Chen Rong tossed and turned that night, and was unable to fall asleep. In this slumber, she first dreamed of being brought into an extravagant mansion by a horse-drawn carriage. In his bridegroom attire, Wang Hong was looking at her with tender affections. She didn’t know why, but when she saw his eyes, the hall full of guests, and the formality with which the ceremony was held, her tears could not stop from falling onto her pillow. By the time she awoke from the dream, her tears were still flowing and soon soaking through her quilt.
After more tossing and turning, Chen Rong again drifted off to sleep.
She saw Ran Min this time. She saw herself standing in the fire, and Ran Min in his bridegroom attire was madly running to her before carrying her out of the flames. At the time he looked down at her, she who was fast slipping away, he actually burst into tears; these tears fell onto her gradually closing eyes.
Both of these dreams, no matter which, kept her awake long after she roused from them.
It was yet dawn when Chen Rong sat up from bed. She slowly went to the window screen and absently gazed at the morning star in the eastern sky.
At this moment, the sky was so fresh and clear, as if it did not matter how troubled the world or how wretched the people.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Nurse Ping’s voice sounded outside: “Are you up, miss?”
Chen Rong hummed a reply.
The door opened with a creak and in came Nurse Ping with the washing items. She worriedly looked at Chen Rong, asking: “You woke up several times last night, yelling and screaming each time. Did you have nightmares, miss?”
Last time, when Chen Rong had gone through a series of nightmares, she remembered both her behaviors and personality had completely changed. For this reason, the worry in her voice was ill-concealed.
Chen Rong shook her head and, watching the sun rise over the rooftop, mumbled back: “It’s nothing.”