The heavy rain hit the green tiles of the General's Mansion with a crackling sound, as if the whole world was crying.
The night was so dark that it could not be cleared away. Only a lone lamp in the backyard swayed in the wind and rain, reflecting two wet marks dragged in front of the ancestral hall door.
Su Liyue was held up by two strong women, her bare feet on the cold stone steps, her soles covered with muddy water and broken leaves.
Her bun was messy and her plain white clothes clung to her body, like a discarded paper doll.
But those eyes - lowered, but as clear as the deep water of a cold pool, quietly passed over the stepmother Liu who was standing on the porch.
"You have to choose the most unclean person for happiness." Ms. Liu held an oil-paper umbrella and her voice was as light as the wind blowing ashes. "She is both a concubine and an idiot, so she is the most suitable."
