Chapter 120: So pitiful
Luo Zhaohan became increasingly agitated as he spoke, his voice rising with sharp accusations: "From childhood to adulthood! You took half of my father's things! You took half of my mother's love! Even the most beautiful magnolia in my yard, if you looked at it for a second longer, my mother would want to dig it up and transplant it to your yard! I endured all of this!"
But not this time! Liu Yueli! This is mine! It’s my horse archery! I earned it with my sweat and skills! What gives you the right?! Why do you want to take even this away? "
Luo Zhaohan's eyes turned red, like a little beast that was completely enraged.
Her chest heaved violently as she stared at Liu Yueli, who was still kneeling on the ground, as if she wanted to tear off her docile exterior to see what kind of heart was hidden underneath.
Liu Yueli's shoulders trembled.
She still had her head down, and her thick eyelashes were like two small fans, casting deep shadows on her pale cheeks.
Every question from Luo Zhaohan was like a whip, lashing her heart hard.
Those words caused her heart to ache even more.
She bit her lower lip and tasted the faint smell of blood, then she managed to suppress the sob in her throat.
After a long time, so long that the wind blowing through the corridor had become a little chilly, and so long that Luo Zhaohan thought she would respond with silence again, Liu Yueli finally raised her head slowly.
That face was still stunningly beautiful, but now it was completely bloodless, like fine white porcelain.
Her eyes were big, and at this moment they were filled with deep and unbreakable sadness.
His gaze was no longer as gentle as usual, but instead was like a bottomless pool of cold water, meeting Luo Zhaohan's eyes burning with anger.
"Zhao Han," Liu Yueli's voice was soft but remarkably clear, "I was the one who asked my father for the quota."
Luo Zhaohan's pupils suddenly constricted.
It’s her!
It turned out to be her doing!
Liu Yueli looked at her expression, her heart felt like it was being gripped by an icy hand, but she forced herself to continue: "I know you hate me and blame me. But this time, I can't help it."
She took a deep breath, as if she had used up all her strength, before she uttered those earth-shattering words: "Because I'm getting married."
"What?" Luo Zhaohan was stunned as if struck by lightning.
Getting married? What does this have to do with her quota for horse riding and archery?
The corners of Liu Yueli's mouth pulled up into a curve that was uglier than crying: "It's the Kangwang Mansion. The Kangwang Prince called my name."
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, only despair remained. "We both know what the Kangwang Mansion is like. The Crown Prince's wife died young, the Crown Prince has a violent temper, and there are many concubines in the backyard. It's all luck that I survived. My father didn't want to leave in the first place."
Luo Zhaohan was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
The prince of Kang? The living devil who took pleasure in torturing women?
How could my father...
She suddenly remembered her father's increasingly gloomy face these past few days, and her mother always secretly wiping away tears behind her back...
I see!
A huge shock and an inexplicable chill instantly swept over her, temporarily freezing her anger.
"Prince Kang's Mansion is powerful, and my father can't afford to offend him." Liu Yueli's voice was hollow, as if she was recounting someone else's story. "The Crown Prince passed on a message, saying that if I agreed to marry, the betrothal gift would be generous, and he would also provide extra support for the General's Mansion in purchasing military supplies..."
She paused, each word coming out with difficulty, as if squeezed out from between her teeth. "But the prince... he has a condition."
Liu Yueli's gaze met Luo Zhaohan again, and her eyes were so complicated that Luo Zhaohan's heart trembled.
"He said... he'd heard that the General's eldest daughter, Luo Zhaohan, was a master of both riding and shooting, a woman who was as good as any man. He wanted to see her in person at the Autumn Hunt."
boom--!
Luo Zhaohan just felt like something exploded in his head.
A chill instantly shot up from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, making the hairs all over her body stand on end!
She understood! She understood everything!
"So..." Luo Zhaohan's voice was trembling, her face pale as paper. She pointed at Liu Yueli, her fingers trembling. "So you snatched my spot and gave it to that bastard?! Giving him the chance to humiliate me in public? Liu Yueli! You have such a vicious heart! For your own survival, for the sake of a few petty profits from the General's Mansion, you pushed me out as a target?"
After the extreme anger, there is a chilling chill in the bones.
She had always thought that Liu Yueli was just cowardly and only loved to compete for favor, but she had never imagined that she could be so cruel in order to protect herself.
She actually pushed her so-called sister in front of that devil with her own hands!
Luo Zhaohan felt cold all over and his blood seemed to have frozen.
She looked at Liu Yueli's face, and her stomach churned with nausea. What sisterhood, what decades of daily companionship, at that moment, was shattered by Liu Yueli's own hands.
"Zhaohan, I'm sorry..." Liu Yueli's tears finally slid down silently, dripping onto the ground, instantly leaving a small dark wet mark.
"I know I deserve death. But I, I have no other choice... My father can't let me ruin the future of the General's Mansion and offend Prince Kang's Mansion. I can only follow the Crown Prince's wishes..."
Raising her tearful eyes and looking at Luo Zhaohan's desperate look, she felt as if a piece of her heart had been gouged out, and the pain was so severe that she almost suffocated.
She suddenly took a step forward on her knees, trying to grab the hem of Luo Zhaohan's skirt: "Zhaohan! Believe me! I just want that spot, I just want you to stay out of the spotlight for a while! You weren't there on the day of the autumn hunt, and the prince couldn't see you. After a long time, he might have forgotten about you. I have no intention of ruining your reputation, really not!"
"No?" Luo Zhaohan looked like she had heard a huge joke and suddenly pulled back the hem of her skirt as if it was stained with something dirty.
"Liu Yueli, do you think I'm a three-year-old child? His Majesty is in person at the Autumn Hunting Ceremony. My name, Luo Zhaohan, and my fame as a horseman and archer have long been known since my father boasted about me! You've taken my place, and the prince won't be able to see me. He'll just think the General's Mansion is playing a trick on him! It was my father who deliberately hid me!"
Do you think he'll let it go then? He'll only hate you even more!
He hates his father, he hates the General's Mansion! He hates me, Luo Zhaohan, even more! He will use every possible means to find me! At that time, where do you think I can hide? Will the General's Mansion still be able to protect me?!
With every word, Liu Yueli's face turned paler.
She collapsed to the ground, her body shaking like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind.
She only thought about escaping the immediate danger, and that marrying into the prince's family might appease his anger, but she never imagined that deeper revenge and humiliation would entangle Luo Zhaohan and the entire general's mansion.
"I..." Liu Yueli's lips trembled and she could no longer utter a complete sentence.
She was wrong, very wrong!
She thought that by sacrificing herself she could save everyone, but it turned out that she couldn't save anyone, and she hurt the person she least wanted to hurt the most!
Luo Zhaohan looked at her distraught appearance, and felt no joy in his heart, only sadness.
The power that supported her was instantly withdrawn from her body as the truth was completely revealed.
The last rays of sunset sank completely into the horizon.
The light in the courtyard quickly dimmed, and dusk engulfed everything.
The magnolia tree under the porch, which they had planted together when they were young, stretched out its silent branches in the dimness. Its white petals had long since withered, leaving only dark green leaves, which made a rustling sound in the evening breeze, as if lamenting silently.
Luo Zhaohan no longer looked at Liu Yueli, who was crying and collapsing on the ground. He just buried his face deeply in his bent knees, and his shoulders began to tremble violently and uncontrollably.
It's over. Everything is over.
Luo Zhaohan was really confused.
Her eyes, which always burned like two small flames, were now wide open, with a few large words clearly written in them.
Did you, Liu Yueli, take the wrong medicine?
Who is Luo Zhaohan? The only legitimate daughter of General Fuyuan's family, she grew up fighting in the martial arts arena with her father, and her temper is so fierce that it can be ignited.
Today, she came to the teahouse wearing the "Spring Wave Green" soft satin embroidered shoes that were the favorite of all the noble ladies in the city. She was thinking about the accounts in her heart, and she was waiting for Liu Yueli, the white lotus who was used to putting on airs, to start a sophistry. She would immediately overturn the table and let her tear off her false face in front of all the noble ladies in the capital!
What's the result?
Liu Yueli, on the other hand, didn't say a word. She bent her waist, lowered her head, and said "I'm sorry" crisply, faster than her Luo Zhaohan's fist!
The entire second-floor private room was so quiet that you could hear the sound of spring rain hitting the bluestone slabs outside the window.
The ladies who had just pricked up their ears and cracked melon seeds, ready to watch a spectacular show, now had wonderful expressions on their faces.
The melon seeds were frozen in his mouth and he forgot to eat them. The hand holding the teacup stopped in mid-air. Those who were winking at each other forgot to blink.
Luo Zhaohan stiffened his neck, his breath stuck in his throat, unable to go up or down, and his chest felt stuffy.
The eight hundred curse words she had prepared in her head now turned into useless paste, making her temples throb.
She stared at Liu Yueli's lowered head. Her shiny black hair was pinned with only a plain white jade hairpin, which made the exposed back of her neck look slender and fragile, as if Luo Zhaohan could break it with just a breath.
But it was this seemingly weak bow of her head that suppressed all her anger!
Liu Yueli maintained that apologetic posture, motionless and full of patience.
Her attitude was so pretentious, as if if Luo Zhaohan didn't say "forget it", she would stay here forever.
Finally, Luo Zhaohan squeezed out the anger he had been holding back, and said with a spark of anger, "Liu Yueli, don't give me that! Why are you pretending to be so magnanimous and virtuous?"
Liu Yueli then slowly stood up, her face still calm, and even a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
She raised her hand and gently brushed away the non-existent dust on her cuffs with her fingertips, her movements graceful.
"Sister Luo, what you said is true. I know that I may have said or done something inappropriate in the past, which made you unhappy. Today, I sincerely apologize to you. Sister, please calm down. It's not worth it to get yourself hurt by anger."
Listen! What a beautiful staircase!
It seemed as if if Luo Zhaohan continued to pester him, she would really become the unreasonable evil person!
Luo Zhaohan only felt a surge of evil fire rushing straight to the top of her head, burning her eyes so hard that they were a little dizzy.
She took a sudden step forward, her expensive embroidered shoes making a dull thud on the floor. A girl in a light yellow shirt next to her was startled by her gesture, her hand trembling, and half a cup of warm Biluochun tea spilled onto her skirt with a clang.
"Ouch!" The man in the goose yellow shirt cried out softly and tried to wipe it in a hurry.
Luo Zhaohan took a deep breath, and then another, before he barely suppressed the urge to overturn the table.
Isn't Liu Yueli trying to pretend? Fine! She wants to see how far this white lotus can pretend!
Luo Zhaohan forced a cold smile, his voice squeezed out from between his teeth: "Apologize? Liu Yueli, you want to send me away with just a simple "I'm sorry"? Do you think I, Luo Zhaohan, am a three-year-old child who is so easy to fool?"
Her eyes were like knives, slashing across Liu Yueli's face fiercely. "Who did your Liu family rely on to get to where they are today? You ungrateful thing! Back then, your father was just a sixth-rank official. If my grandfather hadn't helped him get connections and work with the Ministry of Personnel because of our old friendship, would he have gotten the position he has today? How could your Liu family have a foothold in the capital? And yet, you turn around and touch my sister's dowry! Liu Yueli, have you lost your conscience?!"
"What? Dowry?"
"Miss Luo's dowry? Wasn't it already..."
"Oh my god, there is such a thing?"
"Shh... keep your voice down..."
The ladies could no longer hold back and began to whisper to each other. The buzz of discussion instantly drowned out the sound of rain outside the window.
Gazes darted back and forth across Luo Zhaohan and Liu Yueli's faces, filled with surprise and confusion.
Behind the screen, the bony fingers paused slightly, with the rim of the cup only half an inch away from the lips.
A glimmer of true light flashed across Prince Mo Xuanjing's narrow and long phoenix eyes.
He gently put down the teacup, and the bottom of the cup touched the rosewood table, making a very slight "click" sound.
This girl from the Liu family was actually involved in the muddy waters of the Fuyuan General's Mansion's dowry?
This play is even more exciting than expected.
The playful curve at the corner of Mo Xuanjing's lips deepened a little, and his body leaned forward slightly. Through the thin mica screen, his eyes seemed to penetrate through and fall on the slender figure.
Faced with Luo Zhaohan's resounding accusation and the suspicious looks in the room, the calmness on Liu Yueli's face finally showed a crack, and her long eyelashes trembled rapidly a few times, like the wings of a frightened butterfly.
She raised her eyes and met Luo Zhaohan's gaze, which was almost spitting fire. A thin layer of water light slowly appeared in those clear eyes.
Under the bright light of the private room, she looked pitiful.
"Sister Luo..." Liu Yueli's voice trembled slightly, with a sense of grievance. "How can you say that to your sister? I know how Sister Luo treats me. I'm grateful to her, so how could I touch her things?"
After a pause, as if suppressing immense sadness, she spoke softer, her voice reaching everyone's ears more clearly. "As for those things, you know, sister. My mother passed away early, and it's always been my aunt who's been taking care of the household. How can an unmarried girl like me take care of those old things in the storehouse?"
She tilted her face slightly, and a tear silently slid down her fair cheek, hitting the nanmu floor, leaving a dark mark. This tear was more powerful than a thousand words.
"A few days ago, when Auntie was cleaning the storeroom, she discovered a number of boxes that were very old, damp, and infested with insects. Many of the materials were rotten and truly unusable. She thought it would be better to sell them for some silver, to bring some income to the mansion and help relieve Dad's worries, rather than just letting them rot in the storeroom."
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