The maid, Hongcha, came out to greet them.
“Madam.”
Hongcha greeted Bai Manman first, then her gaze fell upon Liu Xiyin, her expression turning reluctant. “Second Miss.”
Liu Xiyin offered a perfunctory smile.
Bai Manman led Liu Xiyin inside and asked, “Is the Eldest Miss feeling any better?”
Hongcha’s eyes reddened instantly. “The young lady just vomited again; she can’t keep anything down.”
As she spoke, she shot a glare at Liu Xiyin, thinking she was being discreet.
Liu Xiyin was speechless. The last time Liu Mingyue fell into the water, it was Hongcha who claimed to have seen Liu Xiyin nearby, leading others to believe Liu Xiyin had pushed her. Today, Liu Xiyin intended to see whether Hongcha was merely protective of her mistress or if the Liu Mingyue she had once admired had revealed a dark side.
Bai Manman followed Hongcha’s gaze to Liu Xiyin. She dismissed the others in the attic, turned to face Liu Xiyin, and said coldly, “Kneel.”
?
She hadn’t even investigated the matter, yet she was already passing judgment? Marshal Yan was a warlord and unreasonable, but Bai Manman was a high-society matriarch; how could she be so arbitrary?
Liu Xiyin did not kneel. She looked up in confusion. “Mother, if my sister can’t keep food down, shouldn’t we call a doctor? Why do you want me to kneel?”
Bai Manman gritted her teeth, as if she could eat her alive. “You still dare to speak? If she hadn’t eaten the things sent from your courtyard, how could she be like this?”
“?” Liu Xiyin asked, “Mother, when did my sister eat anything sent from my courtyard?”
“The day you got married. You still won’t admit it?”
“…” Liu Xiyin was even more perplexed, her expression indescribable. “Mother, I didn’t even have anything to eat that day. You said brides shouldn’t eat, so you didn’t allow my small kitchen to be lit, and you wouldn’t let the main kitchen send me anything. Have you forgotten?”
Forget that day—even in the month prior, Liu Xiyin hadn’t dared to send anything from her kitchen to anyone, fearing that if something went wrong, she wouldn’t be able to explain it.
Bai Manman was choked for a moment, her face turning even uglier. “You still dare to talk back? If it wasn’t the day of, what about the day before? The maids all said it was food from your courtyard. If it wasn’t you, then who was it?”
“I know you spent sixteen years wandering in the countryside and feel that Mingyue has enjoyed the life that should have been yours. But Mingyue has reached where she is today through her own intelligence and effort. With your narrow-mindedness, even if you hadn’t been switched at birth, you could never be like Mingyue.”
“Playing these disgraceful tricks will only make you look even more unsightly.”
Wow, that was harsh. If the real Liu were here, she would surely be hopping mad. Luckily, she wasn’t. It scared Liu Xiyin.
Liu Xiyin patted her chest and looked at Bai Manman oddly. “Mother, the maid said it was sent from my courtyard. Did they say what exactly I sent?”
Bai Manman’s expression stiffened.
Very well. She hadn’t even asked what Liu Mingyue had eaten before being certain it was her doing. Who was the narrow-minded one here?
Liu Xiyin tilted her head helplessly. “My sister has been vomiting incessantly after eating something unknown. Mother, instead of finding a doctor, you wait for my return visit just to convict me. Are you hoping I can reach in and pull it out for her?”
“You!” Bai Manman didn’t expect her to speak like this. In her impression, Liu Xiyin was a timid country girl who didn’t even dare to speak loudly.
“Good, so you finally can’t keep up the act? You think because you married the Young Marshal, you can defy me?”
Bai Manman was furious. She grabbed a feather duster left behind by a maid and lunged at Liu Xiyin.
Liu Xiyin didn’t dodge.
Smack!
The feather duster struck Liu Xiyin’s arm, sending a feather flying, and as it lifted, it knocked the emerald hairpin from Liu Xiyin’s head. It was the one Qin Wan had pinned in for her before she left.
Liu Xiyin looked at the hairpin, which had shattered into three pieces. She frowned as her bun loosened, strands of hair falling down.
Bai Manman clearly hadn’t expected her not to move. Her hand holding the duster trembled slightly. When she saw the broken hairpin on the ground, she seemed to come to her senses and quickly dropped the duster.
“Ayin…” she murmured.
Liu Xiyin clutched her arm, crouched down, picked up the broken pieces, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and tucked them into her clothes.
When she looked up, her eyes were clear and calm. “Mother, you don’t want me as a daughter, and I have never longed for you as a mother. If you wish to sever this bond, feel free to strike me today; I will consider this repaying you for the gift of life.”
“But,” she said, each word clear, “once I step out of the Liu family’s door today, I hope that if you ever see me again, you will act as if you do not know me.”
“What?” Bai Manman didn’t react immediately.
Liu Xiyin continued, “I came back to marry the Young Marshal not for the Liu family’s wealth, and certainly not to be the mistress of the Marshal’s Mansion; I only didn’t want my adoptive parents to be implicated. In my heart, my parents will always be that farm couple in the countryside.”
“I never thought of being a member of your Liu family, nor do I have any interest in competing with Liu Mingyue for anything, including you. Madam Liu, is that clear enough?”
“You…” Bai Manman was so shaken by her gaze and her incredibly clear words that she took a step back, as if hearing something absurd.
“It is truly unfortunate that the parents who raised me are also surnamed Liu; otherwise, I would not want this surname either.”
Having finished, Liu Xiyin ignored Bai Manman and turned to head up the stairs. She had spent the last month avoiding Liu Mingyue, only to end up being smeared with filth anyway. Today, she was going to see what this heroine was really plotting.
“What are you doing? Upstairs is your sister’s room!” Bai Manman followed in a panic. She was afraid Liu Xiyin would harm Liu Mingyue.
Liu Xiyin acted as if she couldn’t hear. Her sixteen-year-old legs were much quicker than Bai Manman’s, and even though Bai Manman followed immediately, she couldn’t stop her from reaching the second floor.
The entire second floor held only one room: Liu Mingyue’s 360-degree viewing master bedroom.
Liu Xiyin pushed open the bedroom door and saw Liu Mingyue standing barefoot on the snow-hare fur rug that covered half the room. She looked at her in shock, as if she had just gotten out of bed to check the commotion she heard downstairs.
Bai Manman chased after her and, seeing that Liu Mingyue was only wearing her undergarments, said with heartache, “Yue’er, why did you get up? It’s cold outside, hurry and put on a robe.”
Liu Mingyue pulled at her pale lips and smiled at her. “Mother, there is heating; I’m not cold.”
The Biyu Pavilion had an elegant name, but it was a genuine small western-style building. All the furnishings and installations were imported. While most households still used underground heating channels, the Biyu Pavilion was equipped with very expensive heating pipes. Even just standing in the room without an outer garment, Liu Mingyue wouldn’t feel the slightest chill.
Bai Manman carefully took off her own shoes, went in, and took out a pearl-encrusted cloak to drape over Liu Mingyue. “You haven’t been able to eat a bite in days; how can you handle getting cold? If you need anything, just call. If Hongcha and the others are inattentive, you tell Mother.”
Liu Xiyin did not go in. She just watched Liu Mingyue calmly, and Liu Mingyue watched her back.
Liu Mingyue was like a peony flower raised in luxury—well-proportioned and tall, with a fair and delicate face. Even through her sickness, one could see her elegant and poised demeanor, breathtakingly beautiful.
She had once been the most dazzling pearl in Ancheng. Even now, with her identity clouded in dust, it only added a touch of grace to her, not masking her radiance in the slightest.