Chapter 30: In the Rain

  He Huan was shocked by the news of his son's serious illness, as if he had been struck by five thunders, and he was stunned. His brain buzzed and his eyes went black.

  "I'm going to the Shen's home!"

  He Huan's voice was hoarse, her whole heart felt like it had been emptied, and before she even finished speaking, she strode out of the courtyard. But she only took two steps before feeling her legs go weak, and she could barely stand upright by leaning against the corridor pillar.

  "Miss, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me." Bai Mou's eyes turned red as she hastily reached out to support He Huan.

  At this moment, He Huan couldn't hear Bai Mian's call at all. She only felt cold hands and feet, and there was only one thought left in her mind - her son must not die. She was trying to get back to his side, she wanted to grow up with him.

  Bai Mian's eyes saw her master looking like she had lost her soul, her eyes were dull, her lips were pale, and in the midst of panic, she could only pull out her voice to loudly shout: "Miss, what's wrong with you? Someone come quickly..."

  Zhang Bo was a man and he was already old, so he didn't dare to come forward. He stood at the side and asked distractedly: "Miss, have you been possessed by an evil spirit? Do you need to call for a doctor?"

  "What's wrong? What happened?"

  Cao and Tao arrived at the gate of Xikuan Hall one after another. Bai Shu could no longer hold back her tears, crying: "I don't know either, I just told Miss that Young Master Shen is ill, and then Miss became like this."

  He Huan was finally awakened by the words "Shen family young master", and his eyes slowly regained focus. Cao Shi took a step forward, wanting to support He Huan back to the west wing, instructing: "Send her back to her room first."

  Tao hastily chimed in from the side.

  Suddenly, He Huan didn't know where the strength came from, and she pushed Cao Shi and Bai Zhi away with one hand. She muttered to herself, "I want to go to the Shen family." She took a few steps back, creating some distance between herself and the others, and used her trembling hands to tidy up her long hair. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I'm going to the Shen family now."

  Tao's lips were pursed and she didn't speak, secretly furrowing her brow. Cao said disapprovingly: "Even if you want to curry favor with Shen Jinglun, you should consider the time. It's already curfew now. Moreover, it's midnight, do you think you can walk to the Shen's house?"

  He Huan didn't listen to these words and turned around to leave. Cao Shi took two steps forward, blocking her way, and advised, "Young lady, it's not too late if you go tomorrow morning. Shen Jinglun is still at Qing Song Guan now, and he won't be back until tomorrow morning at the earliest."

  "Get out of the way!" He Huan ordered.

  Cao's expression shocked her, and she involuntarily took a step back.

  Her gaze swept over the Cao family and landed on Tao's face. After a moment of silence, she said word by word: "I am Lin Xiyuan, not He Huan..."

  "Huan'er, have you gone mad!" Madam Tao's eyebrows furrowed even tighter as she reached out to grab Huan.

  He Huan shook off Tao's hand and pushed Cao aside, turning to run out. Tao was caught off guard and fell to the ground with a thud. Cao stumbled and bent down to help Tao up. When they looked up towards the main gate, they saw Bai Jing running out of the second gate, but there was no sign of He Huan anywhere.

  "Could she have really gone mad?" Mrs. Tao thought anxiously in her heart.

  "Could it be that he has been possessed by an evil spirit?" As Cao spoke, she caught sight of a small figure running along the corridor towards the main gate. "Jing'er, where are you going?" She chased after him.

  He Jing ran while saying: "I'm going to find my sister, I'm the only man in the family!"

  "Halt!" shouted Mrs. Cao, "It's late at night, what if you encounter danger outside?"

  As soon as he heard this, He Jing ran even faster and didn't look back. But after all, he was just a child, and as soon as he ran out of the He family gate, he was caught by Cao Shi. Seeing He Jing's eyes brimming with tears, Cao Shi compromised and handed him over to Tao Shi before going to chase after He Huan.

  He Huan didn't know how long she had been running, her mind only had one thought: to go to the Shen's house to see her son. The night wind whizzed past her ears, but she didn't notice it at all. Bai Miao chased after her footsteps, constantly calling out: "Miss, please wait for me." He Huan ignored her.

  At this moment, whether it was Shen Jinglun or not was no longer important to He Huan. It wasn't until now that she realized she was first and foremost Shen Nianxi's mother, and only then Shen Jinglun's wife. For the first time, she discovered that in her heart, that small life who had only seen her once was more important than anything else. She clearly remembered every movement of his fetus. In the past, she used to talk to him every day. She had long been connected with him spiritually, which is why she had been restless all day.

  He Juan ran and ran, tears slowly streaming down her face. She wiped away the tears with her hand and continued to run forward. Even though she was exhausted, even though the dark streets in front of her were spinning, she didn't slow down her pace.

  In a daze, she suddenly remembered ten years ago, on a cold winter night, she and her mother were eagerly waiting for her father to return home to spend the New Year with them. Instead of his arrival, they received devastating news. The messenger said that the Lin He family's fleet was ambushed by pirates, and her father was shot in the chest by an arrow and fell into the vast ocean.

  When she heard the news, her mother fainted on the spot, and her younger brother, who was only a few months old, wailed loudly in his crib. That night, she ran non-stop, panting non-stop. At that time, there was only one thought in her mind: she couldn't let her innocent brother die at the hands of her second uncle's family. She had to protect her family!

  "Oh heavens, why are you treating me like this!" He Huan lifted her head and loudly protested to the night sky, "What have I done wrong, that you would treat me like this?"

  "Boom!" A muffled thunder shook the sky. The starry night sky had unknowingly become overcast with dark clouds. As He Huan gasped for air, a flash of lightning split the night sky, followed by another muffled thunder, and fist-sized raindrops pattered against her face with a loud "patter-patter".

  He Huan clenched her fists and took a deep breath. She couldn't fall, she had to see her son, and he would never abandon her. She wiped the water droplets from her face, not even knowing if they were tears or rainwater. Facing the lightning, she vowed: "You scoundrel heaven, unless you take my life, I won't admit defeat!"

  "Boom!" was her answer, a dull thunderclap.

  Not far away, Bai Miao ran until she was out of breath. Seeing her master stop in his tracks, she dared to rest slightly, propping her hands on her knees and panting heavily. She heard her master's voice, wanting to hurry up to him, but the lightning that split the night sky startled her into a cold tremble.

  "Where is he?" Cao hurried up to the white peony, gazing out into the dark street. The rain had already soaked her hair and drenched her clothes.

  White peony pointed with her finger in the dark night, trembling and saying: "Miss is over there, Miss, wait for me." She wanted to catch up, but suddenly slipped underfoot and fell to the ground.

  "Useless thing." Cao cursed and lowered her head, saying: "I'll go catch up to her, you quickly go back and tell Jing Er not to worry, absolutely do not run around randomly. Also, help us prepare some clean clothes." As she spoke, she had already run out over ten meters.

  The heavy rain blocked He Huan's line of sight and hindered her footsteps, but she still ran with all her might towards the Shen family's direction.

  "Halt!" Cao shouted from behind He Huan, "Even if you want to pretend to be pitiful and gain sympathy, Shen Jinglun must see it!"

  He Yuan ran forward along the path.

  "Stop right there." Cao was furious. Seeing He Huan still ignoring her, she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and quickly ran a few steps to grab He Huan's shoulder. "Come back with me!" She dragged her back.

  He Huan was already exhausted and couldn't shake off Cao Shi's hand. She lifted her leg and kicked it at Cao Shi's calf. Cao Shi felt pain and instinctively pushed her hard, causing He Huan to crash into the wall with a "thud". Cao Shi yelled at her: "What's wrong with you!"

  He Huan didn't say a word and just stood up and continued running forward. Cao Shi was furious and once again went forward to grab He Huan's shoulder.

  "Let me go! I am Lin Xiyuan, I want to see my son!"

  "Are you done yet!" Cao stretched out her hand to wipe the rain from her face, "You are He Huan, not Lin Xiyue, Shen Nianxi is dead, what does it have to do with you!"

  "Nian Xi didn't die, he didn't die!" He Huan's forehead pressed against Cao Shi's abdomen, using all her strength to charge forward, as if pushing down Cao Shi would make her son safe and sound.