Chapter Seven
After sitting for a while, I thought that if I didn't go back, Qiao Hui would definitely get anxious, so I got up and headed back. Looking at the singing and dancing in front of me, my heart was desolate. It felt like it was a bigger stage, and I was just an audience member. The performance was a tragic play, if one didn't feel moved, then watching it would be enough, but now I was deeply engrossed in the play, feeling the same emotions as the characters, yet powerless to change the course of events.
I was walking with my head down, when suddenly a voice shouted: "Have you grown eyes? You're bumping into people!" I was startled and quickly stopped, looking up to see Mingyu Gege from the Guo family standing about ten steps in front of me, with a little maid behind her. I didn't have the mood to deal with her, thinking I could quickly walk past her side, but she took two steps forward and blocked my way. She sneered: "You're really a 'wild person', without any manners." I took a step to the side, trying to get around her, but she also stepped aside, still blocking me. I was getting annoyed, looking up at her head-on, wondering what she wanted to do. She smiled smugly and said: "I heard your brain got damaged." I also smiled and said: "Some people don't need to get hurt, their brains are already rotten." Her smile disappeared, and she angrily said: "You're a wild person with no mother to teach you!" I stared at her, smiling and saying: "Some people have mothers who raised them, but they're not even as good as wild people!" She was getting anxious, and the more anxious she got, the more I found it funny. What a little girl, these two sentences were worth getting anxious about! Back in the day when I argued with my deskmate, we would curse at each other without restraint, but still try to laugh as naturally and happily as possible - that's how you get the best effect. Seeing me smile at her, she suddenly blurted out: "You're just like your sister, both of you are ill-mannered and cheap!"
I don't have much to say, it's just that the swear words I used are only elementary vocabulary in my dictionary of insults. But saying those things about my sister is not allowed. From the moment I opened my eyes in this world, my sister has been taking care of me with kindness and love, and it has all seeped into my blood. She's the person I care most about in this time and space! My only family member! I glared at her coldly: "Where did you hear that from?" She looked at me with a mixture of excitement and smugness, "It doesn't matter where I heard it from, anyway, it's just... despicable..." She deliberately dragged out the word. I slapped her with a loud "smack". The little maid rushed over to support her, calling out "Young Lady", she covered her face and looked at me in disbelief. I was still staring at her, asking coldly: "Where did you hear it from?" She suddenly pushed away the maid and rushed over to slap me. Unfortunately, my aura is that of a 25-year-old, but my body is only 13 years old. So the scene that followed can be described with the four words "too pitiful to behold".
Have you ever seen girls fight? It's all about scratching, pinching, kicking, and hair-pulling. Because we were wearing flower pot-shaped shoes, when we rolled around on the ground, we even resorted to biting. All I could hear was a little girl crying out "Sister, sister!" as she tried to separate us, but two women rolling around on the ground, she didn't know how to intervene. In the end, all I heard was her shouting: "Someone come! Someone come!" The eunuchs and servants rushed over, yelling: "Stop fighting! Stop fighting!" But the two spoiled mistresses on the ground were having too much fun, no one listened. They also didn't dare use too much force, afraid of hurting either one, which would be hard to explain.
They were originally not far from the banquet, and finally startled the princes and princesses. The younger princes ran quickly and arrived soon after, while the older princes and the crown prince followed later. The female relatives walked slowly and were farther away, so they arrived late. The 13th and 14th princes came first, followed by the 8th and 9th princes. The 10th prince was not very steady on his feet and ran over unsteadily. The 4th prince and the crown prince were more reserved, so they walked slower.
Fourteen hadn't arrived yet, but his voice had, shouting: "What are you doing? Stop at once!" Thirteen also shouted: "Stop!" But who listened to him? We continued! No choice, thirteen and fourteen could only hurry over to prepare to intervene.
Suddenly, a loud "splash" was heard, and everyone shouted in unison. It turned out that the place where we two were fighting was originally by the lake, and at this moment, they were rolling around on the ground, entangled together, dizzy, and after a few rolls, they fell into the lake.
When I first fell into the lake, I still had a few points of joy, thinking that I was a 200-meter freestyle swimmer in college. But immediately after, I discovered that I was wrong. My feet were stuck in the flower pot, my body was wearing a beautiful palace dress, and my head was wearing a heavy headdress. Plus, there was someone tightly holding onto my clothes and moving around, making me no different from someone who couldn't swim. All I could do was hold my breath and wait for someone to come rescue me, thinking it would be quick. But time seemed to pass very slowly, and I felt like my chest was getting tighter and tighter. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I felt someone stick to my back, their hands passing under my armpits and hugging me, the hand that was holding onto my clothes was also pulled open, and then we slowly floated up to the surface. As soon as we broke through the water's surface, I started gasping for air. After getting ashore, I found out that it was thirteen gege who was hugging me. Fourteen gege was carrying Mingyu gege ashore, she probably inhaled some water, her eyes were tightly closed, and her body wasn't moving at all. Although I was better off than her, my body was still weak, and I collapsed onto the ground, leaning into thirteen gege's arms, only knowing how to gasp for air. Ten gege rushed over, pulled me and asked: "Is anything wrong?" I shook my head slightly with little strength. On Mingyu gege's side, it was already a scene of shouting and screaming, I saw them desperately pressing her belly, thinking that if she really wasn't going to make it, would I have to go give her CPR? Just as I thought this, I saw her spit out some water, slowly opening her eyes.
My sister arrived just in time to see me sitting on the ground, and she rushed over to me, imitating my movements, her hands shaking. I comforted her by saying, "I'm fine, really!" After making sure I was okay, she stood up and ran over to Mingyu Gege's side to check on her. Qiaohui and Dongyun came over, took me from the 13th prince's arms, helped me stand up, and wrapped me in a cloak. The 8th prince had no smile on his face, while Mingyu Gege's little maid was bowing her head to respond to him. The 4th prince and the crown prince stood silently by. On the other side, Mingyu Gege finally regained her strength, pushed away my sister who was beside her, sat down on the ground, and burst into loud wails. My sister stumbled and also fell to the ground. I struggled free from Qiaohui's grasp and rushed over, but my sister shouted at me, "What do you think you're doing?" I stopped in my tracks. My sister asked loudly, "What happened?" I stood there wrapped in the cloak, looked down at Mingyu Gege with disdain, and snorted without saying a word. My sister turned to Mingyu Gege and said softly, "Don't cry, be careful not to hurt yourself. If Yuxi bullied you, tell me, and I'll take care of it for you." She took out a handkerchief to wipe away Mingyu Gege's tears. But Mingyu Gege pushed my sister's hand away and shouted with tears in her eyes, "You're all bullying me, you're all..." I shouted at her, "One more word!" She glared at me fiercely, but I also stared back at her with an icy gaze. Who was she to try to intimidate me? In the end, she swallowed her words and opened her mouth to cry again. I took two steps forward and shouted, "Don't cry!" She sat on the ground, looking up at me with her mouth open, clearly having never seen anyone as heartless as me before, and was somewhat stunned into silence.
But it wasn't just her who was stunned on the spot, my sisters, ten, thirteen, and fourteen were all shocked. Fourth brother, eighth brother, and the crown prince were also quietly staring at me, the atmosphere was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Finally, the crown prince chuckled twice and said: "I didn't expect thirteenth brother to have a sister here!" Only then did everyone react, and Mingyu Gege started crying again. My sister glared at me with hatred in her eyes, and let Qiaohui and Dongyun support me back. She was busy taking care of Mingyu Gege.
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It's been five days since I fell into the water. No matter how humble and gentle, or pretending to be crazy, my sister won't talk to me. The maids in the house are also quiet and evasive, everyone treats me like an 'invisible person'. I thought that staying at home would not bring forgiveness, so I went out.
All the way, I just felt that the eunuchs, servants, and maids on the road looked at me with unusual eyes, and treated me with more courtesy and caution than usual. I didn't pay much attention to it either. Still wandering around in the garden, I caught a glimpse of the tenth prince and the fourteenth prince from afar, and hurriedly chased after them.
They turned around and saw me, all stunned, just staring at me. I also tilted my head and looked back at them with a careless attitude. Finally, the Fourteenth Prince burst out laughing and said: "What's with your appearance?" I cracked a smile and said: "A broken pot can't be mended!" The Tenth Prince smiled slyly and said: "I thought you were fierce enough towards me before, but now it seems that was still being gentle!"
Fourteenth brother shook his head and sighed, "At first glance, I thought you were a delicate beauty!" I asked, "What about now?" He smiled and asked back, "Do you know that you've become famous overnight?" I thought to myself, at the time, all the young masters and misses in Beijing must have been there, someone would surely spread the news. I pursed my lips tightly and said, "I can guess." He laughed and said, "For the past few days, all the young masters in the Forbidden City have been talking about 'Desperate Thirteenth Sister'!" I let out an "ah" and he continued, "Even the Emperor joked with Thirteenth Brother, asking when he would acknowledge a sister?" I couldn't believe it, covering my mouth and staring at Fourteenth Brother with wide eyes. Thinking to myself, heavens! Even Kangxi knows about me now. Fourteenth saw my reaction and laughed even harder.
Just as I was laughing, a small eunuch rushed over, wiped the sweat from his forehead and came forward to pay his respects. Then he bowed to me and said: "I've been searching for you all around the garden! The master wants to see you, he's waiting in the study!" I thought to myself that the verdict was finally going to be announced. My heart was racing with anxiety. It wasn't that I was afraid of what he would do to me, but rather that it might implicate my sister. The tenth prince saw the worried look on my face and said gruffly: "You're scared now?" But the fourteenth prince's smile faded, and he spoke softly: "Don't be afraid! I'll help plead your case." I looked at him in surprise, and he smiled slightly. I whispered: "Thank you!"
As we entered, Eighth Brother was sitting at the table writing. He only nodded to Tenth and Fourteenth Brothers, without even glancing at me, and continued writing with his head down. Tenth Brother and Fourteenth Brother found chairs and sat down separately. I stood still in the middle, my head lowered, thinking to myself that here came another person who treated me like an "invisible man".
After a while, the Eighth Prince, Tenth Prince and Fourteenth Prince finished their tea. The Eighth Prince put down his pen, sealed what he had written, and instructed the eunuch beside him: "Take this memorial directly to the Ministry of Rites." The eunuch tucked it away and left. The Eighth Prince took a sip of tea and asked the Tenth and Fourteenth Princes: "What do you think about the impeachment of Chang Geng, who was in charge of pacifying the Guangdong pirates, this morning?" The Tenth Prince exclaimed: "How can we think otherwise? Can we show leniency to these pirates who roam the seas? If we don't kill one to warn a hundred, the rest will become even more rampant!"
The Eighth Prince ignored him and only looked at the Fourteenth Prince. The Fourteenth thought for a moment before saying, "Although the Emperor hasn't spoken, I can sense that he has already made up his mind, and it's likely that he approves of what Chang Sheng is doing. These 237 pirates are all brave and skilled warriors, familiar with the surrounding seas, and each one is a good fighter! If we recruit them as soldiers, not only will our naval strength increase, but other pirates will also be intimidated, and our great Qing dynasty's prestige will be boosted. The Emperor will give opportunities to those who have talent and are willing to serve the country." The Eighth Prince nodded in agreement after hearing this. As for what they said afterwards, I didn't pay attention, only thinking to myself about politics and intrigue...
The sky had already darkened, and a eunuch came in to ask if dinner should be prepared. Eighth Brother smiled and said: "We were so engrossed in conversation that we forgot the time! It's so late now, it would be hard for you to go back and forth, if there's nothing urgent, why not have dinner here?" Tenth Brother and Fourteenth Brother both laughed and agreed. The eunuch took his leave and turned to go out.
Ba Ge looked at me, his fingers lightly tapping on the table, a smile still on his face. The room was quiet, only the low sound of tapping could be heard. I remained standing with my head down, unmoving, thanks to the strict military training from back then, and stood like that for over two hours. Ba Ge turned his head and smiled at Shi Ge and Shi Si Ge, saying: "You guys go ahead! I'll be right there!" After they got up, Shi Si Ge left directly, but Shi Ge hesitated and said: "Let's still walk together!" Ba Ge looked at him deeply with a smile and said: "Not leaving yet?" Shi Ge glanced at me, and finally left.
The eighth prince let the eunuchs in the house retreat as well. Then he walked to my front and stood still. I only felt a surge of invisible pressure that made me feel like I was about to lose my balance. Lowering my head to look at his shoes, my heart was racing, thinking a thousand thoughts, but not knowing what I was thinking. After half a day, he said in a low voice: "Lift your head!" I had ten thousand unwillingnesses in my heart, but ultimately didn't have the courage, and so obediently slowly lifted my head. My neck, chin, mouth, nose, finally met his eyes. Like a deep lake, seemingly clear yet bottomless, I really wanted to look away, but for some reason didn't move, just kept looking.
His face was calm, with a hint of curiosity staring at me as if searching for something on my face. I don't know how long it took, maybe one second, maybe an hour. A smile gradually escaped from the corner of his mouth, and then this smile slowly spread to his face, finally filling his eyes with laughter. But I felt like I really couldn't stand up, and involuntarily covered my chest and retreated two steps. He burst out laughing loudly. I thought to myself, it turns out that his laugh sounds so good! Like a weak electric current flowing through the heart, making your heart numb and tingling.
He sneered and asked, "Where's your boldness from that night?" My head was a bit dizzy, I didn't know what to say, just standing there stupidly. He laughed again and walked out, reaching the door, he turned back and smiled, "Do you want to stand there some more?" As soon as I heard this, I quickly turned around and followed him out. He instructed the eunuch to send me back to my sister's place, then turned around and left.
I've been standing for a long time, my legs are a bit stiff, I'm taking one step at a time, the eunuch is leading the way with a lantern. As I walk, I ponder, what does Eighth Brother mean by this, is that it? Just as I was walking, the eunuch in front suddenly bowed and greeted: "Tenth Brother is safe, Fourteenth Brother is safe!" It turned out that Tenth Brother and Fourteenth Brother were standing by the side of the road.
Tenth brother looked at my face with a sorrowful expression, and hastily asked: "What's wrong?" I bit my lip, wanting to speak but stopping myself, repeating this several times before finally lowering my head and saying nothing. Tenth brother grabbed my hand and hastily said: "Let's go find eighth brother!" I pulled my hand back, gave him a faint glance, then gazed blankly ahead with an expression of endless sorrow on my face, slowly shaking my head.
"Hah, hah, hah……" Fourteenth Brother bent over, holding his belly and laughing loudly, exclaiming: "Good heavens!" Tenth Brother was taken aback by his sudden laughter, looking at him with anger. "Heh heh!" I also burst out laughing. Tenth Brother looked at me, then at Fourteenth, and suddenly flung his sleeve around, turning to leave while angrily saying: "I've had enough of this nonsense!" Fourteenth Brother and I hastily rushed forward to stop him. After composing myself, I softly said: "Next time I won't dare, so please forgive me just this once!" Fourteenth Brother also repeatedly bowed in apology. Only then did Tenth Brother's expression soften.
I turned my head to stare at Fourteen and asked, "Who said they would plead for me?" Fourteen smiled and said, "Eighth Brother is a renowned gentle and courteous gentleman. He has always been polite and refined in his interactions with others. If he treats you normally when you go in, I'll have to think carefully about how to plead your case." After a pause, he continued, "Later on, seeing you standing there for so long, I thought to myself, 'This case doesn't need pleading after all!'" I was left speechless. Tenth Brother, however, asked strangely, "Then why didn't you remind me?" Fourteen smiled and said, "I was waiting to watch the show!" Tenth Brother scolded, "Good one, Fourteen! You..." Fourteen interrupted, "This person has seen it, and their heart is at ease. Shall we go eat now?"
I had just taken two steps when I thought about it and turned back to call out to them, asking: "What was the reaction of the Guo Luoluo A Fu?" The tenth brother opened his mouth just as he was about to speak, but the fourteenth interrupted him, saying: "Anyway, this matter is now considered settled. You don't need to think about it anymore, hurry back and let the girl give your legs a good massage!"
I returned to the house, and my sister saw me come in without any expression. She only instructed the maid beside her: "Let the kitchen heat up some food and send it over." The maid responded and left. Not long after, she came back with a smile and said: "As soon as I went out, I ran into Little Fourth, he brought a food box and said it was for Miss. So I came back to ask if we still need the kitchen to heat up some dishes?" A small eunuch stood behind her, holding a food box. My sister looked at the eunuch and said: "Since there's already prepared food, we don't need to heat up any cold dishes." The maid turned around and took over the food box, dismissing the eunuch and serving me dinner. I had been standing for more than two hours and was starving, so I quickly started eating. My sister sat on the couch, staring at me with a thoughtful expression. After finishing my meal, my sister said lightly: "Go wash up and take a nap." I sighed and thought to myself that I still hadn't calmed down, but there was nothing I could do, so I had no choice but to go back to my room to rest.
