Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“How dare you. Who do you think you are, speaking to me like that?”

Furious, she reached out to grab my hand. I shoved her away and ran outside.

“Catch her! Catch her for me!”

I ran as fast as I could, as if a ghost were chasing me.

I wasn’t afraid of making a scene, because I hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place.

Was it my choice to bring misfortune to my father and mother? Had I begged them to bring me into this world? When they gave birth to me, did they ever ask for my opinion? Did they ever ask whether I was willing to let them be my parents?

It wasn’t my fault I couldn’t recite the Three Character Classic.

Back on that little estate, I had already been very well behaved.

“Wang Yuwan, just you wait!”

Wang Yuxin’s shriek rang out from her spacious, lavish courtyard.

It was awful to hear.

So much for a noble young lady, a well-bred daughter of a great household. In the end, she was nothing more than this.

I ran all the way back to Tongyuan in one breath. Siyue was pacing anxiously at the gate, and as soon as she saw me, she hurried over. Seeing my tear-streaked face, she said worriedly, “Miss…”

I glanced at her, and my aggrieved tears only fell harder.

“Let’s go inside first.”

Siyue helped me into the small courtyard. When she saw my swollen hand, she asked softly, “Was it the Eldest Miss? Why did she hit you?”

“She told me to recite the Three Character Classic, but I couldn’t…”

“…”

Siyue’s face twitched several times before she cursed under her breath.

“She’s afraid she’ll become a widow after marrying Third Young Master Gu, so she took it out on you.”

The moment Siyue said that, I understood why Wang Yuxin had seized on an excuse to make trouble.

I hated her.

Siyue somehow managed to get a little ice to press against my hand, but the more she iced it, the more swollen it became.

“Miss…”

“It doesn’t hurt much anymore.”

I was lying to Siyue. In truth, it still hurt terribly.

That night, the pain in my hand kept me from sleeping well, and my whole body felt hot and miserable.

“Siyue, I want some water.”

Half-asleep, Siyue brought me water. When she touched me and found my whole body burning hot, she cried out, “Miss, you’re ill.

“This servant will go find someone to summon a doctor.”

I couldn’t stop Siyue at all.

But obviously, she couldn’t bring a doctor back.

So when Siyue returned, she looked utterly dejected.

“Miss, I’m sorry…”

“It’s all right, Siyue. It’s just a little fever. I’ll be fine after sleeping it off.”

Siyue brought over a handkerchief, soaked it in cool water, and laid it over my forehead, changing it again and again.

I drifted in and out of sleep. Several times, I thought she was my nursemaid and called out softly, “Nursemaid.”

If I had been given a choice, I would rather have stayed in the countryside with my nursemaid.

She loved me, and Elder Brother doted on me too.

That would have been a hundred, a thousand times better than returning to the Wang Family.

But I had no choice.

I did not even have the right to resist.

By daybreak, after sweating all night, I seemed perfectly healthy again.

Except my hand was still swollen and bruised.

I told Siyue I wanted porridge, and she agreed. So for breakfast today, there was an extra bowl of plain rice porridge and a small dish of pickled vegetables.

After breakfast, Danhua arrived.

Seeing that I had not changed clothes or dressed my hair, her face darkened, looking rather displeased.

“Second Miss, come here. This servant will style a pretty coiffure for you.”

I did not move. Siyue nudged me.

“…”

I let out a soft sigh.

I knew that if I dug in my heels, I might not be punished, but Siyue would definitely suffer for it.

So I got up, went over, and sat down.

The hairstyle Danhua gave me did not suit a girl my age at all. My face still carried too much childishness; it could not support such a mature coiffure, nor could it support the ornate hairpins.

She praised me falsely for a few sentences, then could not keep going.

“Second Miss, let us go.”

I was taken to the front courtyard, but I was not allowed into the main hall. Instead, I waited in a small side room. Only when Father or Mother sent someone from the front courtyard to call for me would I be allowed over.

Danhua looked out the doorway several times.

Siyue kept straightening my clothes and hair.

She was very nervous and anxious, stopping herself from speaking several times.

I knew what she wanted to say. It was nothing more than that the clothes did not fit, and the hairstyle and hair ornaments were unsuitable.

But it wasn’t as if I had a choice, was it?

Ever since I came back, Father and my elder brother had never once seen me. Mother had seen me only once. My legitimate elder sister had seen me twice-once to look down on me, and once to deliberately humiliate me and hit me.

Sometimes I couldn’t help wondering why I had to listen to them and let them arrange me however they pleased.

But what else could I do?

“Second Miss, the Master and Madam ask that you come over.”

I rose and walked slowly.

The sound of laughter drew closer and closer, so loud it felt as if my eardrums might split.

When I appeared outside the main hall, everyone inside turned to look at me.

One by one, they sized me up without the slightest restraint, then leaned toward the people beside them and whispered, judging me from head to toe.

“Third Brother, look…”

I followed the voice and saw, at a glance, Third Young Master Gu Chengyan seated in a wheeled chair.

He was looking at me too.

His eyes… were gentle. Kind. There was even pity in them, and a trace of unbearable sympathy.

My mind went blank, a chaotic mess.

Then I heard Mother’s voice. “Child, what are you standing there for? Hurry over and greet your elders.”

Stiffly, I stepped forward and curtsied.

I did not even address anyone.

I caught the flash of disgust across my parents’ faces.

Several elders of the Gu Family frowned slightly.

They only said there was no need for such ceremony.

They must have looked down on me.

“Second Miss Wang.”

It was Third Young Master Gu’s voice.

I looked toward him.

His voice was warm and mild. “May I speak with you alone for a few moments?”

I did not know.

I had no choice anyway.

Mother smiled and said, “Danhua, take my worthy nephew Gu and Second Miss to sit in the pavilion. The flowers are blooming beautifully now. Admiring them over tea would be quite pleasant.”

The young gentleman in brocade pushed Third Young Master Gu along, glancing at me from time to time.

In a low voice, he muttered to his Third Brother, “She looks so young.

“Third Brother, are you really going to marry her?”

Third Young Master Gu said nothing.

After we reached the pavilion, he had everyone move farther away.

Then there were only the two of us inside.

He told me to sit.

So I sat.

If he did not ask me anything, I would not make a sound.

“Are those clothes newly made?”

I nodded at him.

“Mother had Danhua bring them over yesterday.”

He smiled.

He looked very handsome when he smiled.

“How old are you?”

“I turned fourteen in the third month. What about you?”

“It has been two years since I came of age.”

How old was that?

I racked my brains but still could not figure it out.

“Twenty-two.”

I gave an oh.

Eight years older than me. The same age as my elder brother.

“Before this, you lived in the countryside all along?”

I nodded.

“Can you read?”

I shook my head.

Thinking of my palms, swollen from yesterday’s beating, I asked softly, “Do you know a lot of characters?”

“A few more than most people.”

“Then can you recite the Three Character Classic?”

“I can.”

“Then could you recite it for me?”

“Why?”

I straightened and said very seriously, “Yesterday, my legitimate elder sister called me over and ordered me to recite the Three Character Classic. But I couldn’t, so she used a ruler to beat my hands until they swelled.”

I held out my hands for him to see.

On my fair, tender skin, whether it was swelling or bruises, every mark was far too obvious.

“Recite it for me. I’ll memorize it carefully. Next time she asks me, if I can recite it, she won’t be able to hit my palms again.”

That was not the main reason.

I simply wanted Third Young Master Gu to know that my legitimate elder sister was terribly wicked.

Siyue said he was very, very good. Since he was very, very good, my legitimate elder sister did not deserve him.

“In the countryside, was there no tutor to teach you reading and writing?”

I shook my head.

“At the country estate, there was only me, my wet nurse, and the old women who watched over me. None of them knew how to read.”

I paused, then asked him earnestly, “Did you come here to look me over for marriage? Are you going to marry me?

“But I haven’t even had my hairpin ceremony yet…”

I was still young.

Wet Nurse said that before a girl’s hairpin ceremony, she was still a child.

Only after the ceremony would she be a young lady, old enough for marriage talks and marrying into another family.