Once the patriarch of the Ba household was able to calm everyone down, Cao Luomei had been returned to the Cao mansion alongside Cao Long, who was to be tended to by the physicians awaiting him.
As soon as Cao Luomei stepped foot in the Cao mansion, she locked eyes with Cao Yuemei, who was seated in a pavilion. The latter scoffed at her and looked away and Cao Luomei felt her entire being burn with shame.
She rushed over to the Liang courtyard and locked herself in. She thought back to the events of the past week and a scream tore through her throat.
How did she end up in the Ba mansion? With Ba He of all people? Her body felt sore all over so she shakily stood up to take a bath.
Once Cao Luomei finished cleaning herself up, she laid face up on her bed as tears spilled from her eyes. She wanted to go over to her father's courtyard to check up on him but she was burdened by shame.
And the fact that it was her fault that he had fallen sick made her cry harder. Her mind drifted to the nightmare she'd been having every single day since her time at the army camp.
Was it real or not? How was she ever going to face Cao Feng and her father after this? How was she ever going to face other people? The words everyone had spoken when she had been found with Ba He came to the fore front of her mind. She had disgraced the Cao family.
Her past life had been spent in sorrow. The minute she was reborn, she thought she had been given a second chance to change everything. It looked like she could not escape the fate of being whored.
Cao Luomei soon cried herself to a restless slumber.
Cao Yuemei waited until it was very dark before she left her courtyard. The broken look she had seen on Cao Luomei's face when she returned to the mansion had made her very happy.
Once she reached Cao Luomei's courtyard, she used some knockout powder on the unsuspecting guards and walked right in. The courtyard looked empty, meaning Cao Luomei had dismissed all her servants.
This was good.
Cao Yuemei walked over to Cao Luomei's chambers and pushed the door open. There, lying on the bed, was Cao Luomei. Tossing and turning restlessly. She smiled.
Cao Luomei opened her eyes from the reoccurring nightmare at that moment with a short scream. She already got abused by Ba He, why did she still have that nightmare? She looked to her door and jumped in fright.
"C-Cao Yuemei?"
Cao Yuemei smiled. "Hm." And then she walked over to stand at the edge of Cao Luomei's bed. "How did you find Ba He's methods?"
Cao Luomei's forehead furrowed in confusion before her eyes widened and she pointed a shaky finger at Cao Yuemei with tears spilling from her eyes. "Y-You were behind this?"
Cao Yuemei rolled her eyes. "How hypocritical it is of you to cry. I just did the same thing to you that you had done to me, yet you have the guts to cry and point at me. Like I'm the villain."
Cao Luomei's eyes widened. "W-What are you talking about?"
Cao Yuemei sneered at her with a crazed look in her eyes. "My entire life was ruined by you. If it wasn't for your lying self, my mother wouldn't have been abandoned in the isolation courtyard and wouldn't have lost her life. You took father's love away from me and constantly rubbed it in my face.
-But even then, what did I do to you? NOTHING! Still that wasn't enough. You set me up with Ba He and had me marry him all because you had their backing!"
At this point, Cao Yuemei did not care if Cao Luomei understood what she was saying or not. She was boiling deep in hatred. "I had gone through a week of him shoving everything possible into me and brutalizing me, all for what? Because my mother tried to sell you?
-A plan that didn't even WORK!"
Cao Luomei's face turned ashy, staring at Cao Yuemei as if she was a ghost. Her nightmare wasn't a dream. It was real. Everything that occurred in that dream had happened.
Although she couldn't remember a lot of the events Cao Yuemei mentioned because the dream had started in the middle part of her live. She knew deep down that they were true.
Cao Luomei glance at Cao Yuemei sadly. "That's not true," She whispered.
Cao Yuemei heard her and glared hatefully at her. "I don't care if you think I'm lying or not. It's fine as long as I know the truth!"
"I don't think you're lying. I meant your mother's plan," Cao Luomei said weakly. "Your mother's plan had actually succeeded the first time...." And then she explained all that she had gone through in her first life, from being a child slave to a child whore and then being a top courtesan at sixteen, who had to serve all kinds of men with perverted tastes.
At the end of her story Cao Yuemei stared at Cao Luomei for a while and then slowly said, "You deserve everything that happened to you... AND MORE!" When Cao Luomei flinched, she continued.
"If you and your slut of a mother did not hog father all to yourself, then my mother wouldn't have sold you! Don't you dare expect pity from me."
Cao Luomei bit her lips. "I didn't say it for pity. The time i was sold by your mother, I truly had no idea what was going on. I was a child! And the fact that you're blaming me for your mother's evil actions just goes to prove that I've been wasting my time trying to mend our relationship."
Next she wiped her tears and held her head up. "I agree that taking out my anger on you and Cao Xiwang was wrong and I am sorry for that but in this lifetime, I have done nothing wrong to the both of you.
-You spent one week with Ba He committing all sorts of atrocities against you, I spent one week and one day receiving the same treatment. To you, I have paid my debt. The only person I owe is Cao Xiwang for what was done to him after your death.
-If he decides to come after me, I'm right here but I'm not going to say sorry to you anymore because like I said, I have paid my debt to you."
Cao Yuemei exploded. "What do you mean you've paid your debt to me?! Whatever the second son went through after I was gone is his business to take care off. This is about me, I LOST MY LIFE?!"
Cao Luomei's eyes widened slightly and she did a double take on Cao Yuemei. She had always thought Cao Yuemei's relationship with Cao Xiwang was good, she practically raised the boy!
And yet, she also referred to him as second son just now. So this was really Cao Yuemei's character? Cao Luomei pitied Cao Xiwang a little as she scoffed at Cao Yuemei.
"Cao Yuemei, we both know the reason you had lost your life was because you chose to give up out of shame. I have decided to remain alive and face my shame. Don't blame me for your cowardice."
Cao Yuemei laughed. "Cao Luomei, you've forgotten which one of us is with the backing now. Ba He was just the tip of the iceberg, what you are going to face in the future would be much worse and you would regret choosing to live!"
BAM!
The door opened and Cao Long came in clutching his chest. He had woken up a while ago and decided to come and find out what really happened from Cao Luomei only to end up hearing Cao Yuemei's last sentence.
"Y-You are behind what happened to Cao Luomei?" He pointed a shaky finger at Cao Yuemei and asked slowly.
Cao Yuemei scoffed. "Yes, so?"
"YOU!" Cao Long didn't get to finish as he clutched his chest harder and fell to the ground.
"FATHER!"
Cao Luomei screamed and rushed over to him whilst Cao Yuemei rolled her eyes and walked over his limp body before walking out. She had one of Yu Ming's subordinate slip a little something that Jiang He had prepared into Cao Long's medicine.
It seemed it has taken effect.
The next day, Cao Long was pronounced to be completely paralyzed from stroke. The only parts of his body that were able to move were his eyes and lips, even then, talking was a little hard.
Cao Luomei pulled her hair in grief when she realized. She was absolutely horrified and she blamed herself.
The emperor was been 'compelled' my Yu Ming and Shang Wu during morning court to marry Cao Luomei off to Ba He as a way to preserve the last of her dignity and reduce the shame that had been brought upon the family of his beloved official.
The emperor thought it was a good idea, he had received news about what happened to Cao Long and thought that doing this would be a way of showing his benevolence towards his minister's household.
The edict was to be drafted later in the day but Cao Long caught wind of it and had his guards carry his paralyzed self to the imperial palace. Cao Luomei had been set up, even if she wasn't, how could he let her end up with a wastrel?
As much as he wanted to let people know of Cao Yuemei's misdeeds, he couldn't. He had no proof and people knew he wasn't that fond of his second daughter. No one would believe him.
He blamed himself very much. If only he had tried to repair their relationship then maybe, he could also make the two sisters close and this wouldn't have happened. He should have paid more attention.
When he reached the imperial palace, he begged the emperor and even used up all his merits to make sure Cao Luomei was not given away to Ba He. The emperor also knew what kind of person Ba He was so he just let Cao Luomei be.
Cao Long also used that avenue to completely hand over the title of left prime minister to his son Cao Feng. He was in this state and Cao Feng was eighteen so the young man could handle it. Cao Feng automatically became the head of the Cao family.
Cao Yuemei was very dissatisfied with this but she remained silent. Now wasn't the time to act.
The next day, Cao Luomei was woken up by guards outside her courtyard. When she went out, she was surprised to see her maids being pulled roughly.
"What's going on?"
"Effective today, you have been banished from the Cao family. Orders from the family head."
Cao Luomei's eyes widened. Impossible. Cao Feng was now the family head so what were they saying? She quickly rushed over to Cao Feng's courtyard, when she couldn't find him, she went to the study.
"CAO FENG!" She pushed the doors open. "What's going on?"
Cao Feng glared at her and stood up. He was very dissatisfied with this sister of his. He was someone that had the envy and admiration of people but this wanton woman had made him lose face in the capital!
He couldn't even raise his head up without people bringing up his loose sister everywhere. Some of the allies he had were all ignoring him due to the damage she had done to the Cao family name!
"As family head, I have to think of the Cao family first before any sibling ties. This is what's best for the Cao family." He also wanted to evict those half siblings of his but he had noticed the ties Cao Yuemei had to the crown prince and general Shang.
As someone who was after benefits, he would turn a blind eye to them for now.
Cao Luomei's eyes widened and she clutched her chest in sorrow. She remembered all she had done for Cao Feng in the dream. How could he do this to her?
Cao Long was also carried to the study but he was an invalid now and there was nothing he could do but weep in sorrow.
Cao Luomei was driven out of the Cao family the same day and Cao Long went with his daughter. When she was still engaged to the prince, Cao Long had signed off one of his remote farm settlements to her as part of her dowry.
It had belonged to her mother and he planned to add many more but the issue at the frontier came up and he put it off, after that the engagement was cancelled so there was no need to add others but the remote farm settlement was still in her name so they went there.
Cao Yuemei watched them go but she wasn't bothered. With her backing, she could find them anywhere they planned to hide.
That night, the three men showed up in her room.
"Yuemei~ We've done all you wanted, who do you choose?" Jiang He asked.
Cao Yuemei stared at the three men. They were all handsome in their own ways, all powerful in their fields. She had disliked them a lot at first but then she realized, what for?
They had done all those things in her past life because Cao Luomei had misled them, they were innocent. Cao Luomei had taken advantage of them!
Now when it came to choosing one, she couldn't. She liked them all and if Cao Luomei could have all of them, then she could too!
She conveniently deluded herself and gave in to her greed. "I want all of you."
The three men stared at each other skeptically but when Cao Yuemei dropped her robes and they stared at her luscious figure, all thoughts left their heads and they gave in to their lust.
After indulging in the sweet nectar of Cao Yuemei's sacred garden, the three men fell even deeper. Cao Yuemei opened her eyes and stared at the sleeping men surrounding her in glee.
She was in heaven.
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