The Slender Waist-Chapter 605 - 437 Mother’s Past

The study was warmed by an underground heating system.

Feng Yun asked with concern, "My lady, do you find it too warm?"

Lady Tu held a book on "Essential Techniques of Agriculture" in her left hand and "Summary of Refinement" in her right, her hands trembling with excitement.

"Are all these left behind by Ayun’s mother?"

Seeing her unusual reaction, Feng Yun nodded with puzzlement.

"Does my lady have any instructions for me?"

Lady Tu gazed at her with dusky eyes and suddenly put down the books, grasping Feng Yun’s hands excitedly,

"No wonder I felt a connection from our very first meeting, no wonder you felt so familiar..."

She murmured to herself, as though her words weren’t clear enough, then suddenly turned and went out, calling for her attendant maidservant.

"Tell the Castle Master to send someone back to Wubao quickly, to fetch the cherished notes from my study. Be quick!"

Notes?

What are they?

Feng Yun was utterly confused.

But she had an intuition that this was no ordinary matter, so she pursed her lips and watched, silent, until Lady Tu finished instructing the maidservant, then turned back from her excitement to grasp her hand again.

"Ayun, your mother, she may have been an old acquaintance of mine."

"An old acquaintance?"

Feng Yun did not understand.

Lady Tu said, "It’s too complicated to explain right now, but once they bring the notes, you’ll see for yourself. The handwriting on those notes is identical to your mother’s."

She had read those notes countless times, remembered them so well that she could recall them even with closed eyes; she was absolutely sure of it.

Hearing this, Feng Yun was profoundly shocked.

"If so, why didn’t my lady speak sooner? Did you not know that I am the daughter of Lu Sanniang?"

Lady Tu shook her head, her expression slightly reserved, with a fleeting look of melancholy.

"I didn’t know she was Lu Sanniang."

Feng Yun bit her lip and watched her quietly.

Lady Tu pulled her by the hand to sit by the window, then threw Feng Yun a meaningful glance.

Feng Yun sent the attendants away until only the two of them were left in the room before Lady Tu resumed speaking,

"I promised her that her affairs would remain absolutely confidential, hence I needed to be cautious..."

Feng Yun said, "It’s all right. Please speak, my lady, what exactly happened?"

Feng Yun was naturally curious about her mother’s past, her heart was in her throat, and her entire mood was already stirred, unable to bear Lady Tu’s hesitations.

Yet when it came to the past, Lady Tu behaved out of character, the normally forthright person becoming somewhat shy.

"Your mother and I knew each other from humble beginnings, she saved me..."

Feng Yun: "I would like to hear the details."

Lady Tu bit the corner of her lip, perhaps organizing her thoughts, paused for a long while, then said in a low voice,

"The day we met... I was in a desperate state, and your mother, though a stranger to me, risked her life to save me..."

She did not elaborate on the exact nature of her desperation.

But for a woman, things too difficult to speak of are better left unasked.

Feng Yun nodded in understanding.

Then she heard Lady Tu continue,

"That same day, I also met the old Tu, who took your mother and me up to Tu Family Fort. He even had a doctor treat my wounds within Wubao..."

Feng Yun had not known Lady Tu’s history before, and even in Cong Wentian’s stories, not a word was mentioned.

Of course, she had not gone out of her way to inquire either...

Who would have thought that she and the Tu Fort Master had such a connection, and moreover, one related to her own mother.

Faced with such unpredictable fate, beyond her reflection, she was even more eager to know every detail of her mother’s past, and couldn’t help but ask again.

"What about my mother? Was she injured?"

Lady Tu said, "Fortunately, old Tu arrived in time, and she was smart enough to bargain with the bandits, so she wasn’t injured at that time..."

Feng Yun furrowed her brows.

"Who were these bandits?"

Lady Tu lowered her eyes, "Times were turbulent and chaotic then, and I do not know who those people were... They all carried weapons, and old Tu, with only one guard and burdened with both of us, did not pursue them. And so, the matter was left unresolved..."

Lady Tu was being very vague about the matter.

To confirm, Feng Yun repeated the story,

"On the day you met, my lady, you were in trouble, my mother intervened to rescue you, negotiating with the bandits, and just when things were most perilous, the Tu Fort Master appeared, playing the hero to save the damsel in distress. Both you and my mother were taken up to Tu Mountain. The Fort Master... then the young Castle Master, took you in with warm hospitality, called for someone to treat my lady’s wounds, and from then on you developed a mutual affection, eventually getting married?"

"Ayun is clever, that’s exactly how it happened. That year, I was just thirteen, and old Tu was sixteen, the age of fiery blood. Otherwise, perhaps he wouldn’t have helped..."

Perhaps recalling the past, emotions surfaced, Lady Tu slightly curved her lips, showing a hint of sadness.