Chapter 22: Adding Oil to the Fire
Entering Li Chang Xi’s compound, it was filled with a deep fragrant smell. Li Wei Yang was slightly taken aback. She paused at the doorway and contemplated deeply before continuing on.
In the common area, Si yiniang Zhou shi chuckled and stood up to welcome the guest before taking a seat in the chair with the lowest status. Her resentment could not be seen. Meanwhile on Li Chang Xiao’s face, there was unspeakable worry but she didn’t say anything, silently standing to the side.
“Today San xiaojie’s timing is off. Wu xiaojie had just fallen asleep,” Zhou shi said with a smile. She had almond shaped eyes that resembled a lake in springtime. Even though she was the birth mother, in front of other people, she didn’t have the rights to call the xiaojies by their full name.
Had just fallen asleep? Li Wei Yang smiled. “It’s okay. I am here to visit Wu meimei. It is the thought that counts.” Her eyes gently studied Zhou shi. Zhou shi was in a honey coloured silk dress. The bottom of the dress was embroidered with twin lotus flowers. She didn’t look like a furen who had given birth to two daughters. No wonder Li Xiao Ran doted on her.
At the same time, a servant had silently gone to Li Chang Xi’s bedroom to tell her Li Wei Yang was here to pay a visit.
Li Chang Xi abruptly stood up and grabbed a pink flower vase on the table. She flung it at the door. “Get lost! Tell her to get lost immediately!” She could not suppress the fierce hatred in her voice.
The flower vase shattered to pieces as the water inside spashed everywhere onto the floor. The resenting voice penetrated through the myriads of curtains, passing into everyone’s ears. Zhou shi’s expression immediately turned into that of embarrassment. Li Chang Xiao abruptly jumped to her feet, but quickly realized she had acted impolitely and slowly sat back down. She could not hide the anxiousness on her face.
Instinctively Zhou shi glanced at Li Wei Yang. She noticed the other’s eyes, clear and shimmering like ripples of water, was also staring back at her. Zhou shi startled. When she regained her composure, Li Wei Yang’s gaze had the hint of a smile in it. There was nothing abnormal about it. Zhou shi concluded that this young thirteen year old girl in front of her was not as simple as she appears.
Any person to experience this type of incident would feel embarrassed, but Li Wei Yang seemed to have not heard those menacing words telling her to get lost, as if she did not hear the sound of the vase being shattered. Either the person was too stupid to understand a thing or was a sly person whose true thoughts never showed. Zhou shibelieved in the latter. But a concubine’s daughter who had grew up in the village, how can she mature to this point?
Li Wei Yang’s smile was not affected in the least bit. “Si yiniang, earlier I had smelled on you a special but familiar kind of scent. Do you have a liking for the Xue Li fragrance?”
Xue Li fragrance? Si yiniang was puzzled. She had never heard of this type of fragrance before.
Li Chang Xiao questioned with curiosity. “What is that?”
“Even though Ping Cheng may not be as flourishing as the Capital, but there are plenty of new and interesting things. For example, the Xue Li fragrance. The prolonged use of this type of fragrance is said to improve a woman’s skin complexion as well as maintain its youthfulness.”
Si yiniang furrowed her brows. She was unfamiliar and had never harbored this type of fragrance with her. What did Li Wei Yang mean by this?
Li Wei Yang continued, “The Xue Li fragrance may be good but it is not suitable for everyone. This is because in the ingredients for Xue Li, there is a particular ingredient called Tian Zhi. If the user have some sort of wound or scar on the skin, the skin will not be able to heal and scab properly. Instead it will rot away. Fortunately Si yiniang does not harbor any flesh wounds, right?”
Listening to the explanation, Zhou shi’s face turned white.
Li Chang Xiao’s eyes widened. “San jie, what you said is true?”
Li Wei Yang nodded. “Of course it is the truth. Xue Li has a unique scent. I recognized because I have encountered this fragrance before on Mo yiniang, uncle’s most favored yiniang. I was curious so I had asked her about it.”
This Uncle Li was father’s younger brother and he was the head of the Li’s household in Ping Cheng where Li Wei Yang had temporarily stayed. He had a beautiful concubine, Mo yiniang, who came from a brothel. She was over 40 years old but she had taken extreme care with her skin, so she looked like a young 18 years old girl instead. It was quite unbelievable. The fact that Uncle Li was crazily smitten by this yiniang was passed on by those who had visited Ping Cheng.
Xue Li fragrance was one of the many methods used by Mo yiniang in her skincare routine. The bad thing about Xue Li fragrance is that the prolong use of it will cause one to become infertile. The second bad thing is that it will stop the natural healing process of wounds. Scars won’t be able to scab but will rot away instead. A noble lady wouldn’t dare touch a wicked thing, but they were often used by those who came from brothels to attract men.
Li Wei Yang knew this but pretended not to know. “Si yiniang, what’s wrong with you?”
Zhou shi’s hands were tightly fisted, hidden inside the long sleeves. She couldn’t suppress herself as her nails dug deeply into her palms. The fragrance in this room was supposed to be from the Yu Rong ointment gifted by Da furen. She had said the ointment would help to heal Chang Xi’s wounds. Who knew it was actually something so vicious and dirty?
Li Wei Yang tossed a brief look beyond the curtains. Peeking from behind the curtains was the beautiful face of a lady. Her chin was slightly thin and there was a frightening scar on her cheeks. There was a surprised look on her face. The lady behind the curtains suddenly realized she was discovered and quickly turned around and walked off. As she turned around, a corner of the red dress flapped. The ruby curtains moved and made a noise. A strand of ruby fell on the ground and shattered as rubies rolled everywhere.
Li Wei Yang watched as a ruby rolled to her feet. Then she lifted her head and stared into Si yiniang’s terrified face. She stood up, slightly grinned and bid goodbye.
Walking out from Shuang Yue Ge, Zi Yan was still clueless.
“San xiaojie, why is there Xue Li fragrance in Wu xiaojie’s chamber? Everyone had said that, as a result of using this for a long time, Mo yiniang became infertile and couldn’t have children. Wu xiaojie still hasn’t married. . .” she curiously wondered, but as she got to this point, she seemed to have realized something. She immediately stopped talking as a look of fearful panic took over.
“There are some things that only require the eyes to see. You should pretend you are deaf and mute, understand?” Li Wei Yang stopped in her tracks and looked at Zi Yan.
“Understood.” Zi Yan lowered her head, but her fingers kept trembling.
Bai Zhi sighed to herself. The Prime Minister’s estate, compared to the Li’s manor in Ping Cheng, was a lot more frightening.
Li Wei Yang lifted a corner of her mouth as she turned around, looking back at Shuang Yue Ge.
Da furen obviously wanted Si yiniang and her daughters to loathe Wei Yang, which was why she had intentionally delivered this kind of fragrance. First, she wanted Li Chang Xi to never be able to heal from the scarring. Henceforth, Li Chang Xi would hate her. It would also traumatize Zhou shi. Secondly, she wanted Li Chang Xi to walk around with the scar so that everyone knew Wu xiaojie was harmed by Li Wei Yang. Thirdly, even if Li Chang Xi was able to marry into a good marriage due to her position as the concubine’s daughter from the Prime Minister’s estate, she was still just a concubine’s daughter whose face was ruined and could never give birth. In this way, she would have to listen and obey to each and every word of her maternal family, specifically Da furen.
It was one stone hitting three birds. . .
Unfortunately, Da furen may be vicious, but she was doing more than required. This time, Li Chang Xi may be stupid but her birth mother was not. Li Wei Yang had thought she was going to have to say a lot more to make Si yiniang understand, but thankfully, Da furen’s Xue Li fragrance had helped her instead. Da furen wanted to stand on the outside and watch the fight, yet she didn’t know she had brought the fire to her own home.
Li Wei Yang tilted her head back as the bright sunlight shone down on her long lashes. . . .