Chapter 2
The oil lamp’s flame was no bigger than a bean.
Li Weiyang rolled over in bed and suddenly came fully awake. She could clearly hear voices outside.
Outside, Madam Ma said cautiously, “Mother, do you think we should find someone to examine Third Miss? She was sent here by the Li family, after all. If she really dies...”
Madam Liu listened to her daughter-in-law, her sallow face cold as she replied indifferently, “That little brat really thinks she’s some grand young lady. I heard long ago that she’s a concubine-born daughter who crawled out of a foot-washing maid’s belly. She was born in the second month, too—a true bringer of misfortune. The Li family is a great clan, so they couldn’t very well kill her outright. That’s why they dumped her on their distant relatives in Pingcheng. But then the old madam and mistress of the Li family both fell ill one after another. Wasn’t it obvious she’d cursed them? So they hurriedly sent her to our village! Hmph, I say she’s not just a jinx, she’s a lazy good-for-nothing. Every time I ask her to do something, she pretends she’s dying. Stinking brat!”
Li Weiyang listened to them, then suddenly jolted and instinctively looked around. There was hardly any furniture in the room: just a square table, four long wooden benches, a cabinet for storing things, and the wooden bed she was lying on.
This place was— Her mind went blank, while the conversation outside continued to ring clearly in her ears.
“When she was at the Li family’s, she had people waiting on her. She’d never done any hard labor. She only got sick today because she accidentally fell into the ice hole. You can’t blame her entirely...” The weather was cold, yet Madam Liu had sent Weiyang, still a child, to wash clothes on the ice. Madam Ma couldn’t bear it, and her voice grew increasingly anxious.
Madam Liu let out a cold snort. “Even a dead person still has a little warmth in their belly, but this young miss acts like the world is ending whenever she has to do the tiniest bit of work. People say a lazy donkey won’t move unless you beat it. Others walk a road in two steps, but she has to take three. Seeing her pretend to be sick makes my blood boil. At this rate, I might as well toss her outside and let her freeze to death!” She glared at Madam Ma, her face icy. “You think I don’t know you pity that little wretch? If you pity her so much, then go wash her clothes yourself!”
Madam Ma hurriedly replied, “Yes, Mother, you’re right. I won’t dare speak out of turn again...”
Madam Liu rose angrily and slammed the door shut.
What was going on? Hadn’t she died? How had she ended up lying here? Li Weiyang tried to move, but she was weak all over, as if every bone in her body had come apart. She struggled to get a clear look at everything around her, when someone outside suddenly lifted the curtain and came in.
Before long, Li Weiyang was in someone’s arms. The person had narrow shoulders, a soft chest, and smelled of soapberry.
“Have a bowl of porridge. Work up a sweat, and you’ll get better!”
Steam billowed toward her, but Li Weiyang stared at the woman before her as if she were a ghost. If she remembered correctly, this farm woman of about twenty was none other than Madam Ma, the eldest son’s wife in the household where she had once stayed. But how could this be? She had clearly been executed with poisoned wine. Why, in the blink of an eye, was she seeing someone she had known twenty-three years ago...
She had married Tuoba Zhen at sixteen, become Empress eight years later, and then spent twelve whole years in the Cold Palace. By the time she died, she was thirty-six. Yet Madam Ma still looked exactly as she had twenty-three years ago. It was utterly inconceivable! Instinctively, she glanced at her own hand: thin and small, its fingertips tinged with pale crescent moons.
This was not the hand of a thirty-six-year-old woman. It was the hand of a little girl! At the thought, a trace of fear crept into Li Weiyang’s eyes.
Madam Ma asked worriedly, “What is it? Are you still cold?”
Her voice was full of concern. It was clear she truly cared about Li Weiyang.
“I should get a doctor to examine you, but Mother...” She sighed.
Li Weiyang looked at the porridge in Madam Ma’s hands. She had no idea what kind of rice it was made from; even the smell was strange. And yet, for some reason, her eyes slowly grew moist.
If this was a dream, she hoped she would never wake up! Because she had a feeling that she was still alive!
Li Weiyang was just about to speak when someone suddenly hurried in from outside, lifting the curtain.
Madam Ma was holding a bowl of porridge in one hand. She glanced furtively at Madam Liu’s expression and couldn’t help trembling.
“What are you doing? Hand it over!”
Madam Ma was startled. She quickly let go of Li Weiyang and stood up. She was about to set the bowl on the table, but in her haste, it tipped sideways. Some of the soup sloshed out and spilled over her fingers, scalding them badly, but she endured the pain and tried to set it down.
Seeing that Madam Ma had dared to secretly bring Li Weiyang food—and had spilled the soup—Madam Liu flared up. She snatched the bowl of porridge from the table and hurled it at Madam Ma’s face. With a crash, hot liquid splashed all over Madam Ma. She jumped up, pointed, and cursed, “You little slut! I said no one was to bring her food! Can’t you hear a word I say? If you don’t want to stay in this house, then get out right now! I won’t tolerate a grain of sand in my eye, and I won’t have you making a spectacle of yourself in front of me!”
Poor Madam Ma’s face immediately swelled and reddened from the bowl of hot porridge. Holding back her tears, she didn’t dare say a word. She only pinched the hem of her clothes and gently wiped herself off, then bent down to pick up the broken porcelain shards.
Madam Liu was exactly as Li Weiyang remembered: cruel and unkind to everyone. She treated both Li Weiyang and her daughter-in-law Madam Ma like beasts of burden. Li Weiyang stared at Madam Liu and was just about to speak when Madam Ma hurriedly shot her a glance, as if telling her not to say anything lest she get herself into more trouble.
Madam Ma was a gentle, obedient daughter-in-law, but no matter what she did, her wicked mother-in-law Madam Liu never spared her. It was bad enough that Madam Liu nitpicked her all day; whenever she saw Madam Ma helping Li Weiyang, she assumed Madam Ma was deliberately defying her and became even more vicious to them both. Li Weiyang gritted her teeth and stared unblinkingly at Madam Liu.
Madam Liu glanced at Li Weiyang, only to find a chilling coldness in her gaze, a trace of indescribable menace in it. Her heart gave a sudden jolt, and she immediately scolded, “Are you crazy? What kind of look is that, staring at me like that!”
Li Weiyang had no time to think about why she had turned back into a thirteen-year-old. Her thoughts shifted, and she felt around her neck for a long time. Sure enough, she found a jade pendant. Her heart warmed. Her birth mother had hung it around her neck when she was little. Chancellor Li had sent her to his clan relatives, the Li family, who raised her until she was seven. At first, they had found maids and matrons to attend to her. But later, when they realized Chancellor Li had no intention of bringing her back to the capital, and perhaps after someone had egged them on, they simply sent her to be raised by a farming family in the countryside, paying ten taels of silver each month for her upkeep. Then, half a year ago, for some reason, even that allowance suddenly stopped. Madam Liu had gone to the Li family three times to beg for it, but they ignored her. Because of this, Madam Liu grew to hate Li Weiyang even more. She not only used her like a maid, but abused her a hundred, a thousand times worse, and forbade her to leave. Often, she beat her bloody when no one else was around.
Madam Liu looked at Li Weiyang and frowned. “What are you staring at, you little wretch?”
This jade pendant was the only memento her birth mother had left her. She had hidden it desperately in various places, never daring to let Madam Liu know about it. But today... Li Weiyang looked up at her, a clear, cold glint flashing in her eyes. A flattering smile quickly appeared on her face. “Auntie Zhou, I’ve been fortunate to have your care all this time, and I have nothing to thank you with. Why don’t I give you this jade pendant?”
If she remembered correctly, Madam Liu would discover and steal this ordinary-looking twin-fish jade pendant in half a month. Back then, Li Weiyang had tried to get it back and had been beaten for it. Later, when she had become the Third Prince’s consort and sent people back to search for it, an epidemic had already killed more than half the people in this village many years earlier. Even Madam Liu was dead, and the jade pendant had vanished without a trace.
Madam Liu hadn’t expected Li Weiyang herself to bring out the pendant she had always wanted and that the girl had hidden everywhere. Her expression immediately softened. She snorted, snatched the pendant from her hand, and said, “Now that’s more like it!”
Madam Ma stared at Li Weiyang in shock, as if she didn’t recognize her at all. In her memory, Weiyang had guarded this pendant fiercely and never let anyone take it. Why would she suddenly give it to Madam Liu...
With the jade pendant in hand, Madam Liu’s mood improved considerably. She snorted and said, “All right, you can lie in bed for another day. But tomorrow, you’d better get up and work!”
Li Weiyang’s smile grew even more docile. “Of course, Auntie Liu. I’ll get up tomorrow!”
Madam Liu was astonished by Li Weiyang’s docility and was about to say a few more words when a tall man suddenly came in from outside. He took in the scene as if it were nothing unusual, then shot Madam Ma an irritated look, seeming annoyed with her. He forced a smile and said, “Mother, why are you angry again? Here, I bought you a piece of cloth at the market today. You’ll look just like a lady from the county seat in it. Come take a look!” As he spoke, he half dragged, half coaxed Madam Liu out.
As she left, Madam Liu looked back at Madam Ma and said, “Let me catch you bringing her food again, and you’ll pay for it!” She continued muttering curses as she went.
Only when Madam Liu was gone did Madam Ma cover her face and burst into tears.
Li Weiyang looked at Madam Ma and shook her head slightly. Weak, yielding concessions were useless. As for that jade pendant, she had plenty of ways to get it back! And when it came to dealing with a scoundrel like Madam Liu, she had to torment her until she’d been skinned three layers deep!