Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The day before she was to be drowned in the pond, Liu Chengshan summoned Liu Tai to his study.

He tossed the drafted schedule to Liu Tai, who was kneeling on the floor, and sipped his tea with practiced composure. “Take a look. Are you satisfied?”

Regardless of whether Liu Tai was satisfied, Liu Chengshan certainly was. He had been provoked by her so many times that he had lost his poise; now, sitting in a position of power with an elegant posture, he felt he had finally reclaimed the upper hand.

He simply could not understand where Liu Tai got the nerve. She had no cards left to play, yet she dared to defy him-and the order he represented, built upon the remains of ten thousand souls.

Liu Tai opened the folded pages. It detailed the exact times: when the Liu Clan members would gather at the Ancestral Hall, when her crimes would be read aloud, when she would be placed in a pig cage and paraded out to be cursed by the masses, and finally, when she would be sunk into the pond.

That confession of guilt was particularly well-written, composed with brilliant literary flair. It truly did justice to Liu Chengshan’s scholarly talent as a successful candidate of the imperial examinations.

She let out a cold sneer, not wishing to say a single word to him.

Liu Chengshan was incensed. He was sitting while she was kneeling; he was the elder and she the junior; he held the power and she had none. Why did her cold sneer still make him feel as if he were the one who fell short?

He cursed her for her defiance; she didn’t care.

He cursed her for being licentious; she didn’t care about that either.

No matter how heavy the infamy he heaped upon this daughter, it remained nothing more than a few light words. Nothing could generate the crushing weight needed to break her spine.

If only she had been a son.

A ridiculous thought suddenly surfaced in Liu Chengshan’s mind.

But if Liu Tai were a son, all her flaws would become virtues. This courage and stubbornness of hers might have been enough to carry her straight to the top of the official ranks.

At this thought, a flicker of pity stirred within him.

He let out a long sigh. “Heaven has failed me!”

Liu Tai had no idea what madness had gripped him. Her eyes were as calm as a deep pool. At such a young age, she had already seen through life and death, as well as her father’s bluster and cowardice.

“Do you have nothing to say?”

Liu Tai turned her head away. She found even listening to him speak exhausting.

Liu Chengshan spoke again. “I thought you would have some final move hidden up your sleeve.”

This time, Liu Tai didn’t even grant him an expression. She stood up, pushed open the study door, and walked out.

A servant moved to seize her, but Liu Chengshan stopped him.

“It is her last day. Let her be.”

The restriction on Liu Tai’s courtyard was lifted. Liu Chengshan had men watch her, but she was no longer confined to her room.

When she returned, she saw Concubine Yang waiting at the courtyard gate.

“Concubine Yang, why have you come?”

“Tai’er, I sent a letter to your second sister. She might have a way.”

Liu Tai gave her a small smile. In truth, it wasn’t that she had no way to escape, but rather that she had lost the will to live.

She had lost her mother at a young age and could barely remember her face.

She didn’t want to admit it, but she had truly felt a sense of daughterly devotion toward Liu Chengshan.

When a child is small, their parents are their entire world.

Moreover, her father was a formidable man. Everyone in the inner chambers longed for his gaze to fall upon them.

In fact, Liu Chengshan had held her once. Back when her birth mother was still alive, he had held her on his lap while sharing a few jokes with her mother.

That day’s scene had been the first and last for her mother.

It was the same for Liu Tai.

But now, Liu Tai only felt as stupid as a pig.

What on earth had she been thinking?

It was merely a whim of Liu Chengshan’s, yet she had remembered it until now.

To be a child cherished by her father was not a dream; it was a joke.

“Concubine Yang, if this is Liu Tai’s fate, then so be it. There is no need to trouble my second sister.”

Liu Tai had fought against heaven; she had wanted to live as a person.

If that was impossible, then being a ghost wouldn’t be so bad either.

Concubine Yang looked at her with pity. “Good child, poor child… may you be born into a better family in your next life.”

Liu Tai shook her head. “No. If there is a next life, I want to be a tree. Providing shade in summer and a harvest in autumn, dying in winter and being reborn in spring. That would be much more free than being human.”

Early the next morning, Chunxiao rose at dawn to prepare a meal for her.

Concubine Yang arrived as well. She pressed Liu Tai down into the seat before the dressing table and combed her hair. “Your birthday is in three days. I am giving you a green jade hairpin. I wish for Tai’er to have peace year after year.”

Chunxiao also forced a smile. “Third Young Lady, the longevity noodles are here!”

Liu Tai touched the jade hairpin happily. “Thank you, Auntie. I like it very much.”

She omitted the formal title, as if she were truly calling out to her own mother.

Then, she ate every bite of the longevity noodles Chunxiao had personally made. “Chunxiao, you’ve grown up. Your cooking is wonderful.”

When the sun rose high, Concubine Yang pushed open the door only to find Liu Chengshan standing there with his men.

A pig cage, heavy staves-a dark, oppressive crowd.

She knelt down. “Master!”

Liu Chengshan acted as if he didn’t see her pleading.

When Liu Tai stepped out, her feet were in the sunlight while her face remained in the shadows. That slanted beam of light seemed to split her in two.

Looking at this daughter who did not fear death, Liu Chengshan suddenly felt a jolt of alarm. He was actually somewhat intimidated by her.

Liu Tai helped Concubine Yang up. Holding her head high, she spoke to the group of executioners.

“Let’s go.”

Though it was the site of her execution, she carried herself like a general issuing an order.