Chapter 4
Chapter 4
That graceful figure vanished beneath the corridor, but the doubts in my heart grew wild as vines.
Why had Father summoned her?
By the time I startled back to my senses, I realized I had somehow followed after her as if possessed.
From a distance, I watched the heavy doors of the study close silently behind her.
A chill crawled up my spine.
Father’s study was forbidden ground, surrounded by countless eyes and ears.
If I came this close, word would reach Father’s ears in less than half an hour.
My gaze swept to Suxue and Lingyue behind me.
I lowered my voice, unable to suppress the shock, anger, and lingering fear in it.
“You two fools! You saw me make such a grave mistake, and neither of you thought to warn me?”
Their faces went deathly pale. They exchanged a glance and were about to drop to their knees.
My temper flared, mixed with fear and urgency. “Are you standing here waiting to be punished? Get back at once!”
Before the words had even fallen, steady footsteps sounded behind me.
I turned and saw Nanny Lin from Mother’s side standing at the end of the path, though I had no idea when she had arrived.
Her expression was solemn. She gave a meticulous bow.
“Greetings, Second Young Miss. Madam asks that you come to her.”
Mother was due to give birth any day now, and Father had strictly ordered that she rest in quiet. We had long since been excused from paying morning and evening respects.
My heart sank, but I did not dare hesitate in the slightest.
Lowering my head and eyes, I followed obediently behind Nanny Lin.
The East Courtyard was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Mother reclined on a chaise longue, her belly swollen high.
Two maids held their breath and focused as they massaged her legs with even pressure.
I hurried forward and, following the rules precisely, kowtowed deeply. “This daughter greets Mother.”
Mother’s eyes remained closed, as if she had fallen asleep. She did not tell me to rise.
Time flowed through the heavy, stagnant air.
The chill of the white jade floor tiles seeped through my skirt and into my kneecaps, gradually turning them numb.
Fine beads of cold sweat broke out at my temples. My heart pounded wildly in my chest.
After a long while, an extremely soft voice came from the couch.
“Do you know where you were wrong?”
Terror gripped my heart. I knew that what had happened at the study today had not escaped her notice after all.
“This daughter was wrong to approach the forbidden grounds of the study without permission.”
In a great household, rules were heaven itself. Every movement, every posture, every act had its prescribed form.
Which paths could be taken and which were taboo had been carved into my bones since childhood.
Today, I had taken a wrong step out of foolishness. There was no defense to make.
“Wrong.”
She lifted her eyes slightly. Those phoenix eyes seemed to burn a hole straight through me.
“Your mistake was spending your thoughts where they should not be spent.”
My head jerked up, my eyes full of confusion and incomprehension.
Nanny Lin offered her a warm bowl of bird’s nest soup, but Mother did not take it.
She pushed the bowl aside, her gaze falling on me once more, clear and penetrating from years spent in the inner residence.
“For a daughter of the house, if your studies are inferior to others, at most you earn a reputation for mediocre talent. But if you cannot read the situation and judge the times, that is the sort of flaw that can truly cost you your life.”
“Jealousy is poison. Prying is a blade. Turn them against your own sister, and not only will you fail to hurt her, you will cut yourself instead. Worse, you will damage the order and fortune of this household. That is what angers me.”
Mother’s gaze was like an icicle beneath the eaves in winter, stabbing straight at me.
“Ruzhang is the legitimate eldest daughter. Lord Prime Minister places great hopes on her, and naturally he has his reasons. You are the legitimate second daughter, noble in status, and your future will not be poor either. Rather than wasting your mind studying things beyond your reach, you would do better to open your eyes and look carefully at the road beneath your feet.”
Fear seeped from every pore in my body. A drop of cold sweat slid down from my temple, and even my breathing stopped.
Mother knew. She knew everything.
After a moment, her voice suddenly turned cold, carrying an unquestionable scrutiny and warning.
“In this deep household, if you want to stand firm, it is useless to only stare upward. You must learn to look down.”
“Those who serve in your rooms, those who walk through your courtyard, these servants beneath you are your ears and your eyes.”
“It does not matter if you are poor at studying.”
“But if you cannot even make use of the people by your side, then you are truly stupid. If others trample you underfoot and use you as a stepping stone, you will have no one to blame but yourself. Have you remembered?”