Chapter 3
It was the twelfth day of the second month in the thirty-first year of Emperor Yongming’s reign. In other words, she had returned to twenty-three years earlier, when she was thirteen.
All night, Li Weiyang was tormented by memories of her “previous life.” She wanted to sob aloud, but the room was so small that anyone would hear her if she made a sound, so she couldn’t cry. She was afraid that if she blinked, she would become that forsaken wreck in the Cold Palace again. She was afraid even to hear the name of the Li residence. Yet when she thought of those two people she loathed, living in luxury in the capital, she wanted to grab a knife and rush over there at once, hacking them to pieces... After crying her heart out and letting her feelings spill over, she gradually calmed down. Li Weiyang looked up at the pitch-black window, her gaze turning dark and unreadable. In her previous life, she had thought that as long as she did her duty and did everything to the best of her ability, she would eventually reap happiness after hardship, like a dead tree blooming again. But who could have imagined that it was all just a flower in the mirror, a moon in the water? The kindness and devotion she had given in return had brought her nothing but dreadful betrayal—from her merciless father, her coldhearted husband, and the woman she had always regarded as a good big sister... Though she could not match Li Changle’s beauty, she had given Tuoba Zhen her whole heart and risked her life for him. If not for her, Tuoba Zhen would have died countless times over. How could he ever have ascended the throne? And yet she had been tossed into the Cold Palace like a piece of trash.
Since Heaven had given her the chance to be reborn, Li Weiyang drew a deep breath, her gaze resolute. Why should she let them off? One day, she would settle the score with every last one of them!
Night fell, and another day passed. A new day was just around the corner.
Madam Ma hesitated, unsure whether she should go wake Li Weiyang. The rooster would crow soon, and if Weiyang was still lying there, Madam Liu would surely scold her.
After a moment’s thought, she went inside hesitantly, only to find the room empty. She was startled.
Where was Weiyang? Looking at the spotless, tidied room, she was astonished.
In the kitchen, Li Weiyang hurriedly made soy milk, then ladled steaming rice porridge into everyone’s bowls. She took out the dark pickled vegetables and carefully portioned them into small dishes, then carried the porridge to the table. When she saw Madam Ma enter, her face full of surprise, she smiled. “Big Sister Lianzi, I’ve made breakfast.”
Madam Ma’s given name was Lianzi, but Weiyang had never called her so warmly before. She had always been timid, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
Li Weiyang knew exactly what the other woman was thinking. Until she was seven, she had been cared for. Of course she couldn’t stand being suddenly dumped with a farming family and left to fend for herself. Especially over the past six months, Madam Liu had grown even more mean and vicious after the payments stopped coming. In the past, Weiyang had been terrified every day, like a startled bird. But now—after enduring Tuoba Zhen’s cruelty, losing her son, having her legs broken, and spending twelve years being worn down in the Cold Palace—Madam Liu? She was only a minor inconvenience. No, not even that—just a little pebble in the road. What was there to fear? Thinking this, Li Weiyang smiled. “Auntie Zhou and the others will be up soon. Big Sister Lianzi, you’d better get things ready.”
There were five people in the Zhou household. Zhou Qing, the head of the family, had once been the steward of the outer courtyard at the home of Li De, the relative who had taken Weiyang in. He was usually away from home. Then there was his wife, Madam Liu, their eldest son Zhou Jiang and his wife Madam Ma, and finally their youngest daughter, Zhou Lanxiu.
Madam Ma looked at her with even greater bewilderment, but Weiyang only smiled faintly and turned to leave.
The gate to the Zhou family’s shabby courtyard slowly opened. A girl of about twelve or thirteen emerged at an unhurried pace, carrying a wooden basin piled high with laundry. She wore a blue skirt that had grown blackish from being washed again and again, with patches at the waist. Her hair was loosely tied into two small buns with hemp cord. Though her clothes were in such poor condition, she was quite pretty, with a delicate oval face and especially fair skin. Her slender, arched brows framed a pair of lively, phoenix-shaped eyes; she had a dainty nose, a small mouth, and glossy black hair that made even her ragged clothes seem charming. Compared with most of the girls in the village, she was undeniably beautiful. As she walked along, countless people turned to look at her.
Dressed in coarse clothes and looking shabby, Li Weiyang kept her expression calm, as if she hadn’t noticed a thing. Carrying the wooden basin, she walked step by step toward the river.
What did being pretty matter? She, too, had once thought herself beautiful. But after going to the capital and seeing Li Changle, she had learned what true celestial beauty was. Beside her, Weiyang’s own looks seemed quite ordinary.
When Li Weiyang reached the river, she crouched down and pounded the clothes with a wooden beater. The beater thumped against the fabric, and dirty water splashed onto her clothes and face, but she worked steadily and carefully, without the slightest complaint.
A few girls doing laundry spotted her. They nudged one another with their elbows, then glanced sideways at her and snickered as they chatted, chattering like a flock of sparrows.
“Look, look! That young lady from a rich family is here to do laundry again.”
“How pitiful. Look at what she’s wearing—it’s worse than ours.”
“Is she really the Chancellor’s daughter? How come no high-ranking official ever comes to visit her?”
“Oh, don’t you know? She was born in the second month! A fortune-teller said she’d bring misfortune to her father. Her family was so eager to send her away because they didn’t want to see her!”
“Oh, my! Some young lady she is—she’s worse off than us village girls. If it were me, I’d be furious!”
“Exactly! I wouldn’t want to be a young lady like that, even if you offered!”
Their words reached her one after another, and Li Weiyang couldn’t help remembering how, as a little girl, she had dreamed of what life might be like if she ever returned to the capital. But each time, her fantasies only made her feel her misery all over again, deepening her sorrow... A faint smile curved Li Weiyang’s lips. In her previous life, she had cried plenty over these people’s gossip. But now—she stood up and carried the clothes upstream.
This was Madam Liu’s foul-smelling, absurdly long foot-binding cloth. Li Weiyang slapped the strip against the water with loud smacks, sending dirty water streaming into the girls’ basins. They kept chattering, completely unaware.
After washing the clothes, Li Weiyang stood up with the basin full to the brim.
Everyone looked at her strangely. They all felt that she was different from before. No matter what they said or how much they laughed, she wore the same calm expression, just like an adult watching children carry on without knowing any better...
It was still early when she returned to the Zhou household. Madam Liu had just finished breakfast and was sitting beneath the veranda picking her teeth. When she saw Weiyang, her brows knitted, and she was about to say something—but for some reason, she held back, got up, and went inside.
Madam Ma came over and quietly slipped Weiyang a flatbread. “Your father-in-law is back,” she whispered.
Zhou Qing? Li Weiyang raised her brows and looked at Madam Ma.
Madam Ma was taken aback. Weiyang was still so young, but why did her gaze seem to hold something different now—maturity and sternness?
No wonder Madam Liu hadn’t been shouting curses today... In an instant, Li Weiyang’s face bloomed into a bright smile. She thanked Madam Ma, lowered her head, and ate the coarse flatbread. Her throat burned as she swallowed the chewed-up bread, but she ate it with relish.
Because this was a golden opportunity to deal with Madam Liu.