Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After the commotion, the stifling gloom in Liu Tai’s chest dissipated. He Yuan also prepared to take his leave.

Before departing, he said, “My mother is very fond of you and originally wanted to welcome you into our home sooner. However, she insists on making the wedding grand, and even after compressing the schedule as much as possible, it will still take roughly two months. The wedding will be in two months. Liu Tai, wait for me to come and fetch you.”

The setting sun was as red as blood. Liu Tai stared blankly at his retreating figure until he vanished from sight. After a long while, she patted her cheeks. It stung a little; it wasn’t a dream.

Yet, it still felt like one.

Concubine Yang had forgotten to send word, so Liu Rong had only received the news about the drowning. She rushed back in tears, only to find Liu Tai sitting there perfectly fine, with an additional piece of emerald in her hand.

Liu Rong pinched her earlobe. “It hurts. I suppose I’m not seeing a ghost.”

Chunxiao’s eyes were sharp. “Second Young Lady! The Second Young Lady is back!”

Liu Rong had only received the letter this morning and had nearly fainted. She first went to plead with the Heir’s Consort, but the Heir’s Consort was also a newlywed who had just entered the household and didn’t dare make the decision to let her return to her parental home.

In the end, Liu Rong had to bribe an old nanny serving the Princess Consort, using the pretext that her biological mother was ill before she finally found an opportunity to come out.

“Liu Tai!” Liu Rong was usually dignified and virtuous, but when truly provoked, her shrewish side was exactly like Concubine Yang’s.

Liu Tai shrank her neck, not daring to make a sound, looking like a frightened quail.

“Fine, fine, fine! I underestimated you! Since you’re so bold, why didn’t you just burn down the Ancestral Hall while you were at it?”

“Second Sister, I was wrong.”

“Wrong about what?”

“…”

“You’re just humoring me, aren’t you? Fine, be direct. Tell me what kind of joss paper you like so I can prepare plenty for you ahead of time!”

At this moment, Liu Tai was only grateful that Madame Zhou hadn’t gone so far as to disturb Liu Yi with news of her life or death.

After a bout of scolding, Liu Rong’s anger subsided, and she began to cross-examine Liu Tai about He Yuan.

“If your fate is hard enough for you to survive, this wouldn’t be a bad marriage.”

He Yuan was as handsome as Pan An and possessed a noble character; he had once been the top choice for marriage among the ladies of the capital.

If not for his resounding reputation for being fated to kill his wife, it never would have been Liu Tai’s turn to pick up such a bargain.

Liu Tai thought to herself that she was healthy and strong. The biggest hurdle had been her own father trying to drown her. Since she had survived that, her fate should be considered hard enough, right?

By the time the scabs on her back began to fall off, there was only a month left until the grand wedding.

The He Family sent over the wedding robes and the phoenix crown. This move was a blatant slap to Liu Chengshan’s face, signaling that they didn’t trust him to prepare anything good for his daughter.

It made Liu Chengshan so furious that he threw a tantrum in Madame Zhou’s courtyard.

Madame Zhou had always been one to stab people in the dark. She said in a soft, thin voice that she had long since stopped managing the household, and that as a father, Liu Chengshan should put a bit more heart into his children’s affairs.

Unable to save face, Liu Chengshan turned around and raided his mother’s private storehouse for fine items to add to Liu Tai’s dowry.

He claimed grandly that he couldn’t favor one daughter over the others among his three girls.

But a mother knows her son best. How could Old Madam Liu not understand Liu Chengshan?

“I advised you long ago to leave yourself a way out in your dealings. Sons and daughters are all karmic ties bestowed by Heaven. To insist on treating them like enemies-that is true stupidity!”

Liu Chengshan lowered his head. “Your son understands.”

“You understand? Hmph! If you understood, would you have driven the Third Young Lady to such desperation that she tried to hang herself? Would you have heartlessly punished her to kneel in the Ancestral Hall for three years? Not to mention this recent business, constantly resorting to violence. Even if you had to support her for a lifetime, so what? It’s not like other families don’t have daughters who choose to remain unwed. Is the Liu Clan really so short on a few bowls of rice?

“Either you make her remember your kindness, or you make sure she can’t live. Now, you’ve trampled on her, yet she has risen again like wild grass in the spring breeze, with a wide path ahead of her.”

The more Old Madam Liu spoke, the more tired she became. She waved him away. “Go on, get out of my sight. I will provide the Third Young Lady’s dowry myself.”

When Liu Tai heard that Liu Chengshan had been repeatedly rebuffed, she rolled around on her bed in delight.

Chunxiao, however, was stroking the scars on her back with a worried frown. “Such a lovely young lady, left with two long scars like this. I think the Old Madam should have taken up a whip and beaten him too, so he could taste what it feels like to have his flesh torn open.”

“Oh? Even Chunxiao is starting to speak treason?”

“Third Young Lady, stop teasing me!”

“It’s because my heart aches for you.” Chunxiao’s hands had a thin layer of calluses, which felt particularly prominent when she touched the scars.

Chunxiao was only fourteen. Living in constant fear every day had made her more mature than other girls her age.

Liu Tai felt a pang of guilt. “I will definitely cherish this life of mine from now on. Don’t be afraid anymore, alright?”

Crying, Chunxiao began to bargain with her. “Then the Third Young Lady must pinky-swear with me.”

“Pinky swear, cross my heart, a hundred years, never part.”

Like a child’s game. Even as Liu Tai feigned disdain, she solemnly pressed her thumb against Chunxiao’s to seal the deal.

When it came time to try on the wedding robes, Concubine Yang naturally came to help.

Unexpectedly, Madame Zhou came as well.

“What is the Madam doing here?” Concubine Yang had no intention of giving her a pleasant look.

Madame Zhou was skilled at maintaining her composure. She sat down of her own accord and picked up a cup of hot tea.

“My daughter is trying on her wedding robes. As her mother, shouldn’t I come to take a look?”

Hearing this, Concubine Yang walked to the door and looked up at the sky. “That’s strange. The sun didn’t rise from the west today!”

Concubine Yang had a son, and her daughter had become a royal consort; Madame Zhou could do nothing to her.

“If you have more nasty things to say, say them all at once.”

“I can’t be bothered with you.”