Reborn As The Wicked Little Sister-in-Law - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Crisis

Xiao Tan’s words plunged Lü Guiyan into silence. Rummaging through the original host’s memories, she confirmed that the reason she had insisted on living in Muhe Courtyard was indeed because of that kapok tree.

She further learned from those memories that the tree had been planted by Wei Chengyan when he was five years old. At the time, when Wei Chengyan heard that Lü Guiyan wanted to move into Muhe Courtyard, he had been vehemently opposed to it.

If she cut the tree down now, the conflict between the two of them would only intensify.

To Lü Guiyan, that seemed like killing two birds with one stone. First, it would remove an eyesore; second, it would serve as a catalyst to further provoke Wei Chengyan.

Lü Guiyan made up her mind. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. My head is clear. If you don’t want to pass on the message, I’ll go to Lanxin Courtyard tomorrow and tell my cousin myself. Regardless, I find this tree eyesore no matter how I look at it. It must be cut down.”

Xiao Tan stared at her, dumbfounded. “Ninth Concubine, I’ve noticed that ever since you fell into the water during the spring outing, you haven’t been quite right. Is your brain waterlogged? Did your last shred of intelligence sink to the bottom of the lake along with that water?”

Lü Guiyan: “…”

This little girl certainly has a sharp tongue! “Do you think it’s polite to speak like that?”

Xiao Tan realized she had been too forward. However, the person before her was only the Ninth Concubine—someone unloved in the manor. If not for Concubine Lan, the Ninth Concubine probably wouldn’t even survive here. Even Concubine Lan didn’t truly care for her; sometimes, she treated her with less regard than her head maid, Lan Xin.

Consequently, the servants of Lanxin Courtyard were only respectfully on the surface; behind her back, they said whatever they pleased. Xiao Tan was actually one of the kinder ones, though she still harbored a degree of contempt.

That was why Xiao Tan had spoken without thinking. “Ninth Concubine, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that you’ve been so strange these past few days. You said you’d feign a defection to the Heir, yet now you want to cut down the tree he planted. It’s a total contradiction.”

Xiao Tan’s words jolted Lü Guiyan. She was right. She had been so blinded by her inner hatred that she had forgotten her main objective.

“Then… let’s hold off on cutting it for now.”

She would find another opportunity later, or perhaps find an excuse to move out of this courtyard another day. In short, out of sight, out of mind—Lü Guiyan didn’t want to look at that tree for a second longer.

“Do you have anything else?”

“Nothing. When you go back, if my cousin asks about me, tell her I’ll visit Lanxin Courtyard in a couple of days. Oh, and have someone send over more candles.”

The nights were too dark, and with no one else in the courtyard, Lü Guiyan was afraid.

Still reeling from the previous topic, Xiao Tan nodded dully. “Alright.”

Lü Guiyan went back to counting her money. She even took paper and a brush from the cabinet to record her winnings, noting down the names of the three concubines.

The laws of the Jing Kingdom forbade gambling. If the authorities discovered small-scale domestic gambling, it resulted in fines; large-scale gambling could lead to imprisonment. Of course, those laws were often just for show; behind the closed doors of noble households, both masters and servants gambled.

While everyone tacitly ignored it, the issue could be weaponized if someone chose to make a fuss. Lü Guiyan recorded exactly where the money came from, intending for Wei Chengyan to “discover” it one day, which would help him impeach his own father before the Emperor.

Lü Guiyan was willing to do anything that could speed up Wei Chengyan’s path to his “grand achievements.”

After finishing her notes, she let out a long sigh. This was the first time in years she had used a brush, and the characters were crooked and messy.

Suddenly, she realized a very stupid problem: the script here was different from what she had learned. She didn’t recognize their characters, and they wouldn’t recognize hers.

A wasted effort. Lü Guiyan slumped onto the wooden stool in frustration.

Qiyun, can you write the script of this world?

No.

A bolt from the blue! If the characters were unrecognizable, the booklet would be useless to Wei Chengyan. No, she had to find someone to teach her how to read and write.

But who? Lü Guiyan searched her memory. Among the concubines in the manor, aside from the Third, Tenth, Eleventh, and Lan, most were as illiterate as she was. Concubine Lan was busy maintaining the Marquis’s favor and wouldn’t have time to teach. The Third Concubine was a “Buddha-faced, snake-hearted” type. The Tenth and Eleventh Concubines considered themselves from scholarly families and looked down on the Lü sisters; they certainly wouldn’t help.

Lü Guiyan thought it over but couldn’t find a single suitable person.

Just as she was fretting, Wei Chengyan arrived with Lin Feng to deliver medicine: three packets of herbs and a bowl of already brewed medicine. The pungent smell of Chinese medicine wafted into her nose. She pinched her nostrils in disgust and frowned. “Are you sure this is medicine?”

It smelled like something meant to kill a lab rat.

Lin Feng stammered, “Good… good medicine tastes bitter.”

Lü Guiyan took the three packets of herbs, but she had no desire to drink the brewed bowl. “Thank you, Sister Feng, for coming personally.”

Wei Chengyan snapped, “Are you blind? Can’t you see there’s someone else here?”

Lü Guiyan ignored him. She pulled out some silver and handed it to Lin Feng, whose expression seemed a bit off. “This is the money I owed you from yesterday, plus the cost of the herbs. Is this enough?”

“It’s enough, more than enough.”

Lü Guiyan noticed Lin Feng’s strange behavior and unnatural expression. She glanced down at the bowl of medicine in the food box and grew suspicious: She already brought three packets of herbs, why brew another bowl and bring it over? This bowl clearly has issues.

“It’s getting late; I won’t keep you for dinner.”

She moved to close the door, but Wei Chengyan shoved his hand against it, thrusting the food box toward her. His voice was low and slightly raspy. “Drink the medicine.”

Where there is life, there is hope; I’ll settle this account later. It was almost dark, and since she hadn’t lit the candles yet, continuing to argue would mean retreating into a pitch-black room. She didn’t want to get trapped in the dark because of them.

Lü Guiyan snatched the bowl in a fit of pique and downed it in one go. The bowl hit the bottom quickly. Once finished, she slammed the bowl back into the food box with force.

Bang! The wooden door of Muhe Courtyard slammed shut. The moment she turned around, she spat the medicine out.

Outside, Lin Feng felt uneasy. Seeing no one around, she whispered, “You forced her to drink it. Will she refuse to take the other three packets out of spite?”

“She definitely spat it out the moment she turned away. She has a bit of cleverness,” Wei Chengyan said, his voice flat. “She suspects the brewed medicine and the dry herbs alike, so she won’t take any of them.”

“Then won’t the things we added be useless?”

A flash of excitement crossed Wei Chengyan’s dark eyes. “To keep your conscience at ease, I already sent medicine over this morning. As long as she used that medicine, she’ll never forget it.”

Since they were technically enemies, a sudden show of kindness—finding a doctor and getting medicine—was obviously suspicious. That was why Wei Chengyan had deliberately acted so “clumsily” today: it was a ruse to lower Lü Guiyan’s guard.

Inside, Lü Guiyan was frowning at the three packets of herbs. She leaned in and sniffed, immediately wrinkling her nose. No, she couldn’t stand the smell. She decided to set them aside; after all, it was just a surface wound. She had the ointments sent by Lanxin Courtyard and the other concubines. External application would suffice.

That night, the main gates of the Pingyang Marquis Manor were tightly shut. The night watchman was dozing off when he was suddenly nudged awake. He squinted and saw the Fifth Concubine.

“Fifth Concubine? What are you…?”

The Fifth Concubine was wrapped up tightly. She pulled some loose silver from her robe and whispered, “I’m going out for a moment, just to the doorstep. Help me open the door.”

Having received money, the servant didn’t bother asking questions and opened the side door.

The Fifth Concubine was looking left and right and didn’t see what was in front of her, accidentally bumping into the Sixth Concubine, who was just about to enter.

“Sixth Sister? What are you doing here?”

The Sixth Concubine’s face flushed. “I… I came to…”

Just then, the Fifth Concubine noticed a plate of cakes placed as an offering on the stone lion by the door. She immediately understood the Sixth Concubine’s intention: she was here to pray to the God of Wealth.

“I thought you didn’t believe in that?”

The Sixth Concubine replied awkwardly, “I’m just here to give it a try. If I don’t win tomorrow, it proves Lü Guiyan was lying to us.”

“Exactly. I had the same thought.”

As they spoke, the side door opened again. This time, it was the Seventh Concubine. All three had the same goal.

After finishing their prayers, the three returned to their courtyards to sleep peacefully. The next morning, full of confidence, they went to Muhe Courtyard to find Lü Guiyan for a “match,” only to be told by the cleaning maid that Lü Guiyan had been out since early morning.