A Simple Meal
Right now it was February 12 in the 31st year of the Yong Ming Empire. In other words, she had traveled back to 23 years ago. This year she was 13 years old.
For the entire night, Li Wei Yang was tortured by the memories of her “previous lifetime”. She hated that she couldn’t cry out loud because the chamber was too small. A tiny noise could be heard by someone else so she had to hold in the powerful sobs. She was terrified that if she closed her eyes, she would revert back to the crippled person who was abandoned in the Cold Palace. She was afraid to hear the Li’s name. Except when she thought of the two people she hated most in this world was living comfortably at the the Capital, she was angry she couldn’t use a sword to slash them a million times over. . .
After crying until the tears have dried up and all the turbulent emotions have been expressed, she gradually calmed down. Li Wei Yang lifted her head and looked through the window at the night’s sky. Her eyes turned dark and bleak.
When she was alive before, she had believed what matters was to do your part right and know where you stand, to put your best efforts into everything and you will naturally receive good karma in the end. But who would’ve thought that those things were unrealistic and illusive. She had traded her compassion and kindness in return for a terrifying betrayal and heartache.
Her father was heartless, her husband was bitter and resentful, and even that person whom she thought of as her good sister. . .Even though she couldn’t be compared to Li Zhang Le’s beauty, but she had been faithful and loyal to Tuo Ba Zhen. For him, she had ignored the line between life and death. Had it not been for her, Tuo Ba Zhen would have died long ago. He wouldn’t have the chance to become the Emperor. Yet she has become the trash that has been discarded into the Cold Palace.
Heaven has granted her a chance for rebirth. Li Wei Yang inhaled deeply, her gaze was determined. There were no reasons to be mercy towards those people. Someday, this debt they owe her, she will ask for it back from each and every single one of them!
The night began to disappear. A day had passed by. In a blink of an eye, a new day had begun.
Mrs. Ma was hesitant.
She didn’t know if she should wake up Li Wei Yang. The rooster was about to make the morning call, but if Li Wei Yang continued to sleep, she was going to get a scolding from Mrs. Liu. Mrs. Ma contemplated then reluctantly stepped into the bedchamber, but she soon discovered that it was empty. There was not a single soul. She panicked.
Where was Wei Yang? Looking at how clean the room was, she was surprised.
In the kitchen, Li Wei Yang paced back and forth. She had finished warming up the soy milk, poured steaming congee into everyone’s bowl, carefully prepared the pickled cucumber on a separate plate and finally, placed the pot of congee onto the table.
Upon seeing Mrs. Ma’s stunned expression as she entered the kitchen, Wei Yang smiled. “Lian Zi jie, I have already prepared the meal.”
Mrs. Ma’s maiden name was Lian Zi, but Wei Yang had never addressed her name with such affection before. Until now, she had always been scared and nervous, like she was about to burst out crying anytime.
Of course Li Wei Yang knew what the other person was thinking. Before she was 7 years old, there had been maids and servants to help with her daily routine. Then suddenly she was sent off to the countryside to survive on her own, naturally it would be hard to endure. Especially in the latter half of the year when Mrs. Liu couldn’t get her hands on the living expense, she had become more abusive and mean. Consequently Wei Yang became even more terrified and nervous, like a deer caught in headlights.
But right now, when she has already experienced Tuo Ba Zhen’s ruthlessness and cruelty, experienced the agony of her broken legs and the 12 years of imprisonment in the Cold Palace, what was Mrs. Liu? She was an insignificant obstacle. No, she couldn’t even be considered an obstacle. She was simply a small rock on the road. What was there to be afraid of?
Thinking of this, Li Wei Yang smiled and said, “Aunt Zhou and them are almost here. Lian Zi jie should hurry up with the preparations.”
In total this family had five members. The head of the family was Zhou Qing. He was the groundskeeper for the Li De house and was usually not at home. Then there was his wife, Mrs. Liu, his eldest son, Zhou Jiang and his wife, Mrs. Ma, and last but not there was the youngest daughter, Zhou Lan Xiu.
Mrs. Ma stared at Wei Yang in confusion, but Wei Yang merely grinned and stepped outside.
At the Zhou’s shabby house, the large gates slowly opened as a whimsical young girl about 12-13 years old carefully brought out a wooden tub. The wooden tub was filled with clothes. The girl was dressed in blue but it had turned black after being repeatedly washed. On the back, there was a section that had been patched up again. Her hair was tied up into two small buns. She was dressed in rags but she appeared serene. She had a delicate, ovular shaped face. Her skin was especially white. Her eyebrows were long with a pair of phoenix eyes that shone clearly and were filled with spirit, a structured nose and small mouth. Her black hair illuminated her figure, turning the worn-out clothing into a lovely sight. Compare to other girls in the village, she was no doubt prettier. As a result, when she walked out, a lot of eyes had strayed towards her.
Li Wei Yang wore cheap clothing and had no make-up on, but her face remained calm and composed, as if she didn’t notice the staring. With the wooden tub in hand, she made her way towards the riverside.
Then again what was the use of beauty? Before she had thought her appearance was quite exceptional too, but when she returned to the Capital and saw Li Zhang Le, she understood the meaning of beautiful like a fairy. Compared to Zhang Le, her beauty was considered common.
Li Wei Yang stopped by the riverside and squatted down. With power, she used the washing bats to beat the dirt out of the laundry. The washing bats pounded on the clothes and created the pow, pow sound. Water splashed up and sprayed onto her clothing and face, but she was unaffected and focused on the task. There was no hint of resentment.
The other girls, who were also laundering, noticed her. They nudged at each other and glanced at her through the corner of their eyes. They exchanged smirks and whispers, gossiping like a bunch of sparrows.
“Look, look, the precious xiaojie (young miss) is here doing the laundry.”
“How pitiful! Look at what she’s wearing. It can’t even be compared to us.”
“Is she really the Prime Minister’s daughter? How come not a single courtier has shown up to visit her?”
“Aiya, don’t you know? She was born in February and was said to be a curse towards her father! They were in a hurry to kick her out. In other words, they have no intentions of seeing her again!”
“Oh, it’s better to be a village maiden like us than the Prime Minister’s unwanted daughter! If it was me, I would have been angered to death!”
“Exactly! Even if it was given to me, I wouldn’t want it!”
Each and every word flew into Li Wei Yang’s ears. She remembered when she was really young she had carried the hopes and dreams of one day returning to the Capital to live a promising life. However, every time she imagined it, her self-pitying would intensified along with other griefs and sorrows. . .
The corner of her lips curved into a smile. Before the rebirth, it was because of these people’s words that had made her shed thousands of tears. But at this moment, she stood up and walked towards the upland (source of where river begins) instead.
This fabric was actually what Mrs. Liu uses as her socks. The long fabric was stinky. Li Wei Yang held onto the long frabric and beat it down with the bat. The dirty and stinky water flew down stream to where the other girls were. They were still busy gossiping so they hadn’t noticed.
Once she finished laundering the clothes, Li Wei Yang grabbed the tub and stood up.
Everybody looked at her strangely, feeling as if something about her was different. Despite what they said, she continued to maintain a calm and composed appearance, as if – as if an adult was watching a bunch of ignorant children fooling around. . .
When she returned to the Zhou’s house, the sky was still bright. Mrs. Liu had just finished her meal and was sitting on the porch flossing her teeth with a toothpick. Seeing Wei Yang, her eyebrows furrowed. She wanted to say something but for some reason, she swallowed it down, got up and went back inside.
Mrs. Ma came over and handed Wei Yang a tortilla bread. In a small voice, she said, “Father-in-law has returned.”
Zhou Qing? Li Wei Yang raised her brows, staring at Mrs. Ma.
Mrs. Ma stiffened up. Li Wei Yang, this girl was still young but her eyes. . . There was something there that didn’t match her age. It was mature and stony.
No wonder Mrs. Liu hadn’t yelled or did some scolding today. . .In a flash, there was a bright smile on Li Wei Yang’s face, like the flowers blooming in spring. She said thanks to Mrs. Ma, lowered her head and ate the tortilla bread. Her throat was dried up to the point it was hurting but she was happily devouring it.
That’s because the golden opportunity to punish Mrs. Liu has finally arrived.