Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ye Rongfeng and Xu Yaoyao appeared at that very moment.

The young girl came bouncing over, her hair glittering with pearls and jade.

Clinging to Ye Rongfeng’s arm, she looked at me with a playful smile.

“You must be Ye Rongshu, Second Sister, right? Third Sister talks about you all the time!”

The instant she was mentioned, my youngest sister’s sobs stopped. In their place came a face full of terror.

Ye Rongfeng frowned at the sight, displeased.

“Such poor manners. Leaving early on Yaoyao’s birthday was bad enough, but now you stand here crying and wailing like this. Aren’t you afraid of bringing bad luck?”

In the past, my elder brother would never have had the heart to scold my youngest sister even once.

But three years had passed. Even with me standing right here, my youngest sister was still being berated as if she were utterly worthless.

Thoughts turned over in my mind, though none of them showed on my face. I patted the back of my youngest sister’s hand and said, “What does Brother mean by that? What birthday? And-”

I swept a faint glance over Xu Yaoyao.

“Since when did I gain another younger sister?”

We had not seen each other in three years. Ye Rongfeng was clearly unhappy with how dismissive I was toward Xu Yaoyao, but his tone was still somewhat gentler with me.

“You don’t know, do you? Yaoyao saved Mother’s life. She had no one to rely on, so Mother took her in as her goddaughter. You were away recovering these past few years, so we didn’t think it right to tell you. But you’ve come at the perfect time today. It’s Yaoyao’s birthday, and she’s been talking about you for ages. Didn’t the Empress bestow many rewards upon you? You ought to prepare her a nice, generous first-meeting gift.”

Xu Yaoyao let out a little huff at that.

“Brother, you’re teasing me again. I’m not after Second Sister’s first-meeting gift!”

The two of them laughed and chatted together.

It made my youngest sister and me seem like the outsiders instead.

What was even stranger was that I, a daughter who had not returned home in years, had finally come back, yet they had no intention of welcoming me properly.

Instead, they had already found a destination for the rewards the Empress had given me.

I smiled.

A smile born of pure anger.

My gaze fell on the pearl shoes she wore. The uppers were made of luxurious silk, paired with exquisite embroidery.

They shone brilliantly.

They would have been even more beautiful-

if they had not been made from the love-token handkerchief I had given to Xie Jingwen.

As if sensing my gaze, Xu Yaoyao swung her foot toward me.

“Does Second Sister like them too? Brother Jingwen gave them to me! That handkerchief of his was so pretty. I begged him for ages before he finally agreed!”

Her tone was the picture of innocence.

But even if she could pretend not to know the origin of that handkerchief, could Ye Rongfeng pretend as well?

Seeing me say nothing, he coughed awkwardly.

“Yaoyao is spoiled, but she means no harm. Rongshu, let her have this one.”

Then he turned back and feigned anger as he scolded her. “That handkerchief was originally a gift from Rongshu to Jingwen. Don’t be naughty.”

The girl, however, did not care in the slightest. She stuck out her tongue.

“It’s just a handkerchief. Brother Jingwen said it looked best worn on my feet. Sister wouldn’t get angry over something like this, would she? How petty.”

I was indeed petty.

So I raised my knife and brought it down.

And the tip of her tongue fell onto her shoe.