On the other side, just as Qiao Nian helped the Dowager Lady back to her room, the old lady fell ill.
As Lady Lin had said, the Dowager Lady's health had indeed deteriorated significantly.
Although she had tried her best to control her emotions today, she still got overly excited. After lying down, she gasped for breath.
Fortunately, Nanny Su, who attended to the Dowager Lady, had anticipated this. She had summoned the mansion's doctor to wait outside the Dowager Lady's room. Once the old lady lay down, the doctor administered acupuncture and performed a massage. After about half an hour, the Dowager Lady finally managed to recover.
The process wasn't overly alarming, but Qiao Nian, standing by the side, was still left flustered and at a loss.
Noticing the alarm on Qiao Nian's face, the Dowager Lady sat up against the headboard and beckoned her over.
Qiao Nian's nose was slightly red. Fearing that her own emotional outburst might cause the old lady to fall ill again, she fought back the tears in her eyes and walked to the side of the Dowager Lady's bed.
"Scared?" The Dowager Lady smiled warmly.
Qiao Nian sniffed and tightly grasped the Dowager Lady's hand. "Grandmother promised Nian Nian that you would live a long and healthy life."
Nian Nian only had Grandmother left.
"Grandmother wishes to as well! But Grandmother is old. I won't be able to protect Nian Nian for many more years."
Qiao Nian shook her head repeatedly, tears welling in her eyes.
The Dowager Lady looked at Qiao Nian tenderly. "You've just seen how frail Grandmother's body is... Nian Nian, Grandmother wants to arrange a good marriage for you. How about that?"
Qiao Nian wasn't surprised by the Dowager Lady's proposal.
She knew that Grandmother Feeling distressed her and wanted to find her a good match while she was still in relatively good health and could still have a say in the Marquis' Mansion. This way, she could ensure Qiao Nian's well - being for life.
But...
Qiao Nian shook her head again and lowered her eyes. "Nian Nian only wants to stay by Grandmother's side."
These three years had made her see through many things.
Even those who had been her closest family for fifteen years could abandon her overnight. How could she entrust her life to a strange man, a so - called husband?
She thought that she would just stay with Grandmother for the rest of her life. After Grandmother passed away, she would find a nunnery and spend the rest of her days there, accompanying the ancient Buddha and the flickering lamp. That would be better than being entangled with the others in this Marquis' Mansion.
The Dowager Lady knew that Qiao Nian had been stubborn since childhood. No one could persuade her to do something she didn't want to. So, she could only let out a soft sigh and remain silent.
Qiao Nian accompanied the Dowager Lady for a while longer. Only when the old lady fell asleep did she leave.
Unexpectedly, not long after she returned to Fanghe Courtyard, Ningshuang came to report. "Miss, the Second Miss is here to see you."
Lin Yuan?
Qiao Nian's brows furrowed slightly. Before she could say anything, Ningshuang added, "The Second Miss came alone."
Hearing this, Qiao Nian couldn't help but laugh. "Did she ask you to say that?"
Ningshuang blinked her innocent eyes and nodded. Then she quickly added, "If Miss doesn't want to see her, this servant will go and turn her away."
Obviously, she knew that Qiao Nian didn't want to see Lin Yuan.
But if even Ningshuang knew this, how could Lin Yuan not?
She even specifically asked Ningshuang to tell her that the maid who had wrongly accused her of breaking the glazed bowl wasn't with her.
How ridiculous.
It was true that it was Lin Yuan's maid who had wrongly accused her back then. But it was Lin Yuan who had broken the glazed bowl and dared not admit it. She had stood by silently as her maid wrongly accused Qiao Nian and let her take the blame.
So, Qiao Nian couldn't understand why Lin Yuan thought she would agree to see her.
She waved her hand. "I don't want to see her."
"Then this servant will go and turn the Second Miss away," Ningshuang said and left the room. It was quite a while before she returned.
She looked a bit dispirited, as if she was reluctant to speak. "Miss, the Second Miss said she came here specifically to apologize to you today. If you don't see her, she'll stand outside and won't leave. This servant looks at the sky. It seems like it's about to snow."
In fact, Ningshuang didn't know exactly why the Second Miss was so insistent on seeing her young lady.
But the Second Miss was the apple of the eye in the Marquis' Mansion. If she really got caught in the snow outside, who knew what gossip would spread in the mansion.
It wouldn't be good for her young lady.
Qiao Nian furrowed her brows and let out a silent sigh. Finally, feeling a bit weary, she said, "Fine, let her in."
"Yes," Ningshuang replied and left. Moments later, Lin Yuan entered.
At this time, Qiao Nian was sitting by the tea table in the outer room, applying ointment for chilblains to the back of her hand.
Lin Yuan saw Qiao Nian's purple - hued fingers at a glance. Her heart skipped a beat.
She immediately stepped forward and curtsied. "Yuan'er pays her respects to elder sister."
Qiao Nian didn't even lift her eyelids. She simply said, "Sit."
Her voice was soft but carried an underlying coldness.
Lin Yuan didn't sit. Instead, she walked closer. "Yuan'er will apply the medicine for elder sister."
As she spoke, she picked up the ointment on the tea table and was about to apply it to the back of Qiao Nian's hand.
But Qiao Nian withdrew her hand into her sleeve.
She finally looked up at Lin Yuan, a faint sneer curving her lips. "It's freezing cold. Why isn't Miss Lin staying in your own room? What are you doing here?"
Presumably Qiao Nian's attitude made Lin Yuan feel a bit aggrieved. Her eyes turned slightly red. She stood there, her voice soft. "Yuan'er is here to apologize to elder sister. It was all Yuan'er's fault back then. If it weren't for Yuan'er breaking the glazed bowl, elder sister wouldn't have suffered so much! Elder sister can beat or scold Yuan'er. I won't have any complaints, as long as elder sister can let go of her anger."
Lin Yuan looked as if she was on the verge of kneeling down.
Her words seemed sincere.
But Qiao Nian just stared at her coldly. After she finished speaking, Qiao Nian asked, "Do you think your only mistake back then was breaking the glazed bowl?"
These words left Lin Yuan speechless.
Qiao Nian slowly stood up and walked towards the door. Looking at the few solitary, withered branches standing on the already frozen lotus pond, she took a deep breath.
The cold air instantly filled her lungs, making her already cold aura even more frigid.
"You are the legitimate daughter of the Marquis' Mansion. I snatched your wealth and status for the first fifteen years. So, I understand that the Marquis and Lady Lin should dote on you, and the Young Marquis should protect you. Even the Plum - Fall Courtyard, which I cherished the most, should rightfully have been yours. Lin Yuan, when you returned to the mansion, I felt guilty towards you.
"I thought about going back to my biological parents. The Marquis told me that they had both passed away and asked me to stay in the mansion with peace of mind. I was grateful for that and secretly vowed to get along well with you. Even though I knew there would be a sense of disparity in my heart, but..."
At this point, Qiao Nian turned around and looked at Lin Yuan. "Ask yourself, have I ever harmed you?"
Lin Yuan's eyes were completely red, as if she could burst into tears at any moment.
If the others in the Marquis' Mansion saw this, they would probably wrongly accuse Qiao Nian of bullying her.
For a moment, Qiao Nian felt a sense of powerlessness.
In her memory, every time Lin Yuan saw her, her eyes would turn slightly red, looking like she was about to cry, as if she had been bullied.
This was the main reason why Lin Ye had firmly believed that Qiao Nian was bullying Lin Yuan back then.
But clearly, she had done nothing.
Furrowing her brows slightly, she stared coldly at that seemingly fragile, tear - ready figure. Her voice grew colder with each word. "Why did you harm me?"