her tears and beckoned a maid to prepare water to bathe; then, she walked to the side room where the clothes where placed. She opened a black wardrobe and her hand gently swept on the white robes; she took one with purple embroidering and smelled the familiar fragrance.

She thought this could calm her down but her finely crafted nose soured and tears streamed down; she couldn't help but crease part of the white robe. She let go of it when she heard water splashing, she reached for her wardrobe and picked a simple loose white robe before calming herself. She went out after smelling the scented water.

"Bei Qiu, you tidy this robe for me".

"Yes, Madam", a young woman with exquisite servant clothes replied as two third-rank maids approached the Madam. She said, "There's no need for you to help, all of you go to rest now".

"Aye", those two maids along with another two maids of the same rank which were preparing the bath answered in unison.

She undressed and submerged inside the bathtub's warm water.

"Master, the robe is ready", Bei Qiu said behind the division screen after a couple of minutes.

"Ah. Lit Warm Jade Spirit Bamboo Incense and retire".

"Yes".

After relaxing with the pleasant sweet smell that mingled with the fresh scent of the water for ten minutes or so, she dried herself and put on the loose robe.

Her inky hair, three palms below her willowy waist was silky and brilliant; she parted it in the middle before taking seat on the bed.

She turned the Luminous White Pearls off but didn't sleep, she just watched behind the open window with a faraway look in her obsidian eyes.

At long last, after a couple of hours, she shook her head, lied down and covered all her body with the warm quilts.

She laid a sound enchantment and took the jade bottle from her space ring; she played with it and finally let the pill roll out to her soft hand. She didn't know how it looked and wasn't able to discern the smell but she knew that it was poison.

She sighed and broke the enchantment before swallowing down the round pill. As her body turned cold, she closed her eyes; she tried her best to paint a peaceful smile with her pale rosy lips and without any pain, her breath of life dissipated as she had fallen asleep, as though she was in an eternal dream.

..............

The sun was setting west and the beautiful coloured clouds were darkening as nightfall.

In a vast state, inside a beautiful courtyard, there were people going back and forth in this warm night. The anxious calls of a middle-aged man were heard from the main chamber, "Qing'er, Qing'er, you woke up. Don't let daddy worry".

"Doctor Wu is coming", the voice of a servant girl was clearly heard by the middle-aged man.

"Fast let him come. Fast…" His bronze-coloured robe fluttered as he strode to the doorway; he stretched his hand and pulled an old man clad in simple grey robes, saying, "Old Wu, you fast check Qing'er".

The grey-robed old man didn't anger after being pulled, this two people had some friendship after all. "Yes, yes, but don't pull. You kid…" He said with a hoarse voice.

They quickly arrived at the bedside and the old man saw the beautiful maiden on the bed. She had a wound on her forehead and sweat had been falling from her little white face. Her fan-like eyelashes trembled and her wing-like eyebrows furrowed in discomfort as a maid with sky blue robes helped her wipe her sweat.

He placed his old fingers on the fair wrist; he recovered his hand after few minutes and asked as he faced the middle-aged man, "What happened?"

The anxious father gave a glimpse to the maid that was wiping the sweat and she answered with one breath, "Master wanted to buy some ingredients by herself to make dinner and when we were returning a big and luxurious carriage passed by Master's and hit it. Master was near the window and this servant was opposite Master and couldn't be of any help. Master hit her head and passed out". The guiltiness in her voice was clearly heard.

The old man nodded and said, "Oh, the injury isn't deep; hence, after applying this medicine Qing'er will be all right. She was scared and that's why she has a fever, she will wake up in no time".

"Is that so? Won't it leave a scar? Will the fever pass by?" The middle-aged man pulled Doctor Wu's wide sleeves like a little child.

Doctor Wu saw this, and he had no way of getting angered, saying, "An Hong, you already are the Patriarch of the An Clan, behave yourself. Don't worry, with that medicine it won't leave a scar, just remember to smear it once on the wound for three nights and wash it at sunrise. Tsk, for you to not worry; here, this is a prescription to cool down emotions, make her drink it at night for a week".

"Yes, yes, yes".

Doctor Wu shook his head and strode away. An Hong was about to send him out but the eyes of the maiden suddenly opened. He was shocked and beckoned the man clad with dark blue robes beside him to follow Doctor Wu as he asked with care, "Qing'er, Qing'er, my beautiful daughter you have woken up".

The eyes of the girl were unfocused until she heard a nostalgic voice, she fixed her gaze to the voice's origin and slowly closed her eyes, she whispered, "I must be in heaven now".

An Hong's face paled as he said anxiously, "What heaven? You this little girl… Even if you want to die, daddy won't let you".

Hearing again the voice, she frowned wondering and hastily opened her bewitching eyes. She blinked beautifully as she saw her worrywart father. She looked around and saw the familiar faces, her eyes reddened and she closed her eyes, thinking to herself, 'What is this in the end? Is this a dream? Or was it that the dream?' She wondered as An Hong watched her with his heart tight, he didn't know what to do and could only command to prepare the prescription for her.

At length, he heard a whisper, "It was just a bad dream, then".