Lan Xu's home was very close to Universal Blessing Temple, just half a street away, about a 7-8 minute walk.
It was a secluded little courtyard, located in the deepest part of that neighborhood, far from the surrounding neighbors, as if it had been independently partitioned off.
Lan Xu walked up to the locked wooden door, took out her key to open it, and entered first, smiling as she welcomed Jiang Ning: "The house is rather modest, I hope Miss Jiang Ning won't mind."
Jiang Ning glanced around. Directly opposite the main gate were several rooms, which appeared to be the kitchen, bedroom, living room, and toilet, with probably another room for storage. Though small, it seemed complete and quite exquisite.
The ground of the small courtyard was paved with green bricks. On one side, several large winnowing baskets were supported by bamboo frames, drying something. Jiang Ning caught the sweet, cloying scent of osmanthus in the air and knew that it must be osmanthus flowers being dried.
She was only a bit curious as to why there were still osmanthus flowers at this time of year.
On the other side of the courtyard, only half of the area was paved with bricks. Near the wall, the ground was still bare earth, carefully turned over and planted with vegetation.
Jiang Ning took a casual glance and only recognized green onions and lettuce, along with some thin, white little flowers she couldn't quite make out.
Lan Xu led Jiang Ning to the kitchen door, reached out to take the steamer from her arms, and brought it inside to set it down, saying at the same time: "Miss Jiang, please go sit in the living room for a moment. I'll pour you a cup of water. If you don't mind, we can have lunch here later."
Jiang Ning obediently walked to the so-called living room and sat down.
This living room seemed to have never been used for guests. There was only one stool by the table, which still had a pile of oiled paper and a pair of scissors on it.
Lan Xu came out with a cup of water at this moment: "Here, have some water."
After placing the cup near Jiang Ning's hand, Lan Xu cleared the items from the table, put them on a small side table, then went to the corner to fetch another stool and sat down beside Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning slowly drank the water cup by cup until it was finished, let out a long breath, and looking at Lan Xu whose eyes held a questioning gaze, chose the most direct approach.
"I came from the Capital City specifically to find you. I have another name, called Nangong Ling!"
The smile on Lan Xu's face instantly froze, her eyes trembling violently, her lips beginning to quiver.
Jiang Ning smiled and reached out to hold Lan Xu's shaking hand, firmly telling her: "I am your daughter, Nangong Ling."
Large teardrops rolled one by one from Lan Xu's eyes, as if they cost nothing. She was no longer just shaking her hand, but her whole body was trembling slightly. Several times she opened her mouth, but couldn't utter even a single complete word.
But Jiang Ning could still make out from her lip movements that Lan Xu was calling "Ling'er".
A hand shakily raised, reaching towards Jiang Ning's face, moving extremely slowly, as if carefully probing.
Jiang Ning smiled and leaned her face forward a bit, allowing that calloused, somewhat rough hand to rest on her face.
"Ling'er..."
Those two syllables were finally voiced. Lan Xu's tears fell like rain as she stood up and pulled Jiang Ning into her embrace.
"It's my Ling'er, my Ling'er... You've grown so big, I'm so useless, I didn't recognize you at all..."
Jiang Ning leaned into Lan Xu's embrace, her arms around her waist, a smile on her lips.
This mother truly loved her.
It took Lan Xu a long time to barely compose herself. She sat back down on the stool, tightly holding Jiang Ning's hand, carefully examining this daughter she had been separated from for seventeen years. As she looked, tears involuntarily fell again.
"Mother, why don't we eat first? We can talk properly after we've eaten."
Jiang Ning raised her sleeve to wipe Lan Xu's tears, but they couldn't be dried, which is why she made this suggestion. At least to divert her attention for a while.
Lan Xu nodded repeatedly, choking out a response: "Ling'er, what do you want to eat? Mother will make it for you."
When she had parted from her daughter years ago, her Ling'er was only five months old, not yet weaned. She had never had the chance to cook a meal for Ling'er in her life.
"Anything is fine, I'm not picky about food," Jiang Ning replied.
"How can that be?" Lan Xu wiped her face, walked to the living room door without further ado, took a large basket and hung it on her arm, then turned back to Jiang Ning with eyes full of love: "You sit at home, I'll go buy some groceries. I'll be back very soon, very soon..."
Before Jiang Ning could say anything, Lan Xu had hurriedly pushed open the main door and left.
When Lan Xu returned, the basket on her arm was packed full. She entered the door, called out to Jiang Ning "Ling'er, sit for a while longer, I'm going to cook," and then plunged into the kitchen.
Jiang Ning wanted to go in and help, but was pushed out: "You sit, just sit. I just want to cook a meal for you with my own hands."
Jiang Ning sighed inwardly and obediently went back to sit, but seeing Lan Xu's posture as if she was about to prepare a grand feast, she couldn't help but advise, "Don't make too much, we can't finish it all."
Lan Xu responded with "Alright, alright," but continued until she had prepared six dishes and a soup. Only when Jiang Ning entered the kitchen and firmly stopped her did she reluctantly cease.
A small table was set full, definitely too much for two people to finish, but Jiang Ning tasted every dish and praised each one. Throughout the meal, Lan Xu's eyes reddened several more times.
After the meal, Jiang Ning volunteered to wash the dishes, but was predictably chased out by Lan Xu again.
Once everything was tidied up, mother and daughter could finally have a calm conversation.
"Ling'er, when Scholar Liu chatted with me earlier, he mentioned that you all came from Lingshan Town. How did you end up there?"
Lan Xu asked worriedly. This question had been on her mind for a while. Nangong Ling was the daughter of the Prime Minister, how could she have ended up in Lingshan Town?
Thinking it over, Lan Xu's heart arrived at one possibility: that the Prime Minister's Mansion hadn't raised her, but had given her to someone else to raise.
Lan Xu's eyes reddened again. Jiang Ning didn't know what she was speculating, but telling the truth would likely cause her to cry again.
After much consideration, Jiang Ning said: "Mother, don't worry about these things. The important thing is that we've found each other now. I don't want to be the third young lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion anymore. From now on, it's just us mother and daughter, and that's enough."
Hearing this, Lan Xu's eyes filled with tears again: "Ling'er, is it... is it that they weren't good to you?"
"I can't say they were good, nor can I say they weren't. It's just that I was an outsider in that Prime Minister's Mansion. Having you and Liu Ming'an is enough for me," Jiang Ning said sincerely.
Lan Xu nodded tearfully, her eyes full of self-reproach: "It's my fault, all my fault for being useless. Back then, I could only send you back. You must have suffered so much all these years..."
"Mother, it's not your fault. I don't blame you," Jiang Ning said with a sigh. "You were never wrong. You were innocent."
Lan Xu's tears suddenly gushed forth.