Chapter 19: What a Good Calculation!
1149 Words
The Wen Guo Gong Mansion, which had been in chaos all morning, finally quieted down. Bai Heran followed the two maids to her own courtyard. The journey was indeed a bit long, but she didn't feel too tired walking. It was said that the original owner had been ill for many years, but she knew that it wasn't illness at all but poisoning. Now that she was here, the toxicity had been naturally resolved, and her body had recovered greatly. It was just that the clothes were still covered with ice chips, which were really prickly.
The new courtyard wasn't large but could be called exquisite. Bai Heran understood that since Mrs. Ye was determined to play the role of a virtuous wife and kind mother, she wouldn't deliberately make things difficult in this superficial aspect and give people something to talk about. Hanxiang said ingratiatingly, "This courtyard hasn't been named yet. Second Madam said that the name would be chosen by Second Miss herself. You can name it whatever you like."
Yingchun, sent by the old lady, frowned upon hearing this. Second Miss had been sick since childhood and hadn't studied for a day. With such an arrangement by Second Madam, wasn't she deliberately trying to make a fool of the young lady? "Why don't we ask the old lady to give a name?" Yingchun offered an idea.
But Bai Heran shook her head, "No need. I've already thought of a name." She didn't stop walking and said as she walked, "It will be called Nianxi. Nian means 'never forget', and xi means 'the past'. This is to remind my father not to forget the past and to think more about the vastness between life and death many years ago." Hanxiang's heart tightened, and she lowered her head and said nothing more. Yingchun, however, was surprised by the astonishing changes in this Second Miss in front of her. Besides the recovered body and the sharp aura, it seemed that she was also unrivaled in terms of knowledge. This seemed... different from the impression she had before!
The three of them entered the main room. Yingchun temporarily put aside her doubts and quickly walked towards the clothes chest, "Miss, you'd better change your clothes quickly to avoid catching a cold." As she said this, she opened the clothes chest. The next moment, her expression changed drastically...
Bai Heran also saw the clothes in the chest. They were made of real silk brocade and colorful damask. Any piece casually unfolded was inlaid with various gems. In her previous life, the Bai Family had guarded the inheritance of the Poison King for thousands of years, and the entire family adhered to ancient customs. What she had learned since childhood was not mathematics, physics, chemistry, politics, and languages, but the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Analects of Confucius, the Rites of Zhou, and the Zuo Zhuan, as well as the etiquette and civilization of China's five thousand years. She could tell at a glance that these clothes were extraordinary. In her knowledge, only those in the imperial court were qualified to wear them. Now, the second wife had brought these overly luxurious and inappropriate things to her room, obviously trying to set her up. This was a double insurance. If Bai Jinghong failed to kill her on the way, Mrs. Ye would make sure she could never turn over in this Wen Guo Gong Mansion. What a good calculation!
Hanxiang wore a smile on her face and said to Bai Heran in a flattering manner, "Does Second Miss like these clothes? These are all Second Madam's intentions. Second Madam said that only the best clothes are worthy of our Wen Guo Gong Mansion's legitimate daughter. Miss, you can rest first. This servant will go and prepare water for you to take a bath. After taking a bath and changing into these clothes, you will definitely look like a fairy." Hanxiang left triumphantly. Yingchun rummaged in the clothes chest for a while and took out a set of undergarments, but her eyebrows furrowed even more tightly.
Bai Heran looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?" Yingchun held the undergarments in her hand and said, "This servant has seen this kind of fabric before. One year, when Second Madam congratulated the Empress Dowager in the palace on her birthday, she personally made a set of intimate undergarments with this fabric. Because Second Madam is the Empress Dowager's niece, others couldn't make such intimate clothes, but she could."
Bai Heran smiled, "The fabric that can be sent to the palace must be tribute fabric. Even if it isn't, it will become so once the Empress Dowager wears it. Sending the fabric worn by the Empress Dowager to me, if I wear it, it will be a great crime." Yingchun became anxious and opened several more chests, all filled with the same luxurious clothes. "What should we do? There are no other clothes except these now. Miss can't continue to wear this outfit. It will freeze you. If there's really no other way, shall we wear them first? Anyway, they were sent by Second Madam. It's not Miss's fault."
Bai Heran shook her head, "In the face of mistakes, the reason doesn't matter so much. Since they want me to fall into this trap, it doesn't matter who sent these things. In the end, I will have to bear this burden." She patted Yingchun's hand, "It's okay. We'll find a way to deal with whatever comes." At this time, Yingchun didn't react to her touch, and Bai Heran breathed a sigh of relief. She was born with an extraordinary physique. Her blood could detoxify all poisons, but at the same time, it was also the most toxic and incurable poison in the world. In her previous life, she had spent ten years trying to control her special constitution. Later, she no longer hurt people as she did in childhood, but unfortunately, no one believed in her change. The fear was deeply rooted, and no one wanted to be friends with her except the four of them, Aheng and the others.
"Second Miss, what's wrong with you?" Yingchun asked when she saw Bai Heran lost in thought. Bai Heran came back to her senses, tugged at the corners of her mouth, and there was a touch of bitterness in her smile. The previous life could never be returned to, but she hadn't avenged Aheng yet, and she hadn't killed that beast in the National Security Bureau. How could she be reconciled? The door was pushed open, and Hanxiang carried buckets of water for bathing in and poured them into the large wooden barrel. When the water was about seventy percent full, another person came to the door of the room. Bai Heran turned to look and narrowed her eyes slightly, with anger slowly rising. It was her...
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