Year after year entwined in a lingering obsession - Li Banzhen 85

  Li Yihua stood at the gate and saw Li Zuo's figure appear on the street, happily rushing over: "Brother."

  "Why are you so happy today?" Li Zuo asked his sister as he looked at her with a puzzled expression.

  "Brother, I heard that the Emperor is going to choose a new Empress?" Yi He naturally linked her arm with Li Zuo's.

  "Huh? You're quite updated, aren't you?" Li Zuo lovingly rubbed Li Yihua's hair.

  "Oh dear, brother, I'm a grown-up now, can you please stop rubbing my head like I'm a little dog? It's so annoying." Li Yehua pouted and leaned against Li Ze.

  "Speak," Li Zuo knew what his sister was thinking, but he didn't think much of entering the palace.

  "Brother, I want to enter the palace." Li Yehua looked at Li Zuo seriously.

  The brother and sister have already entered the study, this study was once Pan Yueyang's study, but the room layout has undergone great changes from before.

  "I didn't plan on letting you enter the palace, but if you insist, then go." Li Zuo looked at his sister with concern.

  "Thank you, brother." Li Yehua held onto a young girl's dream, and with a joyful expression, she also slightly discovered Li Zuo's dissatisfaction: "Brother, I know what you're worried about. The harem is indeed a place of intrigue and struggle, and with many women, trouble will inevitably arise. But I hope you can rest assured, I will definitely work hard to create a good future for the Li family."

  "Hmm, you also know what I'm worried about. The Li family doesn't need these things, it's just for Yihe. Do you know why I agreed to let you enter the palace this time?" Li Zuo thought and still explained the whole story to Yihe.

  "Why?" Li Yihua suddenly felt that Li Zuo seemed to have something to say to her.

  "The emperor wants a woman to enter the palace, it's a woman he met when occupying the moon city, her identity is quite special, so the emperor hopes I can help her." Li Zu tried to explain as little as possible.

  "Does Brother Canghai have someone he likes?" How could she not know about this? Li Yihua looked at Li Zuo with some disappointment.

  "It should be that His Majesty thinks it's better to let her acknowledge you as my adopted sister first, and then have you and her enter the palace together. Her name will also be changed." Li Zuo looked at Li Yihua's expression.

  Li Yihua's mouth twitched slightly, she lowered her head and thought for a long time: "Brother, then let's enter the palace together."

  "Do you agree?" Li Zuo didn't expect his own sister to have such deep feelings for Guan Canghai, this was clearly using Li Yihua's identity to let his woman enter the palace.

  "Hmm." Li Yihua said nothing more, turned around and walked out of the study alone.

  Canghai Ge, she will definitely get it, let her bring a woman into the palace, what's the big deal! Li Yihua thought proudly that since she had to enter the palace with a special identity, this woman's true identity must be a secret. If not, why couldn't she just enter the palace as a palace maid? Why did she have to take on the identity of Li Zuo's younger sister, and most importantly, change her name and surname? This seems too suspicious! It looks like this woman is absolutely not simple, she needs to be carefully investigated.

  Her face didn't expect that Mu Bai and Zi Zhan would leave the imperial city so smoothly. Maybe she was too worried, Guan Canghai didn't have any thoughts about Zi Zhan at all. But making the worst preparations is still the best way. Yan'er looked at the empty bed, without Zi Zhan sleeping soundly on it, without Zi Zhan crying loudly on the bed because of hunger or a full bladder. It seemed like there were many things missing in her life.

  Li Zuo had arrived at the inn early to pick up Yan'er and take her back to the mansion. As Yan'er walked slowly down the stairs, Li Zuo saw a lingering sadness on her face: "Just you alone?"

  Her face didn't say a word, just nodded slightly, as Li Zuoguo guessed, indeed there was something on her mind.

  "Li Chuxia... let's go." Li Zuo thought of the name yesterday, thinking that now is the beginning of summer, and he met Yan Er, so he gave her the name Chuxia.

  "Li Bansheng." Yan'er looked at Li Zuo, and in her heart, she was naturally unwilling to conceal even her true surname for the sake of survival.

  "Whatever, suit yourself." Li Zuo didn't mind a name.

  The road was so familiar that she could find the Taiwei Mansion even without Li Zuo by her side. Yan'er looked up at the signboard above the gate and walked in without hesitation.

  Li Zuo didn't say a word all along, he just observed Yan Er's expression.

  "Brother, is this that sister of yours?" Li Yehua had been waiting in the study for a long time and straightened her body as soon as she heard footsteps, looking forward to meeting the woman who had been on Guan Canghai's mind all along.

  As expected, when Yanzi appeared in front of Li Yihua, Li Yihua couldn't help but be taken aback for a moment. Indeed, she was a beautiful woman, but there wasn't a hint of joy on her face, instead, it was filled with too much anxiety.

  "This is my younger sister, Li Yihua." Li Zuoxian spoke up to introduce her.

  Li Yihua? The name suddenly made Yan'er think of Fenghua, is it that all women with the surname Hua are so moving? Yan'er smiled as she looked at Li Yihua, this girl was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and her whole person radiated a youthful glow.

  Looking back at myself, I am now almost a twenty-year-old woman, and no longer have the pure heart of a young girl.

  "Sister." Li Yihua's sweet voice brought Yan'er's thoughts back.

  "What a nice name, Hehe."

  "Still don't know sister's name." Li Yihua still smiled sweetly.

  "Li Banzhen." The face self-reported name.

  "What's 'half frost'?" Li Yihua furrowed her brow.

  "Hmm." Yan'er looked at this familiar study, the furniture had been replaced with new ones and the layout had changed. This used to be where Pan Yueyang spent most of her time in the mansion...

  "All right, let the maid take you back to your own room. In three days, you and Yihuo will enter the palace. The details of entering the palace will be told to you by Yihuo." Li Zuo left the study.

  Yan'er walked side by side with Li Yihua, who was not as talkative and smiley as when they first met. She simply explained the etiquette of entering the palace, but her sweet voice and smile remained on her face. Yan'er listened carelessly, only nodding frequently.

  In the blink of an eye, it was the morning of the third day. The sky was just beginning to brighten up when Yan'er was woken up by her maid. She hadn't slept soundly for these three days either. Several maids had been going in and out of her room, bringing in many clothes and accessories.

  Her face watched the scene and suddenly remembered the first time she got married, it was also at this time. She was woken up by Xiaoyu, sitting dazedly, looking at her own maid busy in and out for her. If she could go back to the past, she hoped that nothing had happened on that day, marrying Mo Nan Zhu and living a dull life would be fine.

  The maid carefully made up Yan'er's face and styled her hair into a high bun. The little maid was clever: "What is your name?"

  "Welcome back, Miss. I'm called Liu'er." The little maid continued to style her hair with practiced hands.

  "How long have you been here?" Yan'er had been in the General's Mansion for over a year, but she was still too reclusive by nature. In the past, there were not many people in the mansion that she knew.

  "Lü'er has just entered the mansion for a short time."

  "Oh..." Her face showed some disappointment, she had thought that this mansion might still have some of its original servants left.

  "What's wrong, miss?" Liu Er thought she had done something wrong and looked at Yan Er's suddenly dimmed expression in surprise.

  "Nothing, just recalling some old memories. By the way, are all the maids here new?" Yan'er smiled and picked up a pair of earrings from the dresser.

  "Miss likes this earring? I'll help you change it." Liu'er took the earring and carefully replaced it for Yan'er: "There are still some of the original servants left in this mansion, and some have also left. Liu'er is new here and isn't very clear about things either."

  "Oh? Then do you know a little girl named Xiao Yan?" Yan'er asked casually.

  "Little Swallow? I don't know what the young lady and she are..." Liu Er smiled faintly as she gazed at her reflection in the copper mirror: "The young lady is truly as beautiful as a heavenly fairy."

  Her parents said their daughter used to work at the former general's mansion and happened to remember today.

  "Oh, so Miss said that little Yan might not be the same person as the one in our mansion." Liu Er looked at Yan Er with regret.

  It can be seen that Liu'er's expression is not right, and Yan'er seems to think that this little bird must have something unspeakable, so she asks again: "What did you say?"

  "We adults also took pity on this girl and kept her in the backyard to do laundry and chores. I heard she was a slave from the previous imperial court, don't know which master she offended, it's quite pitiful." Liu'er couldn't help but reveal a sympathetic expression: "We're all about the same age, occasionally seeing each other, I think Miss must have known someone who wouldn't be this unfortunate."

  "Shall I call her over?" Yan'er listened to Liu'er and felt that this little servant was indeed the second maid who served her back then. She thought about Fenghe dying unjustly because of herself, would Xiaoyan also not escape the calamity?

  "Isn't it inconvenient for you, miss? Today is a very auspicious day, and you shouldn't disturb the master's good fortune." Liu'er hastily knelt down on the ground, fearing that Xiao Yan would ruin the master's good day. Although Li Bansi was the adult's sworn sister, after all, she could enter the palace by being registered in the imperial household roster - who dared to guarantee that later on, she wouldn't become a person above everyone else?

  "I'll be satisfied if you bring her to see me, just take a look and I'll be at ease, whether she's the daughter of our old family or not. In the future, I'll also have an account to settle." Yan'er lowered her face in disagreement, maintaining the dignity of a host.

  "Yes." Liu'er was good at observing expressions and didn't say anything more.

  Xiao Yan was led into the room by Liu Er, and saw a woman's back sitting in front of the dressing table. Xiao Yan felt that it seemed very familiar, but still didn't dare to raise her head, lowering her own ugly face for fear of scaring people.

  "Come, little swallow, don't be afraid. This is the young lady of our manor. Quickly pay your respects to the young lady." Liu'er pulled on Xiaoyan's sleeve, this poor girl had always been the object of care for these young ladies.

  "Slave Xiao Yan greets Miss." Xiao Yan knelt on the ground, trembling with fear, and didn't even dare to breathe.

  Her body stiffened, it was Xiaoyuan! That lovely and kind girl.

  "Liu'er, you take everyone out first, I'll ask her some questions." Yan'er said with a trembling voice.

  Xiao Yan heard his wife's voice, like a thunderclap on a clear day. He forgot the ugly scars on his face and stood up straight, staring at the woman's back.