Xue Youli met Xue Qingyao’s confident gaze and felt genuine admiration for her from the bottom of her heart.
This woman was truly clever—having only eavesdropped on their conversation from outside the door for a moment, she had already guessed her true identity.
If only they weren’t destined to be rivals, she would have wanted to be friends with her.
Wasn’t it just putting on an act?
Who couldn’t do that?
Xue Youli raised a pair of round, apricot-shaped eyes, her gaze stubborn yet tinged with feigned fortitude. “Father, Mother, do you also think your daughter is a ghost or demon?”
“Of course not—”
Jiang Ruyun was about to shake her head when Xue Wuyou emerged from somewhere in the back courtyard carrying a small jar of salt.
Holding the clay pot in one hand, he grabbed a fistful of salt with the other and scattered it over Xue Youli while muttering incantations, “I don’t care who you are—get out of my sister’s body right now! Spirits of heaven, spirits of earth, Taishang Laojun, make your presence known!”
After scattering the salt, he turned around with a delighted expression. “Father, Mother, look—sister hasn’t revealed her true form! That proves Xue Qingyao is talking nonsense! Don’t fall for her tricks!”
Xue Huaiyuan: “…”
Jiang Ruyun: “…”
Xue Youli, covered head to toe in salt: “…” Let me just say, thank you, because of you…
“Your father and I aren’t fools—why would we listen to the divisive words of an outsider? As for you, you’re so reckless you’ve dirtied your sister’s new clothes.” Jiang Ruyun shot her son a reproachful glare, then brushed the salt off Xue Youli. “Li’er, your third brother was just playing around with you. Don’t be angry with him.”
Xue Huaiyuan also put on a stern face and scolded Xue Wuyou, “If you make your sister cry, don’t blame me for disciplining you with the family rules!”
In her previous life, Xue Youli’s parents had divorced, and she had never experienced such a warm family atmosphere.
Looking at the three people before her, her nose tingled and her eyes genuinely reddened.
Since her family had chosen to believe her unconditionally, then from today onward, she would be Xue Youli herself—the real one.
However, to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from using this matter against her in the future, she decided to shut Xue Qingyao’s mouth with solid evidence in front of everyone.
“Father, the private money you hid under the osmanthus tree in our courtyard eight years ago wasn’t actually dug up by wild dogs—Third Brother and I found it and secretly used it to buy candied hawthorn skewers.”
“Mother, the box of rouge Second Brother gave you for your birthday five years ago wasn’t stolen by a stray cat either—I accidentally broke it and lied to you because I was afraid of being punished.”
“Third Brother, I was the one who told on you when you spilled ink on Second Brother’s poetry book two years ago. I’m sorry you got beaten by Second Brother because of me.”
These were things Xue Youli had seen in the original owner’s memories—little secrets known only to those involved.
Xue Wuyou couldn’t care less about having been beaten. Excitedly, he shook his father’s arm vigorously. “Father, Mother, you see? This is our sister! Even if the Heavenly Emperor himself came down, she’s still my real sister! Not some wandering ghost!”
Xue Huaiyuan raised his hand and smacked him on the forehead, looking utterly disgusted. “Let go of me right now. Just look for yourself—your sister has a shadow. How could she possibly be a wandering ghost?”
“She really does have a shadow! Hehehe!”
Xue Youli watched as Xue Qingyao’s face turned ugly, and curved her brows into a smile, redirecting the blame toward her. “Father, Mother, speaking of which, I should thank Sister Qingyao. If she hadn’t urged me to fake a hanging to avoid entering the palace, I might still be the fool who would tie a rope around her neck and hang herself at the slightest persuasion. Now that I’ve walked through the Ghost Gate once, it’s given me a brain—how is that not a blessing in disguise?”
“Excellent! So it was you who deliberately schemed to harm my sister!”
Xue Wuyou understood now—it was Xue Qingyao who had tried to kill his precious little sister. “Father, Mother, Xue Qingyao is too vicious. I say we just give her a rope to hang herself with, and let her taste what it’s like to be strangled!”
Hearing this, Yan Niang, terrified that they might harm her precious daughter, went mad and shouted at Xue Huaiyuan, “Master, I am the one who wronged you! I alone take responsibility for my actions. I beg you, spare Yao’er! She is innocent. If you want to kill or beat someone, come at me!”
Xue Qingyao watched Yan Niang, who only now remembered to defend her when death was at the door, and curled her red lips into a sneer of cold mockery.
Ridiculous!
For the past fifteen years, Yan Niang had been exceptionally harsh with her, teaching her to read and write, teaching her to dance and play the zither, teaching her how to seduce men, hoping that she would one day charm the son of a wealthy family, and then she could bask in the glory and live a good life alongside her.
Now that death was at the door, she suddenly remembered to be a good mother?
Yan Niang had no idea that her daughter loathed her, and hated her to the bone.
Xue Qingyao had sworn since childhood that one day she would completely break free from Yan Niang and crawl out of the filthy mire.
In her previous life, she had taken Xue Youli’s identity to enter the palace, willingly becoming that person’s pawn. Using the skills Yan Niang had taught her, she won the Empress Dowager’s favor, gained the Emperor’s trust, and step by step climbed to the highest position in the harem.
Now that heaven had granted her rebirth, why did this variable named Xue Youli have to appear again?
Xue Youli already had everything—why did she have to snatch away her chance to enter the palace?
Xue Qingyao looked at the radiant Xue Youli, doted on by everyone, and the jealousy and hatred in her heart nearly burst through her chest.
Since childhood, she had envied Xue Youli—envied that she was held in the palm of her parents’ hands, envied that she had three brothers who spoiled her, envied that she held the status of di-daughter and lived as she pleased.
But what about herself?
Because of Yan Niang, that disgraceful mother, everyone looked down on her and slighted her. Even the servants had never given her a kind face!
Born as a human, why should her fate be better than hers?
She refused to accept it, and she refused to be resigned!
How could she die here?
She hadn’t even walked out of the Xue estate yet!
Xue Huaiyuan looked at the pale-faced Xue Qingyao, pondered for a moment, and made his decision. “Yan Niang cannot escape the death penalty. As for Xue Qingyao, considering her innocence, I’ll spare her life. Tie her up and throw her in the woodshed, and tomorrow find a slave trader to sell her off.”
Once sold, she would be a servant or slave for life, never able to turn things around.
The color drained completely from Xue Qingyao’s face.
As she was bound hand and foot by the servants and led past Xue Youli, she glared at her with bloodshot eyes, wishing she could bore two bloody holes into her with her gaze alone!
As for Yan Niang and the others, they were beaten to death on the spot.
The farce came to an end, and it was already deep into the night.
Xue Huaiyuan took Jiang Ruyun back to their room, and after soothing her emotions, he knocked on Xue Youli’s door.
“Li’er, if you’re still awake, come keep your father company for a drink or two.”
Xue Youli knew why he had come. Glancing at the wine jug he carried in his hand, she nodded obediently. “Alright.”
And so, father and daughter drank together in the garden pavilion.
Xue Huaiyuan drank wine; Xue Youli drank water.
After a few cups of wine, Xue Huaiyuan got straight to the point. “Li’er, how did you come to know about Yan Niang being kept by a tea merchant sixteen years ago?”
Xue Youli had long prepared an excuse. “Father, a few days ago I went to the restaurant for a meal and inadvertently overheard someone talking about Yan Niang’s romantic escapades from over a decade ago. After hearing it, I kept it in mind and secretly had people investigate Yan Niang. I never expected Yan Niang to be so bold and reckless. Originally, I was quite troubled, not knowing how to tell you about this matter, Father. But catching Yan Niang in the act of meeting with Zhang San and Li Si tonight isn’t entirely a bad thing—at least we’ve seen Yan Niang’s true colors.”
Xue Huaiyuan tilted his head back and drained the wine from his cup, then let out a long breath. “Li’er is right. After this matter, the knot between your mother and me has finally been untied.”
That night, Xue Huaiyuan and Xue Youli talked at length, and when they finished, he couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “My Li’er has truly grown up.”
Xue Youli met his affectionate gaze, deeply moved. “Before, Father and Mother protected me too well. I’m almost at my ji-pinning ceremony—it’s time I grew up.”
“It’s getting late. Go back to sleep now.”
“Alright. Father, rest early as well.”
The night was deep. Xue Youli lay in bed, her right eyelid twitching incessantly. She couldn’t shake the feeling that sparing Xue Qingyao’s life would not let her rest easy.
Perhaps tomorrow, when the slave trader came, she could quietly bribe him to sell Xue Qingyao to some remote, distant place.
With such a long journey, it would be all too easy for an accident to happen along the way.