They had gone so far with their words. If possible, Qiao Nian really wanted to turn around and leave right then.
However, she had no money and not a single friend outside. If she left now, she didn't know where to go.
Moreover, her grandmother was still here.
How could she have the heart to make the old lady worry?
So, no matter how harsh Marquis Lin and Lin Ye's words were, at this moment, she could only listen and endure.
Her gaze fell on the rice bowl placed in the center of the table. Qiao Nian understood the root cause of this whole scene.
Tears glistened in her eyes, but she forcefully held them back.
Then, she picked up her chopsticks, 夹起 the fish in the bowl, and put it into her mouth.
A sarcastic sneer came from beside her. "Now you're willing to eat it? It seems the title of the eldest young lady of the Marquis' Mansion is quite appealing!"
Qiao Nian gave Lin Ye a cold glance, ignoring his mockery. She slightly bowed to Marquis Lin before speaking.
"Please calm your anger, Marquis. It's not that I deliberately refused to eat the fish Young Marquis picked for me. It's just that my body has been severely weakened in the past two years. Eating fishy things like this will cause rashes to break out on my body, and the itching is unbearable. So, today, I haven't touched not only this fish but also other shrimps and crabs."
Hearing Qiao Nian's words, Marquis Lin and the others were all taken aback. They all turned to look at the plate in front of Qiao Nian.
Indeed, there wasn't even a single shell of shrimp or crab.
Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he said, "If you had said today that it was your stomach that was too weak to eat these, I might have believed you. But you clearly loved fish in the past. I've never seen you have any rashes!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Qiao Nian raise her hand.
She pushed up her sleeve, revealing a series of whip marks and a large patch of red rashes on her arm.
"How could this be! Hurry, summon the mansion doctor!" Lady Lin exclaimed, about to step forward.
Just then, Lin Yuan suddenly started coughing.
She coughed violently, as if she had choked. Lady Lin immediately forgot about Qiao Nian and rushed to attend to Lin Yuan.
Lin Ye stared at Qiao Nian's arm, momentarily flustered.
He hadn't meant to be like this.
He thought she was disrespecting their father and deliberately showing them a cold face, which was why he had said those hurtful words.
He didn't know how his sister, who used to love fish the most, had become someone who would break out in rashes just by touching fish.
It was just a small piece of fish a moment ago. But now, rashes were even starting to appear on Qiao Nian's face!
Marquis Lin was also a bit flustered. He had, of course, heard from Lady Lin about the injuries on Qiao Nian's body, but seeing them with his own eyes was a different matter.
The sight of those red rashes made his heart feel chaotic and oppressed. For a moment, he didn't even dare to look at Qiao Nian.
With Lin Yuan coughing so severely, he simply barked an order. "What are you all doing? Hurry up and help your young lady back to rest!"
With that, he followed the servants and accompanied Lin Yuan away.
Lady Lin also left.
The mansion doctor, who had arrived in a hurry, thought he was summoned for Lin Yuan, so he left as well.
In an instant, the large hall was left with only Qiao Nian and Lin Ye, staring at each other in silence.
"You..." Lin Ye started to speak but didn't know what to say.
Afraid that he might suddenly say something caring, which would leave her at a loss, Qiao Nian said, "It's getting late. I'll take my leave now."
With that, she turned and left.
Lin Ye stood there, dazed for a long time.
An indescribable bitterness enveloped his heart. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind.
Why was it always like this!
Since Qiao Nian had come back, in just three short days, he had run into so many rebuffs in front of her.
Every time, it was him who misunderstood, and then she would explain. In the end, it always seemed like he was the one bullying her!
But, she could have said those things much earlier.
Just like a while ago, if she had told him that she couldn't eat fish when he picked it for her, how could he have said those hurtful words?
Lin Ye's chest heaved violently. He was so angry that he felt like flipping the table full of delicious food!
In the end, though, he just flicked his sleeves and left.
On the other side, as soon as Qiao Nian returned to Fanghe Courtyard, she hurriedly told Ningshuang to fetch some cold water.
Ningshuang didn't understand but did as she was told. To her shock, Qiao Nian took the basin of cold water and poured it directly over herself.
With a splash, the water drenched her from head to toe.
Ningshuang was stunned. "Miss, what are you doing!" She rushed to get a towel and kept wiping Qiao Nian. "You fell into the water just yesterday. Why are you torturing yourself like this today?"
Qiao Nian grabbed Ningshuang's hand, shook her head with a smile. "Only this way can these rashes go away."
This was something Qiao Nian had discovered by accident. Once, when she had rashes all over her body, she was tricked by several palace maids and pushed into the laundry pool. When she climbed out, she found that the rashes on her body had disappeared.
Since then, whenever she had rashes and the itching was unbearable, she would pour cold water over herself.
Ningshuang's eyes were red. She watched as the large red patch on Qiao Nian's face gradually faded a bit, and then she finally felt relieved.
She brought clean clothes and waited until Qiao Nian felt it was almost done before helping her change. Then, she cooked some ginger soup for Qiao Nian to drink.
Qiao Nian sat by the window, wrapped in a thick cloak, holding the ginger soup that Ningshuang had cooked for her. Thinking about the words Marquis Lin and Lin Ye had said earlier, a chill kept rising in her heart.
Even though she had long been prepared to live under someone else's roof and knew that they no longer loved her, hearing her once - beloved father and brother say those words still made her heart ache uncontrollably.
But what could she do?
Everything she ate and used was from the Marquis' Mansion. If she left, what could she do?
What could she do to make her grandmother feel at ease and not worry about her?
Meanwhile, at Zui Xiang Lou.
When Xiao Heng arrived for the appointment, Lin Ye had already drunk quite a bit of wine in the private room.
As soon as he entered, Xiao Heng smelled a strong odor of alcohol and immediately saw Lin Ye, lying on a rocking chair not far away, drinking from a wine pot.
He furrowed his brows and his gaze shifted to the other side of the private room.
As if sensing his movement, Lin Ye let out a cold laugh. "Don't look. It's just me."
Hearing this, Xiao Heng furrowed his brows even deeper. Remembering that he had clearly made an appointment with Qiao Nian during the day, he felt a bit annoyed.
How dare she stand him up.
"However, who were you looking for?" Lin Ye spoke again, his face flushed with alcohol, his eyes filled with a hint of mocking obscurity. "Was it Yuan'er or Qiao Nian?"
Qiao Nian?
Xiao Heng sensed something from this name. He immediately asked, "Did you quarrel with your sister again?"
"Heh!" Lin Ye sneered. He lifted the wine pot and took two big gulps, then wiped his mouth and scoffed. "How dare I quarrel with her? She's extremely capable!"
Knowing that he was talking nonsense in his drunken state, Xiao Heng didn't respond. He just walked to the table, sat down, and poured himself a cup of wine.
The next moment, Lin Ye stood up from the rocking chair, walked behind him, and put his arm around Xiao Heng's neck. He slurred, "Xiao Heng, how about marrying both of them?"