"Wan Lu, absolutely not! Please go and speak with the Lady, my Wife is seriously ill. The Doctor has said that moving her right now will certainly worsen her condition. I beg you, I'll kowtow to you..." the elderly woman's voice trembled and choked with pleading.
Another girl, cold and tragic, spoke, "Xing Nian, don't kneel to her! Can't you see that Wan Lu just hopes for something bad to happen to my Wife, so she can become a legitimate daughter? What's the use in pleading with her! If anything happens to the Wife, we might as well follow her in death rather than suffer indignities at the hands of these heartless people!"
Xing Nian and Wan Lu were mentioned anew, which reflected the strangeness of this situation. It left Ran Yan lying dumbly on the floor, momentarily forgetting to get up.
"You! Someone bind this disrespectful wretch!"
Footsteps, growing louder amidst the chaotic noise outside, approached as Ran Yan lay on the floor, struggling to turn her head towards the door.
Before Ran Yan could rise, the door banged open.
The cold and damp air from the outside rain rushed in, sending a chill through her spleen and lungs. The first thing she saw was a pair of delicate feet in wooden clogs and wet silk stockings, looking extremely heavy from the rain.
The newcomer seemed shocked by the sight of Ran Yan lying on the floor, her eyes wide open, and let out a cry before retreating several steps, supported by a Maid by her side.
It wasn't only her who was frightened; everyone present was. Xing Nian and Wan Lu struggled free from their constraints and hurried forward, crying out in fear, "Wife! Wife!"
"Wife" was a term used during the Tang Dynasty to address a woman; this notion faintly emerged in Ran Yan's mind. She struggled to raise her head and saw two faces filled with concern in front of her—one an emaciated face marred with wrinkles and white at the temples, tears streaking down, and the other, a girl around sixteen or seventeen with attractive features but hollow cheeks due to thinness, nonetheless beautiful.
It was Xing Nian and Wan Lu who were attending to her.
"Wife! Have you awakened? How can you lie on the ground? What if you catch a cold again!" Xing Nian, both shocked and overjoyed on seeing Ran Yan move, managed to stop crying and embraced her, although tears continued to fall.
The rough hemp clothes were somewhat prickly. Smelling a faint scent of soapberry, a warmth surged in Ran Yan's heart, and she couldn't help but feel repulsed by the overbearing Ran Meiyu.
"Wan Lu! My Wife has already awakened, she only needs some days of recuperation and she will be perfectly fine, no need to move her elsewhere," Wan Lu declared loudly, her shouting audible both inside and outside the house.
"Hmph, perfectly fine? She's probably having a brief rally before the end!" Ran Meiyu's voice was sharp, as cruel as her words.
Uncertain about where Ran Meiyu intended to move her but seeing the two protective servants sobbing beside her, Ran Yan knew it was nowhere good. Dream or reality, Ran Yan was not one to suffer losses.
She coughed weakly, "Help me up."
Her voice was hoarse, barely louder than a breath. Xing Nian snapped to attention and quickly helped Ran Yan to her feet. Wan Lu stood protectively in front of her, her expression fierce as if ready to perish together with anyone who dared to approach, which frightened all the attending Maids to a halt.
Since ancient times, even the most ruthless have feared those who have nothing to lose. Wan Lu's determination was all she had.
After standing up, Ran Yan clearly saw the appearance of the young girl in front of her. Around fifteen or sixteen years old, she wore a cinnabar red tunic dress up to her chest, covered with a semi-transparent thin silk blouse adorned with neatly stitched golden begonia flowers. Her hair was styled in a graceful bun, adorned with two finely crafted golden hairpins. She had bright eyes and white teeth, looking pretty and charming, but her haughty demeanor and her venomous words earlier left Ran Yan with no fondness for her.
Ran Yan took a few steps forward, standing just half a step away from Ran Meiyu. Ran Meiyu, with a face full of disgust, covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve, as if afraid of being contaminated by illness. She said to her maid beside her, "Wretched maid, why are you still standing there? Quickly pull her away!"
Ran Yan gave those maids a deathly stare, which caused them to shiver with fear. They hesitated, likely afraid of catching a contagious disease from Ran Yan, and despite Wan Lu's blocking, the four maids couldn't bring themselves to intervene.
It was clear that Ran Meiyu was not well-liked; otherwise, why wouldn't even her own maids sacrifice themselves for her?
Suddenly, Ran Yan reached up and deftly plucked the golden hairpin from Ran Meiyu's hairdo. Her movements were not swift, but as Ran Meiyu was reluctant to face her directly, she didn't react in time, and the maids, who were a bit too far away, simply watched as Ran Yan easily took it.
Holding the long, slender golden hairpin of about six or seven inches, Ran Yan inexplicably sighed, "Truly exquisite."
"Give it back to me!" Ran Meiyu, still quite young, forgot all caution when she saw her possession taken. She immediately reached out to snatch it back.
Ran Yan seemed to have anticipated her move and had already stepped back seven or eight steps. Due to her frailty, her retreat was stumbling, but fortunately, Xing Niang supported her, preventing her from falling.
Ran Meiyu's maids were not in a rush to reclaim the hairpin. After all, with so many of them against one, were they really afraid they couldn't get a single hairpin back? They also wondered whether Ran Shiqi had gone mad with illness or poverty since she had daringly stolen in public. How could she possibly escape?
Once Ran Yan had steadied herself, she said indifferently, "Tell me, what would others think if I were to thrust this golden hairpin into my throat?"
As she spoke, the sharp end of the hairpin was already pressed against her own throat, slicing into her delicate skin like white porcelain. Blood sprang forth, sticking to her pale skin like beautiful coral beads.
The pain of the hairpin piercing her skin made Ran Yan furrow her brows; indeed, none of this was a dream!
Ran Meiyu watched Ran Yan in horror. She had never expected the usually timid and easy-to-bully Ran Shiqi to take such a cruel action against herself. Glancing at her pale yet flawless face, void of any signs of life, with slightly knitted brows and clear eyes as vacant as a dried up well, it seemed like she was looking at her but simultaneously saw right through her. Ran Meiyu couldn't help but wonder if the woman before her was nothing more than a walking corpse. Trembling, she exclaimed, "Ran Shiqi, you, you've gone mad!"
"Wife, you mustn't do this, you mustn't!" Xing Niang reached out in panic, attempting to take the hairpin from her.
"Xing Niang!" Ran Yan commanded, "If your hand moves even an inch closer, I can't guarantee how deep this will go." Her tone was so cold it left no room for doubt about the veracity of her words.
Wan Lu was calmer than Xing Niang. She also noticed that her mistress's behavior was unusual today, as if she didn't truly intend to end her life yet was so resolutely decisive, completely different from usual, even the aura around her had changed. Therefore, when Ran Yan held the hairpin to her throat, Wan Lu didn't react immediately. But with the "great enemy before her," she couldn't afford to think further and had to stay on high alert to prevent her mistress from actually harming herself.
Watching Ran Yan's colorless and lifeless face, Xing Niang felt a wave of despair and sorrow wash over her. Ever since the Lady had passed, the legitimate daughter had been left to fend for herself in the manor, barely surviving. In the first year, they were allotted some money for medicine, but now even that was gone. The stepmother covered the heavens with one hand. They had begged several times for some money or food but returned not only empty-handed but also beaten and injured. The stepmother intended to drive the legitimate daughter to death! Enduring such torment, it might truly be better to die and be done with it all!