Similar things had happened several times before.
For instance, the last time, it was clearly Yue Yue who had deliberately spilled ink on her eldest brother’s official documents. Yet, he had called her crude and willful, and without bothering to distinguish right from wrong, he had used a ruler to strike her palms ruthlessly.
And the time before that, Yue Yue had intentionally smashed the jade hairpin her eldest brother had given her. Yet, he had claimed she looked down on the gift for being shabby, looking at her with such disgust while berating her for being vain and ungrateful after only a few days of good life!
And then there was the incident at Jiangxue Pavilion…
Xie Qiqi fell silent. Suddenly, she had no desire to offer any further futile explanations.
In any case, anything she said would simply be dismissed by her eldest brother as an attempt to shirk responsibility.
Xie Wenyuan looked at Xie Qiqi with loathing and sneered, "Do you have anything else to say?"
He had never imagined that the sister he once cherished would fake a faint just to deceive him!
If he hadn't seen Qiuju sneaking around buying pastries on the street, he didn’t know how much longer he would have been hoodwinked by Xie Qiqi.
Xie Qiqi stood up, her body weak, porridge still smeared on her face. She looked directly into Xie Wenyuan's eyes and asked, "Eldest Brother, if I had died in the lake at Jiangxue Pavilion back then, would you have felt any sorrow for me?"
"Would you have regretted failing to save me?"
Xie Wenyuan let out a scoff. "So, is that the reason you pretended to be unconscious? You wanted to make us feel guilty? You wanted to use a method like this to make us revolve around you?"
Xie Qiqi persisted stubbornly, "Eldest Brother, just answer me: would you have regretted it?"
Xie Wenyuan was furious. "Xie Qiqi, you really are beyond saving. Even after being exposed, you don't show an ounce of remorse; you just continue to be difficult and unreasonable!"
"Fine, I'll answer you… No. I would never regret it. I am ashamed to have a sister like you. Even if you died, you wouldn't be worth my sorrow!"
Xie Wenyuan felt both pained and disappointed. He thought back to the Xie Qiqi of his childhood—well-behaved, sensible, and bright. But the current Xie Qiqi had become selfish and full of lies.
Was she even worth the worry and heartache of such a selfish person?
Only moments ago, Xie Qiqi had thought that if her eldest brother said he would be sad or regretful, it would prove he still cared for her. If that were the case, she could have moved past the pain of him wrongly accusing her.
Xie Wenyuan’s answer completely shattered her heart.
"If you are ashamed to have me as a sister, then from now on, consider me to have died in that lake!"
"There is no need for you to acknowledge me as your sister, and I shall no longer recognize you as my brother!"
Thinking of the despair she felt while on the brink of death after being thrown into the icy lake, Xie Qiqi completely let go of her longing for familial affection from her eldest brother.
What kind of brother could be so heartless to his own flesh and blood?
Such a brother was not worth having!
Xie Qiqi’s words left Xie Wenyuan stunned, his expression one of disbelief.
"Xie Qiqi, are you cutting ties with me?"
"You did something wrong, and when your eldest brother tries to teach you a lesson, you want to cut ties? Are you even speaking like a human being?"
Yue Yue appeared shocked and urged anxiously, "Sister, quickly apologize to Big Brother. How can you say such things and break his heart?"
"Have you forgotten how good Big Brother was to you? Back then, to save you, his arm was injured so badly he still cannot straighten it today, and he even had to give up the swordplay he loved most..."
At the mention of that past event, Xie Wenyuan became even more incensed. Pointing at Xie Qiqi, he spat out, "She is an ingrate. If I had known then what I know now, I would rather she had been smashed to death back then..."
Xie Wenyuan thought about how he could have become a formidable general like his father, but because he had broken his arm, he had been forced to choose a desk job instead.
Was his life-risking sacrifice all for the sake of saving this ungrateful wretch?
He glared at Xie Qiqi, still holding onto a sliver of expectation. If Xie Qiqi would just kneel and apologize, retracting what she had just said, he would let it go.
Xie Qiqi curled her fingers, the pain from the two fingers broken by the Crown Princess flaring up.
She had been unconscious for five days—had no one even noticed that her fingers were fractured?
Was it the case that if she had died in her sleep, the Xie family wouldn't have discovered it until her body had turned cold?
As she thought this, her heart grew even colder. She said coldly, "I will remember your kindness in saving my life. Consider me indebted to you for one life, and I shall repay it in the future!"
When Xie Wenyuan heard Xie Qiqi still addressing him as "Eldest Master" with no hint of an apology, he was utterly disappointed and his face darkened.
"Yuer, let's go… Since she has chosen not to have me as a brother, it’s not as if I care for her anyway..."
"From now on, I will only acknowledge you as my sister!"
Yue Yue nudged Xie Wenyuan. "Big Brother, go back first. Let me try to persuade Sister again. She is just acting out of spite; I will definitely convince her to apologize to you!"
Xie Wenyuan gave a cold snort. "Doctor Gao, let's go. She is eating and drinking just fine; she doesn't need you to treat her anymore!"
This ingrate wasn't worthy of his concern, nor was she worthy of the family physician he had specially brought to see her.
Seeing that Xie Wenyuan was leaving, Qiuju hurriedly kowtowed. "Eldest Master, please, take this servant with you! If I stay in Jiyue Court, the Fourth Young Miss will surely beat me to death..."
Xie Wenyuan walked away without looking back. "From now on, follow the Fifth Young Miss. If Xie Qiqi dares to give you trouble again, I will never let her off lightly!"
Yue Yue stood there, and only after the sound of footsteps had faded away did she burst into a giggle.
Yue Yue sneered, "Xie Qiqi, aren't you the one who loves to argue? Big Brother wronged you so much, why aren't you arguing now?"
Xie Qiqi looked at Yue Yue with detachment and said coldly, "When I was first brought back, Mother assigned a nanny and four maids to my courtyard. Not long after, you said you liked the nanny's cooking and took her away."
"A few months ago, you said your dress needed embroidery by Xique, so Xique left, too… Then it was Shancha, and this time, it was Qiuju. I must admire you; you really went to great lengths to set up this scheme just to get a maid!"
Yue Yue let out another laugh. "Xie Qiqi, I thought you were a fool, but it seems you still have a bit of intelligence after all..."
"That's right, it was my scheme. I was the one who deliberately let Qiuju buy the pastries where Big Brother would see her… and it was I who taught Qiuju exactly what to say!"
"I want your parents and your brothers to loathe you… I want you to end up all alone!"
The hatred in Yue Yue’s eyes was undisguised; she had been holding it in for a long time.
Previously, she had been cautious about falling out with Xie Qiqi too early for fear of being disliked by the Xie family and driven away. But now, she had gained the upper hand in every confrontation with Xie Qiqi, and she had successfully guided the entire family into detesting her. Even if Xie Qiqi tried to complain, they would only think she was slandering Yue Yue.
Thus, she could express her hatred for Xie Qiqi without any restraint.
"Xie Qiqi, I really despise you to death!"
Yue Yue pushed Xie Qiqi hard, adding with venomous intent, "I thought that tearing up Master Sikong’s masterpiece would cause the Crown Princess to kill you in a fit of rage. I never imagined she would merely throw you into the lake!"
"Why didn't you just die of illness? Don't you know the whole family is ashamed of you? Why are you still alive and being such an eyesore!"
Pushed until she lost her balance, Xie Qiqi fell to the floor, feeling both terrified and heart-chilled.
She had previously thought that Yue Yue tearing the painting was only an attempt to make the Crown Princess dislike her, but she never imagined that Yue Yue had intended to use the Crown Princess’s hand to kill her!
Did Yue Yue hate her that much?