ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 63
“Lifu.”
This is the sixth day that Li Suwan has been confined in the Purple Wisteria Courtyard. Only two maids are guarding her, no matter how she pleads, there are only a few words: Madam said, Miss is not allowed to leave the Purple Wisteria Courtyard.
Madam wants Miss to be obedient.
In the past, Li Suwan felt that the Purple Wisteria Courtyard was quite good. It was the second-largest courtyard after the main hall, and everything inside was carefully arranged by her, all exquisite and beautiful. However, when she was confined here and couldn’t go anywhere, it became incredibly boring.
Even more unbearable was the beating she received a few days ago. Li Suwan looked in the bronze mirror; the handprint on her face had faded a lot, but upon closer inspection, it could still be seen how ruthless Madam was at that time, showing no mercy.
The young girl in the mirror bit her lip slightly. In her heart, Li Suwan harbored some resentment. She hadn’t done anything outrageous, just exchanged a few words with Cousin Song behind the artificial mountain. Why was her mother so angry?
She didn’t even like Cousin Song; the one who liked him was clearly that wicked Li Zhizhi!
Thinking of Li Zhizhi, Li Suwan was filled with anger. She smashed the bronze mirror on the ground in frustration. Unable to calm herself, she threw a makeup box as well. A white jade concentric pendant rolled out, and the blue ribbon fell at her feet. It was a gift from Song Lingyun.
Li Suwan didn’t even bother to pick it up, just feeling resentful. Why did that wicked woman always get everything good?! Everyone was helping her – brother, father, the Grand Princess…
Now, even her mother didn’t care about her. She had never been beaten by her mother before. As Li Suwan thought about it more, the more upset she became, and she cried bitterly, lying on the dressing table.
Until the door was knocked, Li Suwan wiped away her tears. She raised her voice and called out, “Come in!”
A maid entered, one who served by Madam Li’s side. Li Suwan’s eyes lit up, and she quickly stood up, a mixture of surprise and joy in her voice, “Mother, are you willing to let me go out?”
“Yes.”
Before she could express her happiness, the maid spoke sternly, “Madam wants Miss to tidy up quickly. She’s taking you out for a trip.”
…
A carriage departed from the Li residence, pa.s.sing through Zhuque Street, crossing East Market, and leaving the city gates. Heading west, Li Suwan lowered the carriage curtain and anxiously asked, “Mother, where are we going?”
Madam Li closed her eyes, as if resting, and said, “We’re going to burn incense.”
“Incense?”
Madam Li opened her eyes, looked at her daughter, her expression softening a bit, and said, “Lately, I’ve been feeling very uneasy. I don’t know if it’s bad luck. I’m taking you to a Taoist temple to see if the Taoist priest can write a talisman to help resolve it.”
Seeing her mother’s calm expression, not like the explosive anger of that day, Li Suwan couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief and smiled, “Mother, that sounds reasonable.”
She affectionately sat next to Mrs. Li and said pleasingly, “Mother, I have realized my mistake these days. There is really nothing between me and my cousin. That day, he lured me to the artificial hill, saying he had something to tell me, so I went. It was not voluntary, I swear to you. From now on, I will never speak to him again!”
“You know it’s good,” Mrs. Li said somewhat relieved. She continued, “That Song Lingyun is not a good person either. You must not be deceived by him. If he comes to see you again, tell mother, and I will send someone to kick him out.”
Li Suwan nodded obediently, “Daughter understands. I will definitely listen to mother.”
After this conversation, the apparent estrangement between mother and daughter seemed to have completely disappeared. Li Suwan stuck to Mrs. Li again, acting affectionate and speaking sweetly. Mrs. Li responded as usual, but Li Suwan did not know that she had a note hidden in her sleeve, clutching an old and yellowed piece of paper with a few lines of annotations and birth details. It was a note left by the expert who once a.n.a.lyzed her destiny.
The carriage traveled for a whole half day without much rest along the way. Finally, in the afternoon, they arrived at the foot of Chu Mountain. Wuxian Temple was built on the mountainside. Looking at the somewhat steep mountain, Li Suwan was a bit unwilling and said, “Mother, do we have to offer incense at this temple? It looks quite far.”
Mrs. Li, however, said, “The Taoist priests in this temple are very powerful, and the talismans they draw are effective.”
Unable to do anything, Li Suwan could only follow Mrs. Li up the mountain. There were many mosquitoes in the mountains, and the road was not easy to walk. By the time they climbed to the temple, her feet were almost blistered. Mrs. Li asked her to rest first and went to the Sanqing Hall herself. A young Taoist disciple was cleaning, and when he saw her, he quickly said, “Virtuous one, are you here to offer incense?”
Mrs. Li, however, said, “I’m looking for Daoist Dongxu.”
The young disciple, holding a dusting tool, looked her up and down with his round eyes and said, “The master is in meditation. What business does the virtuous one have with him?”
Madam Li smiled and said, “Many years ago, Daoist Dongxu once helped my daughter with fortune-telling. Now, I would like to ask him to do it again.”
As she spoke, she took out the piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it over. The young Daoist took it, glanced at it, and said, “Kind lady, please wait a moment. I’ll go ask Master Senior Brother.”
He hurried away, and Madam Li waited in the hall for a long time. The young Daoist finally returned, returned the written prediction to her, and said, “Kind lady, Master Senior Brother said that he only does fortune-telling once for a person’s birth chart. Since he did it for you before, it doesn’t count as a second time.”
After explaining, he added, “My Master Senior Brother’s fortune-telling has always been accurate; there won’t be any mistakes.”
Madam Li held the paper and thought for a moment, then asked politely, “If that’s the case, could I ask him to cast a divination for my second daughter?”
Saying this, she took out a silver ingot, and the young Daoist’s eyes lit up. He eagerly said, “Sure, kind lady, please wait. I’ll go invite Master Senior Brother.”
After a quarter of an hour, Li Suwan sat in the quiet room. She looked a bit uneasy as she gazed at the old Daoist in front of her. He was carefully examining her, then said, “Please, let me see your hand, faithful believer, so that this humble Daoist can observe.”
Li Suwan extended her hand, palm open, for the old Daoist to see. After a while, he nodded. Madam Li quickly asked, “Daoist, have you seen anything positive?”
Daoist Dongxu pinched his fingers, calculated for a while, and frowned. Madam Li asked Li Suwan to leave the room first. In the quiet room, there was only the young Daoist who brought a cup of tea. Madam Li took it, but she heard Daoist Dongxu make a sound of surprise. She was startled, almost spilling the tea, and nervously asked, “Daoist, what happened?”
Daoist Dongxu played with his beard and asked, “The girl just now, is she not the biological daughter of the kind lady?”
Lady Li froze, and then suddenly she understood the meaning behind the words. It wasn’t her biological daughter, then…
Her hands gradually began to tremble, tilting to the side. The scalding hot tea splashed on the back of her hand, causing her to let out a low cry. The teacup fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
…
On the way back, Lady Li remained silent. Even when Li Suwan asked her something, she seemed as if she hadn’t heard. Her spirit seemed somewhat absent, and this continued until they boarded the carriage. She was still lost in thought about the words spoken by the Daoist during the encounter.
Judging solely from the birth chart given by the Daoist, it did not match the appearance of this girl at all. When the Daoist had a.n.a.lyzed the fate for the young lady, she was still in her infancy, her facial features not yet developed. Therefore, only the birth chart could be a.n.a.lyzed, and indeed, it was exceptionally good, with signs of a phoenix’s destiny. It was beyond description, absolutely genuine.
However, back then, the Daoist had mentioned a calamity at the age of fifteen for the young lady. At that time, it was vaguely mentioned, but looking back now, the time had indeed come. So, the Daoist truthfully informed the good-hearted person about this calamity. The calamity would befall the parents, and fearing that you would be distressed because of this, it was better not to elaborate. Now, has she successfully pa.s.sed through that calamity?
Has she?
Lady Li didn’t know how she returned to the Li residence. Her mind was filled with these few sentences and the day Li Zhizhi turned fifteen, the day the young girl revealed a mocking and cold smile towards her.
That was her own biological daughter!
Recalling the past few months since she was brought back to the Li Residence, what had she done? Indifferent and unconcerned, she left her in the small courtyard of Shuyue Pavilion, not bothering to exchange a few words with her. Li Cen had once mentioned changing Li Zhizhi’s name to something more refined, but she couldn’t be bothered and casually brushed it aside.
She even helped Li Suwan calculate against her own biological daughter, orchestrating events like the Youchun Banquet and Mingyuan… Thinking of these deeds, Lady Li could hardly remain calm. How could this be?!
Li Zhizhi was actually her daughter. Why hadn’t she sensed it before?
Lady Li always felt a lack of affection from the child. From their first meeting, Li Zhizhi’s gaze was cold and distant, far from the look one gives to their own mother.
Naturally, Lady Li favored Li Suwan, who was affectionate and spoiled her. She had endured the hardships of pregnancy and raised her daughter from infancy, and there was no one closer to her. How did things suddenly change?
“Mother, Mother?”
Li Suwan’s voice brought Lady Li back to reality. She asked with some concern, “What’s wrong with you? Did something happen?”
Lady Li forced a smile and said, “Nothing, just remembered something.”
“What did you remember?”
Lady Li opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything. What could she say? Tell her that she wasn’t her biological daughter, but how did she fall into such delusion before? What had she done?
By the way, there’s also Li Zhizhi. She’s still in the princess’s residence, and you need to go bring her back.
…
Princess’s residence.
Xiao Rulei leaned over the window of the small attic, holding a telescope and looking around. Suddenly, she stopped and then waved to Li Zhizhi, saying, “Sister, someone is here.”
Li Zhizhi was counting golden melon seeds by the desk, not lifting her head, and asked, “Who is it?”
Xiao Rulei murmured, “I’ve seen her once before. It’s that… oh, I don’t remember! Seems like she’s from your family.”
Li Zhizhi paused in her actions, suspiciously asking, “From my family?”
She walked over, and Xiao Rulei handed her the telescope, saying, “Here, take a look.”
Li Zhizhi looked through the telescope for a long time before finally seeing a woman standing at the gate, dressed in deep indigo clothes. She took a sharp breath and furrowed her brows, saying, “What is she here for?”
Surprisingly, the person turned out to be Mrs. Li, whom Li Zhizhi hadn’t seen for a long time. Li Zhizhi cursed her bad luck internally, handed the telescope back to Xiao Rulei, and said, “You play first. I’ll go and be right back.”
Xiao Rulei quickly said, “I’ll go with you.”
Li Zhizhi put the golden melon seeds back into her purse and said, “Let’s go.”
Taking advantage of the fact that the Grand Princess was not around today, she needed to send Lady Li away early to avoid her trying to curry favor with the Grand Princess again. It was truly troublesome.