In the autumn of the twenty-third year of Dahong, at the Yong'an Marquis Estate.
Dusk had settled, and lanterns were already lit early within the estate.
Zhao Nuan held the marquis's young master, Zhou Ningyu, who had just turned six months old, standing under the corridor of the west wing, humming a lullaby to coax him to sleep.
"Elder Sister Nuan, the Madam requests your presence," a young maid hurried over, her voice kept very low. "The Madam doesn't look well, please be careful."
Zhao Nuan's heart sank. Gently patting the child sleeping soundly in her arms, she whispered, "I'll go right away."
Golden ginkgo leaves drifted down with the wind, covering the ground like scattered flakes of gold foil.
Zhao Nuan had crossed over into this fictional ancient era six years ago. The original host had just given birth when a flood struck.
And in her previous life, she had coincidentally been a volunteer who died in flood relief efforts.
After crossing over, relying on the original host's memories and having witnessed corpses strewn across the land and people exchanging children to eat, she sold herself into the Wu'an Marquis Estate as a menial maid to survive, bringing her infant daughter who was not yet a month old.
As Zhao Nuan approached the Madam's courtyard, she heard the sound of muffled coughing from afar.
Ever since the Marquis died on the battlefield last year, the Madam's health had declined day by day. Although the estate now had the Eldest Young Master to inherit the title, its prestige was far from what it once was.
"Madam, you asked for me?" Zhao Nuan, holding the child, gave a slight curtsy.
The Marchioness lay on her daybed, her complexion sallow.
Seeing Zhao Nuan enter, she struggled to prop herself up. "Give the child to the wet nurse to hold. Sit down, I have something to discuss with you."
Zhao Nuan complied, handing the child to a wet nurse nearby, a sense of unease growing within her.
"You've been in the estate for about five years now, haven't you?" The Marchioness gestured for the maids to withdraw before speaking slowly.
"Reporting to the Madam, it has been five years and ten months," Zhao Nuan replied softly.
"I remember you came to the estate seeking a way to survive, having fled disaster in your hometown with your newborn daughter," the Marchioness said, her gaze distant.
Zhao Nuan's heart tightened. "Thanks to your kindness, Madam, Yan'er has been raised in the servants' quarters. She is six years old now."
The Marchioness nodded, fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a long sigh. "The Marquis Estate... I fear great changes are coming."
Zhao Nuan dared not respond, only listening quietly.
"The court situation is unstable. Someone has accused our estate of having ties to the rebel army," the Marchioness lowered her voice, a tremor in it. "The Eldest Young Master is already making arrangements, urging us to prepare early. The estate... I'm afraid it cannot be preserved."
Zhao Nuan's hand trembled, nearly dropping the teacup.
"Don't be afraid," the Marchioness said, taking a cloth bundle from under her pillow. "Here is your deed of indenture and some silver. Take it and leave the estate first thing tomorrow morning."
Zhao Nuan was stunned. "Madam, this is..."
"The estate faces calamity; we cannot implicate you further," the Marchioness said, tears welling in her eyes. "You are steady and reliable. You have taken good care of the Eldest Young Miss all these years. Even this little one is attached to you, though he doesn't nurse from you. I... I have a request to ask of you."
"Please speak, Madam."
"Take the young master with you," the Marchioness looked toward her grandson in the wet nurse's arms, her voice choked. "He is still so small, he cannot suffer this disaster with us. Take him away from the capital, find a remote place to hide. Do not let anyone know he is of the Marquis's bloodline."
Zhao Nuan stared at the Marchioness in shock, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
"I know this request is a heavy burden," the Marchioness grasped her hand tightly. "But there are few in the estate I can truly trust. You have a kind heart and act with discretion. If you refuse... I truly don't know who else to entrust him to."
Looking at the Madam's haggard face and remembering her kindness over the past five years, Zhao Nuan felt a pang in her heart. "You honor me too much, Madam. But... why not let the young master go with the wet nurse from the Eldest Young Mistress's side..."
"The Eldest Young Mistress's maternal family is also implicated; they can hardly protect themselves," the Marchioness shook her head. "You entered the estate as a menial maid, and that status hasn't changed all these years. You taking him away would be less conspicuous than entrusting him to another wet nurse."
Zhao Nuan remained silent for a long time, still not nodding.
The Marchioness leaned forward, grasping both her hands. "Consider it... me calling in a debt of gratitude."
"Madam... I promise you, I will protect the young master's safety."
The Marchioness sighed in relief, then slipped a jade bracelet from her wrist. "This bracelet I brought from my maiden home; it bears no mark of the Marquis Estate. Take it, exchange it for silver in times of crisis. Remember, after you leave, change Yu'er's name. Never return to the capital."
"The child... you will be his only mother from now on!"
Zhao Nuan's hands trembled as she accepted it. Finally, she asked her greatest concern. "May I ask, Madam, what about the Eldest Young Miss? She..."
The Marchioness turned her head away, tears streaming down. "A few days ago, Chunlian's child caught a chill and passed away this morning."
Zhao Nuan looked up sharply. Chunlian's child was a boy, frail since birth.
The Madam's meaning was to use Chunlian's child as a substitute for the young master, but there was no one... to replace the Eldest Young Miss.
That night, Zhao Nuan returned to her room, holding her chubby daughter, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
When she had crossed over back then, the afterbirth was still attached.
Her husband and his family were gone. She could only tear the umbilical cord with her bare hands and flee her flood-submerged home.
Driven by the will to survive, she followed a refugee crowd, walking three hundred li to the capital, dragging her last breath to sell herself into the Marquis Estate.
The day after entering the estate, she fell ill with a high fever and could not get up.
In the end, she received the Marchioness's pity. Not only did she get a physician, but she was also allowed to recuperate for a full month before working as a menial maid in the estate with her daughter.
In her third month at the estate, the Eldest Young Mistress, Lin Jingshu, lost her milk due to a bout of wind-chill.
The estate found over a dozen wet nurses, but the Eldest Young Miss, Zhou Ning'an, refused to nurse from any, clinging only to her mother's clothes and crying.
Just as the little one was starving, reduced to weak whimpers, Zhao Nuan happened to enter the courtyard while collecting night soil. The young miss smelled the milk on her and began to wail loudly.
Thus, she became the wet nurse for the Marquis Estate's Eldest Young Miss, provided with good food and drink daily, and allowed to feed her own daughter with the milk the young miss didn't finish.
And because she frequently entered and left the main courtyards, the young master born to the Eldest Young Mistress at the beginning of the year had also grown particularly attached to her.
The masters of the estate were all gentle, which had allowed her to live peacefully in the estate all these years, never thinking to use her pre-transmigration knowledge to achieve some grand undertaking.
Thinking of this, Zhao Nuan opened the bundle the Madam had given her. Inside, besides her own deed, were three hundred taels in banknotes and some loose silver, along with a sealed letter.
She carefully put away the jade bracelet and the silver, then got up to pack her belongings, waiting only for dawn to leave the estate.
However, before daybreak, the estate was startled awake by a series of urgent knocks on the gate.
"Open up! By imperial decree, we are here to search and seal the estate!"
Zhao Nuan woke from her sleep, hearing the chaos outside. Knowing something was terribly wrong, she quickly woke her daughter.
"Yan'er, get up quickly. Do you remember what Mother told you last night?"
"Mother, your daughter remembers."
Mother and daughter dressed, shouldered the already-packed bundles, and were about to go fetch the young master when their door was suddenly pushed open.
"Go quickly!" It was Chunmei, the personal maid of the Eldest Young Mistress, her face deathly pale. "The front gate is already surrounded by soldiers. I'll take you out through the back!"
"What about the young master?" Zhao Nuan asked urgently.
Chunmei stepped aside, revealing the Eldest Young Mistress, Lin Jingshu, standing behind her, wearing only her inner garments.
Lin Jingshu held her daughter Zhou Ning'an by the hand while cradling her son Zhou Ningyu, forcing a strained smile. "Zhao Nuan! I was just wondering why this child isn't attached to me or the wet nurse. It seems he has a bond with you."
After speaking, she planted a kiss on her son's forehead and handed him to Zhao Nuan along with a handkerchief. "The family's property is about to be confiscated, so I dare not give you too much silver. The two hundred taels in banknotes inside this handkerchief weren't recorded in the household accounts. Keep them safe."
Zhao Nuan took the child. The little one, stirred by the commotion, was just about to start crying.
Zhao Nuan quickly began to rock him gently, whispering, "Hush now, don't cry. Mother is here."
Hearing the familiar voice, the young master indeed quieted down, only opening his pair of large, dark eyes to gaze at her.
Hearing her words, Lin Jingshu felt as if her heart were being pierced by a knife.
"Zhao Nuan... take your daughter and... your son, and don't look back!"
As the two women said their goodbyes, Zhao Nuan's daughter, Zhao Yan, and the young mistress Zhou Ning'an were exchanging hair ornaments from their own heads.
The petite Zhou Ning'an solemnly held Zhao Yan's hand. "Yan'er, thank you."
Just as they were all weeping, they saw flames leaping skyward from the direction of the main compound, accompanied by a clamor of voices.
Lin Jingshu pushed her toward the back gate. "Never come back!"
