Early the next morning, Wei Dongling felt much better. She took Cuihuan and headed straight for the General's Mansion.
Just as she was about to enter the main gate of the General's Mansion, she was stopped by the guards.
Wei Dongling asked in surprise, "What do you mean by this?"
A guard replied nervously, "Young steward, we are following the orders of the eldest young lady. We can't let you in!"
Before Wei Dongling could say a word, another guard pleaded with a bitter face, "Young steward, the eldest young lady specifically instructed that if anyone lets you in, they will be immediately dragged away and have their legs broken! Please don't make things difficult for us!"
Wei Dongling's heart sank. She was silent for a long time and then replied, "Could you please inform Uncle Qi? I'd like to see him."
The guard nodded and said okay, then turned around and went in to inform.
After a while, Uncle Qi came out. When he saw Wei Dongling, his eyes welled up with tears. He pulled her aside and asked, "Dongling, is your injury any better?"
Wei Dongling nodded and asked anxiously, "Uncle, they won't let me in. What's going on?"
Uncle Qi sighed and asked, "You and Jinxuan used to be on good terms! But what's happened now? Why did she order that you're not allowed to step into the General's Mansion even one step as soon as she came back?"
Wei Dongling's heart skipped a beat. She felt extremely stuffy in her chest and murmured, "I... I don't know."
Uncle Qi said with a gloomy face, "Jinxuan said that you've offended the current Empress. The General's Mansion can't protect you. To avoid trouble, she ordered that no one should let you enter the General's Mansion. Now, she won't even listen to my words!"
Wei Dongling lowered her eyes. Her heart felt cold.
Uncle Qi took out a stack of silver notes from his pocket and stuffed them into Wei Dongling's hand. "I've had a carriage prepared to take you to the old country house to stay for a while. Let's lie low for now. When the Yu family comes to arrange the marriage, I'll go and pick you up."
Wei Dongling pushed the silver notes back and sighed softly, "Uncle, I won't go to the countryside. I still have to stay in the capital to investigate my father's unjust case. I can't take these silver notes."
Uncle Qi got anxious. "If you don't go back to the countryside, you can't always stay in the Prince's Mansion, can you? Besides, a young lady should always have some silver on her!"
Wei Dongling held Uncle Qi's hand and declined, "Uncle, don't worry about me! I've already found my uncle who came back from the frontier. I have enough silver on me. Now I'm staying in the Listening-to-the-Wind Teahouse. Uncle, come and have tea with me when you're free, okay?"
Uncle Qi stared at her and asked, "Are you serious?"
Wei Dongling nodded. "Absolutely!" Then she added, "Uncle, take these silver notes to Jinlan. In fact, she and her son live quite frugally in the back courtyard."
Uncle Qi stood there holding the silver notes, stunned. Then he saw Wei Dongling bow deeply to him, turn around with Cuihuan and leave.
From afar, they saw Uncle Qi still standing at the gate looking at them. Cuihuan couldn't help asking, "What's going on between you and Miss Qi now?"
Wei Dongling was silent for a long time and then said in a deep voice, "She... seems to have misunderstood me."
Cuihuan raised her eyebrows and asked, "What kind of misunderstanding? Can't you just clear it up?"
Wei Dongling shook her head and smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid it won't be easy this time. She doesn't even want to see me." Just as she was saying this, she looked up and saw Qi Jinxuan's carriage about to enter the mansion.
Wei Dongling stood there, stunned on the spot. Just then, Qi Jinxuan lifted the curtain to look at the road. Their eyes met.
Qi Jinxuan was taken aback for a moment, then immediately cold - faced and closed the curtain.
"Miss!" Wei Dongling got up and chased after, but the carriage didn't stop at all.
"Miss, wait for me!" Wei Dongling limped after it with her injured leg. The carriage was still speeding. Qi Jinxuan didn't even look out of the window at her. Cuihuan couldn't bear it and quickly stepped forward to support Wei Dongling.
The carriage finally stopped at the main gate of the General's Mansion. Lvkou lifted the carriage door, glanced at Wei Dongling secretly, then quickly lowered her head and helped Qi Jinxuan out of the carriage.
Qi Jinxuan got out and ignored Wei Dongling's calls. She turned around and walked into the General's Mansion.
"Miss!" Wei Dongling staggered forward and grabbed the corner of Qi Jinxuan's dress, forcing her to stop.
Qi Jinxuan turned around and looked at her coldly, her eyes like swords.
Wei Dongling's hand holding the corner of her dress trembled. She gently let go and said, "Miss, you've misunderstood me."
Qi Jinxuan said coldly, "Misunderstood? You knew that my father would petition the emperor for a marriage grant as soon as he came back, but you still refused to avoid suspicion! You clearly knew my feelings for him, but you still got entangled with him! Wei Dongling! You repeatedly promised that you wouldn't compete with me! But what have you done? You even swore just to deceive me! You've been treating me like a fool!"
Wei Dongling's face instantly turned deathly pale. Her lips trembled as she murmured, "Miss, it's not like that! That night was not what you think!"
Qi Jinxuan's beautiful eyes were filled with tears. She sneered, "What? Are you going to tell me again that you had no choice? Are you going to tell me again that you have a marriage contract? Are you going to kneel down and swear to me again? Wei Dongling, I tell you, I don't believe a single word you say!"
Wei Dongling's nose turned sour and tears streamed down uncontrollably.
Qi Jinxuan's eyes were blood - red. She roared, "Wei Dongling, you'd better be self - aware. Stay away from me from now on! I never want to see you again."
Wei Dongling was crying like a tearful mess. She pleaded, "Miss, just believe me this once. It's really not what you think! He was framed by the princess at that time..."
Qi Jinxuan impatiently interrupted her. She lowered her voice and roared with gritted teeth, "I don't want to hear it! Don't humiliate yourself! If you're still so unreasonable, don't blame me for telling the world that you're the daughter of a traitor, just like you did to ruin my reputation back then!"
Wei Dongling was completely stunned upon hearing this. She never thought that one day, Miss Jinxuan would turn against her so heartlessly; she never thought that in order to draw a clear line from her, Miss Jinxuan would actually threaten her with this!
Ignoring the tearful Wei Dongling, Qi Jinxuan turned around and walked in.
Lvkou couldn't bear it. She stepped forward and said softly, "Young steward, don't be sad. I'll try to persuade Miss." Then she turned around and chased after her miss.
Wei Dongling stood at the familiar gate of the General's Mansion, her heart as dead as ashes.
Cuihuan silently took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from Wei Dongling's face. But her tears just wouldn't stop.
"I can't go back," Wei Dongling looked up at the high - walled compound of the General's Mansion, her lips trembling as she said in a quivering voice, "I can never go back to the General's Mansion again."
She and Qi Jinxuan could never go back either.
Wei Dongling's legs went weak and she collapsed.
Cuihuan was quick - witted. She quickly caught Wei Dongling's soft body and turned around to leave.
Wei Dongling buried her head in Cuihuan's arm. Suddenly, memories flooded back. When she was eight years old, the back courtyard of the General's Mansion was covered with trumpet vines. She climbed up the tree and picked a whole bag of them.
At that time, Qi Jinxuan was already a delicate and charming young girl. Standing under the tree, looking up at her with sparkling eyes, she said, "Wei Dongling, shall we be sisters for a lifetime?"
Just because of this one sentence, it had warmed Wei Dongling's heart for a full eight years.