Su Qingtan’s body trembled violently, and there was a shocked look on his face. The teacup fell from his hand and shattered into pieces. He seem not to realize that some of the boiling tea had spilled on his hand.
The servant girl picked up a handkerchief to wipe it off, but Su Qingtan pushed her hand away. He grabbed Nanny Li and said angrily, “Take me there!”
On the way to the hut, Nanny Li’s hand was held painfully by Su Qingtan, but she was calm because at least the first young master still cared about Second Miss. But why didn’t he respond to what the First Madam had done? Didn’t he know what happened?
At this moment, Su Zipei sat at a table in an exquisite and luxurious room in the western yard of the Su’s mansion. She was so furious that a group of servant girls were completely silent out of fear.
There was an extinguished charcoal basin in front of her.
“Where is Nanny Li?”
Su Zipei was so angry that her voice changed. The charcoal basin in her room never went out in winter. But when she came back from outside today, she found it was very cold in the room. How could she live this way!?
Nanny Li had always been in charge of adding charcoal. The big servant girl Chun’er stood up immediately and said, “Miss, Nanny Li often went to the charcoal room secretly this month. She went out before dawn every day. I don’t know where she went.”
The expression of Su Zipei changed slightly when she heard her words. Then she smiled coldly, got up and put on her cloak, and hummed, “Chun’er, gather some strong nannies, and let’s go!”
The hut was not close to the Su’s mansion. Nanny Li had to walk for two hours on weekdays, but this time it took less than an hour.
Su Qingtan was stunned when he saw the dilapidated hut that could fall at any time.
Did his second sister always live in a place like this?
“What’s going on?”
He remembered what his mother had said. Although the second sister was kicked out of the mansion, she had gone to live with their relatives and would be able to come back when their father was not angry anymore.
He too had been angry at what his sister had done. Yet he didn’t think that his mother would lie to him.
Su Qingtan pulled the door open, and dust covered his white training suit. But he, who always loved to be clean, didn’t seem realize it. He rushed to the bed when he saw Su Erya huddled like a stray cat. His heart twisted in his chest. It hurt so much that he couldn’t even breathe.
His sister was thinner than ever before and hardly looked like a human being.
“Sister, wake up. Brother is here...”
Su Qingtan called softly. Su Erya frowned, but she didn’t open her eyes and murmured, “I did not steal the night-luminescent pearl. Brother, why don’t you believe me...”
Su Qingtan felt the pain in her whisper, and his heart trembled.
Her subconscious wouldn’t lie to him. Did mother incorrectly blame his sister?
There was no time to think carefully, Su Qingtan picked up Su Li, who was very light. He turned and said, “Nanny Li, go to town and find the doctor of Baicao Tang. I’ll take my sister back.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Su Qingtan saw Su Li’s arm under her burlap clothes. There was blood. His pupils shrank, and he lifted her sleeves with his right hand. He placed her back down.
There were cuts all over Su Li’s arm, old and new. A lot of the new wounds had fused to her clothes. Now these blood clots were pulled by Su Qingtan’s movement, and the wounds were torn open again. A dark red stream came trickling out.
Su Qingtan did not check her left arm. He took a heavy breath and was about to ask Nanny Li who did it, when he heard the sound of muffled footsteps outside.
Su Qingtan fixed his eyes and glanced at Nanny Li, who was in a panic. He thought for a moment and jumped out of the window.
Before Nanny Li could think, she heard the door of the hut swing open. Su Zipei, surrounded by four nannies and Chun’er, came in with a look of disgust on her face.
“Nanny Li, do you know what mistake you have made?”
Su Zipei’s faint words immediately frightened Nanny Li. Her face turned pale. “I had no choice but to do so, Miss. If there was no charcoal, Second Miss would have died! Please think of Second Miss’s life, Third Miss!”
“Hahaha...” Su Zipei smiled.
Her smile made Nanny Li bitterly disappointed.
“Second Miss?”
Su Zipei stared at Su Erya, who was in a coma on the bed, with her beautiful eyes. She went over and slapped Su Erya in her face!
“Nanny Li, did you miss something? My second sister has been kicked out of the Su family. I am the Second Miss of Su family.”
Hearing this crisp sound, Su Qingtan, who was secretly observing outside the house, was shocked. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
How could his gentle third sister act so rudely to her own sister!
He was about to rush into the hut and ask her, but a pent-up cough stopped him.
Su Erya was awakened by the slap and opened her eyes. When she saw who was coming, her body could not help trembling, and there was a look of fear in her eyes. She said in a trembling voice:
“Third sister, what...what are you doing here?”
Su Zipei’s eyes narrowed slightly. She smiled and said, “Sister, you are a bad girl. How can you call yourself the Second Miss of Su family? Our father was not joking when he drove you out of the mansion. It seemed that my dear sister has forgotten the feeling of being beaten by a cane... Nanny Zheng!”
“Yes, Miss!”
Nanny Zheng, who was standing behind Su Zipei, immediately took out a new and shiny cane. She grinned expectantly.
Nanny Li almost fainted with fear when she saw this. She crawled on the ground in front of Su Erya, and begged, “Please spare her life, Third Miss. If you beat her again, she’ll die!”Su Zipei frowned. Nanny Zheng came forward with her cane, and Nanny Li closed her eyes expecting the worst.“That’s enough.” Su Erya moved weakly as she spoke. She left Nanny Li’s protection and looked directly at Su Zipei. “I’ve taken the rap for you, and I’ve paid the price of being kicked out of the mansion. Why don’t you leave me be?”Su Zipei looked a little flustered. “What are you talking about?” She said with a cold face. “How could I be the one who stole the night-luminescent pearl?" Su Erya’s body trembled. With a bitter face and a hoarse voice, she said, “I saw everything. That day when you went to see Cousin Yang at Sanhe Bridge outside the town, and you gave him the night-luminescent pearl with your own hands.”Su Zipei grew pale, and started to panic.
Nanny Li sighed slightly and said, “Young master, the Second Miss has lived in the backyard with the maids since she was a child.”Su Qingtan looked angrier. How many such dark secrets had his mother and second mother kept from him all these years?The second mother was the second sister’s biological mother. How could she force the second sister to live such a hard life? The second sister had been so thin because of malnutrition.“Does my father know about these things?”“I don’t know, young master.”Su Qingtan snorted coldly and walked directly to the eastern courtyard with Su Erya in his arms. “From now on, my second sister will live in the eastern courtyard. Nanny Li, don’t go back to the western courtyard either. Just stay and take care of my sister.”Hearing this, Nanny Li was immediately relieved. She was full of joy. “Thank you, young master. I will take good care of the Second Miss and restore her health.”Su Qingtan nodded slightly.
The next morning, Su Qingtan went to the main courtyard. Before he entered the door, he saw his father having breakfast with the first mother and second mother.When the First Madam saw him coming, she gave a slight cough and smiled affectionately and said, “Tan, come and sit down. Today I ordered the kitchen to specially cook bird’s nest syrup.”The Second Madam was a little confused. Usually, her son never came to the main courtyard for breakfast. How did Zhu Yan know that her son would come today?Su Qingtan snorted coldly, sat down and said, “Father, I’m coming for—” “Your first mother has told me why you are here.”Su Huanli put down his chopsticks, looked up with a pair of dignified eyes, and continued, “This matter will not be announced. It’s ok to take Erya back and I will deal with Zipei. That’s all.” His father’s words made Su Qingtan incredulous. “Even if my sister comes back, she’s had such horrid accusations launched at her. How is
“Eldest brother, second sister!!”There was a childish voice calling from outside the room. Su Erya was a little puzzled.Su Qingtan was not the only boy in the family. Su Qinghao was the fourth child in the Su family.Su Qingtan and Su Qinghao were both the Second Madam’s sons. She and Su Zipei were the First Madam’s daughters. Because of that, although the Second Madam didn’t come from high status family, she still had a lot of rights.Su Erya couldn’t help but feel strange about Su Qinghao. When she had made a mistake in her previous life, she never saw Su Qinghao again. She didn’t hear the news about him until after she married that poor young master. Su Qinghao was poisoned and died when he was 15 years old. The killer was never found.“Second sister, I knew you were wrongly accused!”Su Qinghao, who looked very much like Su Qingtan, ran in with a smile. He had a snow-white leather hat on his head, which made his handsome little face look ext
Ink was very expensive, so Su Erya could not use it. There was a sand table for setting up war games in the study. Su Qingtan used that to teach her to write.Su Qingtan was surprised to find that the second sister was very smart. She could understand simple words after he taught her once. It took him less than an hour to teach her all the basic rhymes.So Su Qingtan let Su Erya practice basic calligraphy in the study. One of them read books in front of the table, and the other drew on the sand table. It was very quiet in the study. Instead of being distracted, the rustles of the sand allowed him to concentrate more.The servant girl, Zhu’er, who had been serving Su Qingtan, saw Su Erya go into the study of the first young master every day. She stamped her feet in anger and muttered: “How dare she disturb the young master’s reading! I’ll go and tell the Second Madam!”When the Second Madam heard Zhu’er’s words, she rushed to the Eastern Courtyard at on
When Mammy Li heard the footsteps outside, she immediately came out of the kitchen into the yard and asked with a shocked face, “Miss, why are you back so early today?”Su Erya smiled sheepishly and explained, “Nothing, the Second Mother came to see eldest brother. It was not wise to stay there. So, I came back first. Nanny Mammy, is there anything good for lunch today?”Mammy Li was surprised. She wiped her hands, took off her apron, hurried over and held Su Erya’s hands, looked at her and asked nervously, “Second Madam didn’t make trouble for you, did she?”“No, eldest brother was there,” Su Erya said, giggling foolishly.“Alas...”Mammy Li sighed. No matter how well-intentioned the young master was, he was still the son of the Second Madam. Once the young master better understood the ways of the world, he might not care so much about Second Miss.These thoughts had long hovered in the heart of Mammy Li. It was just that Su Erya was so happy rig
“You’re Erya?”Su Huanli looked shocked. He did not seem to be able to associate the beautiful girl in front of him with the ugly little doll who used to be as thin as bean sprouts. After three months of recuperation, Su Erya had changed her ugly demeanor. The warm red velvet clothes helped highlight her oval rosy face. Her nose was tall and small, and her pink lips glowed like honey. Long black hair spread behind her as if it were dyed by ink . Her eyes were like the stars, rippling with the purest colors in the world.The old housekeeper could not help exclaiming, “I didn’t expect that after the recuperation, Second Miss would look as if she had been reborn. You are really a beautiful girl! In a few years, you might be the most beautiful girl in Dasu Town!” Su Huanli now regretted his previous attitude. If he had known that Erya would look like this, he would never have let Erya take the blame for Zipei. But it was too late to say anything.When Su
“Housekeeper, give Erya some pocket money every month. Erya, you need to concentrate on cooking. There is no need for you to do anything else. By the way, housekeeper, get Erya some Caiyun Silk, which was transported from the Silk Shop in the province this year, and make her a good set of clothes.”“Thank you, father!”After that, Su Huanli left in a hurry. Nanny Li was very excited. She had been unhappy when Second Miss told her to find these leaves. She didn’t know they would be rewarded.“Nanny Nanny, come and help me to clean the kitchen. I’m feeling weak.”“Okay, I’m coming. Second Miss, don’t hurt yourself.”Su Erya was laughing as if she was really very happy. But when you looked carefully, you would find that her eyes were calm and cold.Su Huanli returned to the study and wrote a letter at once. He gave it to the housekeeper.“Now you go to the County and make sure to give the letter to Li Wei.”The housekeeper was surprised,