103 Finally, she was able to play the heroine Part II
What?
What did she do wrong? Was it because she did not resist, so he thought she was an easy, shameless woman again?
Thinking back to what happened at the border, she had to admit that she acted quite shameless when in front of him. But those eyes that kept staring at her...
Alright, alright, she would resist him a bit.
At that thought, she twisted her arm to escape from his grip. She intended to move away, but a large hand held her waist. “Can’t you just stay still?”
Bai Yu frowned. What did he want with her?! Should she stay still or squirm away, Wangye?!
As if he could understand her thoughts from their connected gaze. The hand that had held her wrist now moved to lightly flick her forehead. Bai Yu immediately glared daggers at him, though she did not voice a complaint. Ouyang Feilong did not use much force, so this time he really knew how to cherish beauty. She would forgive him for his face.
But...the other hand around her waist! Did he intend to crush it with his grip?!
“Is there something else?”
.....
Ouyang Feilong did not give a reply. His brows furrowed tight until he could tie a knot with them. There was disapproval in his eyes. He flatly spoke a short sentence before letting her go.
“Eat more.” Then, the tall figure turned and left Meihua residence. Bai Yu smiled at his back that was moving away until it went out of sight.
She walked back into the building, in her head, there were various images of menus that would fatten her up. Coincidentally, she ran into her maid who had just come back from the market. She called out.
“Xiao Xi.”
“Yes, miss.”
“I want braised pork leg on rice!”
—————–
The next morning, Bai Yu ate braised pork leg as she had intended. She made it herself from using ingredients that she guessed would make it taste like Thailand’s braised pork leg on rice. The end product was a flavorful braised pork leg that she thought was delicious.
If your heart said delicious, then it was delicious. Because Bai Yu took that saying to heart, she could happily eat her homemade braised pork leg.
Yue Nan watched his younger cousin savoring the breakfast she made herself and could finally let out a relieved smile. The song from yesterday revealed a future to him. Though it might take some time, it was a bright future for Bai Yu.
“You’ve become so thin lately. Your appetite today does put my mind at ease.” The elder Furen said after Yue family’s breakfast ended.
Because of Bai He’s injury and Bai Yu’s fever, the members of the Yue family all agreed to do their work from inside the mansion, leaving it only when necessary. Especially now that they had Yue Nan who rarely came home, the Yue family mansion’s dining table was full despite their busy jobs. However, calmness could not stay for long before another storm surged. It was the arrival of the former eldest miss of the Yue family.
Yue Mei, her mother.
“Greetings to mother.”
“Greetings to aunt.”
Yue Mei nodded, accepting the greetings from her niece and nephew with an expressionless face, unlike her usual sweet smile. Bai Yu was not sure whether because her mother was still angry at her for losing to Bai Hua, or because of something else.
If the cause was her going to the border, Ouyang Feilong and Yue Nan helped explain to everyone while she was sick in bed already, so no one blamed her. They all accepted the courage of the Yue family’s blood in her vein.
People in the Yue family were not angry with her but only forbade her from endangering herself on her own in the future. However, her mother was different. She had left to return to Bai mansion that day, so Bai Yu could not be certain if she was angry or not.
“The reason I came here today...” Yue Mei spoke up in front of the Yue Family who was still gathered here after breakfast. “...Is the rumor that’s happening outside.”
Bai Yu sighed. So her mother was worried about this.
“You must go to apologize to the second consort with me today.”
“Mother, I refuse.”
“Bai Yu!” Her dark eyes calmly watched her mother who had suddenly shouted.
“I’ve taught you to have pride in your status as a noble, not to be arrogant and harass others with your rank!” Yue Mei said to her daughter in a voice that was cold as ice. The elder Furen patted her hand, trying to calm her down.
“I know that the second consort is a part of the royal family. Still, she was originally a daughter of royal doctor Mu, born from a concubine, so her rank is much lower than mine. Though she’s technically a consort, her marriage to Wangye has yet to be consummated, and so she is still one rank lower than I am. Even while knowing that, I did not cross the line and harass her with my status.”
“If you can truly separate yourself from your rank, then you should apologize to her. Put an end to those rumors.”
“Does mother believe the rumor?” Bai Yu looked at her mother with an unwavering gaze. She had already prepared herself to confront her mother today. Apart from herself, her reputation was most important to Yue Mei.
“You think I don’t know what you did that day?” Yue Mei had eyes and ears all over the capital. She would have a way to know even something that had happened in Rui Wang palace.
The mother’s gaze met her daughter’s. “I might not know how you came to possess his highness’s jade, but I at least know that you should not use it to harm others that way!”
“Does mother want me to stand still when others want to harm me?”
“Bai Yu!” Her mother said her name again.
It was taboo for a daughter to argue with her mother like this. But Bai Yu was not an obedient young lady of this age. Considering her age in her last life, she was almost older than her mother right now. It was impossible that she would let her mother take her to Rui Wang palace.
As for her grandfather, Yue Chen, said nothing of her behavior. Everyone in the Yue family knew that what Bai Yu was doing was the same thing Yue Mei once did as well. Stand firm and resolute. Believing in herself even when she might be seen as ungrateful. Many times that Yue Mei disagreed with her parents, she would stand her ground and argue with reasons like what Bai Yu was doing.
“It’s true that I used his highness’ jade and intruded into his palace. But I was in a hurry to save my brother. The second consort was acting coy and wasting my time, so I lost my patience. The rumor that I hurt her highness was true, that I accept.”
Even while being pressured by her mother, Bai Yu still calmly said the answer she had decided on. Her dark eyes swept past everyone in the room, all who had remained quiet without an intention to interrupt them. Bai Yu showed a faint smile as she firmly continued.
“The problem stemmed from me lashing out, but is it necessary that I have to be responsible for another person’s feelings? What about my feeling? Who will take responsibility for it?”
The reputation she had lost was the result of her action, not fate. Bai Yu could accept that consequence, but she could not take responsibility by apologizing to that woman. What about her, then? Who would apologize and compensate for her feeling that was hurt?
“If I have to apologize for hurting her, then shouldn’t she also apologize for hurting me and blocking my way when brother’s life was on the line?”
Yue Mei was silent. Her brows were pulled together as she listened to her daughter who, without her realizing, had grown from an obedient girl into a strong woman.
“If the act of hurting others can be erased away with a simple word of sorry, then can mother tell me how much an apology is worth when I’ve lost my only brother?”
Yue Mei closed her eyes like she was gathering her thoughts. Bai Yu took a deep breath before continuing to emphasize her meaning.
“If something worse happened to brother, would an apology satisfy mother?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, everyone fell silent. Yue Mei opened her eyes to look at her daughter, her gaze was serene unlike when she had first arrived here. “Then what will you do?”
“It is my fault, and the reputation I’ve lost is worth it. I don’t think that apologizing will benefit anything since we cannot easily bring back what is already lost...” Bai Yu smiled before she gently spoke. “Why not do the good to wash away the bad?”
“Aren’t you afraid of being an enemy to Rui Wang palace?” Yue Chen asked.
“Grandfather please rest assured. This is only a squabble among women. Wangye does not take it to heart.” From her conversation with him yesterday, he did not scold her at all.
“Heh.” Yue Nan chuckled. All eyes turned to look at the silver-haired man before they also broke into smiles as well. Now everyone had started to understand that Yue Nan knew something between her and Ouyang Feilong, otherwise she would not be so sure.
“So...” Bai Yu tried to maintain her calmness and not let her face redden at the laughter from the person who could see both past and future. “I will take responsibility through my actions and not words that mean nothing after the fact.”
She fixed her gaze at her mother, before kneeling down on the floor. Her back was straight, her voice loud and clear. “I know I’m ungrateful to mother, but I will never apologize to her. Mother, please forgive me.”
Then, she bowed her back to kowtow her mother for rebelling against her. Amidst the silence, smiles slowly appeared on the Yues’ faces, all of them felt a sense of pride, even though Bai Yu’s action was not something one should endorse.
It might be a stubborn reason.
She might be headstrong to a fault.
But the first miss of the Bai family had truly grown.
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