"First Madam..."
Si Mengchu lifted her gaze in astonishment, her voice soft and carrying a trace of imperceptible emotion.
She had never imagined that one day the First Madam would treat her and her younger brother so well!
Heavenly silk brocade, Shu brocade—such fine fabrics—neither she nor her younger brother had ever worn in all the years they had grown up.
She remembered once seeing Si Mengli wearing a pink gauze dress of Shu brocade and heavenly silk brocade, chasing butterflies in the garden, the dress glittering in the sunlight.
At the time, she had been consumed with envy, staring fixedly at the skirt until Si Mengli walked over, lifted her chin, and mocked her.
"What? Is my dress pretty?"
"Yes, it's pretty." Faced with Si Mengli's mockery, she nodded honestly out of envy.
"Hmph, in this lifetime all you'll ever do is envy! Who says you're just the daughter of the second branch's fool? Luxurious clothes like these can only be worn by a legitimate young lady like me!
Oh, and by the way, even your own mother—the Second Madam—said that I am the esteemed legitimate young lady of the Earl's Mansion, while you are nothing more than a slave's equal. You will never compare to me in this lifetime!"
Si Mengli stared at her with malice and sneered.
At that moment, a pang went through Si Mengchu's heart, and she lowered her head in inferiority.
Ever since then, she had subconsciously beaten herself down into the dust in her heart.
Yet now, the First Madam was actually going to make twelve sets of clothes each for her and her brother in one go!
Since birth, she hadn't even had ten new clothes in total; previously, she and her brother wore only the old clothes their mother brought back from outside.
As for the new clothes made for her and her brother during festivals, they were only allowed to be worn once in front of people, and were immediately stripped off the moment they returned.
Their mother had said they were unworthy of such fine garments, and that these clothes must be given to the concubine-born sons and daughters of their uncle's family.
"What is it, Chuchu?" Meng Yihuan heard her voice and turned back to look at her, only to see tears pouring like rain down Si Mengchu's face.
"Fi... First Madam, th... thank you, but my brother and I cannot accept these. These belong to the eldest young master and the second young lady, we don't deserve—"
Si Mengchu choked back sobs as she tried to refuse, but before she could finish, Meng Yihuan gently interrupted her.
"Chuchu, you and your brother are also young ladies and young masters of this household. You deserve these clothes, and if anyone dares to bully you in the future, you tell me.
As for the eldest young master and the second young lady, they already have plenty of clothes. I said what I'm giving you is yours."
She never expected that her own daughter had lived life with such humility and trepidation; in an instant, her heart felt as though it were being gnawed away by thousands of ants.
She couldn't help but think: no wonder that in her past life, even after Xue Wanrou and the others left, Si Mengchu remained so well-behaved and timid in front of her.
Even when she was harmed by Si Mengli, Si Mengchu hadn't dared to come and tell her the truth.
So they had been living such bitter lives all this time—the servants didn't treat them as masters, and Xue Wanrou didn't even treat them as human beings, causing them to develop this inferior and timid personality from childhood.
Fortunately, she had been reborn now; she would surely raise these two children well in this lifetime.
***
Within two days, Meng Yihuan developed the antidote to treat Si Tianque, and she had the medicine administered to him through a maid she had arranged to place inside their courtyard.
Seven days later, Si Tianque was able to move about healthily.
At Meng Yihuan's urging, the tailoring workshop also finished some of the clothes and delivered them to Si Mengchu and the others.
Ever since Meng Yihuan arranged for servants to go and wait upon the two siblings, instructing and comforting them according to Meng Yihuan's words, Si Mengchu had grown slightly more confident.
On this day, Si Mengchu was taking a rare stroll in the estate's garden accompanied by a maid. Gone was her previous reserve and timidity, and she appreciated the flowers just like any innocent and carefree young maiden.
"Who are you?" Just as Si Mengchu smiled and sniffed a winter plum in full bloom on a branch, a haughty girl's voice suddenly rang out from behind her.
The smile on Si Mengchu's face froze abruptly, and her body instantly stiffened in dread.
She was far too familiar with this voice; every single scene of being bullied by Si Mengli in the past came rushing back into her mind.
Si Mengli strode toward her, and upon seeing that the young woman before her was Si Mengchu, anger abruptly surged across her face.
"So it's you, you little bastard! Why are you wearing such fine clothes? Is heavenly silk brocade something you deserve to wear? You must have stolen someone else's clothes from somewhere!"
"No, Lier younger sister, I didn't steal these clothes. The estate's embroiderer made them for me," Si Mengchu shook her head pitifully and explained.
She was no thief; she hadn't stolen any clothes.
Si Mengli refused to believe her at all and let out a cold snort. "Hmph! Still pretending! If you didn't steal them, where did you get them? Don't tell me you expect me to believe your mother had the embroiderer make them for you?"
That bitch's mother was her own real mother; she would never make clothes for her!
Mother had said all the good things in the Earl's Mansion belonged to her and her older brother!
"It... it was the First Madam who had them made for me." Si Mengchu hesitated before finally speaking up.
"What? You're talking nonsense! How could my mother have clothes made for you? These must have been made for me by Mother! Did you sneak off to the embroiderer's and steal them?
Hurry up and take them off! These are definitely the garments Mother had made for me. You shameless thief, take them off and give them back to me right now!"
Hearing that Meng Yihuan had ordered the clothes made for Si Mengchu, Si Mengli simply refused to believe it. How could her mother ever make clothes for Si Mengchu?
Therefore, without a shred of doubt, she assumed Si Mengchu had stolen them, and while screaming at her, she reached out to rip the garments from her body.
Although Si Mengli was two years younger than Si Mengchu, she had been raised in luxury since childhood and ate much more nourishing food than Si Mengchu, making her just as tall as Si Mengchu, and even plumper and sturdier in build.
Si Mengchu's frail body was hoisted up by her in an instant.
"Second young lady, please stop! The clothes on the eldest young lady really were made for her by the First Madam, please don't hurt the eldest young lady!"
The maid sent by Meng Yihuan to take care of Si Mengchu was burning with anxiety.
She did not know the truth about their identities, and thus she dared not lay a hand on Si Mengli, standing by helplessly as she urged her to stop.
Bound by the fact that the other party was the First Madam's daughter, Si Mengchu dared not fight back or injure her, and could only try every possible way to escape.
As the two of them tussled relentlessly, Si Mengchu yielding and dodging without ever fighting back, they were quickly dragged from the middle of the garden to the edge of the lake.
"Splash!"
With a heavy sound of breaking water, Si Mengchu was predictably pushed into the lake by Si Mengli.
"Ah! Someone help, the eldest young lady fell into the water!" The maid turned ashen with terror.
She could not swim, and watching Si Mengchu thrashing about in the water, she could only scream for help.
Si Mengli, however, stood triumphantly on the bank, making faces at Si Mengchu in the water.
"Tsk tsk... Go on and drown! Drown! You're just a little wild seed to begin with, you don't deserve to exist in this world at all. Die early, and maybe you can be reborn into a good family in your next life!"
Si Mengchu felt her body sinking rapidly, struggling desperately, yet every time she struggled, she choked on a mouthful of water.
She felt so miserable, so terribly miserable, but she knew she could not die.
She still had her younger brother; her brother relied on her as his elder sister most of all. If she died, what would happen to him?
Mother didn't like her brother, and the First Madam... would she look after him?
Her vision grew increasingly blurry, and her strength gradually faded from her limbs.
She thought that perhaps her humble destiny was truly coming to an end...