Chapter 46: Childhood Memories
The winter days grew colder and colder, and even in Jiang Xue’s world, it began to snow.
Taking advantage of the weekend, she took pictures of the snowy scenery and the icicles hanging from the eaves. She broke off some icicles, cut them into sections, carefully melted a hole through the center of each, threaded them onto a red ribbon, put them in a plastic bag, and sent them to Xiao Luohan to play with.
That night, when she entered the dream, a separate little eave decorated with icicles appeared in the “mindscape.”
“I wonder if this space will still exist after you come over,” Jiang Xue muttered, touching the icicles and looking at the young woman not far away.
She had forgotten since which dream it started, but Xiao Luohan had changed her gray cloak to a bright red one.
She was no longer fixated on recreating furniture with the Scream bottle, but instead, holding a long sword carved with plum blossoms, she was dancing in a blank area further away.
Jiang Xue still remembered the layout of Wangmei Pavilion, knowing that it was in the courtyard, which became desolate in winter, with only the plum tree retaining its vitality.
As Xiao Luohan danced, she saw greenery and purple sprouting from the ground.
They were clusters of “vetch,” also known as “wild pea.” Among the vast expanse of small green leaves were small purple flowers, like butterfly wings.
Like shepherd’s purse, it wasn’t a precious plant, but it tasted good and grew vigorously. Most importantly, Xiao Luohan liked it.
Jiang Xue rubbed her chin, thinking, and also started dancing in another blank area.
Wherever she went, dandelions sprouted.
Time wasn’t fixed in this space. With a thought, she saw the dandelion buds bloom into yellow, then the petals closed, undergoing an unseen transformation. The closed petals and sepals withered, and when they opened again, they were fluffy white spheres.
It wasn’t convenient to dance on the fluffy dandelions, so Jiang Xue retreated from the dandelion field, picked one, and smiled at Xiao Luohan. “Xiao Luo, look at this!”
Ever since she heard Wei Mommy call the Third Princess “Xiao Luo,” she had also started calling her that—she always liked imitating Wei Mommy.
Xiao Luohan stopped dancing and walked towards her, sword in hand.
“I also like dandelions.” She smiled at the sight of the fluffy sphere, then looked at the dandelion field beside her. “Mother would occasionally pick dandelions for food, eating them in a salad. I would follow behind her and collect the fluffy seeds.”
She raised her hand, and the sword transformed into a handful of dandelion seeds.
Turning slightly, Xiao Luohan gently blew on the seeds, and the little “parachutes” scattered joyfully, carried by the wind towards the sky.
Jiang Xue instinctively looked up and saw that the dandelion seeds were flying towards dark, twisting branches, dotted with deep pink plum blossoms.
She took a deep breath and smelled the refreshing floral fragrance.
Wangmei Pavilion was named after the old plum tree in the courtyard. Even though she had fainted from kneeling under it that day, Xiao Luohan had still brought it into her mindscape.
“Looking at the buds on the plum tree branches, I always wonder if Elder Sister’s soul lingers on them, wanting to watch over me.”
After blowing away all the seeds, Xiao Luohan also looked up. “Do you think… what state is Elder Sister in now?”
“Is she just quietly watching, or is she maintaining this space and our dreams?”
Perhaps because she had been reading more fantasy works recently, her speculations became bolder.
Jiang Xue thought for a moment. “Maybe both?”
“If that’s the case… why doesn’t Elder Sister say anything to me?” Xiao Luohan lowered her gaze. “Like us, we’ve already progressed to planning the assassination of the Crown Prince of Daying, yet she doesn’t appear or say anything.”
Jiang Xue knew what she was thinking.
If the Crown Prince died, the Emperor would be furious and might use it as an excuse to start a war, which would bring suffering to the people of both countries.
“Maybe because… we’re just continuing what she originally wanted to do?” she guessed. “Think about it, in that battle, your elder sister cut off a strand of the Daying Crown Prince’s hair!”
“If your elder sister hadn’t been at her limit, venturing deep into enemy territory alone, and struck by so many arrows… that sword strike wouldn’t have just cut off hair, but the dog of a Crown Prince’s head!”
Although they couldn’t cut off the Crown Prince’s head now, they could give him a powerful “headshot” with Uncle Seuss’s gun!
“Even if the Emperor has many sons, it’s not easy to raise another ‘heir’ from scratch, not to mention the other uncles and elders who are eyeing the throne. If the Crown Prince really dies, Daying will be in chaos!”
“Shaking the foundation of Daying is also good for Beiliao. Anyway, whether the Crown Prince dies or not, Beiliao’s future is in danger.”
Jiang Xue was optimistic, but she also knew that she was only saying this because she wasn’t living in a time of war, and everything she said was based on her understanding of historical knowledge, from an outsider’s perspective.
So she stopped there and, seeing Xiao Luohan’s expression soften, didn’t mention it again.
They continued to stay in this space, sometimes chatting, sometimes playing with flowers.
The night passed unknowingly. The next day, Jiang Xue, still drowsy, put on her jacket, grabbed the diary, and went downstairs to send Xiao Luohan her breakfast.
After sending the food and confirming that Xiao Luohan, who always woke up early, had received it and started eating, she went to wash up, get dressed, and eat her own breakfast, yawning.
Recently, Jiang Xue would rather wake up early than stay at her rented apartment.
There were more things available at home, and it was more convenient for Sister Cheng to prepare meals.
Besides that, she could exchange updates with her older sister during breakfast, which was the most important.
“What did ‘Hermes’ say?” Jiang Xue asked eagerly this morning.
Last night, when she came back from evening self-study, she had heard her older sister talking on the phone with her uncle!
“Hermes” was the nickname the sisters had for Uncle Seuss—he liked living alone, had no spouse or children, but was especially fond of a stallion he had raised since it was a foal. Now that the horse had grown up, he declared to everyone that he had a “horse son.”
“He said, ‘We can take some additional measures to increase the chances of success, such as simulating self-rescue and follow-up actions after the weapon is seized by the Crown Prince. After we simulate feasible outcomes, Jiang Xue can relay them to the princess.’” Jiang Mei recounted his words. “If you don’t mind, ‘Hermes’ can even act as the Crown Prince.”
Although Uncle Seuss felt that there wasn’t much difference between men and women, after all, many women practiced boxing and fitness abroad, and their strength shouldn’t be underestimated, Jiang Mei still felt that they should practice with a man. When counterattacking, a man’s weaknesses might not be the same as a woman’s.
Jiang Xue chuckled. “Then ‘Hermes’ better wear his full set of protective gear!”
Busy with studying during the day, and with rehearsal in the afternoon, she didn’t find a chance to tell Xiao Luohan until that night, when she entered the dream and sat on the “cat tree” to explain the new plan.
Xiao Luohan had already filled the Wangmei Pavilion in the mindscape with many things. The “cat tree” was extra large, and even she wasn’t sure if it was for a real cat, or… for Jiang Xue, the human-sized cat.
However, Jiang Xue seemed to like the cat tree, so that was enough.
After hearing Jiang Xue’s explanation, Xiao Luohan thought for a moment and placed a mannequin near the plum tree. But she didn’t give it a face or clothes, it was just a wooden figure.
With her will, the mannequin started moving.
“Can it simulate strength?” Jiang Xue leaned in curiously.
She tried to imagine the strength and movements she wanted the mannequin to display, and as soon as the thought crossed her mind, the mannequin lifted her onto its shoulder!
“It works!!” Jiang Xue wasn’t flustered. Thinking “put me down,” the mannequin placed her back on the ground.
“I was just imagining what it was like when my sister carried me,” she shared with Xiao Luohan frankly. “This is great! After I meet Uncle Seuss, I can bring in his strength and movements for simulation!”
Although this space was Xiao Luohan’s “mindscape,” Xiao Luohan now allowed her to leave her own “mental images” here as well, which made many things easier.
Xiao Luohan nodded with a smile, then asked curiously, “Why did Mei-jiejie carry you like that?”
Jiang Xue also smiled, but didn’t answer, instead moving aside. “Do you want to try?”
Her curiosity piqued, Xiao Luohan walked towards the mannequin.
The next second, she was also lifted onto the mannequin’s shoulder, and then her vision spun—
Xiao Luohan had never been lifted and spun around like this before. She cried out in surprise, but after the initial shock, she started laughing heartily.
Her red cloak also swirled around her like a red cloud.
Jiang Xue let the mannequin, representing her older sister in her memory, spin Xiao Luohan around several times. When Xiao Luohan shouted “Stop,” she had the mannequin put her down.
“When I was very young, my older sister and I went to the park and saw a father playing with his daughter like this. I also grabbed my sister’s hand and said I wanted to play like that.”
Casually picking a wild pea and putting it in her mouth, Jiang Xue sat on the grass, reminiscing. “Actually, my sister wasn’t very old back then, but she still tried her best to lift and spin me around.”
“Later, when my sister grew up and became stronger, she remembered this and insisted on playing like that with me that day.” Jiang Xue chuckled. “But… I was going through a growth spurt at the time and was quite heavy. She couldn’t lift me, so she ended up carrying me on her back instead!”
Xiao Luohan imagined the scene and smiled. “That’s very interesting.”
“If you like listening, I can tell you more,” Jiang Xue said, turning to her.
She saw Xiao Luohan lower her gaze and remain silent for a few seconds. “Then I’ll also tell you a story about me and my elder sister.”
“I was frail, so even my elder sister didn’t dare engage in such playful activities with me. But she liked carrying me on her back…”
As she spoke, the surrounding furniture, decorations, flower fields, and plum trees disappeared, replaced by an unfamiliar palace scene.
Two girls, one tall and one short, were running under the red walls.
The taller one steadily carried the shorter one on her back, running and occasionally jumping or bouncing. The shorter girl would let out small cries of surprise, then giggle uncontrollably.
“She would carry me wherever I wanted to go. If I wanted to walk, she would put me down. When I got tired, I would climb back onto her back.”
Xiao Luohan’s voice softened. “At the time, I really thought life could continue like this. But later, when I grew a little older, I stopped asking Elder Sister to carry me.”
Seeing Jiang Xue listening attentively, she paused. “Except for one winter night, when I had a high fever. Mother was afraid that the Imperial Hospital wouldn’t accept someone from the cold palace, and that I wouldn’t survive, so she went to kneel outside the Empress’s palace.”
“Later, it was Elder Sister who braved the snow, carried me all the way to the Imperial Hospital, kicked open the door, and demanded that the physician on duty treat me with acupuncture and moxibustion… That’s how I survived that night.”
She didn’t share any more details with Jiang Xue, lost in thought.
She remembered being delirious with fever that night, vaguely hearing her elder sister say with a sob—
“I won’t let Xiao Luo die! Even if the Black and White Impermanence come to take you, I’ll snatch you back from the King of Hell!”
T/N:
Black and White Impermanence:
It refers to two ghostly figures from Chinese folklore and Daoist/Buddhist mythology who serve as underworld messengers or deities. They are responsible for escorting the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
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