It is no wonder that Bai Manman feels Liu Xiyin cannot compare to her. As a mere cannon-fodder character, Liu Xiyin had never once intended to compete with the stunning and brilliant heroine of the original book.
Liu Mingyue pacified Bai Manman before turning to Liu Xiyin. “Sister, you returned home today, and I failed to welcome you. I hope you do not blame me.”
Bai Manman carefully fastened the ties of Liu Mingyue’s cloak before turning around, frowning at Liu Xiyin. “Your sister is ill. I told you just now that I did not allow her to go out to greet you.”
Liu Xiyin remained composed and let out a laugh. “I am not some important guest; whether I am greeted or not is of no consequence.”
Liu Mingyue’s willow-leaf brows knit together, as if she wanted to say something.
Liu Xiyin spoke first. “Madam Liu said that you have been vomiting incessantly after eating something sent from my courtyard. I want to ask you personally: is it true that you only started vomiting after eating the food I sent?”
Looking into Liu Xiyin’s eyes, Liu Mingyue felt a sense of vertigo, as if all her secrets were being laid bare by Liu Xiyin. She could not help but tremble.
Bai Manman, who was supporting her, felt this clearly. She glared even more fiercely at Liu Xiyin. “You did what you did, and now you are here to hound your sister? Are you trying to force her to death?” She then realized something and asked, “What did you just call me?”
Liu Xiyin ignored her and continued to look at Liu Mingyue. “On the day I married, Madam Liu forbade the kitchen from sending me food or drink and forbade my small kitchen from being lit. There wasn’t a single bite of food in my courtyard. Madam Liu has a memory for important things and has forgotten what she did. The eldest Miss is young—did you also forget where the food you ate came from?”
Liu Mingyue frowned. “Sister, how can you call Mother that?”
Liu Xiyin: “You only need to answer my question.”
Liu Mingyue suddenly covered her mouth and dry-heaved. Bai Manman hurriedly held a spittoon for her. Liu Mingyue waved her hand, covering her mouth to steady herself for a long while. When she looked up again, her eyes were red. “Yes, it was the wedding cakes sent from your courtyard.”
Her fair, soft hand pointed to a plate on the table. “This is the plate from your courtyard. It was part of the betrothal gifts given to you by the Marshal’s Mansion—it is Yuan blue-and-white porcelain. There are only two of this pattern in the entire world.”
Liu Xiyin glanced at the plate and then turned to Bai Manman. “Madam Liu, what is the meaning of this?”
Bai Manman froze completely.
Liu Xiyin: “I came from the countryside and do not understand the rules, but the wedding cakes distributed to relatives and friends were prepared by the mistress of the house. You were the one who had someone go to my courtyard to take the Yuan porcelain, saying it was to be filled with wedding cakes and sent with the dowry to the Marshal’s Mansion. Now, why is one of these plates here at Biyu Pavilion? Why has it become evidence that I harmed my sister?”
Bai Manman could not answer.
The wedding cakes intended for the Marshal’s Mansion had been sent to Biyu Pavilion, and they had caused Liu Mingyue to vomit incessantly. This error was certainly not Liu Xiyin’s doing, because she had placed the cakes into the food box herself—Liu Xiyin had never even seen them, let alone touched them.
Liu Xiyin said, “Madam Liu, you had best pray that it was not the cakes themselves that were tainted. If the Liu family distributed poisonous wedding cakes to relatives and friends on their daughter’s wedding day, and if there were also oversights in the batch sent to the Marshal’s Mansion, not only will the police department intervene, but you will become the laughingstock of the entire upper class.”
Liu Xiyin looked at Liu Mingyue again. “Outside, it is also said that I pushed you when you fell into the water. Did I push you?”
Liu Mingyue was stunned, as if she had never known about this. “No. I was distracted and lost my footing; it had nothing to do with anyone else. I told Mother about it.” She turned to Bai Manman. “Mother, is that not so?”
Bai Manman gripped her hand. “Hongcha said she was the only one nearby. Are you… are you really not just trying to cover for her?”
Bai Manman’s expression was complex, her hand trembling. Liu Mingyue’s fall into the water occurred half a month ago. Ever since it was discovered that she was not the true daughter of the Liu family, Liu Mingyue had been despondent. Every time she appeared in public, Bai Manman could see her forcing a smile.
The Marshal had forced the Liu family to switch the bride without changing the wedding date. The Liu family did not have time to prepare an extra dowry for Liu Xiyin; it was Liu Mingyue who had voluntarily relinquished the dowry prepared for her, resolving the family’s urgent crisis.
Bai Manman had increasingly felt that Liu Mingyue was wronged and sensible. Therefore, when Liu Mingyue said the fall was an accident, Bai Manman subconsciously assumed she was deliberately shielding Liu Xiyin for the sake of household harmony. Ever since learning she was not the daughter of the Liu family, Liu Mingyue had always felt she owed Liu Xiyin, and Bai Manman believed she was capable of such a gesture. Because of this, she felt even more that Liu Xiyin was far inferior to Liu Mingyue.
Liu Mingyue gripped Bai Manman’s hand tighter, her brow furrowing even deeper. “Mother, what are you talking about? In the garden that day, I never even saw Ayin. Is that what Hongcha told you?”
Bai Manman’s face turned pale. She looked at Liu Xiyin. “Ayin, Mother…”
Liu Xiyin did not care about her reaction. She simply continued to ask Liu Mingyue, “I also allegedly stole your hairpin? And bullied you at Huifeng Tea House?”
Liu Mingyue shook her head. “I lost the hairpin myself over a month ago, and you never bullied me. Xiangcha, who said you stole the hairpin, has already been dismissed by me. I am the one who has been in the wrong all along.”
Very good, very good, very good. The heroine clearly knew she hadn’t done those things, yet the blame had still fallen on Liu Xiyin. It couldn’t be a plot correction, could it? In the original plot, Yan Changye would have had his leg blown off yesterday, and thirty-two people would have been killed or injured near the Xinmao Department Store—why hadn’t that been corrected?
Liu Xiyin took a deep breath. She didn’t even look at Bai Manman, who was about to step forward, but said to Liu Mingyue, “You indeed owe me an apology. You spent sixteen years in the glory of being the daughter of the Liu family, exhausting all the resources that should have been mine. Yet, because of a few words from others, you let yourself sink to this level, creating a mess and implicating me in the filth of your reputation.”
“I will not say I forgive you or the Liu family. Even though I lived a good life for the first sixteen years, that was my own good fortune. I will not wallow in self-pity over the suffering that should have happened, and I certainly will not let this slide lightly. Perhaps in some other cycle, someone lived a miserable existence because of this identity.”
“But standing here, representing only myself, I will reiterate to you and to Madam Liu: I have no interest in anyone or anything belonging to the Liu family. I do not want to see a single recurrence of these ‘incidents’—poisoning, theft, pushing, or public humiliation—ever again. If you cannot manage that, find a quiet place to hang yourself and be done with it once and for all.”
After saying this, Liu Xiyin turned and walked away.