Sisters

The spring sun shone down brightly, casting a clear shadow on the flowers and swaying trees.

The second gate divided the place into two. Inside the gate was the inner house where the women lived, so the men never went in. Outside the gate was the outer yard, which didn’t have such strict rules. The women had to go through the outer yard to reach the inner house.

The Eldest Young Mistress of the Guan family was standing on the inside of the gate, while the Cousin Young Mistress stood outside the gate.

Their gazes met, and nobody spoke for a while.

Just when Song Caitang was wondering if Guan Qing was here to welcome her because she was worried or because of some other reason, Guan Qing broke the silence.

“It wasn’t easy for you to get well, but instead of taking care of your body, you decided to walk back on your own? What were you thinking? How difficult would it be for you to send a message to us and get us to fetch you with a horse carriage? Look at how pale your face is! You would collapse if the wind blew too hard!” Guan Qing chided Song Caitang with a frown.

She proceeded to yell at a servant, “Get her usual doctor to come here right now! Make him bring two types of medicine and ask him what must be done for her to recover fully! What does she need to eat, drink or take note of!”

Once she was done, she looked at Song Caitang’s clothing and frowned even harder, “Also, what are you wearing? It looks awful. Chunhong, bring the two chests of newly tailored clothes to her room. Then pick a few bales of fabric from the warehouse and call a tailor to get her measurements. She doesn’t have suitable springwear!”

No greeting, nothing. Guan Qing settled her food, clothing, and treatment all at once.

Qingqiao was worried that her Young Mistress might misunderstand, so she tried to sneak a glance at Song Caitang to tell her that Guan Qing’s temper was just like that and she wasn’t a bad person…

But before she could throw that glance, someone else came walking over. Her voice was loud and nasty, and her words attacked Guan Qing.

“Gosh, Eldest Sister, our Cousin Young Mistress here is a guest after all, and her surname is Song and not Guan – so don’t scold her to her face as though she’s your maid or something!”

Those thin brows, round pupils but sharp eye corners. That was Guan Rongrong.

As Guan Rongrong spoke, she came closer and looked Song Caitang up and down, making sure she got every detail.

She knew right from the start that her cousin was very pretty. Her brows were long, her nose was high, and she looked feminine yet gave off an air of masculinity. She had a very special aura.

But what surprised her was that once this cousin became alert again and life returned to her eyes, her cousin would have such bright and beautiful eyes.

Her eyes were like the lake waters in summer, like the stars in the autumn night. They sparkled brightly, full of life and intelligence.

They were eyes that made her angrier the more she looked at them. She wished she could dig those eyes out!

Guan Rongrong clenched the handkerchief in her hands tightly, then glanced at Guan Qing from those sharp corners of her eyes. Her words were even nastier now, “Even if our cousin has done something wrong, there are rules in place to protect her. Besides, there’s my mother and Grandmother above that. There’s no need for you to do something so unnecessary!”

She even walked over to take Song Caitang’s arm in her, as though they were very close and got along especially well, “Please don’t blame Eldest Sister. She’s always like that. She’s very careless, only cares about checking the books and counting money, and she doesn’t know how to care for others. It’s alright, she might not care for you, but your older sister here does.”

Song Caitang fluttered her long lashes as she looked at Guan Qing, then looked at Guan Rongrong, all while hiding her true emotions.

She was still being treated as an idiot.

She didn’t know if Guan Qing had come to the gate to welcome her specially, but even if she had happened to come by, the fact that she was willing to wait for her was a concern in itself. As for the way she spoke…

There were always people with differing personalities from most others. They didn’t really know how to express their concern nicely and often made a situation that could have been settled peacefully into a complete mess.

Guan Qing’s words and tone were not pleasant to the ear, but every instruction she gave was beneficial to Song Caitang. She called for the doctor, for clothes, for instructions on what she had to do in order to get better. Everything had been taken care of.

And what about the one holding onto her arm?

Besides saying nicer things and showing some physical affection, she wasn’t giving Song Caitang anything at all.

She didn’t need any secret glances from Qingqiao. She could tell who this woman was from her words and actions.

This was clearly that horrible aunt’s daughter, Guan Rongrong.

The Guan family was actually very simple.

The great-grandfather had split the family. Most of his children had many sons and grandsons, but Song Caitang’s grandfather didn’t. But he did well in business and became very rich.

Her maternal grandfather had two sons and a daughter. The eldest son was borne by the grandfather’s first wife, and he married Madam Zhang, Guan Rongrong’s mother. Guan Rongrong had a younger brother by the same mother, and he was turning 15 this year.

Unfortunately, the grandfather’s first wife had no other children after that. She became very frail and weak after giving birth and passed on soon after. Three years later, the grandfather married a second wife, Madam Bai. Madam Bai gave birth to one son and one daughter. The son was the father to the Eldest Young Mistress Guan Qing and Third Young Mistress Guan Wan, while the daughter was Song Caitang’s mother.

The grandfather had already passed away, so the most senior member of the family was his second wife, Madam Bai.

Her uncle and aunt, the parents of Guan Qing and Guan Wan, had passed away in an accident, leaving just their two daughters behind and no son.

In the past, Guan Qing’s father was the one with the business that did the best. He got into an arranged marriage with the daughter of a major merchant and gained many resources, so his business really took off. The Guan family became this wealthy and influential almost entirely because of this couple, but it was a pity that they died so young.

Madam Bai and the remaining son in the house were not biological mother and son, so there was a gap in their relationship. The half of the business that her son controlled before passing away went to Madam Bai first, then later, she taught Guan Qing the ropes.

Of course, this made Madam Zhang very indignant. Her son was the only male heir in the whole family, so according to tradition, everything in the family was supposed to go to him!

This inner house seemed peaceful, but a bloody war was actually happening.

As Madam Zhang’s daughter, it was natural for Guan Rongrong to be annoyed with Guan Qing from time to time.

Song Caitang was an orphan who was here to rely on the family, so Madam Zhang quickly made use of her to get what she wanted.

She used Song Caitang to test Madam Bai and Guan Qing, to negotiate for profit, to exchange for more gain…there were so many instances.

Waking up in the coffin home, hearing about the family from Qingqiao, negotiating with First Madam Wu…all these scenes flashed one after another in her mind.

Song Caitang didn’t have a weak personality. She had a temper too.

She looked down slightly, remained silent for two seconds, then blinked and said in a completely confused voice, “I’m so sorry, I just recovered, and there are many things I still can’t remember.” She pushed Guan Rongrong’s arm away and asked very sincerely, “Who are you?”

Guan Rongrong flew into a rage. Was Song Caitang despising her now?!

“I already said I’m your older sister! Even if you can’t remember, can’t you see? Can’t you guess?! Which younger sister would talk like that to their older sister?!”

Song Caitang looked apologetic and had learned her lesson. She widened her eyes slightly to look at Guan Rongrong, then looked at Guan Qing as she made sure she didn’t sound too sarcastic as she said, “You’re right. Which younger sister would talk like that to their older sister? I’m really sorry.”

She had admitted her mistake really quickly, but she had also pointed out Guan Rongrong’s fault – Guan Qing was her older sister, so how could she have spoken to Guan Qing like that?

Song Caitang made use of what Qingqiao had taught her earlier, which was to bow slightly. That served as an apology.

She then tilted her head and smiled faintly as she waited for Guan Rongrong to do the same.

But Guan Rongrong was used to thumbing Guan Qing down all day at home. She wasn’t going to apologize!

But at the same time, she couldn’t say that Song Caitang had been in the wrong either, actually. Song Caitang had just regained her senses, so it made sense that she didn’t remember who these people were, and she wouldn’t know the rules around here.

Guan Rongrong was both angry and flustered. Her face was all red from trying to hold her temper in, but she simply could not bring herself to apologize.

“You’ve just recovered, so I’m not going to argue with you!”

She decided it was best just to leave. She spun around and marched off in a huff.

Guan Qing had a slightly conflicted look in her eyes.

After Guan Rongrong had walked out of sight, she was about to say something when a maid in silver and white came running over and whispered a few things in her ear.

She sighed and looked at Song Caitang.

“Grandmother is in very poor health, so I have to go and look after her now. You have your maid to attend to your needs, and she knows how to get to your courtyard so that I won’t accompany you there. If you need anything, just ask for it.”

With that, she turned to leave but stopped again. Her expression was serious as she said to Song Caitang, “How you live in your own house depends on how you choose to. If anyone dares to bully you, focus on defending yourself. If you can’t, beg an elder or another family member to help you. Asking for help is not something to be embarrassed about. If you just keep it inside and not talk about it, it means you’ve chosen to suffer, and you deserve to be bullied. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Don’t hope for someone to have all the free time in the world to watch you and spoil you all day.” Guan Qing turned and left hurriedly.

Qingqiao watched as this frightening Eldest Young Mistress walked out of sight, then patted her chest and exhaled deeply, “Eldest Young Mistress speaks really frankly and doesn’t seem afraid of hurting others.”

“But surprisingly, her words make a lot of sense.” Song Caitang’s brows relaxed, and she smiled so brightly, her eyes curved.

Guan Qing was teaching her how to be independent.

It was hard for women to live in this era. Being tolerant seemed to be a skill that all of them had to become experts in.

But if you just suffered in silence, tolerated everything, and always compromised, would you be able to live a happier life?

The answer was clearly, no.

Qingqiao turned and looked toward where Guan Rongrong had gone. She was rather puzzled, “Second Young Mistress is usually the most arrogant one who can’t be bothered to talk to anybody, and she’s never come to look for you before either. What’s got into her today…”

If she was here to see Song Caitang, then her poor tone and temper didn’t make sense. But if she wasn’t here to see Song Caitang, then did she happen to pass by?

The smile on Song Caitang’s face faded a little.

That girl wasn’t here to see her. She was probably here to test her. She wanted to see what sort of person her cousin really was after regaining her senses.

“Never mind that. Let’s go home.”

“Yes, Young Mistress!”

Qingqiao continued leading the way.

“Once you pass through this moon gate, you’ll arrive at your residence, Xianmeng Residence.”

But Song Caitang stopped at the gate.

She pointed at a pavilion not too far away, “Does…someone live there?”

Qingqiao tiptoed to look, then said, “Oh, that place. Young Mistress, that pavilion has rooms, but it’s built directly onto a huuuuge lake. It’s too humid in the summer and too chilly in the winter, which is bad for one’s health. So Old Madam has instructed that we can go there for a walk, but cannot live there. The estate has plenty of rooms, anyway…”

Of course, Song Caitang had noticed the lake waters.

The moving waters of the lake reflected the brilliant sunlight shining upon its surface. They looked like shimmering pieces of silver.

She realized that she seemed to like water very much.

The moment she saw water, she wanted to go nearer; she wanted to be there. When she saw that pavilion on the water, she wanted to stay there instead. She really wanted to.

The water, as well as the pavilion on it, gave her a sense of security and soothed her greatly.

But she was very certain that she didn’t have such inclinations in her previous life.

She could swim, but she preferred staying on land. She felt safer with her two feet on the ground.

How did this change come about?

“Young Mistress? Young Mistress?”

She snapped out of her daze, “Yes?”

“Let’s hurry over. I think I spot Third Young Mistress’ maid. She seems to be looking for you.”