“What do you mean by that, Seventh Sister?” Mei Ruyan feigned surprise, as if hearing these things for the first time.
“What do I mean?!” Mei Ting Yuan stood on higher ground, looking down at them as if they were insects beneath her. “Never mind the rest, but for making Grandmother faint alone, don’t expect me to let you off.”
Mei Ruyan smiled slightly, “Indeed, that was our fault, sister and I. We weren’t prepared to be insulted when we went to pay our respects to Aunt Grandmother, and we talked back to her. Had we known her health was poor, we would have swallowed our pride and apologized to that servant, rather than cause distress to an elder.”
Her words were gentle and polite, but beneath them lay sharp thorns. She knew the family rules prohibited private fights, so she was confident they wouldn’t dare to strike her.
“Such a sharp tongue,” Mei Ting Yuan moved swiftly, appearing before Mei Ruyan like a gust of wind, and raised her hand to slap her.
Having grown up under the threat of beatings, Mei Ruyan wasn’t stunned by a mere slap. As soon as Mei Ting Yuan’s hand landed, she returned the slap with equal force.
Two crisp slaps echoed, stunning everyone present.
Mei Ting Yuan, who had grown up under the protection of the Second Grandmother, was used to hitting others, not being hit herself! She was immediately enraged by the humiliation.
An Jiu was finding this quite entertaining when suddenly Mei Jiu stepped forward to shield Mei Ruyan.
An Jiu didn’t have time to think. As Mei Ting Yuan’s second, full-force slap came down, she reflexively raised her hand to block it, then grabbed Mei Ting Yuan’s arm. She was about to twist and break it when she remembered her current situation and abruptly let go, retreating two steps.
Mei Ruyan inwardly regretted forgetting that all Mei family children were trained in martial arts from a young age. Even a casual slap left half her face burning with pain.
“So you do know martial arts!” Mei Ting Yuan narrowed her eyes, preparing to strike again, but her arm was grabbed by Mei Ting Jun.
“Have you forgotten the clan rules?” Mei Ting Jun said angrily. “There will be a chance for a fair contest at the end of the month. Why rush now?”
Mei Ting Yuan instantly regained her composure. She shook off his hand and glared hatefully at Mei Jiu and Mei Ruyan. “Just you wait!”
“Ah Yuan!” Mei Ting Zhu caught up with her, consoling in a low voice, “Don’t be angry. Just endure a little longer. It’s only seven days until the end of the month.”
“Aren’t you angry? Father begged Elder Zhi so many times, but he wouldn’t take you as a disciple. Now he easily accepts that worthless girl!” Mei Ting Yuan said furiously.
An Jiu had excellent hearing. Even though the two sisters had walked far away, she heard every word of their conversation.
An Jiu withdrew her consciousness, only to find Mei Jiu’s legs giving way. She fell backward, but fortunately, a girl behind her steadied her with a firm hand.
After this incident, two of the three girls who had come with Mei Ruyan quickly excused themselves and left with the Second Branch members.
Mei Ruyan, unfazed, temporarily put aside the unpleasantness and said to Mei Jiu, “Sister, this is Tenth Sister, her given name is Ruhan.”
Just from the name, it was clear she was from the First Branch.
Mei Jiu smiled gratefully at her and bowed slightly in greeting, “Greetings, Tenth Sister.”
Mei Ruhan supported her, saying, “No need for such formality.”
“Ah!” Mei Ruhan sighed, “It’s good that you have spirit, but offending them means you’ll face another struggle at the end of the month.”
“Are you referring to the monthly examination?” Mei Ruyan asked.
Mei Ruhan nodded, “Our family values martial arts over academics. The monthly exam includes a sparring session. Although it’s supposed to be light contact, if they intend to give you trouble, they could certainly put you out of commission for ten days to half a month.”
Mei Ruyan felt a chill in her heart and asked Mei Jiu, “Sister, you just crossed hands with Mei Qi. How’s her skill? Can you handle it?”
“I…” How could she possibly gauge Mei Ting Yuan’s martial prowess?
Mei Jiu knew that claiming ignorance of martial arts now would be transparently false, so she secretly asked An Jiu, “How’s her martial arts?”
“Terrible,” An Jiu said, but before Mei Jiu could feel relieved, she continued, “If I were in my own body, dealing with that little girl would be nothing. But controlling your body to fight her would be too risky. I’m afraid I might end up killing her! So you can imagine how frustrated I am. In short, your physical condition is awful, utterly awful!”
What kind of logic was this? When the body is good, you can fight, but when it’s weak, you can kill.
Mei Jiu didn’t understand martial arts, much less the logic of an assassin.
When combatants are evenly matched, killing someone requires courage, but beating them up would result in mutual injury.
For An Jiu, killing was as ordinary as eating; it required no courage. She understood the body’s weak points, knew how to deliver fatal blows, and had extensive experience. She disliked fighting—if she could kill an opponent with one strike, she would never use two.
Mei Jiu’s body was weak and unsuitable for prolonged combat. The earlier reflexive move made An Jiu worry that if threatened, she might not be able to stop herself from killing Mei Ting Yuan. If that happened, it would create far more problems than just making a few enemies.
In An Jiu’s view, life was a series of troubles, one after another. She wouldn’t swallow her pride, but she knew her limits. She only courted troubles she could handle. In the grand scheme of things, it was better to keep a low profile.
After pondering for a while, Mei Jiu finally answered Mei Ruyan, “We’re probably about evenly matched.”
“That’s good,” Mei Ruyan didn’t doubt Mei Jiu’s martial arts skills. After all, everyone in the Mei family practiced martial arts. Mei Jiu had been bedridden in the brothel, so it was understandable that she lacked strength when escaping.
Hearing this, Mei Ruhan felt relieved and led them to the dining hall.
The Mei clan school’s dining hall, designed by some unknown architect, was built on the edge of a cliff. The protruding structure hung over a sixty-zhang drop, where the mountain face was as smooth as if cleaved by a giant sword. Below rushed a turbulent river.
There were two paths to the dining hall: one was a chain bridge along the cliff face, the other a dark mountain tunnel.
Mei Ruhan led them through the tunnel. With the three of them together, although the tunnel was gloomy, it was preferable to the chain bridge on the precipice.
When they arrived at the dining hall, most of the twenty-odd people were already there, and many eyes turned towards them.
The dining hall’s windows faced east, with tables and chairs arranged by the windows. One could see the towering cliffs opposite with a turn of the head. The three found an empty table and sat down. Immediately, servants came to pour water, and food was quickly served.
Six dishes and a soup were presented, all exquisite.
Mei Jiu, having walked many mountain paths this morning, was starving. At An Jiu’s urging, she forgot about decorum and began eating heartily.
It felt so good to eat without worry!
An Jiu was engrossed in the meal when she sensed someone approaching. She tried to control Mei Jiu’s eyes to glance, and surprisingly succeeded!
She saw Mei Ting Dong approaching with an unfamiliar young man.
“Someone’s coming to make trouble,” An Jiu said.
Mei Jiu was too tired to even lift a finger, with no will to resist. An Jiu found it particularly easy to take control of the body.
“Mei Fourteen,” the unfamiliar young man pushed the dishes on the table towards the window and sat on the table, leaning close to Mei Jiu. “Was it you who kicked Sigui into the lake?”
An Jiu raised her eyelids slightly, a handsome face with emerging angles coming into view. She reached out to pick up some food, put it in her mouth, and took a large bite of rice.
“Mei Da!” Mei Ruhan said coldly, “Get down. If you have something to say, say it properly.”
Mei Ruyan had gathered a lot of scattered information today. It took her a moment to recall that this Mei Da was the eldest son of the First Branch’s concubine, named Mei Rujian, twenty years old, and newly married last year.
Wasn’t he the eldest son of the First Branch? Why did he come so aggressively, seeming to be on Mei Ting Yuan’s side?
Thinking this, Mei Ruyan still put down her chopsticks, stood up, and called out, “Eldest Brother.”