A small lamp cast a dim light over the damp and gloomy basement.
"For a disreputable person like elder sister, death is the best relief," said Jiang Jingshu.
Jiang Sihe struggled to grab her younger sister's magnificent silk robe, but Jiang Jingshu dodged in disgust.
"If elder sister had known this would happen, she should never have resorted to such low - class means to curry favor..."
"Heh..." Jiang Sihe let out a hoarse sound from her throat.
She and her sister were born to a concubine. They were sent into the Marquis's Mansion in two small sedan chairs by the first wife to become concubines.
The mistress of the Marquis's Mansion was extremely jealous. After they entered the mansion, they were tormented every day and lived a precarious life.
Her younger sister was as pure as a chrysanthemum and never vied for anything. In order for them to survive, Jiang Sihe fought desperately for the master's favor and shared the rewards and food she got with her sister. But all she got from her sister was:
"Elder sister, I naturally disdain such shameless and low - class behavior!"
In the end, Jiang Sihe became a thorn in the side of the mistress of the mansion. Their fight ended in a lose - lose situation. Jiang Sihe ended up disabled and mute, while the mistress lost her position as the first wife.
However, her younger sister, Jiang Jingshu, reaped the benefits. She won the exclusive favor of the marquis and was promoted to the first wife.
But Jiang Jingshu, with an air of elegance, said,
"Elder sister, there's no need to treat this illness or even eat. Dying like this would still preserve some dignity..."
Jiang Jingshu got up and took away the only lamp in the basement, leaving behind boundless darkness.
...
"Elder sister..."
Jiang Sihe was awakened by the call of "elder sister". She slowly opened her heavy eyelids and saw her younger sister, Jiang Jingshu, who had not yet come of age, standing by the bed.
"Mother, elder sister is awake..." Jiang Jingshu shouted outside.
Jiang Sihe reached out and touched her forehead in confusion. There was a bandage wrapped around it, and it still stung.
This should be ten years ago. Their mother had voluntarily moved to the suburban villa. For three consecutive days, the three of them hadn't had a single grain of rice to eat.
She had taken an old, damaged, and dusty hairpin of her mother's to exchange for some rice. Her sister, Jiang Jingshu, had found out, and they had a fight. She was pushed and hit her forehead on the corner of the table.
Why had she returned to this year?
She had been reborn...
"Sihe, are you awake?"
The slender woman at the door was their mother, Ruan Mei, a concubine in the Jiang Mansion. She had a plain and pure oval face. Although she had given birth to the two sisters, her elegance still remained.
After entering the room, she first gently stroked a bamboo hairpin in her hair bun and then gracefully looked at Jiang Sihe.
"Elder sister, mother likes bamboo the most, and this bamboo hairpin is an old thing of mother's. How could you stoop so low for just a little bit of rice?"
Like their mother, Jiang Jingshu had a cold and beautiful face. Her eyes were long and slender, her look aloof, and the corners of her mouth slightly downturned, exuding an air of coldness.
When she saw her mother, Jiang Sihe frowned in pain. She remembered this incident clearly.
She remembered that her mother had many bamboo hairpins. The one she took was even broken in one place. But her noble - minded mother and sister thought her behavior was so spineless.
"Sihe, your sister is right not to let you exchange it. Although we are now living simply, we must never lose our backbone..."
"The shape of this bamboo hairpin is like a green bamboo. Bamboo is known for being soft on the outside but strong on the inside, tough and unyielding. Just like we are now in adversity, we should be as open - minded as green bamboo, always moving forward, and never lose our true selves..."
Jiang Sihe shifted her gaze to her mother. A hint of mockery flashed in her eyes. This was her mother. On the verge of starvation, she was still extolling the virtues of backbone and integrity!
"Elder sister only ever sees those petty gains. If the people in the mansion knew that you used mother's hairpin to exchange for a little rice, we would lose all our dignity..."
Although her mother didn't say anything else, Jiang Sihe knew that her mother was deeply prejudiced against her because she was not as noble - minded as her sister.
When she was hungry, she would scheme to fill her stomach, and when she was cold, she would plan to get clothes.
This was why her mother didn't like her.
"Mother, my head hurts..."
Jiang Sihe deliberately gently stroked her forehead and frowned.
Her mother glanced at Jiang Jingshu and then said,
"Alright, Jingshu, say less. Your elder sister is injured after all. But Sihe, you're the elder sister. It was an accident on her part. You shouldn't hold it against her. As an elder sister, you should give in to and protect your younger sister!"
Jiang Sihe had been brainwashed by her mother's words for a lifetime. She gave in to and protected Jiang Jingshu, but what did Jiang Jingshu do?
She let her starve and die of illness in the basement of the Marquis's Mansion!
This time, she didn't want to protect or give in anymore.
"Now that your forehead is injured, although your father misses you and wants you to go, since your appearance is damaged, you mustn't offend your father's eyes. So you don't need to go to your father's birthday banquet tomorrow."
Her mother's words reminded Jiang Sihe. She remembered that in her previous life, she had also had a fight with Jiang Jingshu over the hairpin, hit her forehead, and failed to go back to congratulate her father on his birthday.
At this birthday banquet, Jiang Jingshu had caught a glazed tile that was about to hit the first wife on the head with her bare hands.
Because of this, the first wife thought that Jiang Jingshu was her lucky star. The next day, she sent a maid to ask if Jiang Jingshu was willing to be adopted as the legitimate daughter under her name.
But her sister calmly said, "I don't care about the false name of a legitimate daughter. If I were to go to the side of the legitimate mother, wouldn't I be ungrateful to mother for raising me?"
"No matter how much wealth there is, it can't compare to mother's kindness in giving birth to and raising me!"
The maid beside the first wife, Maid Qiu, immediately looked cold, but Jiang Jingshu still said reservedly,
"If the first wife really wants me to be adopted, then she should promote my mother to the position of equal wife!"
Maid Qiu snorted, "Who do you think you are? It's the first wife who is showing you favor..."
Because of Jiang Jingshu's ungratefulness, she angered the first wife. Soon after they came of age, the two sisters were sent into the Marquis's Mansion in two small sedan chairs to become concubines.
Since Jiang Jingshu didn't want to be the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family, then she would be.
"Mother, I'm fine now. It's not easy for the first wife to agree to let us go back to the mansion to congratulate father on his birthday this year. If I don't go back, I'll feel guilty!"
She glanced at Jiang Jingshu. "The dance routine that my sister and I practiced together. If only my sister performs it, won't the dance lose its original charm?"
"What you said makes some sense, but your forehead..."
"Mother, I'll cover it with powder tomorrow, and it won't be noticeable."
"Letting you dance for your father is to make you be filial, not to let you go back to curry favor. If your father asks you anything later, you must never lose your true selves!"
"I disdain to compete for favor with others. If I were to be jealous, how would I be any different from a village woman!"
"Of course, you should also understand your father's difficulties. He favors us in his heart, but because of the first wife, he can't show it at all. You mustn't misunderstand your father..."
Jiang Sihe knew her mother too well. Her family had fallen into decline, and she had come to rely on the Jiang family. She had been taken as a concubine before the first wife entered the mansion.
After the first wife entered the mansion, she voluntarily moved to the villa, making the newly - entered first wife be ridiculed by outsiders for not even being able to tolerate a concubine. Since then, the first wife had disliked her very much.
Although she clearly hoped that her father would come to the villa to see her, she always held on to her pride and refused to compete for favor. Instead, she would wear a plain and elegant dress and look towards the Jiang Mansion at the villa gate every day.
Just like this time, although it was clearly the first wife who had agreed to let them go back, she insisted on interpreting it as her father's intention, as if her father loved and valued them in his heart.
In fact, her father had long forgotten about the three of them living in the villa.
Two more concubines had been added to the mansion, but her father hadn't even come to see her mother.
"On the day I left the mansion with you two, your father held my hand and said that he would wait to take me back to the mansion and make me an equal wife. I don't care about these false names at all, but for the sake of you two, I'll reluctantly agree!"
Hearing her mother say such nonsense again, Jiang Sihe couldn't help but want to sneer.
She really didn't know where her mother got the confidence to think that her father would promote her to an equal wife.
It was simply a pipe dream!
"Mother, don't worry. Father has us in his heart. Letting us go back this time must be because he wants to give mother a proper title!"
Looking at the sympathetic looks between her sister and mother, a hint of contempt flashed in Jiang Sihe's eyes.
Then let them stay in this villa and wait for their father to remember them!
She wouldn't stay with them anymore!