Chapter 7
Chapter 7
When Liu Tai woke up, she was lying face down on the bed, and every movement brought a surge of pain.
Hearing her groan, Chunxiao pulled back the curtain and stepped inside.
She wept, “Third Young Lady, you scared me to death!”
Liu Tai tried to force a smile, but the movement tugged at her wounds. She couldn’t hold back the smile, yet she couldn’t endure the pain either, resulting in a pained, toothy grimace.
Chunxiao managed a tearful laugh. “Quickly, don’t move. It took so much effort just to get those wounds bandaged.”
Because of the strict separation of the sexes and the scandalous nature of the incident, the Liu Clan hadn’t even summoned a physician.
Liu Chengshan was cold-hearted, saying it would be cleaner if she simply died of illness.
In the end, it was Madame Zhou who took charge, ordering someone to buy gold-sore ointment.
“I have done my best. Whether you pull through or not depends on your own fate.”
Ultimately, it was Chunxiao, a young girl of only fourteen, who had applied the medicine while trembling with fear and holding back tears.
“Third Young Lady, you had a fever for three whole days. I was so afraid your brain would be scrambled.
“The Master has locked your courtyard. Concubine Yang came several times but couldn’t get in.”
Chunxiao prattled on about the recent events before finally asking, “Third Young Lady, that lover of yours… is he coming or not?”
Liu Tai shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Then what should we do?” Chunxiao asked anxiously. “The Master has put out the word that if that man doesn’t show up by the end of the month, he will have you drowned in the pond before the clan elders.”
“Hiss.” It was hard to tell if it was the physical wounds or her heart that ached, but the pain was unbearable. Liu Tai held her breath, refusing to let herself cry.
Liu Chengshan had weighed the matter repeatedly. Since the scandal was already set in stone, he decided it was better to turn the disgrace into a display of virtue.
What better way to prove his family’s integrity than by personally dealing with his own daughter?
Liu Tai bit her lip, pressing down until the skin broke and bled, yet she still couldn’t hold it in.
Large tears splashed down, darkening the pale yellow pillow. Her quiet sobs gradually grew louder.
What was she seeking?
Why was she being so stubborn?
What exactly was she trying to prove?
Liu Tai felt as though her heart had turned to cold ash.
Seeing her so heartbroken, Chunxiao couldn’t help but worry.
The last time she had seen Liu Tai with this expression was the day she tried to hang herself at age fourteen.
Although Madame Zhou told everyone it was just a scheme Liu Tai had concocted, Chunxiao always felt that Liu Tai had truly intended to die that day.
“Third Young Lady, let’s just wait! Maybe that man will come?” Chunxiao urged her, as if persuading her to delay her plans for death by a few more days.
Liu Tai thought to herself that if even her own father couldn’t be relied upon, how could she trust a man she had met only once?
Exhausted from crying, she fell back asleep.
After all, she was still just a teenage girl.
Chunxiao sat beside her, fanning her. Fortunately, autumn had arrived; had it been summer, the wounds likely would have become inflamed and infected before Liu Chengshan even had the chance to drown her.
As the days passed, the wounds on Liu Tai’s back gradually healed, and scabs began to form.
He Yuan still hadn’t come.
Liu Chengshan had already begun making arrangements for the drowning.
Chunxiao was frantic, begging everyone for help. Madame Zhou simply closed her doors and refused to see anyone. Concubine Yang, unable to see Liu Tai, could only clutch Chunxiao’s hand as tears fell.
“What a sin!” Concubine Yang had been educated in her youth, but she could never understand why the books of the sages-which were supposed to save people-felt as heavy as mountains, crushing them until they couldn’t turn over or breathe. How could a human life be worth less than a few rumors?
Chunxiao cried again, and Liu Tai truly didn’t know how to comfort her.
“I’m the one who’s going to die, not you. Stop crying!”
“The Third Young Lady speaks so heartlessly!”
“Sigh, you’re right. A heartless person like me isn’t worth you crying like this. What will you do if you ruin your eyes?”
Chunxiao cried even harder. She was an orphan who had been sold into the Liu estate and sent straight to Liu Tai’s courtyard.
She and Liu Tai had grown up together; in a way, they were all each other had.