On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the sky cleared after the snow.
On the bluestone path of the Jingyuan General's Mansion, the accumulated snow had been swept into neat piles, their edges pressed into wavy patterns with bamboo strips. Jiang Wan stood before the vermilion gate, wearing a fox-fur coat gifted by Lu Jingyuan over her simple cotton dress, watching the approaching carriage. The gold-threaded qilin pattern on the carriage curtain shimmered in the sunlight. Unlike her cold and stern demeanor yesterday, Cousin-Aunt Wu had changed into a dark red fox-fur coat today, its white fur collar soft and fluffy, resembling a glowing cluster of charcoal embers.
"Good morning, Miss Jiang." Cousin-Aunt Wu stepped down from the carriage with the help of her maid. In her hand, she carried a gold-traced lacquer box covered with a gold-woven silk cloth. The edges of a scrap of brocade fluttered in the breeze—the very same piece Jiang Wan had gifted her the day before.
Chapter 119