Early the next morning, no one noticed anything amiss with the separate dinners Zhulan had arranged for each house in their own courtyards the previous evening.
As the main courtyard doors opened early today, Zhulan was met by her eldest and second brother, both of whom looked unrested, "Eldest brother, did you not sleep last night?"
Yang Zhumu's physique was strong, and with age, lying convincingly wasn't his forte, so he openly admitted, "Hmm, I kept dreaming last night and didn't continue to sleep after the latter half."
Zhulan turned to her second brother, who sipped his tea to clear his mind, "It was much the same for me."
The most grinding were the dreams, various nightmares that left one feeling exceptionally weary in heart.
Zhulan didn't ask what sort of dreams her brothers had; she could guess. If it wasn't the Zhou family facing calamity and ruin, then it was something happening to Chang Lian, that would see her, grey-haired, mourning the death of one younger."