Volume One, Chapter Five: She Does Not Deserve to Call the Man Before Her Father

"Second Sister, Grandfather, he..."

The Third Young Lady, Xie Ruyue, gritted her teeth before continuing, "Grandfather has issued a ban within the manor. He forbids anyone from mentioning this matter, and told us to..."

Xie Jiaoyue slowly lifted her eyes to look at her. "Told you to do what?"

"Told us to act as if we know nothing."

Xie Ruyue’s voice choked with sobs. She wept, "I don’t understand. I don’t know why Grandfather would do this. It was clearly for all of our sakes that Second Sister..."

She was unable to continue, her body trembling with every sob.

Xie Jiaoyue’s knees ached from kneeling, and her arms were too stiff to be lifted. She had no way to wipe the tears from the face of the girl sobbing before her.

She said, pale and listless, "You should leave. I am very tired; I want to be alone for a while."

In truth, she felt there was nothing left to be sad about. Hadn't she anticipated this outcome three years ago when she went to plead with Xu Huaiyang? And yet...

And yet, she still felt as though an icy needle had pierced her heart.

It hurt so much she couldn't help but shudder.

The Third Young Lady wanted to beg her Second Sister to let her stay, but catching sight of the woman’s cold, lonely silhouette against the snowlight outside the window, she knew that her Second Sister was truly annoyed by her presence.

Finally, she unfastened her own magenta cloak, intending to drape it over the woman, only to see her pull the blanket she had been sitting on away and place it on the floor.

"Take it all with you."

Tears welled up in the Third Young Lady’s eyes once more. She wept as she laid the cloak on the ground and said with a choked voice:

"Keep it, Second Sister. I am leaving."

As she spoke, the Third Young Lady walked toward the door. The moment she pushed it open, the frigid wind squeezed into the room, pricking Xie Jiaoyue’s back like a thousand needles.

As the door closed, she thought she heard the voice of Xinyue.

"Sister, where are your clothes?"

"Did she snatch them from you?"

"I’ll go get them back for you!"

The little girl’s boisterous tone left Xie Jiaoyue feeling utterly chilled.

So, it was not that they stopped loving their sister; it was just that the sister had been replaced.

Behind the closed door, Xie Jiaoyue knelt on the cold floor, feeling the chill of the stone slabs seep deep into her marrow.

Outside, Xie Chengzhu looked at the Third Young Lady, who was dressed only in thin garments, his brow furrowed deeply.

"Did she demand your cloak?"

Xie Ruyue shook her head, unable to speak through her sobs.

The little girl beside them knitted her brows. "Sister, you’re crying! Did she bully you? I’m going to find her!"

"Don't go!" Xie Ruyue stopped her. "I gave her the cloak."

"But you’re crying, she must have bullied you!"

Inside the dark ancestral hall, the fragile woman’s body trembled slightly, her white breath dissipating rapidly into the air.

Her straight spine finally collapsed.

Crumbled, inch by inch, into dust.

That night, Xie Jiaoyue knelt in the ancestral hall until dawn.

Her knees were locked stiff, and she could not stand.

Two maidservants stood outside the door, looking at each other. One of them repeated, "Second Young Lady, the Master and Mistress ask for your presence."

Xie Jiaoyue desperately wanted to stand, but her knees were like blocks of ice, refusing to obey.

She remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at the servants behind her.

"Please, help me up."

The maidservant paused, only then noticing that she was kneeling directly on the bare floor—the cushion meant for kneeling had been removed.

She was just about to step forward to help when the other maid pulled her back.

"The Mistress is waiting for us to report back. Don't delay."

The maid hesitated, then drew back her foot.

This was no longer the Second Young Lady of the past.

The current Second Young Lady had incurred the Mistress's disgust; nothing good would come from getting close to her.

The two servants left, leaving Xie Jiaoyue alone, covered in the glow of the snow.

Clinging to the altar table in front of her, like an infant who had not yet learned to walk, she struggled to rise, slowly and laboriously.

She managed only a single step on her stiff feet before the thin girl collapsed heavily back to the ground.

Disheveled and helpless.

She lay prone on the floor, looking toward the door. The white snow outside was so piercing she could not keep her eyes open.

The wind picked up again, and fine specks of snow, like willow catkins, were blown into the room.

Jiaoyue slowly sat up, reaching out a hand as thin ice crystals landed on her frost-bitten, crimson fingertips.

Even the snowflakes wanted to get close to her, to offer a sliver of warmth.

Xie Jiaoyue watched as the cold snowflakes took a long time to melt on her fingers. She wondered—wondered if one would be warmer after death.

The books said that people had souls, and souls could not perceive cold or heat; surely, they would no longer feel the chill.

...

In the main chamber.

Mistress Xie frowned. "Where is she?"

The two maids exchanged glances and knelt on the floor in unison.

"We are foolish and incompetent; we could not move the Second Young Lady."

The maid who had wanted to help Xie Jiaoyue buried her head, adding, "Neither could I."

The Master of the house, who had spent the night in Mistress Xie’s room, sneered upon hearing this.

"Such airs. You truly have raised a fine daughter."

Mistress Xie was also infuriated, remembering how the girl had addressed everyone as "donor" the previous day, which made her chest ache with anger.

"I would rather not have such a daughter!"

Master Xie looked at her trembling form and spoke:

"Enough. It is likely she holds a grudge against us and is simply putting on airs, unwilling to see us."

"If she is unwilling to see me, I shall insist on seeing her!"

...

In the corridor of the back courtyard, Xie Jiaoyue leaned against the wall, walking slowly forward.

Before long, she saw a man in a navy-blue brocade robe hurrying toward her.

Xie Jiaoyue lifted her head, instinctively wanting to call out "Father," but suddenly remembered how, three years ago, this man had dragged her to the nunnery and forced her head down to kowtow.

"This woman is of loose morals and brings shame to the Xie family name. Today, the Xie clan expels her from the family and hands her over to Abbess Jing for strict discipline."

"Consider it as if I never gave birth to this daughter."

Never gave birth to this daughter.

Xie Jiaoyue chewed on these words repeatedly, her heart turning to ice.

She had long since forfeited the right to call the man before her "Father."

She stood by the wall, unmoving, allowing the man who strode up to her to look her up and down.

The middle-aged man sneered:

"Since your limbs are sound and you have no illness, why did you not come to see me?"

Xie Jiaoyue replied respectfully, "It is my fault."

"Since you admit it is your fault, you will surely accept your punishment willingly."

Xie Jiaoyue looked up at him.

The middle-aged man met her gaze, cold and ruthless:

"Someone, take the Second Young Lady to the ancestral hall and administer the family law."

Family law.

Only then did Xie Jiaoyue realize that the family rules had become even more stringent—to be late for an audience with one's elders was now punishable by family law.

The rattan cane, soaked in saltwater, lashed fiercely against the girl's thin back.

With every strike, the girl’s body swayed.

The man who had sired her sat in front, and the siblings who had grown up with her stood to the side.

Xie Jiaoyue knelt on the ground, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

She swept her gaze over their faces one by one.

The father who had once taught her to read and write, the mother who had once tenderly cared for her, and her brothers and sisters.

Before she lost consciousness, Xie Jiaoyue kept thinking that their expressions were terrifying—terrifying like cold, heartless stone statues from hell, watching her with icy indifference.

"Master, the Second Young Lady has fainted."

A maid stepped forward, checked Xie Jiaoyue’s breathing, and reported to the man in front.

Master Xie rested his head on one hand, rubbed his temples, and slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at the figure collapsed on the floor and closed his eyes.

"Stubborn to the bone."

Even in such pain that she fainted, she refused to plead with him for mercy.

Beside him, Mistress Xie waved her hand, signaling for the others to carry her away.

She said, "The Master is right. She holds a grudge against us in her heart."

"What right does she have to hold a grudge!" the Fourth Young Lady exclaimed. "It was she who did wrong in the first place!"

Yes, it was she who did wrong.

It was she who was shameless, who disregarded propriety, who entangled herself with others.

Mistress Xie tightened her grip on her handkerchief. She did wrong, so she deserved to be punished!

The Third Young Lady, who knew the truth, felt her eyelashes tremble; she dared not speak.

Beside her, Xie Chengzhu furrowed his brows.

They all believed Xie Jiaoyue was in the wrong, that she deserved the punishment, the suffering.

Even Xie Jiaoyue herself thought so.

She had done wrong, but it was a wrong worth committing.

To trade a maiden's purity for hundreds of lives—it was worth it.

To trade three years of torment and the misunderstanding of everyone for the survival of her kin—it was worth it.