The Unwanted Daughter
The candlelight was very faint.
Li Wei Yang was lying on the bed when she suddenly woke up. She could clearly hear the conversation going on outside.
Outside the room, Mrs. Ma was speaking cautiously. “Mother, do you think we should go find a doctor for Third Miss? After all, she was sent by the Li’s. If she dies. . .”
After listening to her daughter-in-law’s words, Mrs. Liu ‘s face turned cold and callously replied, “The lass thinks she’s a noble lady, but from what I heard, she was born from a lowly maid who was in charge of washing feet. Not only that, she was born in February—an utter misfortune. The Li’s are a reputable family. They couldn’t kill her so they sent her off to their distant relatives in Ping Cheng. Furthermore, Lao Tai Tai and Li Furen became sick consecutively. Isn’t she a bad luck star to her family? That’s why they panicked and sent her off to us here in the village! In my opinion, not only is she a misfortune, she’s a lazy pig. Every time she’s given a small task, she would act as if it’s killing her. That stinking lass!”
Li Wei Yang startled at the conversation. She studied the environment. This room didn’t have much of anything. The most it had was a square table, four wooden chairs, a wardrobe and last but not least, the wooden bed she was currently lying on. This place is—Her mind was suddenly foggy. The outside conversation still went on loud and clear.
“When she was at the Li estate, she had maids and never had to do anything strenuous. Today she was a little careless and fell into the crack between the ice sheets, causing her to fall ill. It’s not exactly her fault. . .” Right now the weather was extremely cold yet Mrs. Liu had forced Wei Yang, a young girl, to go do the laundry at the frozen lake. Mrs. Ma didn’t have the heart to watch. Her voice became more worried and restless.
Mrs. Liu coldly scoffed. “Even for a stillborn, there will be room left for affections but this 3rdMiss is totally useless. I gave her a small task but she can’t do it as if I told her to do something impossible. What they say is true, who does she want to deceive. If I don’t shove her, she won’t move. Other people only take two steps but she has to take three steps. Watching her pretending to be ill over there makes me angry. Might as well leave her outside and let her freeze to death!” As those words were spoken, she looked intently at Mrs. Ma with a chilling expression. “Do you think I don’t know? You pity that little wretch. Since you pity her then you go ahead and do the laundry for her!”
Mrs. Ma quickly said, “Mother, you’re right. I won’t say any more nonsense.”
Mrs. Liu breathed heavily as she stood up then slammed the door.
What’s happening? Aren’t I already dead? How come I’m lying here? Li Wei Yang wanted to move but her whole body was drained of energy, as if there were no bones in her system. She carefully thought over everything. Right then, someone lifted the curtains and walked in. Soon, Li Wei Yang was sitting up in someone’s arms. This person’s shoulders were small and skinny with a soft chest and there was some sort of locust smell.
“Eat some congee. After sweating, the fever will get better.”
A warm breath of air hit her face. Li Wei Yang thought she saw a ghost as she stared at the woman weirdly. If she remembered correctly, this village woman, who was about 20 years old, was Mrs. Ma—the oldest daughter-in-law of the farmer family she had lived with before. But how can this be? Clearly she was given the poison wine, but after a blink of an eye, she was seeing the familiar faces from 23 years ago. . .
At 16 years old, she married Tuo Ba Zhen. 8 years later, she became the Empress. Afterwards she was imprisoned in the Cold Palace for 12 years. When she passed away, she was already 36 years old. However, Mrs. Ma looked the way she was 23 years ago. This was completely unbelievable! Instinctively she looked at her hands. They were skinny, slender and porcelain white. This pair of hands didn’t belong to a 36 years old woman but a pair of hands that belonged to a young maiden. As the thought crossed her mind, there was a flicker of horror in Li Wei Yang’s eyes.
Mrs. Ma spoke with concern, “What is it? Do you still feel cold?” Her voice was filled with warmth and one could tell that she was actually genuine. “We need to go find a doctor but my mother, she . . . sigh. . .”
Li Wei Yang looked at the bowl of congee in Mrs. Ma’s hands. She didn’t know what kind of rice was used to cook the congee but there was a strange smell coming from it. For some reason, her eyes began to moisten. If this was a dream, she hoped to never wake up from this dream because she has a feeling—a feeling that she was still alive.
Li Wei Yang was about to speak but suddenly, she saw another person lifting the curtains and quickly stepped inside.
Mrs. Ma was holding the bowl of congee, looked up and saw Mrs. Liu’s expression. Her whole body trembled.
“What are you doing?! Get up!”
Mrs. Ma startled and hurriedly let go of Li Wei Yang. She stood up and was about to put the bowl down on the table but because of her anxiousness, some congee was spilled. It burned her hand but she forced herself to endure the painful scalding and carefully set the bowl down on the table.
Witnessing how brazen her daughter-in-law was to secretly give Li Wei Yang food and even clumsily spilling some out, Mrs. Liu boiled with anger. She grabbed the bowl of congee on the table and threw it into Mrs. Ma’s face. There was the sound of the bowl shattering on the ground as Mrs. Liu pointed at Mrs. Ma. “You bitch, I already said you can’t give her food. Do my words go in one ear and out the other? If you don’t want to live in this house then scram! Don’t stay here and embarrass me!”
The pitiful Mrs. Ma was drenched by the bowl of congee. Her entire body was red from the scald. There were tears in her eyes but she didn’t dare to utter a single word. All she could do was hold tightly onto her shirttail as she gently wiped off the congee and proceeded to clean up the mess on the floor.
Mrs. Liu hadn’t changed one bit from her memories. She treated others meanly without any compassion. It didn’t matter if it was herself or Mrs. Ma, Mrs. Liu would treat them like slaves. Li Wei Yang stared intently at Mrs. Liu. She wanted to talk, but Mrs. Ma quickly winked at her, as if telling her to not say anything otherwise she would get even more punished.
Mrs. Ma was a kind daughter-in-law, but no matter what she did, this evil mother-in-law couldn’t see it. She would spend the entire day looking for faults. When she saw Mrs. Ma defending Li Wei Yang, she immediately thought Mrs. Ma was trying to go against her, making her resentful towards both of them.
Li Wei Yang clenched her teeth and wordlessly stared at Mrs. Liu.
Instinctively Mrs. Liu glanced at Li Wei Yang. Mrs. Liu saw a frosty coldness in Wei Yang’s gaze. Her heart jumped as she shouted, “Are you crazy to look at me like that?!”
Li Wei Yang didn’t have time to ponder why she was reverted back to her 13 years old self when the thought took a turn. Underneath her chest, she felt a jade pendant. This jade pendant was given to her by her biological mother when she was still a baby.
Her father had sent her off to the Li’s distant relative in foster care until she was 7 years old. In the beginning, they had given her maids and servants but eventually, they realized Prime Minister Li had no intentions of bringing her back to the Capital. Instead, under someone’s persuasion, she was sent to the rurals and had to live with the farmer’s family. Each month, 10 silver were given for the living expense.
Six months ago, for some reason, the living expense was no longer paid. Mrs. Liu had gone to their door and asked three times but the Li’s relatives didn’t care. For that reason, Mrs. Liu resented her further. Not only did she treat Wei Yang as a maid to slave around, Mrs. Liu was also abusive. She didn’t let Wei Yang leave and would call people to hit her until she developed bruises all over her body.
Mrs. Liu looked at Li Wei Yang’s appearance, furrowed her brows and yelled, “You little slut, what are you stupefied for!”
The jade pendant was the only thing her mother had left for her to remember by. She had risked her life to hide it, afraid to let Mrs. Liu set her eyes on it. But today. . .Li Wei Yang lifted her head to look at the older woman. There was a flicker of coldness in her gaze, but in a blink of an eye, a brownnosing smile had appeared. “Aunt Zhou [1], more or less you have taken care of me. I don’t have anything to show my gratitude except for this jade pendant, which I want to give to you as a token of appreciation.”
If she remembered correctly, the Pisces jade pendant would be discovered and stolen by Mrs. Liu two weeks later. Back then, she had wanted to get it back only to suffer under cruel physical abuse. Later on when she became Third Prince’s wife she had sent people to go look for it. However, the village had experienced an epidemic and a majority of the villagers had died, including Mrs. Liu. As a result, the jade pendant could not be found.
Mrs. Liu couldn’t believe the jade pendant she had always desired but was secretly hidden somewhere was now being offered to her by Li Wei Yang herself. She became happier but scoffed coldly and snatched the jade pendant from Wei Yang’s hands. She said, “This is not enough!”
Mrs. Ma was shocked, looking at Li Wei Yang like she didn’t know this young girl. From what she knew, Wei Yang had always carefully hidden away the jade pendant and would never allow anyone else to take it away. How could she suddenly give it to Mrs. Liu . . .
Mrs. Liu held onto the jade pendant, her mood was better. She made a noise and sneered, “Forget it, you can stay on the bed for today but tomorrow, you have to wake up and work!”
Li Wei Yang’s smile was gentle and obedient. “Of course Aunt Liu. Tomorrow I will definitely work!”
Mrs. Liu was surprised with Li Wei Yang’s obedience. She was about to say something but right then, a tall man entered. When he saw the scene inside, it was as if he was used to it. With an angry face, he glanced over Mrs. Ma, looking somewhat scornful and forcefully laughed. “Mother, why are you so angry? Let’s go. I bought a block of silk today at the market that looks exactly like Li Furen when worn. Come with me and take a look!” he urged and dragged Mrs. Liu outside.
As Mrs. Liu was being dragged, she turned around and said to Mrs. Ma, “If I catch you giving her food again, I will skin you!”
After Mrs. Liu disappeared, Mrs. Ma held her face and burst out into tears.
Li Wei Yang looked at Mrs. Ma and slightly shook her head. One shouldn’t be weak and a pushover. There were many ways to get back the jade pendant. To deal with a swindler like Mrs. Liu, one would have to use an even more wicked method!
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