Because Bai Yao had lost her memory, n.o.body in the family dared to offend her. She became even more arbitrary and tyrannical.
Now she was in her own room, which was decorated with pink cloth arts. In front of the dressing table, Bai Yu was doing her nails. A maid behind her was doing up her hair.
"My lady, your hair is so smooth and beautiful," the maid flattered.
"How about compared to Bai Yao"s hair?" Bai Yu’s eyes turned keen.
Ningxiang, the maid, surely knew her lady’s heart, so she praised her, saying, “For sure, my lady’s hair is most pretty.”
However, Bai Yu slapped the table with her hand, her face turning ugly. Ningxiang was so afraid that her hand trembled and it dragged Bai Yu’s hair, making her instantly bitter.
Bai Yu was so angry that she turned to give the maid a slap, and rebuked her. “Sc.u.m slave!”
Ningxiang bowed down to kneel and kowtow, and begged in a chilled tone, “Sorry, my lady. I know I am wrong. Please forgive me, forgive me just this time.”
Bai Yu was not moved by her. She got back to her seat and began to arrange her hair herself.
In the mirror, she saw the maid’s forehead was already bleeding, so she frowned with despise and complained. “Forget it and get up! You are so dim-witted!”
She lifted up her head and opened her mouth to say, “Let me tell you, I am much better than her, not only my hair, but everything she has, I will have better than her.”
"Right, right! My lady is the best." Ningxiang stood up to agree as she nodded enthusiastically.
"Remember, keep your mouth shut!" Bai Yu threated her. For sure, their dialogue shouldn’t shared out.
"Yes, I didn’t hear anything." Ningxiang knew their conflicts and she knew what it would take to survive in a big family.
Bai Yu’s face turned softer when she saw the maid was clever, but her voice was still cold. "Get out of my room!"
The room became quiet again. Deathly stillness fell upon it.
Bai Yu picked up a hairpin with long ta.s.sels and she stuck it in the hair bun. She looked at the bronze mirror with an appealing smile, thinking of the confusing face of Bai Yao. Now she was so confident of herself. Bai Yao, you"d better never remember anything.
When Bai Yu went to the Bamboo Garden, Bai Yao was basking in the sun. The sun seemed to love this garden most and it shone through the branches of the trees to spread on the gra.s.s and flowers. The dew reflected the sunlight to shine colorful lights like diamonds. So did the sunlight shine on Bai Yao.
She was still in white, lying on a soft couch made of jade stone, a tender hand was resting on the handrail, lazing in repose.
When Bai Yu saw her comfortable gesture, she suddenly became so envious. Then she smiled through her envy.
"Older Sister, I am coming to greet to you." Her voice broke the quiet scene.
Bai Yao frowned. Who was coming to bother her? She lifted up her body, which was still weak, and her face looked a little pale.
"So it is you, sister. Come take a seat." Bai Yao knew that this was her sister, but she had no memory of her. Seeing she came near, Bai Yao rejoiced a little. She felt her smile was disgusting, though she didn"t know why.
Bai Yu sat on a stone chair and asked, “Sister, are you feeling better?”
"Eh . . . yes! But I have no memory as before." Bai Yao was so disappointed. She really wanted to know what had happened for the past eighteen years.
This is great! Bai Yu thought secretly. But her face looked worried. "Sister, never mind. We will fix this one day." She then made a proposal. “The doctor said if we talk to you about the past, it would be helpful. Would you allow me to talk to you the things that happened when we were both children?”
"Oh, that is good! Please go ahead." Bai Yao was curious about this.
"When we were very little, I was a cowardly one, however, you were the brave one. Once, you climbed a tree to pick up the fruit as I waited on the ground. But you fell down and then we were punished by dad by transcribing the cla.s.sics."
Bai Yao asked, "Really? I always did such things?"
Bai Yu nodded with a smile. She was so pleased with this issue. Back then, the truth was that she shook the tree and made Bai Yao fall. She was so happy to hurt Bai Yao. "Another story. One day I was bullied by the servants. They despised me as a daughter of the concubine. Sister, you stood up to teach them a lesson for me."
But n.o.body knew how Bai Yu envied Bai Yao"s ident.i.ty as the daughter of the legal wife. Since then, Bai Yu had those servants beaten by some people and drove them out with through scheming. This was the result of offending her.
Bai Yu pretended to be graceful, and she held Bai Yao’s hands. "Sister, with your help, I can have my seat in this big family. I don’t know what I can do in return for you." She took out a handkerchief to wipe some tears at the corner of her eye.
Seeing her sister in tears, Bai Yao was annoyed. But when she heard the stories told by Bai Yu, she thought they should be very good sisters.
Was her intuition wrong? Maybe, because she lost her memory, Bai Yao persuaded herself.
Seeing Bai Yao was silent, Bai Yu thought that she remembered something, so she asked, “Sister, do you remember anything?”
Bai Yao lowered her eyes and shook her head with disappointment. But soon, her eyes lit up with hope. "Sister, tell me some more stories between us. I want to know."
Bai Yu held her hand with confidence. "Sure, sister, I will try my best to help sister." If someone saw them at this moment, he might regard them as truly loving sisters.
Then Bai Yu continued to say something confusing. “Sister, we have many funny memories. Let me tell you another issue. . ."
They talked about several hours that day. Finally, Bai Yu went back. Before leaving, Bai Yu told Bai Yao, "Sister, you can taste the past from what I have told you. I will come to you later. If you have anything you want to know from me, simply let me know."
Bai Yao still had not even a bit of the memory, so her mood was still low. Besides, seeing Bai Yu’s back, she was unhappy with her.
What did she really forget?