Even though Xie Yankang was still counting on Xie Qingran, his words were laced with a hint of resentment toward her.
Xie Qingran understood this unspoken meaning very clearly. Her expression remained unchanged as she simply nodded. “Yes, your daughter understands.”
“This Palace Banquet is of the utmost importance. You must be on your best behavior. Whether this marriage can be secured will all depend on your performance.”
“Ran’er, don’t disappoint your father.”
Xie Yankang squeezed her shoulder before striding away.
Staring at Xie Yankang’s retreating back, a sarcastic smile touched Xie Qingran’s lips.
Across two lifetimes, this was the first time Xie Yankang had ever spoken to her so formally. Unfortunately, his purpose was only to push her into a pit of fire.
The thought made Xie Qingran feel that this family of hers was utterly rotten to the core.
She said nothing more, simply choosing a pale blue dress and pairing it with the appropriate head ornaments before lying back down on her bed.
When she was young on the estate, she had eaten only vegetarian dishes, so she had no vitality and looked as if she might stop breathing at any moment. After returning to the Xie Family, she had thought her life would improve, but she never imagined that even eating her fill would become an extravagant hope.
The Xie Family always cleverly forgot that they had one more young mistress in the house, so there was never enough food. It was laughable, really.
In a grand family with a legacy of prominent officials, the eldest young mistress couldn’t even get enough to eat.
Xie Qingran currently looked like a bean sprout, thin and small, as if she could be blown away by a gust of wind at any time. Only her eyes were frighteningly bright.
Perhaps because of Xie Yankang’s successive fits of temper, that evening, Xie Qingran actually saw a proper meal on her dining table—a beautiful spread of meat and vegetable dishes.
This was the most normal meal she had eaten since her return.
Just as she picked up her chopsticks, the door was kicked open from the outside. Xie Zhaoye rushed in and, without a word, swept all the food from the table onto the floor, glaring at Xie Qingran through gritted teeth.
“Yue’er is crying so much she can’t eat, but you’re having a good time, sitting here and eating so happily!”
“Xie Qingran, you must be very proud of yourself right now, thinking it’s a great honor to marry a cripple, aren’t you?”
“I’m telling you, don’t even think about it! As long as I’m here, I will never let you run wild in the Xie Family!”
Xie Zhaoye stared at Xie Qingran triumphantly, spewing every nasty thing he could think of.
He loved to see that cold face of hers change expression; he loved to see her on the verge of tears from his bullying!
Unfortunately for him, this time, he was destined not to see that version of Xie Qingran.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xie Qingran stood up, flipped the table at Xie Zhaoye’s feet, grabbed a nearby chair, and viciously hurled it at him.
“Are you insane!”
Xie Zhaoye stumbled back, staring at Xie Qingran in disbelief.
“Have you lost your mind!”
“I’m your elder brother! How dare you lay a hand on me? Have you no manners? Is this how the nannies on the estate taught you?”
Furious and flustered, Xie Zhaoye tried to cross the wreckage to get to Xie Qingran, but she gave him no such chance. She crouched down, picked up the sharpest shard of porcelain, and aimed it right at him.
“Take one more step forward, and I’ll kill you!”
Xie Qingran’s expression was still blank, but her words were like ice that had been frozen for ten thousand years.
Xie Zhaoye had never seen such a ruthless Xie Qingran before and was, for a moment, genuinely intimidated.
“You… You’re crazy!”
“You vicious woman! At the pond before, it was you who nearly killed me, and now you want to kill me again! What is wrong with you?”
Xie Zhaoye didn’t understand. Why were other people’s younger sisters so sweet, gentle, and obedient? Even Xie Hanyue was completely devoted to him, her elder brother. But his own biological sister, who had only just returned, was already trying to kill him. And on a normal day, she always wore a cold face, as if she wanted to keep everyone a thousand miles away.
“Get out!”
Xie Qingran had no desire to waste words on this person. Her command was concise.
She knew very well that Xie Zhaoye wasn’t very bright and usually did whatever Xie Hanyue told him to. The only reason he had stormed in so aggressively was likely because he had listened to Xie Hanyue.
In her past life, Xie Qingran would have let it slide for the sake of their blood ties. But now, she had decided she would not yield an inch.
Rather than suffer in silence, she might as well have a stable meltdown. If everyone was miserable, it was better than her being miserable alone.
“Ah! What… What is this?”
“Elder Sister, what are you doing? This is your own brother! How could you make such a scene?”
“Brother, are you alright? Let me see, are you hurt anywhere?”
Xie Hanyue rushed in, immediately grabbing Xie Zhaoye’s hand and inspecting him from all sides, her voice filled with an unconcealable mix of anxiety and reproach.
She turned to Xie Qingran, her eyes red-rimmed. “Elder Sister, I know you don’t like me, but if you don’t like me, why must you make things difficult for Brother?”
“When did I make things difficult for him?”
Xie Qingran looked at Xie Hanyue coolly.
“Am I even capable of making things difficult for him?”
Whether in terms of family status or physical strength, Xie Qingran was no match for Xie Zhaoye. To say she was making things difficult for him was a complete joke.
All Xie Qingran had wanted was to eat a decent meal, but she never thought that in the Xie Family, such a simple request would become an extravagant hope.
“Elder Sister, you…”
“I know you’re angry because I chose the fabric you liked. But I didn’t do it on purpose. I just happened to see that the fabric was beautiful and mentioned it casually. I didn’t expect Mother to give it directly to me. If you mind, I can just give it back to you. Why must you cause such a disturbance for everyone?”
Xie Hanyue sighed, as if she were compromising out of sheer helplessness.
“Hanyue, don’t overthink it. It’s just some fabric. If you like it, you should keep it.”
“Xie Qingran, you really are a country bumpkin with no worldly experience. Making such a scene over a bit of fabric, have you no shame?”
Xie Zhaoye quickly pulled Xie Hanyue behind him, his brows knitted tightly as he looked at Xie Qingran with reproach.
Seeing the two of them standing there, clinging to each other, Xie Qingran let out a sudden laugh.
She rarely laughed, so it was only now that Xie Zhaoye realized that Xie Qingran was actually quite beautiful when she smiled.
But he quickly discovered that her smile was wrapped in sarcasm.
“What are you laughing at!”
Xie Zhaoye’s temper flared.
Xie Qingran turned away, opening the two large chests that had been delivered from the palace. Inside were clothes tailored from Tribute fabrics, which seemed to sparkle just by looking at them.