Chapter 46: That little hoof ruined her face... but no one would ask
A Yue was very well-behaved. She nodded and sat upright, and really didn't say anything else.
When Zhou Baili entered the hall, she saw Liu Mingyue. She felt so happy when she saw that everyone was looking at her with unfriendly eyes.
This ugly freak should be despised by everyone, and should be talked about and disliked! She and her vixen mother are the same lowly stuff! Both are vixens! Ever since Liu Mingyue's mother came to the mansion, her father rarely went to her mother's yard.
I don't know what tricks the middle-aged vixen used to make Dad only have eyes for her for so many years! Zhou Baili recalled what happened many years ago, and her hand holding the round fan clenched tightly.
"Daddy, why don't you go to Mom's room?" Zhou Baili was young at that time and didn't know what was special about taking a concubine.
After all, before Concubine Liu came to study under him, there were already several concubines in the mansion, and each of them was strictly controlled by his mother.
"Madam Liu and Mingyue have just arrived at the mansion, and they need me to accompany them more. I will go to your mother's room in a few days. Also, you are the elder sister, so remember to take better care of your younger sister, do you understand?" This is what my father said at the time.
When Liu Mingyue first arrived at Zhou's residence, Zhou Junyuan treated Liu Mingyue with affection in order to please Aunt Liu. But as time went by, he got to know Aunt Liu's character and knew that she was weak and could be bullied, so his attitude towards Liu Mingyue became cold.
At first, under Zhou Junyuan's persuasion, Zhou Baili treated Liu Mingyue kindly and even took her to play. Soon Zhou Baili found that Liu Mingyue's wife was better than hers, and even better than other young ladies from official families.
So whenever a lady took the children out for a trip, the children gathered together to play, and the young men from other families would only look at the beautiful and clever Liu Mingyue. It was once or twice, but later on, it happened every time, and Zhou Baili gradually felt jealous.
One winter day, Zhou Baili came to Zhao Yinlian crying and begging, "Mother, please help your daughter. Do you want to watch that little bitch suppress your daughter in everything? She is just a stepdaughter brought by my aunt and raised in the Zhou Mansion. Why?"
Zhao Yinlian was very upset by her daughter's crying. Ever since Liu came to the mansion, her master had not treated her as kindly as before.
It would be a lie to say that she didn't hate him, but as the mistress, she couldn't do anything to him openly. What's more, Liu's ex-husband was a soldier who died in battle for our dynasty. If she openly treated Liu harshly, she would not only suffer in the end, but would also anger her mistress.
Seeing her daughter suffer so much because of the girl brought by that vixen, Zhao Yinlian became more dissatisfied with Liu than before, but what should she do?
"My dear daughter, don't cry yet. That little bitch is just like her mother, relying on her appearance to seduce men. If the vixen's face is ruined, your father will investigate it thoroughly, but if the little bitch's face is ruined... no one will ask about it."
Liu's face flashed through Zhao Yinlian's mind, and deep disgust for her welled up in her eyes. Liu had taken her favor, but that bastard should never think of taking away her daughter's dignity and glory!
"It just so happens that mother got something good. You can use the excuse of sharing food to give her the snacks with the ingredients in them. If someone asks about it later, just pretend you don't know." Zhao Yinlian comforted her daughter and had a plan in mind.
Zhao Yinlian poured the poison on a plum. Since it was colorless and odorless, it would not affect the texture and taste of the plum.
On this day, several children in the mansion were playing together. Zhou Baili took out a box of plums to share with everyone, and picked out the largest one for Liu Mingyue. Therefore, even if the box of plums was checked afterwards, nothing would be found.
Everyone ate the plums together, but the only one that was poisonous was the one that Liu Mingyue ate. When Zhou Baili fed Liu Mingyue the poisonous plum, she was not afraid, but rather looked forward to it.
I was also worried that the poison my mother had found would not work on Liu Mingyue, but fortunately, it worked. After the poison took effect, Liu Mingyue had a high fever all night, and the next day, some parts of the burned red skin on her face darkened in color, and scars like birthmarks grew.
"Sister, why do you look a little pale? Did you get a heat stroke on the way here?"
Zhou Qianqian, who was sitting next to Zhou Baili and was her lackey, was of course concerned when she saw that she looked unhappy.
Zhou Baili regained her composure and shook her head: "Nothing."
Compared to Zhou Baili's expression that kept changing, Liu Mingyue, who was sitting next to the Marquise, seemed not to notice that others were looking at her with strange eyes.
She acted too calm, so calm that people felt embarrassed to stare at her. The ladies looked away awkwardly and chatted about some unimportant issues to ease the awkwardness.
"Empress, the banquet has been set up in Qinghe Palace. You may go and take your seat." The female official in charge of setting the banquet came to Jiaofang Palace to deliver the message.
The queen smiled gently and looked around the palace: "Everyone, please stand up and go to Qinghe Palace with me."
"Yes." The officials and their wives said in unison, stood up and followed the Queen in a polite manner.
The palace banquet did not have separate seats for men and women, but for each family. Liu Mingyue naturally sat at the same seat with her cheap husband, Tan Zhuoyan.
When Liu Mingyue arrived, Qin Zhuoyan had already taken her seat. When she sat down, Liu Mingyue bowed to her. Qin Zhuoyan snorted and turned her head away. Liu Mingyue didn't mind and sat down gracefully.
Although Qin Zhuoyan didn't want to give Liu Mingyue a look, she couldn't help but catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of her eye, and she was in a very bad mood for a moment.
After that, when they knew that the emperor and empress had entered the hall, everyone greeted them and sat down. No one spoke, and they tacitly chose to remain silent.
After the banquet started, meals, fruits, etc. were brought up by palace servants one after another. The Qinghe Hall was filled with fragrance. It was worthy of the work of the imperial kitchen. The meals on the table were delicious and beautiful.
However, in such a grand occasion, the guests were toasting each other, but they were too reserved in front of the emperor and empress and could not eat much.
The palace banquet was not a place for eating, but Liu Mingyue had no such scruples. She was so happy that she could enjoy the food with a legitimate reason, and she was too lazy to pretend.
Liu Mingyue just picked up the chopsticks, and Tan Zhuoyan beside her glanced at the food on the table and muttered softly: "What does it matter if the imperial kitchen prepares the best food? Looking at this face, how can I eat anything?"
Although Tan Zhuoyan's voice was low and he didn't mention anyone by name, Liu Mingyue wasn't so stupid that she couldn't tell he was talking about her. Liu Mingyue secretly rolled her eyes at him and started eating from the first dish.
Liu Mingyue enjoyed the dishes such as squirrel fish, pickled goose feet, steamed pork with rice flour and roasted venison with gusto.
All the ingredients used in the palace banquet were of top quality, and it was rare to spend a lot of money on them outside the palace. Liu Mingyue ate very carefully, and after finishing her own meal, she also ate Qin Zhuoyan's portion.
Tan Zhuoyan was sulking for a while, then lowered her head and saw that there was nothing left on the table. She immediately shouted angrily, "What are you doing!"
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