Family Reunion

Lei Mingxing stood motionlessly looking at the barely standing building in front of her.

During her almost four months of absence, her courtyard had pretty much fallen into a state of disrepair without any of her occasional care and fixing. But for the Lei Mingxing who hadn't seen her childhood home in over ten years, even this shabby and pitiful sight was enough to cause her heart to ache with a sudden sense of familiarity.

Forcing down her sentimental feelings to prevent revealing any signs of weakness to the guards that stood just 2 meters away at the courtyard's entrance, Lei Mingxing began to move. Breathing in the familiar musty grass and rotting wood smell that stood in stark contrast to the constant flowery scent everywhere else in the palace, accurately stepping on the few grass-covered stone slabs that served as the path to the estate despite not being able to see them, ascending the decaying wooden steps to the half-broken down door, before directly picking up the door and lifting it aside so there was just enough room for Lei Mingxing to slip into the building before returning the door back to it's original position.

The inside of the estate was almost as bad as the outside, with several holes strewn about on the floor, moss, possibly mold, growing on several corners and even a few ambitious plants and mushrooms starting to bud between the wooden tiles, not to mention the spider webs hanging around everywhere and other animal residues on the floor.

Despite the tragic scene in front of her, an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia welled up in her heart, even drowning out her previous sorrow and hopelessness to some extent. 

Every hole in the ground caused a memory of her past self running through the estate to pop up inside her mind.

She still remembered spending most of her days hurrying around to clumsily tend the garden and repair the few things a 6-year-old could fix, only for her to accidentally put down her foot with too much force and create another hole she would have to repair but didn't possess the materials for.

This cycle continued until she turned 13 and finally mastered the 'Art of Walking like a True Princess' as the manners teacher had called it, allowing her to dread even lighter and smoother to avoid any more damage. However, it wouldn't change the fact that there were already several holes and the ground would only keep on rotting regardless. 

Still, it made life easier for Lei Mingxing.

Even now, Lei Mingxing skillfully moved through the estate's rooms and corridors, curiously examining all her past life's favorite spots, until she ultimately stood in front of the final room still left in the estate.

Taking a deep breath, Lei Mingxing gently pushed the sliding door in front of her aside. It was by far the most intact compared to the other doors around the building, matching the space right behind, proving just how little this room had been used throughout the years.

Stepping inside the one room in the entire estate that had not a single hole, Lei Mingxing slowly raised her gaze. Stopping in her tracks.

"Hello, Mother."

Lei Mingxing's voice trembled with emotion, despite her face barely revealing any change.

The opposite woman's gaze, however, remained undisturbed in the face of Lei Mingxing's sudden and unexpected return. There was not even the slightest bit of surprise to be found in her elegantly smiling expression that looked so much like Lei Mingxing.

But how could there?

After all, facing Lei Mingxing was just a discolored painting, that lost a bit of its vibrant color with each passing day.

Still, Lei Mingxing could feel the motherly gentleness emanating from the painting and it instantly gave her a sense of comfort.

Facing her mother, the only adult who had given her unconditional love in her previous life, a child-like vulnerability appeared in Lei Mingxing's eyes and she started inching ever so closer to the painting, her arm stretched out as if to touch her mother's cheek. But then, Lei Mingxing's movements stopped, her fingers hovering only centimeters away from touching the smooth surface of the silk canvas.

She stood there, with her arm stretched out for several minutes, the urge to just cross those last few centimeters to shorten the distance between her and her mother a little bit more, almost too strong.

In the end, she withdrew her hand.

It was not worth it. Her mother was already long dead, touching her painting wouldn't change that, instead, it would only serve to accelerate the corrosion of the only depiction she had of her mother, the already frayed and spotty bottom half of the painting was evidence of that.

She continued staring for a few seconds more before starting to rip out any plants that were making their way inside the room, as well as brushing the animal droppings outside with her foot, regretting the loss of her cultivation base once more. Else she would have been able to clean the room much more thoroughly and efficiently.

Now she could only carefully examine all the nicks and crannies for holes that the rats, mice or whatever else animals could have used to get inside and block them, even looking under the last few pieces of broken down furniture that still remained in the room.

Her pale yellow dress was quickly covered in a thick layer of dust, her face and her hair also weren't spared, but at least she found all the possible spots, marking them in her mind. Now that she was back, she couldn't let the estate and her mother's room deteriorate any further, who knew when the next opportunity to escape would arise?

After successfully running away almost two months ago, her family would probably keep a close watch over her. A princess disappearing once was humiliating enough, no matter how unimportant Lei Mingxing was, escaping a second time would make her family the laughingstock of the entire upper circle in Ren Continent.

And for the dying Lei Royal Family nothing was as important as the little prestige and pride they still had...

"Come out, half-blood! We know you are here!"

A sudden shout caused Lei Mingxing to freeze in her efforts to spy into one of the mouseholes and see if there were any dead animals inside which caused a putrid smell of death to waft inside the room.

But it only took her a moment to realize which one of her siblings the shout originated from, causing her to sigh exasperatedly. Rising from the ground, Lei Mingxing roughly brushed away the dirt on her body before carefully exiting her mother's room.

Outside, she quickly made her way to the main entrance.