The maid Hongcha came out to greet them.
“Madam.”
She greeted Bai Manman first before turning to Liu Xiyin.
Reluctantly, she added,
“Second Miss.”
Liu Xiyin returned a perfunctory smile.
Bai Manman led Liu Xiyin inside.
“Has the eldest miss gotten any better?”
The moment the question was asked, Hongcha’s eyes reddened.
“Miss threw up again just now. She still can’t keep anything down.”
As she spoke, she shot Liu Xiyin a glance she thought was subtle.
Liu Xiyin was speechless.
The last time Liu Mingyue fell into the lake, it had been Hongcha who claimed she’d seen Liu Xiyin nearby, leading everyone to assume Liu Xiyin had pushed her.
Today…
Liu Xiyin intended to find out whether Hongcha was simply overprotective of her mistress…
Or whether the Liu Mingyue she had once admired had begun revealing her darker side.
After following Hongcha’s gaze to Liu Xiyin, Bai Manman dismissed every servant from the room.
Turning to face Liu Xiyin, she coldly ordered,
“Kneel.”
?
She hadn’t even asked what had happened…
Yet she’d already decided Liu Xiyin was guilty?
Marshal Yan was a bandit by nature, so being unreasonable made sense.
But Bai Manman was the matriarch of a prestigious household.
How could she be just as arbitrary?
Liu Xiyin didn’t kneel.
Instead she looked up in confusion.
“Mother, if Sister can’t eat, shouldn’t you call a doctor?”
“Why are you making me kneel?”
Bai Manman’s teeth clenched as if she wanted to devour her.
“And you still dare ask?”
“If she hadn’t eaten the food sent from your courtyard, how could she be like this?”
“…?”
“When did Sister eat anything from my courtyard?”
“The day you got married.”
“And you’re still denying it?”
“…”
Liu Xiyin became even more confused.
She looked at Bai Manman with an indescribable expression.
“Mother…”
“On my wedding day, I wasn’t even allowed to eat.”
“You said brides shouldn’t eat before the ceremony.”
“You ordered my private kitchen not to light a fire.”
“You also forbade the main kitchen from sending me any food.”
“Have you forgotten?”
Not just on her wedding day.
During the entire month beforehand…
Liu Xiyin had never dared send food from her little kitchen to anyone else.
She’d been terrified something might happen, leaving her unable to clear her own name.
Bai Manman faltered.
Then her expression darkened again.
“And you’re still talking back?”
“If nothing was cooked that day, what about the day before?”
“The servants all said the food came from your courtyard.”
“If it wasn’t you, then who else could it have been?”
“I know you spent sixteen years growing up in the countryside and resent Mingyue for living the life that should’ve been yours.”
“But everything Mingyue has today is because of her own intelligence and hard work.”
“You’re so narrow-minded.”
“Even if you hadn’t been switched at birth, you never would’ve become someone like Mingyue.”
“Using such despicable tricks only proves how uncultured you really are.”
Wow.
Those words are brutal.
If the original Liu Xiyin were standing here, she’d probably explode with rage.
Fortunately…
She wasn’t.
Liu Xiyin patted her chest.
“What a relief.”
Tilting her head, she asked calmly,
“Mother…”
“The servants said the food came from my courtyard.”
“But did anyone say exactly what I supposedly sent?”
Bai Manman’s expression froze.
Excellent.
She hadn’t even asked what Liu Mingyue had eaten…
Yet she’d already decided Liu Xiyin was responsible.
So who was really the narrow-minded one?
Liu Xiyin sighed.
“Sister has been vomiting after eating something unknown.”
“Instead of calling a doctor…”
“You waited until I returned home to accuse me.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“Reach into her stomach and dig it back out?”
“You—!”
Bai Manman hadn’t expected such a response.
In her mind…
Liu Xiyin was still that timid country girl who barely dared speak above a whisper.
“So you’ve finally stopped pretending?”
“You think marrying the Young Marshal means you can talk back to me now?”
Furious…
She grabbed a feather duster that one of the maids had left behind and swung it at Liu Xiyin.
Liu Xiyin didn’t dodge.
Smack!
The feather duster struck her arm.
A feather floated into the air.
On the backswing…
It knocked the jade hairpin from Liu Xiyin’s hair.
It was the very hairpin Qin Wan had personally placed in her hair before she left.
Liu Xiyin looked down.
The jade pin had shattered into three pieces.
Her neatly arranged hairstyle loosened, several strands of hair falling around her face.
Bai Manman finally came back to her senses.
She hadn’t expected Liu Xiyin to simply stand there.
Her hand trembled.
Seeing the broken jade pin…
She hurriedly threw the feather duster aside.
“Ayin…”
Her lips quivered.
Liu Xiyin held her aching arm.
She crouched down.
Carefully picked up the broken pieces of the hairpin.
Wrapped them in a handkerchief.
And tucked them into her sleeve.
When she stood again…
Her eyes were clear.
Calm.
“Mother.”
“If you don’t want me as your daughter…”
“I’ve never wanted you as my mother either.”
“If you truly wish to sever this bond…”
“Then go ahead.”
“Beat me today.”
“I’ll consider it repayment…”
“…for giving birth to me.”
Then she spoke each word distinctly.
“But…”
“The moment I walk out of the Liu family today…”
“I hope that from now on…”
“If you ever see me again…”
“…pretend you don’t know me.”
“What?”
Bai Manman stared blankly.
She hadn’t understood.
Liu Xiyin continued,
“I returned only to marry the Young Marshal.”
“Never because I wanted the Liu family’s wealth.”
“And certainly not because I wanted to become the Young Madam of the Marshal’s household.”
“I simply didn’t want my adoptive parents to be implicated.”
“In my heart…”
“My parents will always be that farming couple in the countryside.”
“I never wanted to become a member of your Liu family.”
“I’ve never had any interest in taking anything from Liu Mingyue.”
“That includes…”
“You.”
“Madam Liu.”
“Is that clear enough?”
“You…”
Bai Manman instinctively took a step backward.
The clarity in Liu Xiyin’s eyes…
The certainty in every word…
Made it feel as though she’d heard something utterly unbelievable.
“Unfortunately…”
“The people who raised me also bear the surname Liu.”
“Otherwise…”
“I wouldn’t even want this surname.”
After saying that…
Liu Xiyin ignored Bai Manman completely.
She turned and headed upstairs.
For an entire month…
She had avoided Liu Mingyue.
All she’d gotten in return was endless slander.
Today…
She intended to see exactly what this heroine was really up to.
“What are you doing?”
“Your sister’s room is upstairs!”
Bai Manman hurried after her.
Afraid Liu Xiyin intended to harm Liu Mingyue.
Liu Xiyin pretended not to hear.
At sixteen, her legs were much quicker than Bai Manman’s.
Although Bai Manman immediately chased after her…
She still couldn’t stop Liu Xiyin from reaching the second floor.
The entire second floor contained only one room.
Liu Mingyue’s enormous bedroom…
With panoramic views in every direction.
Liu Xiyin pushed open the door.
She saw Liu Mingyue standing barefoot on a floor covered almost entirely in white rabbit-fur carpet.
She stared at Liu Xiyin in astonishment.
Apparently…
She’d heard the commotion downstairs and had only just gotten out of bed.
Bai Manman rushed inside.
Seeing Liu Mingyue dressed only in her nightclothes, she immediately said worriedly,
“Yue’er!”
“Why did you get up?”
“It’s cold outside.”
“Quickly, put this on.”
Liu Mingyue forced a pale smile.
“Mother…”
“The heating is on.”
“I’m not cold.”
Though Biyu Pavilion had an elegant traditional name…
It was in fact a fully Western-style villa.
Every furnishing inside had been imported.
While most households still relied on heated brick floors…
Biyu Pavilion had expensive central heating.
Even standing in thin nightclothes…
Liu Mingyue wouldn’t feel cold.
Still…
Bai Manman carefully removed her own shoes, went inside, found a pearl-trimmed cloak, and wrapped it around Liu Mingyue.
“You’ve barely eaten anything these past few days.”
“If you catch a chill too, what will happen?”
“If Hongcha and the others don’t take good care of you…”
“Just tell Mother.”
Liu Xiyin didn’t enter the room.
She simply stood at the doorway…
Quietly observing Liu Mingyue.
Liu Mingyue looked back at her.
Raised with every luxury…
Liu Mingyue resembled a fully bloomed peony.
Tall.
Gracefully proportioned.
Fair-skinned and refined.
Even weakened by illness…
Her elegance and breathtaking beauty remained unmistakable.
She had once been…
The brightest jewel in all of Ancheng.
Even now…
Though her true identity had cast a shadow over her…
That shadow only lent her a touch more fragile elegance.
It couldn’t diminish her radiance in the slightest.