One Lifetime Is Never Enough

1.15 Blood Lunar (1)

For YuLan, time had been passing swiftly ever since she started her new life. It had been roughly four months since she retained her first consciousness in her current body. Although sometimes she was still saddened with her lost life as Mia Simmons, and she could not help to worry about the loved ones she left behind, her current life was thankfully busy enough that she could not mull over her past for too long.

Today was the last day of the year. She had not seen Ji LanBai, Ji SongLi, the two Madames, and General Ji since the morning after breakfast. The masters had sent the servants away after they prepared meal provisions for the day and the night. They secluded themselves inside the main building, while the servants did whatever they need to do for their own preparations towards the New Year's Eve.

During the previous days leading towards the end of the year, YuLan noticed the hustle and bustle in the estate. Everyone seemed to be busy doing things she was not very familiar about. A lot of incenses had been prepared inside the many different rooms in the estate. For the courtyards, red round lanterns were hung on the higher trees, rows after rows of them swaying eerily at nights. Everything had been set up in relative silence. For New Year's Eve's festivities' preparation, the atmosphere seemed quite somber.

But today topped it all. The estate was so quiet; even the majority of the servants had retreated to their chambers, leaving only a few scattered people could be seen in the estate. YuLan asked Meng-momo earlier, but the old woman just gave her a small smile,

"Tonight is quite special. Just make sure you do not go outside the room after it gets dark before midnight."

Meng-momo did not even stay in the main building to attend to the first Madam. After making sure Wu JianRui had all the necessary medication and supply for her to be self-sufficient for the day and night, she retreated to her own personal chamber. Meng-momo's room was separate from the other servants and maids, it was a privilege for her granted by Wu JianRui.

YuLan could not stay in her bedroom as it was located in the main building which was off-limits for today only, except for the Masters. Everyone was requested to stay awake until midnight passed, thus she could go back to her bedroom later. Therefore, she had been very idle and decided to visit the maids' quarters, where Xiao Hui, Xiao Lin, Xiao Han, Xiao Su, and Xiao He resided. In the estate, the five girls had been accommodated in a decently-sized communal room. YuLan and those girls finally had time to bond together, talking about anything and everything.

YuLan was quite amused that her little friends were very much in fascination towards the two generals' sons and the thee princes. Xiao Hui, being the loyal little maid towards her employers, put Ji SongLi at the top of the list. She was into the elegant gentlemanly type who carried just the right touch of aloofness. In her opinion, Young Master Ji ticked all the boxes.

The other girls were evenly split towards the other four boys. Xiao Su blushed red when she recalled Zhen BuFeng's sweaty figure as he swung his bamboo spear during morning practices in the courtyard. Xiao He was envious to her own Young Miss due to Third Prince Zhang GuoFu's seemingly loving and respectful attitude towards his fiancee. Xiao Lin thought very highly of the Crown Prince Zhang KongJing and his friendly demeanor. Xiao Han loved the somewhat-detached Second Prince Zhang JunLi.

Listening to the five's arguments on who was best, YuLan just blinked her eyes in amusement. They were all seven to nine years old only.

"Do females in this era hit puberty early?" She mused in her mind, "I think I only had my first crush in high school... ." Then, she was reminded of Ji LanBai, who was more interested in cakes than boys, and YuLan was immediately comforted.

Then Xiao Hui suddenly turn her attention to YuLan,

"Xiao Hua, what about the Third Prince?" She grinned teasingly. Xiao Hui still called YuLan 'Xiao Hua' whenever the Young Miss was not around. "He was the one carrying you when you got hurt back at the street festival."