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墨書 Inktalez
"Now you know to ask for my help? Did you ever think that there would come a time when you would need me while you were scheming behind my back? Every time you were punished by Fu Lianyin, wasn't it I who stood up for you and spoke good words on your behalf?
But in the end, I was the one who got scolded and punished with house arrest. At that time, you must have been hiding in the corner, secretly enjoying it! In this life, you're still using me as a scapegoat; your calculations are quite clever, but unfortunately, you won't benefit from this!
"Well, Elder Sister Five, I'll try to help you talk to Mother," Yun Kexin said with a faint smile, "but you can't pretend to know nothing."
"Don't worry, it won't come to that," Yun Ran replied with a smile. "Thank you, Seventh Sister!"
Yun Kexin lightly nodded her head and remained silent. Yun Ran caught sight of the bowl that Yun Kexin was holding in her arms and curiously asked, "Seventh Sister, what are you holding?"
"Nothing much, it's the Orange Pudding that Cousin made for me," Yun Kexin casually replied. "I saved some for Eighth Sister."
Upon hearing this, Yun Ran felt a surge of jealousy: why should a child who was adopted be more favored than her? So many people cared for her; even both families revolved around her! It was unacceptable! It was infuriating!
As she thought about it, a glint of malice flashed in Yun Ran's eyes, her gaze dark and chilling!
In the past, Yun Kexin was often frightened by the resentment and hatred that Yun Ran inadvertently revealed. Looking back at this life, perhaps such emotions had long been building up in her heart until they eventually overflowed.
While the two were lost in their thoughts, Fu Lianyin and Dai Chun Ni walked in.
"Fifth Young Lady, how is the 'Lessons for Women' that I asked you to copy?" Fu Lianyin approached the desk and leaned on it with both hands. "Have you memorized it yet?"
"Sister, Fifth Young Lady still has thirty copies left to write," Dai Chun Ni sneered. "And now she's pulled Seventh Young Lady into the room again; I wonder if she's trying to slack off and get someone else to do her work?"
Yun Ran glared at Dai Chun Ni with red eyes and stared directly at her. Perhaps having Yun Kexin present gave her more confidence as she boldly said:
"Substitute Concubine, Seventh Sister is here; why don't you ask her if I had her do my work?!"
Pretending like it's all true! When have I not been your scapegoat before? If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have been punished!
"Xin'er, did you do this?" Before Dai Chun Ni could say anything, Fu Lianyin had already begun to admonish her. "This is not right; do you understand?"
"Mother, I didn't," Yun Kexin said with a smile, "It's all written by Elder Sister Five herself."
Yun Ran raised her chin.
"That's right, good children shouldn't lie," Fu Lian nodded and smiled, "Kexin, I heard you went to the Second House today. How was it? How are Auntie, Cousin, and your other relatives? What did they talk about?"
The topic changed so quickly! It felt so "natural" that it didn't seem sudden at all. If it were the old me, I might have foolishly blurted something out and been caught off guard. Fu Lian's tone was truly hard to guard against!
"They're all doing well," Yun Kexin said blankly, "Nothing much, just everyday talk. Also, I need to take good care of Eighth Younger Sister and help Mother out."
Fu Lian curled her lips in a cold smile, as if she could see through the act with disdain.
"What do you have in your hand?" Dai Chun Ni asked, her eyes never leaving the bowl in Yun Kexin's hands, pretending to bring it up casually.
According to the previous "deal" with Yun Ran: she pretended to cover for Yun Kexin and intentionally provoked Dai Chun Ni to snatch the bowl from Yun Kexin.
Then the bowl would "accidentally" fall to the ground and break, spilling the Orange Pudding everywhere. The two would then cry and complain together, making Dai Chun Ni suffer.
Finally, they would let Yun Kexin speak well of Yun Ran, relieving her from the annoyance of copying "Lessons for Women" and avoiding the fate of being punished with a ruler for not being able to answer questions...
Such a "mutually beneficial" scheme that could also use someone else's hand to slap faces was indeed enough to lure people into jumping into a trap, but Yun Kexin had no interest in playing along with Yun Ran—she didn't want to sacrifice her relatives' goodwill from the Second House for Yun Ran's cleverness.
"Oh, this is the Mandarin Orange Jelly that Cousin Yun Yan made for me," Yun Kexin said as she held the bowl with both hands and innocently brought it before Fu Lian and Dai Chun Ni, smiling foolishly, "Mother, Substitute Concubine, would you like to have some too?"
Dai Chun Ni took the bowl with suspicion and opened the lid. The fragrant aroma of the bright yellow Mandarin Orange Jelly wafted out.
"So it's this," Fu Lian quickly glanced at the Mandarin Orange Jelly and then shot a sideways glance at Dai Chun Ni, her eyes filled with disappointed cold laughter. "Substitute Concubine, what other 'surprises' do you have waiting for me?"
"No, nothing else," Dai Chun Ni said awkwardly, twitching her mouth and lowering her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "I was just asking casually."
Yun Ran was immersed in her own cleverness, feeling quite pleased with herself, when she suddenly overheard a conversation that made her feel something was off. Before she could figure out what was wrong, Fu Lianyin said, "Ran'er, recite 'Nü Jie' for me."
Yun Ran snapped out of her daze, realizing she had no time to cry—she had merely copied everything without actually memorizing it.
Forcing herself to recall the content, the scattered phrases in her mind felt like a small boat lost in a vast ocean. Just as she thought she caught a glimpse of something and wanted to wave it back, it vanished. The more anxious she became, the less she could remember, and she broke out in a cold sweat.
"Hurry up and recite it, or I'll silence you!" Fu Lianyin raised an eyebrow, her eyes wide and aggressive. "Not a single word can be missed."
"Mother, I... I forgot," Yun Ran said with a mournful face, panicking and stammering, "I just copied it without remembering much, so—"
"How many times did I tell you to copy it?" Fu Lianyin interrupted calmly but abruptly.
"One hundred times..."
"Then how many have you copied so far?"
"Seventy times, there are still three—"
"Ten times," before she could finish her sentence, there was a loud "smack" as Fu Lianyin threw the book in her hand at Yun Ran's forehead, her voice sharp:
"You've copied it seventy times and still can't remember? What kind of brain do you have? I only read it a few times back then and could recite it perfectly... You should have read it aloud while copying, do you understand?"
Fu Lianyin had initially intended to use Yun Kexin's visit to the Second House to extract some information from the child.
She planned to make mysterious speculations based on Dai Chun Ni's comments about the contents of that bowl to find leverage against the Second House.
However, things were drifting further away from her expectations. With a belly full of frustration with nowhere to vent it, Yun Ran's "failure" became the target of her anger.
"I understand, I understand," Yun Ran shrank into herself, trembling as she said, "I will remember Mother’s teachings."
"Memorize it all for me, and if you miss a single word, you will copy the entire book a hundred times," Fu Lianyin scolded angrily.
"Yes, Mother," Yun Ran hurriedly nodded, tears already falling before she could even cry, "I will definitely recite it for you."
With that frightened and helpless expression, there was no trace left of the arrogance she had shown when she had been cursing Dai Chun Ni just moments ago.
It seems she was just a paper tiger after all! Yun Kexin sneered.
"Substitute Concubine, come with me first. Later, you can come back to supervise Yun Ran as she copies and recites 'The Lessons for Women,'" Fu Lianyin glanced at Yun Ran and then turned away coldly. When she looked at Yun Kexin again, her expression softened, and she said kindly, "Xin'er, Eighth Sister has been calling for Seventh Sister; could you go keep her company?"
"Of course, Mother. I haven't played with Eighth Sister in a while," Yun Kexin replied with a smile. "Can I take Mandarin Orange Jelly with me?"
"Of course you can. Go ahead," Fu Lianyin said gently as she patted Yun Kexin on the shoulder.
After saying her thanks, Yun Kexin quickly ran out of the east wing holding the lotus-patterned porcelain bowl.
Yun Ran watched her joyfully escape this troublesome place with resentment in her heart: the "deal" we had agreed upon had turned into a situation where I lost everything without gaining anything. Yun Kexin, we shall see!
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