Eight years. Bearing the character for "slave" branded on her forehead, Xie Qiqi had taken Yue Yue's place to become a government slave.
For those eight years, she never had enough to eat or warm clothes to wear. She had to endure sickness all on her own, not to mention the beatings that followed her like a shadow...
Even after she was brought back to the Xie Family, not a single person ever acknowledged that Yue Yue owed her anything.
Over the past year, whenever she and Yue Yue had a disagreement, they always said: "You are the elder sister, and Yue Yue is the younger sister. As the elder sister, you should give in to her!"
Clearly, she was only born a month before Yue Yue!
Fortunately, there was finally someone who understood the grievances she had suffered!
With tear-filled eyes, Xie Qiqi looked at Wei Ling.
However...
Wei Ling said slowly: "The reason I came back this time is to ask you: can we call off our engagement?"
"We were young and ignorant back then. Over these eight years, we've both grown up, and I know what I want now... The only person I want to marry in this life is Yue Yue!"
"As long as you agree, I am willing to acknowledge you as my younger sister. In the future, whatever Yue Yue owes you, I will pay it back for her..."
A buzzing filled Xie Qiqi's head, and she stared blankly as Wei Ling's mouth opened and closed.
In her daze, she did not know whether she had answered, nor did she know how she had returned to the Xie Residence.
...
Xie Qiqi only felt as though she had plunged into a dark world, one moment freezing cold, the next scorching hot...
She did not know how long she had been in a deep sleep, but amid her trance, she faintly heard the sound of crying.
"Mistress, please wake up! This servant knows you have suffered grievances and don't want to live anymore, but think of the Dowager. If you die, won't it break her heart?"
"Mistress, didn't you say you wanted to eat roasted duck from Yangzhou and mandarin fish from Suzhou... How can you be willing to die like this? Sob, sob..."
Yan'er was crying so hard she was choking, unable to continue.
Xie Qiqi recalled those dark days devoid of the sun; back then, she had relied precisely on those little wishes to pull through one day after another!
She had yet to fulfill those dreams—how could she be willing to die like this...
Wearily, she opened her eyes.
Seeing this, Yan'er smiled through her surprise, but the next moment tears fell in a rush once more.
"Mistress, you scared this servant to death! Do you know you've been asleep for five days..."
"Imperial Physician Wang said... said if you didn't wake up, you would die... This servant was about to go tell the Dowager!"
Xie Qiqi looked up at the canopy of the bed. She had been asleep for five days?
Then Grandmother...
Xie Qiqi tried to prop herself up, but the moment she moved, the world spun and she fell back down.
"Mistress, don't worry, this servant didn't tell the Dowager. The Madam forbade anyone from passing news to the back courtyard, and only said you went to the Great Buddha Temple to pray for blessings for the Dowager!"
Yan'er helped Xie Qiqi sit up, saying with a heart full of distress.
"Mistress, you haven't eaten a single bite of food for five days, you must be starving. This servant has brewed some red date porridge; let this servant feed you a little."
Yan'er brought over the red date porridge. With every mouthful Xie Qiqi swallowed, she felt a burning, searing pain in her lungs.
The red date porridge was sweet, yet she could not taste any flavor at all.
Only after managing to eat half a bowl of porridge did she feel as though she had come back to life.
"Mistress, First Young Master..."
Yan'er seemed to want to say something, but the moment she opened her mouth, Xie Wenyuan walked in supporting Yue Yue, followed closely by Doctor Gao.
"Elder Sister, you're awake!"
Seeing Xie Qiqi sitting on the bed, Yue Yue looked pleasantly surprised and clasped her hands together in agitation.
"The gods and Buddhas must have heard my prayers and allowed Elder Sister to wake up!"
Xie Wenyuan, however, cast a cold glance at the half-empty porridge bowl, waved his hand, and said: "Doctor Gao, take the Fourth Miss's pulse!"
Xie Qiqi's heart skipped a beat. Having been unconscious for five days, her eldest brother must surely regret not pleading on her behalf earlier, right?
She cooperated and extended her wrist.
Doctor Gao reached out and placed his fingers on Xie Qiqi's pulse, then stood up and reported:
"First Young Master, the Fourth Miss's pulse is steady and even!"
Xie Wenyuan's expression sank instantly. He pointed straight at Xie Qiqi and scolded angrily:
"Xie Qiqi, what else do you have to say for yourself? You weren't sick at all, yet you deliberately fumed in a fake coma! To think Mother actually believed you were seriously ill and worried about you day and night."
"Yue Yue was also deceived by you; hoping for your early recovery, she copied Buddhist scriptures to pray for you despite being unwell yourself. Is this how you repay them?"
Xie Qiqi's head was still swimming. Xie Wenyuan's words left her completely bewildered—how on earth had she faked being unconscious?
In Xie Wenyuan's eyes, her bewilderment was simply her usual trick of playing dumb whenever her crimes were exposed.
Ever since returning from Jiangxue Pavilion that day, Qiqi had fallen severely ill and remained unconscious.
Xie Wenyuan had felt guilty for several days because of it, regretting why he hadn't spoken up for Xie Qiqi at the time. He never expected that Xie Qiqi had been faking the whole thing!
Panicking, Yan'er defended her: "First Young Master, the Mistress really was unconscious! She just woke up!"
Xie Wenyuan was usually steady by nature, but at this moment he could no longer control his temper and yelled angrily at Yan'er:
"You insolent slave, how dare you quibble for her? It's precisely because wicked servants like you colluded with her to keep superiors in the dark that she has become increasingly arrogant, and now she even dares to deceive her own parents!"
"Someone drag this insolent slave out and give her twenty heavy board strikes! If she dares to commit this again, sell her off directly!"
Two burly matrons stepped forward, grabbed Yan'er, and dragged her toward the door.
Xie Qiqi panicked. Yan'er was only twelve years old—how could she possibly endure twenty heavy board strikes!
She struggled to get out of bed to stop them, but her body was too weak, and she tumbled onto the floor before she could steady herself.
In this short span of time, Yan'er had already been dragged far away.
Anxious and furious, Xie Qiqi shrieked: "What did Yan'er do wrong? Eldest Brother, what right do you have to hit her? Do you always handle matters with such a complete lack of distinction between right and wrong?"
Yue Yue shook Xie Wenyuan's arm and pleaded:
"Eldest Brother, did you misunderstand something? Elder Sister is not that kind of person; she would never deliberately fake a coma and worry Mother!"
Xie Wenyuan patted Yue Yue's hand and said pityingly: "Yue Yue, don't speak up for her. She isn't worth you treating her well!"
Glancing down disdainfully at Xie Qiqi, who was still sprawled on the floor, Xie Wenyuan sneered:
"Xie Qiqi, you say I don't distinguish between right and wrong? Fine, today I will make you submit willingly. Someone, bring Qiuju forward..."
Qiuju, another maid from Xie Qiqi's courtyard, was brought forward by Shi Yu, who also tossed a bundle onto the ground.
The bundle came undone, spilling various pastries and half a box of unfinished bird's nest.
Kneeling on the ground with her head lowered, Qiuju stammered:
"First Young Master, the Fourth Miss was the one who told this servant to secretly buy these pastries. Whenever nobody was around, she used the pastries to fill her stomach, and the Fourth Miss also told me to put the bird's nest in the porridge..."
"At first, this servant didn't dare help the Fourth Miss hide it from the Madam, but the Fourth Miss threatened to beat this servant to death if I didn't listen to her!"
Xie Qiqi looked at Qiuju in astonishment. When had she ever told Qiuju to do such a thing? And when had she ever uttered such threatening words?
Xie Wenyuan picked up the bowl of porridge and smashed it fiercely against Xie Qiqi's body.
"Xie Qiqi, take a good look for yourself—is there any bird's nest in there? If you're going to fake things, at least eat the evidence!"
The porridge splashed all over Xie Qiqi's face. Although it was no longer hot, such humiliation chilled Xie Qiqi to the bone.
Instinctively, she looked toward Yue Yue, only to see Yue Yue pressing tightly against her eldest brother's arm, flashing her a provocative smile where the eldest brother couldn't see...
Was this a trap set by Yue Yue?