“No!” Meixue shakily stood up and said hoarsely, “Yesterday you brought the ginseng soup over yourself and insisted that I drink it. I was forced to drink some out of helplessness. As for the ginseng, I never chewed any.”
Chunxiu laughed mockingly, “What nice words! That was ginseng—very precious. What’s your status that I would have to beg you to drink it?”
Meixue’s cheeks were already red from the deficient fire, and now being angered further, her whole face became even redder. She said indignantly, “That’s exactly what happened! I’m not lying!”
Jiang Caiping nodded vigorously, “That’s right! I saw it too—you brought it to Sister Wu yourself.”
“Ever since entering the household, you’ve been following behind her, naturally speaking up for her everywhere.” After saying this, Chunxiu called out loudly, “Who else saw me give ginseng soup to Meixue?”
The room fell silent. After a while, someone said hesitantly, “I think I saw Chunxiu give ginseng soup to Meixue…”
Before she finished speaking, Jirong already said, “Impossible. I remember very clearly—I was discussing yesterday’s dance steps with Chunxiu then. How could she have given ginseng soup to Meixue? Besides, if it were you, would you give ginseng bought with so much silver to someone else to drink?”
At this moment, Chunxiu gave a meaningful look to Zhang Shi, who often stayed with her. Zhang Shi stepped forward and said, “I remember now—I also saw what happened yesterday.” Before Meixue and the others could show joy, she continued, “I saw Meixue sneakily drinking from a stew pot when no one was paying attention, but I didn’t realize she was stealing Chunxiu’s ginseng soup. If I had known, I definitely would have stopped her.”
Meixue trembled with anger all over, pointing at Zhang Shi, “You… are slandering me!”
Zhang Shi laughed coldly, “You still have the face to say that now! I feel embarrassed for you. If you hadn’t been greedy in the first place, how would you have ended up like this from being over-supplemented? I say this is retribution!”
Jiang Caiping was so angry her eyes reddened, and she stamped her foot, “You’re all going too far!”
Nanny Yang frowned and said to the physician who had finished writing the prescription and was preparing to leave, “Physician, given Meixue’s current condition, can she still perform the dance?”
Hearing this, Meixue’s heart tightened. She had practiced so hard for so long, all for tonight. If she couldn’t lead the dance, all her previous efforts would be wasted.
The physician shook his head, “Nanny, you can see that she needs support even to walk. How could she perform a dance? Even though I’m prescribing medicine for her, she’ll need several days of recuperation before gradually recovering.”
Yunyi stared at Chunxiu with a dark expression. If Wu Shi couldn’t perform before Li Yuan, it meant she couldn’t assassinate Li Yuan either. And all of this was thanks to that woman. It seemed the previous small punishments not only failed to make her restrain herself but made her even worse—she truly deserved death!
After handing the written prescription to Yunyi, the physician left. Since Meixue couldn’t perform and there was no evidence proving Chunxiu had harmed her, the lead dancer qualification naturally fell to Chunxiu. For a moment, her prominence was unmatched.
Chunxiu was extremely pleased with the flattering words surrounding her. When she saw Meixue preparing to leave, she walked over and said with feigned concern, “Meixue, it’s not that I’m criticizing you, but the most taboo thing in life is greed. Don’t take things that aren’t yours, or you’ll end up like you are now.”
Meixue bit her lip tightly, “You’ve already gotten what you wanted. What more do you want?”
“Look at what you’re saying—I’m just giving you a kind reminder. Where are your thoughts going?” At this point, Chunxiu smiled, “I know what you’re thinking, but I advise you not to harbor any foolish hopes. Things that aren’t yours will never be yours no matter what methods you try.” Saying this, she leaned close to Meixue’s ear and said in a voice only they could hear, word by word: “Fighting with me? You’re not worthy!”
Amidst her arrogant voice, Meixue stumbled and rushed out. Worried about Meixue running out alone, Yunyi quietly followed when Nanny Yang wasn’t paying attention. After rushing out, Meixue hadn’t taken many steps before falling to the ground. Yunyi quickly stepped forward to help her up, saying softly, “Be careful with your health. Let me help you back to rest.”
“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.” Saying this, Meixue pushed Yunyi away and stumbled forward again, crying as she ran. All along, she hadn’t wanted to compete with anyone. Whether entering the household or leading the dance, it was all just to make life a little better for her father and younger brother at home. But Chunxiu had actually harmed her like this just to compete for the lead dancer position.
The more she thought about it, the sadder she became. She leaned against a yellow locust tree and wept mournfully. Yunyi hadn’t left—she followed at a distance. Seeing her like this, she shook her head secretly. Meixue’s character was too weak. When wronged, she only hid alone to cry. If it were her, she definitely wouldn’t let it go, and wouldn’t let the person who harmed her get away with it.
With Meixue’s character, if she didn’t change, her days in this household would certainly not be easy in the future.
At this moment, Yunyi suddenly heard the sound of a flute—mournful and plaintive, weeping and lamenting. Just listening for a short while inevitably aroused feelings of sadness. When Yunyi forcibly suppressed this feeling, Wu Shi also heard the flute music and looked around puzzledly, then walked toward where the sound was coming from.
This place was near the rear garden, and the flute music was coming from there. Yunyi followed Meixue all the way to the depths of the rear garden, where they saw a man in a plain blue brocade robe with his back to them, holding a vertical flute in his hands with apricot-colored silk tassels hanging down. The flute music was coming from him.
Neither of them stepped forward, quietly listening behind him. Yunyi couldn’t tell what piece he was playing, only that this melody, besides sadness, also made her think of her mother whom she had never met. Even after the flute music ended, that bitter feeling still lingered in her chest, not dissipating for a long time.
When the man turned around, Yunyi was slightly startled, because this person was none other than Second Young Master Li Shimin, who had helped her escape Chunxiu’s entanglement some days ago.
Li Shimin saw Meixue and Yunyi standing behind him and was somewhat surprised. After briefly looking them over, he focused his gaze on Meixue and said, “Who are you? And why are you here?” His voice was somewhat deep but exceptionally pleasant to hear.
Meixue came to her senses and quickly curtsied, saying, “Meixue pays respects to… to…” She didn’t know Li Shimin’s identity and momentarily didn’t know how to address him properly, standing there awkwardly. He smiled and said, “My surname is Li, given name Shimin.”
“Li Shimin…” Meixue repeated these two characters several times in a murmur, then exclaimed in surprise, “You are the Second Young Master?” Though she wasn’t one to gossip, having been in the household for so long, she knew some things. She really hadn’t expected to encounter him here. After Li Shimin nodded, she quickly performed another courtesy, “I pay my respects to the Second Young Master.”