"This is for the hungry, Granny. Now, besides Mother, you are the only one who treats me the best."
She patted my head. "Because the nanny thinks you should be treated well and raised like a phoenix."
I chuckled, a warm feeling washing over me. "Granny, you're joking. Who's ever seen a phoenix? Raising a person like a phoenix? How would you raise someone like that?"
I slumped over the table and stuffed a few pieces of cake into my stomach. I was really hungry, because Nangong Ling wouldn't let me eat lunch, saying that I needed to reflect on my mistakes before I realized them, otherwise I wouldn't get dinner either. Humph, who cares? I still have nannies bringing me food.
"How is Miss Yue?"
"It's nothing, I was just startled. I'll be fine after a rest."
"There's no blood yet..."
"What, you want to make a scene?" A voice rang out that sent chills down my spine.
I jumped up with a start, and only one thought crossed my mind—escape!
But he reached out and grabbed my collar, and gave me a wink to send Granny Zhao away.
"Someone will even bring you food? I miscalculated." He grinned mockingly. "You're itching for a beating now that someone's backing you up, aren't you? Looks like I can't just stop giving you food..."
"Hey, are you being unreasonable? This time it was Luo Qiu who caused trouble, not me."
His phoenix eyes flashed with mockery as he habitually touched his beautifully shaped chin with his index finger.
"As expected, you still don't know where you went wrong, really..." He chuckled, a laugh that sent another chill down my spine. "Speaking of which, what did you mean by not killing Jun Guan with a single sword strike?"
Although this person knows my every move, we are far apart, and his spies could not possibly find out all the details of what happened.
"When I was ten, I went to play at the Tianjue Sect with my older brother. At that time, the old sect leader was still the young master of Junguan. Because we were about the same age, the old sect leader told us to go and play by ourselves. For the first two days, we just played inside the Tianjue Sect. Then one day, he took me to pick dates on the peaks and mountains behind the sect. Everything was fine until we were almost back when we passed a cave. He tricked me into thinking there were fun things inside, and then ran down the mountain himself. He even made me get bitten by a poisonous snake in the cave, which almost killed me. My older brother was so angry that he drew his sword and killed the old sect leader." The cult leader injured Jun Guan. After I recovered from the poison, I was still furious and wanted to teach that brat a lesson. When I got there, I saw my elder brother standing in front of the dying Jun Guan, sword in hand. I don't know why, but I suddenly felt sorry for Jun Guan, who was covered in blood and deathly pale. So I took my brother's sword and stabbed him in the chest and lungs to vent my anger. Jun Guan's poor health was all thanks to that sword. If I had known then that he would become a powerful and ruthless villain in the martial arts world despite his sickly appearance, I would have regretted not just ending it all with one strike..."
The hand gripping my collar tightened, and her phoenix eyes narrowed dangerously, choking the rest of her words in my throat.
"Are you an idiot? Someone tells you it's fun and you just ignore everything else? You rush into some dark place where you don't know what's going on?! Why didn't some weird thing swallow you whole? Why didn't it poison you?"
Being scolded by Nangong Ling isn't a recent thing, but for some reason, this time it felt particularly hurtful. He wanted me dead; he wished I had just died on the spot...
"Yes, evil deeds live on for a thousand years..."
Snap!
It wasn't an unexpected slap, but he hit me again. I've only been slapped twice in my life, and both times it was Nangong Ling who did it!
"What right do you have to hit me! Who do you think you are? Get out of here!..." In an instant, an overwhelming sense of grievance overwhelmed all my emotions, and all I could do was shout and swing my fist at him.
He stood straight and let me yell at him to hit him. I was so focused on venting that I didn't notice his face getting darker and darker.
"Do I need to remind you again? You should know better than me what I am and what qualifications I have. Rong Lian, the Rong family no longer exists. No one will tolerate or indulge you anymore. Without the title of Miss Rong, what are you? Do you still have the right to be arrogant? ... You are nothing. Without me, you would have been torn to pieces long ago."
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over my head, chilling me to the bone and making my heart ache.
I unconsciously grabbed his clothes, my mind went blank, and it felt like something was pressing down on me, making it hard to breathe.
Something smooth and slightly cool brushed against my burning eye sockets, carrying a faint, cool fragrance; it felt very comforting.
"If you're feeling down, just cry it out." A somewhat helpless sigh rang in my ears.
Cry? Cry for what? What do I have to cry about? I didn't intend to fake cry to tease anyone, so why would I cry? Everyone always indulges me; it's always others who cry, never my turn. Don't talk nonsense. Dad will kick your bottom if he finds out… Dad? Ah, I forgot he's passed away. My eldest brother, second brother, and third brother have all gone to far, far away places… What about my eldest brother? What about my second brother? …They're gone, I forgot they're all gone…
"Stop talking." A hand wrapped around the back of my neck and pulled me into an embrace with a faint, cool fragrance.
I buried my head deep in it. Did I say that? How could such spineless words come out of my mouth? You must have misheard me.
Chapter 11
The next day, when we arrived at Bieyun Manor, I was forced to change into a servant's uniform and follow behind Shaoyou. I originally thought it was to avoid being recognized, but when we got up the mountain, those who knew me still recognized me at a glance. I then realized that it wasn't to hide anything at all. It was clearly because Nangong Ling saw that I was serving Yue Linghe too comfortably, so he just wanted me to follow along and serve them tea and meals, thus increasing my workload.
When the old butler came out to greet me, he was all smiles, like a chrysanthemum with many wrinkles. But as soon as he saw me, his smile froze and his face turned pale.
Such an obvious attitude made the four guardians' faces contort from trying to suppress their laughter. I just pursed my lips; I was used to it. I looked up at the plaque in front of the door. I had chopped down the old one, but they replaced it with a bigger one.
The old steward settled us into our guest rooms, saying that we must be tired from the journey and should rest before having a meal together. Everyone else rested in their rooms, while Nangong Ling took Yue Linghe to see the manor's owner, Shuang Ziwei.
I felt uneasy, so I simply grabbed a pillow and buried my head in my pillow, thinking that as long as I didn't go out, I wouldn't cause any trouble.
I slept until dark, and it was only when Granny Zhao came and pulled off my blanket that I woke up.
"Hmm... Have you eaten?" I asked groggily, still a bit disoriented after just waking up.
Granny Zhao looked at me with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "You've already eaten half of it. You could have just fallen asleep and no one would have cared, but Miss was worried you'd get hungry, so she sent me to call you over."
I frowned. "Even if I go, I won't get anything to eat. I'll just be able to look but not eat, and I'll have to serve them..."
"Since Miss has kept you by her side, she won't let you suffer. Besides, Miss instructed me to bring you there."
No one dared to disobey Yue Linghe's orders, not even the usually dutiful Granny Zhao. Granny Zhao had been so kind to me, and yesterday she even got fined half a month's wages for bringing me food; I couldn't possibly make things difficult for her again.
Rong Lian has a day when she thinks of others; who would believe it if she told others?
I sighed and realized that helplessness is the best whetstone in the world; it can slowly and steadily grind a sharp-edged stone into a smooth and shiny pearl.
Once outside the main hall, seeing the bustling crowds, I suddenly felt too afraid to go in. What kind of situation was this? Was Yue Linghe trying to send me into a fire pit? The twins, Wei and Jun Guan, were definitely inside right now. If I went in, wouldn't I just spoil their appetite? What if they accidentally shot me with a thousand arrows?
"What's wrong?" Granny Zhao took a few steps forward, turned around and asked when she saw that I hadn't followed.
A bad feeling... Just as I was thinking about it, a palm strike came from behind me. I had no choice but to step on the stone carving next to me and use it to jump up and dodge the palm strike.
"You dodged quickly."
Hearing that voice sent a chill down my spine. It was truly a harbinger of disaster. How could I have forgotten about Gemini?
I stiffened, turned around, and gave a forced smile as a response to the slap.
That androgynous smile froze on his face. "Wait a minute, it's definitely this face, but there's no reason not to fight back..."
"Girl, I'm not in the mood to play with you." I rubbed my forehead and took a step forward when the stone carving beside me shattered into pieces with a loud crash, attracting everyone out of the house. This Gemini An's palm strikes are truly exceptional; his aerial palm strikes leave nothing intact in their wake. And since I stepped on that stone carving, it shattered so decisively and collapsed so spectacularly that I was completely stunned.
"Twins!" A furious roar came from behind, "If you break anything in the manor again, you'd better get out of Bieyun Manor!"
"So what if you're the boss... Fine, I'll leave then, I don't want to stay here anyway..." He muttered as he leaned closer, "Hey, are you really Rong Lian?"
"Could there be fakes?" I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.
"Don't glare at me. It's because you don't fight back. Normally, you would have already swung your sword at me." It turns out that this guy feels uncomfortable if he doesn't get beaten up every day.
I can't be bothered with you.
"You heartless little thing, if I hadn't let you go down the mountain back then, you would still be trapped here, and I don't know what kind of life you would be living."
Gemini An is incredibly thick-skinned and utterly shameless. If you argue with him, you'll only get angry. If you give in, he'll pretend to be even more miserable than you. In short, he's impervious to both soft and hard approaches and likes to build his happiness on the suffering of others. Sometimes even Gemini Wei can't handle him.
"I don't care where I live or what kind of life I lead, because no one who offends Nangong Ling will have a good ending."
Although he and I were kindred spirits for a time, and he even abandoned Bieyun Manor to come to Lin'an City and hang out with me for more than half a year, there's always someone who can overcome someone else. The two bullies were like mice seeing a cat when they faced Nangong Ling. They not only fled in panic but also ran away so fast that even a rabbit would be ashamed of itself. Shuangzi An was even more sensitive to Nangong Ling than I was.
"You heartless brat, don't spoil the fun! Do you know why I didn't eat with them inside? I came here to play with you, what's it to them?" He shifted uncomfortably to the side, probably feeling like Nangong Ling was a thorn in his side.
"Don't you know the Rong family has fallen? She's now a member of the Wuyue Palace?" The voice came from Xiao Jinse, who had approached silently.
"What?!" Shuang Zi'an exclaimed in astonishment. "The Rong family has fallen? You... Wuyue Palace... Nangong Ling, aren't you your blood sworn enemy?"
"It happened almost half a year ago, how come you only find out now?" Xiao Jinse raised the corners of her mouth, her expression a twitching, half-smiling smile.
"I just got back from the northern desert..." Shuangzi An grabbed me. "Little thing, why didn't you come to me when you were in trouble? I'll do anything for my brothers, even go through fire and water!"
You're really that kind and righteous? "I think you're just feeling regretful for missing out on the fun, aren't you?"
"..." He showed no embarrassment at being exposed. "Why say it out loud when you can just think it in your heart!"
"Besides, you're far away in the northern desert. You'd go all that way, there must be something very interesting there. I'm afraid you'd just throw it away without even looking at my words." Actually, I hadn't thought about him at all at the time, and had completely forgotten about him.
"You two haven't seen each other for so long, but your relationship is still going strong."
My eyelids twitched, and I looked up at Xiao Jinse, only to find that it wasn't him who spoke. I then turned my head to look for the source of the sound.
Jun Guan sat on a specially made soft chair, with two pageboys standing beside him. The man, who was clearly pale and sickly, had a woman's face but also a heroic air between his brows, which made him look like he had an indescribable sickly haze. From the side, he might seem fragile and vulnerable, but upon closer inspection, his gloomy eyes would make people feel uneasy.
Looking at the twins next to him, they were overly domineering. But they were handsome and dashing, and the dignified master of Bieyun Manor. Naturally, there were quite a few young ladies from noble families who were infatuated with them. They always fantasized that the domineering and cold-hearted man in their eyes could soften for their sake.
I scanned them twice before finally stopping on Jun Guan.
Chapter 12
His cold smile exuded a thousand charms, and his lips appeared especially red due to his pale complexion. His eyes sparkled like stars as they moved, yet they were far too venomous.
"Gemini An, he's even more androgynous than you." That's what I blurted out out of the blue.
One sentence provoked the two of them to glare at each other, and Gemini Ann even jumped up to slap me.
"Pah! You're the one who's neither male nor female!"
I laughed and jumped away. With Gemini here, I might be able to escape right under their noses. Sure enough, he chased after me, unleashing three palm strikes that sent a cloud of dust billowing from the broken bonsai stone pillar.
"If you come with me to a brothel, won't the madam want to take you in?" This only added fuel to the fire.
His face flushed and paled in turns, and he quickened the pace of his palm strikes. I glanced at the high wall behind me and couldn't help but click my tongue inwardly. It was so high that it would be difficult to jump over it with my current lightness skill; I had no choice but to take a gamble.
"Rong Lian, behind this wall lies an abyss." A languid and elegant voice drifted over in a nonchalant manner. "If you fall, you'll be reduced to ashes. Even if Madam Rong wanted to mourn, she would only be able to hold an empty coffin. How can you bear to do that?"
Gemini stopped before me, her body stiffening as she slowly turned her head, her entire face seemingly twitching.
He stood silently to the side, smiling casually, absentmindedly blowing on his nails.
I bit my lip, but I couldn't escape his eyes after all. When I saw Gemini Wei and Jun Guan, I forgot about my mother.