12 Chapter 12: She tried practising??

Yingyue looked up at Lu Jiayi who was clutching her hand. She pulled Yingyue along with her hurried footsteps as they returned to their courtyard. Yingyue could see worry clouding her face...

She was so completely absorbed in her own thoughts that even if Yingyue said something right now, she would probably not be able to hear it... She looked down and sighed. There was definitely going to be an interrogation.

For some reason, this 'place', that could not be real, felt so terribly real and she somewhat felt like she was about to be reprimanded by her own mother. But, it felt... heartwarming...

She rarely had enough time to see her parents in her real life, so this change tugged at her heartstrings. Furthermore, this lady was so beautiful and gentle, so she could not bear but to feel some sort of affection for her...

As they entered the courtyard, Lu Jiayi quickly pulled her into the room and sat her down gently. Xiao Zhu and Nanny Mu immediately knew that they were going to have a serious conversation so they waited by the door.

And indeed there was a need for the serious conversation! They themselves had seen what happened at the monthly test. Of all things, she had painted!

They were surprised enough when they heard her announce that, considering the mess that occurred at the test last month... they still couldn't remove that image from their minds. They were sure that Lu Jiayi had been teaching her calligraphy...?

If that wasn't enough, she somehow painted that legendary piece! If it was hung up with the other paintings in the hall, its beauty would not lose to any of them.

However, what made them most surprised was actually her personality. Xiao Zhu was by her young miss's side every minute of the day. How could she not know that the young miss was a timid girl who cowered at the sight of 'those people'.

Her daring explanation of that painting had brought pain to their hearts. Indeed, the young miss and her mother were just like those two lonely pine trees... They had survived through so much torment and terrible tragedies.

There was no one that knew that better than Xiao Zhu. She had been too young when Lu Jiayi married into the Left Prime Minister's household so she wasn't completely aware of the events that had occurred back then; however, she was already 5 years old when the young miss was born.

On her mother's deathbed, she had told Xiao Zhu about Lu Jiayi's truly pitiful story and made Xiao Zhu promise to take care of Yingyue with her life... From that moment on, Xiao Zhu remembered every little thing... Every grievance that the Gentle Breeze courtyard had suffered.

It was only a shame that she had no power to retaliate... She could only help her young miss stand up when she was pushed down... put medicine on her wounds when she was whipped... and pat her back gently when she cried in pain...

She could only hope that one day when the young miss was older, she could finally protect herself.

Inside the room, Lu Jiayi looked into her daughter's delicate brown eyes that were staring at the ground as if trying to avoid her. "Yue'er... look at mother... You know you can tell mother anything, right? What happened today... You painted? But didn't I teach you calligraphy...?"

Lu Jiayi didn't want to scare her by asking too many questions, so she just held her hands and waited for a response.

"Yingyue... Yingyue tried practising what you taught me before about painting... I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, mother. I just wanted you to be proud of me..."

Seeing her daughter's slightly teary eyes, she felt her heart throb. Although she knew that such a painting would be incredibly difficult, there was no other way to explain it, so Lu Jiayi accepted that her daughter must have simply put in a lot of her effort to practice.

The two standing outside the door were completely puzzled... 'She tried practising??'

But they definitely followed her everywhere she went! When did she have the time to practice painting?? Just like Lu Jiayi, they scratched their heads but couldn't question it any further. Moreover, it would be harder to believe that she had just woken up one day and painted it without any practice.

"Mother, can I sleep for a little bit...?" The extremely adorable voice showed signs of slight drowsiness.

Lu Jiayi patted her daughter's head tenderly. "Eat a little first, alright? Then you can go to bed... Nanny Mu, please make Yue'er some seaweed soup for now."

When the lady was being so gentle, Yingyue couldn't help but to do as she said.

Although this 'place' had allowed her to see a fun show today, Yingyue was simply hoping that she could fall asleep soon and wake up in her real life. Lord knew how many patients were waiting in line for surgery today... and most of all, she realised that she missed her parents...

The seaweed soup had eased the pain in her backside, and Yingyue could now lie down comfortably in bed. As she closed her eyes, she recollected her thoughts... She knew that this place couldn't possibly be real, but she couldn't help but to have some attachment for the people here... She wondered whether this gentle lady would suffer again after Yingyue went back to her real life... Unfortunately, there was nothing that she could do for them...

And just like that, Yingyue drifted off into a deep sleep...