chapter 2

I had never had much to do with my aunt.

Not counting today, I had seen her only twice.

The first time was the reunion banquet my parents held when they brought me home.

They did not reveal Song Ruoyun’s true identity. They only said I was the eldest daughter lost in childhood, and Song Ruoyun was the younger one.

On that day, Song Ruoyun ate a piece of pastry I offered her and immediately struggled to breathe.

Even in such distress, she defended me: “Sister didn’t mean it. Don’t blame her.”

My reunion banquet was ruined by her sudden illness and that single sentence.

Rumors began to spread that the daughter the Prime Minister’s household had reclaimed was not only vulgar in her manners but vicious in her heart.

While the younger daughter, raised in the household from birth, was generous and magnanimous, every inch a proper young lady.

That day, my mother said to me: “You didn’t know what your sister was allergic to, so it was an honest mistake. But when you do wrong, you must be punished, lest outsiders think the Prime Minister’s household has no discipline.”

I knelt in the ancestral hall for another night.

The second time was my coming-of-age ceremony.

By then I had grown wary. I deliberately avoided being alone with Song Ruoyun and sent her no food.

But when my mother was placing the hairpin in my hair, she began to cry.

She drew everyone’s eyes to her.

Between sobs, she explained: “I’m crying because I’m happy for Sister. From now on, she’ll have Father and Mother’s love and never live a hard life again. From now on, Ruoyun will have a sister to love her too.”

They all said the Second Miss Song was sentimental, that the sisters were devoted to each other.

They turned to look at me, expecting me to respond to Song Ruoyun’s heartfelt tears.

And all I felt was something stuck in my throat.

I was not punished that day, but I heard my mother sigh to the senior maidservant at her side.

She said: “Zhen’er wasn’t raised by our side from childhood. She’s dull and slow to react, can’t hold her own in company. Not as good as Ruoyun.”

I thought to myself that these two meetings must not have left a good impression on my aunt.

But she was very kind to me.

She had a courtyard prepared for me down to the last detail, and assigned me two maids to wait on me.

I still had parents; I was not an orphan. Living at my aunt’s house was improper, without the right to be there.

Yet not a single person in the household gossiped about me.

I did not want to eat and sleep there for free, so I returned to my old craft and brewed calming decoctions.

The person who had smuggled me out of the Prime Minister’s mansion had taken me out of the capital and left me at the door of a common household.

A widow took me in. She was a healer woman and taught me to distinguish medicinal herbs from a young age.

Our life together was not wealthy, but it was enough to keep us fed and warm, and she intended to pass on her craft to me.

Then one morning, people from the Prime Minister’s mansion knocked on the door.

They said I was the young miss the Prime Minister’s household had lost for years, and they gave Mama a large sum of money as compensation.

Mama could not bear to part with me, but she said I would have a better life back in the Prime Minister’s mansion.

Before we said goodbye, she took my hand and, with tears in her eyes, told me: “Zhenzhen, you’re a good child. People will like you wherever you go. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.”

After I was taken back to the Prime Minister’s mansion, I learned that being obedient did not earn you affection.

Not everyone was my Mama.