"Ah—Di Lanmo, you're really crazy!"
Di Tingyu jumped in pain. Her face was wet and burning, feeling as if a layer of skin had been peeled off.
"Father, sister has no respect for her elders. Isn't it right for me to teach her a lesson on your behalf?" Di Lanmo stared at Di Mingye, her eyes as sly as a fox.
Even when she confronted Mrs. Lin, she was reasonable and orderly. Unlike Di Tingyu, who was so brainless that she didn't even bother with the pretense.
"Dad!" Di Tingyu was extremely aggrieved. She even pointed at Di Lanmo willfully. "She did it on purpose!"
Yes, she did it on purpose!
Di Mingye's face was as black as a pot. Logically and emotionally, Di Lanmo was right. So he had no choice but to scold Di Tingyu. "You're so disrespectful. Your sister is right to teach you a lesson!"
Di Lanmo curtsied. "Father, daughter will take her leave first."
Mrs. Lin was more scheming, and she had Di Mingye as her backer. Di Tingyu was brainless. It seemed that she would be a good breakthrough.
It took more than ten minutes to walk from the west wing of the study. In the courtyard of the west wing, the bluestone slabs were covered with ice. A few wintersweet trees were growing in a crooked way, and no one came to prune them.
Compared with the scenery of Di Tingyu's Fengxi Courtyard, her Wenjing Pavilion in the west wing was really desolate!
"Miss! Is that you, miss?"
Qingque, who heard the footsteps inside the house, rushed out in a hurry. Seeing her mistress in such a sorry state, she was stunned at first, and then stepped forward to support her. Her eyes were full of distress. "Miss, where have you been? You're all injured. Does it hurt?"
Qingque was fourteen years old this year. She had double buns on her head and was wearing a green maid's dress. There were obvious high - altitude red patches on her cheeks.
This was her maid, bought when the original owner's mother was still alive. She had served by her side for ten years and was like a sister to her.
Di Lanmo's cold and fierce eyes softened a little. This was the first person in the General's Mansion to ask her "Does it hurt?" after she was injured and entered the mansion.
"Qingque, I'm fine. Go and buy some medicine for me, like pseudo - ginseng, dahurian angelica root, gardenia fruit, poria cocos..."
Now, in this General's Mansion, she didn't trust anyone except Qingque!
At night, Qingque made the bed and lit the candlestick. Then someone knocked on the door. "Miss Di, I'm from the Imperial Hospital. The general asked me to come and examine you. Is it convenient?"
"Come in, please."
It was still early for Di Lanmo's bedtime according to her biological clock. At this moment, she was sitting on the beauty's couch, flipping through the books in the room.
Imperial Physician Zhang was a middle - aged man with a fawning look on his face. After briefly feeling her pulse, he wrote out a prescription. "Miss, take the medicine I prescribed three times a day. Apply this external ointment every two hours. You'll recover in ten days or half a month."
Di Lanmo glanced at it slightly and told Qingque, "Imperial Physician Zhang has come all the way here. Please ask the doctor to have a couple of drinks."
Qingque took out some silver and stuffed it to the imperial physician. She came back after seeing him off at the door. "Miss, haven't we already bought the medicine? Why do we still spend money?"
Di Lanmo held the prescription and smiled. "He came from afar. We can't be impolite, and we shouldn't waste others' painstaking efforts."
At first glance, there was nothing wrong with the prescription. But there was something wrong with the external ointment given by Imperial Physician Zhang. It smelled fragrant, but there was a faint strange smell. If her nose wasn't wrong, it should be leech blood.
Applying it every two hours, in a few days, her wound would not get better but would fester and ulcerate...
She remembered that in a few days, there would be a Laba Palace Banquet. It was the first time she would meet the Prince of Qin. Some people in the mansion couldn't wait any longer.
However... this ointment was not suitable to be used as evidence. They might even turn the tables and frame her for planting evidence!
At this time, in the Cuiyu Pavilion of the General's Mansion, Di Mingye was pacing back and forth in the room. His vicissitudinous face was full of worry. "How many times do I have to say it? She'll give it if she wants to. Why do you have to be so ruthless?"
Mrs. Lin was sitting on the edge of the bed. She snorted. "It's easy for you to say. She's about to marry the Prince of Qin soon. Isn't the emperor just trying to see your attitude? Present the Fengling Seal before her marriage. If there is no such seal, not only will you lose your position as a general, but the whole General's Mansion will also be in trouble!"
How could Di Mingye not know? But he sighed deeply. "The Fengling Seal is just a rumor..."
"The rumors can be very powerful. If there is no Fengling Seal, she will surely die!" Mrs. Lin squeezed out these words through her teeth. Her eyes were venomous. Even if there was a Fengling Seal, she would never hand it over to the royal family. After all, Di Lanmo's life would eventually be in her hands!
—
"Achoo—"
In the west wing, Di Lanmo sneezed. She sat in front of the dressing mirror and continued to do her makeup.
"Miss, it's the middle of the night. What are you...?" Qingque hesitated to speak. Not to mention doing makeup at this time, but what was the makeup that the miss was doing? Her originally smooth and flawless face was covered with red dots of different sizes.
In the dressing mirror, the woman had black eyebrows like black ink and clear and lively eyes. But her skin was full of pimples, which was really unbearable to look at.
"For those who want to see." Di Lanmo raised the corners of her mouth. Since they wanted to harm her, she might as well go with the flow.
Qingque didn't understand. Since the miss came back this time, she seemed to have changed a lot. But she couldn't tell exactly where the change was.
The Laba Festival was coming soon. Early this morning, fine snow like salt was floating in the capital. Qingque prepared a fluffy yellow jacket and a long floor - length dress for Di Lanmo early in the morning. If it weren't for her ugly face, this outfit would show her vitality and would surely shine brightly.
"Hey, miss, if the Prince of Qin sees you like this... what should we do?" Qingque was more anxious than the person involved. Although it was called the Laba Palace Banquet, who in the world didn't know that this was the engagement banquet between her own miss and the Prince of Qin?
"It doesn't matter."
Di Lanmo put on the clothes and pushed the door out. The light snow was floating, and the snowflakes fell on her hair one by one.
"Ouch, who is this? Sister, have you suffered retribution for doing too many evil things?" At the mansion gate, Di Tingyu saw Di Lanmo's appearance and couldn't help laughing out loud.
Compared with that day, Di Lanmo's face was even "worse". There were red dots and pustules. She looked like an ugly monster.
Di Lanmo didn't say a word. She just let Di Tingyu have her moment of verbal pleasure. She would have plenty of ways to deal with her later!
Mrs. Lin was wearing a dark - gold robe embroidered with peonies. She was elegant and dignified. She walked out hand in hand with Di Mingye, who was wearing official robes. The two of them had a powerful aura. Mrs. Lin glanced at Di Lanmo obliquely. "Who are you trying to scare? I think you'd better not go to the banquet."
"You're really being absurd. If the Prince of Qin sees you like this, what will happen to this marriage?" Di Mingye echoed. The two of them had the same opinion. It would be just fine if she didn't go to the Laba Banquet.
Di Lanmo shrugged. "So what if I have acne? It's not that it won't get better. If I don't go, won't people say that our General's Mansion doesn't take the marriage with the Prince of Qin seriously?"
Before Di Mingye could say anything, Di Lanmo bowed slightly and got into the carriage with Qingque's support. "Don't worry about me, father. Daughter knows what to do."
They had tried every means to make her look ugly. Let's see who would lose face today!
Who was the Prince of Qin? He was just a vague concept in the original owner's memory. It was only rumored that he led troops to fight at the age of twelve and had made great military achievements. He was aloof and not interested in women.
He was the seventh son of the late emperor. The current emperor, who was the Prince of Qin's elder brother, saw that his younger brother was over twenty - two and still unmarried, so he took the initiative to arrange the marriage with the General's Mansion.
It seemed that everything was reasonable, but Di Lanmo didn't think so. Why did someone try to stop this marriage and even want to take her life? The reason behind this needed to be investigated!
However, she didn't plan to get married so early, especially in a time when having concubines was common in ancient times!
After dealing with the General's Mansion, she would take one step at a time and stand on her own feet. First, she would make money!
The carriage bumped all the way from the General's Mansion to the palace. They rested in the side hall for about half a day. It was getting late when a palace maid came to invite them.
In the imperial garden, after a whole day of snow, it was covered in silver. In the long pavilion, the lanterns illuminated the sky.
Di Lanmo "obediently" followed behind Di Mingye and Mrs. Lin. She was completely unaware of her face, which was as bad as having smallpox. Her sharp eyes were looking around.
"Is that the eldest miss of the General's Mansion?"
"Why is she so ugly? Weren't they said to be the two most beautiful sisters in the capital?"
The gossips reached Di Lanmo's ears, but she didn't mind at all. Di Tingyu, on the other hand, snickered and walked even more gracefully, wishing she could show off in public.
Di Lanmo sneered in her heart. She gently flicked a small stone out of her hand.
"Ouch!"
Di Tingyu felt a pain in her ankle and suddenly slipped, falling flat on her face.
How ridiculous. This younger sister of the original owner was just a plaything for her.
Di Tingyu ate a mouthful of snow. Her hairpin was crooked, and her whole face was covered with snow. When she looked up, she bumped into Di Lanmo's smiling eyes. She was immediately angry. "Di Lanmo, it was you who did this, wasn't it!"
Di Lanmo spread her hands. "What does it have to do with me?"
Only a fool would admit to a secret attack after the fact, right?
Di Tingyu was so angry that she was shaking. She was about to make a scene when a jade - like hand reached out. "Miss, are you okay?"
The deep and magnetic voice sounded a bit familiar. Di Lanmo shivered and looked sideways. She saw a man in a purple - gold robe with a well - defined face and cool phoenix eyes.
Was it him?
Di Lanmo never thought that she would meet him again after their encounter in the hot spring. She still clearly remembered that when she left, she claimed to be his "father" and even swindled twenty taels of silver from him!
What made her scalp tingle even more was that Di Tingyu's arrogance was instantly extinguished. Instead, she became shy and gentle. She took the man's hand and said softly, "This commoner girl pays respects to His Highness the Prince of Qin."
"Pfft—"
Di Lanmo couldn't help laughing. This guy was her fiancé?
Chu Zhiyan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. The woman beside him had an uneven face and covered her mouth when she laughed. His first impression of her was not very good.
"Your Highness, please don't mind. This is my elder sister. Her appearance... is not very good." Di Tingyu introduced shyly, but deliberately slandered Di Lanmo.
Chu Zhiyan pursed his thin lips and said nothing. He walked into the long pavilion politely. That woman's figure was quite familiar. Where had he seen her before?