Chapter 2 - White Pear Blossoms
"Why isn't it raining yet?"
Bai Ge accompanied Cui Ti sitting under the pear tree basking in the sun. Hearing this, she grinned from ear to ear, "Miss, how can you be confused? It's such a nice day with sunny and bright weather. Why would you want it to rain?"
After laughing, her expression suddenly changed. She lifted her arm wanting to touch Cui Ti's forehead, but felt the move was not very proper. Her eyes showed sadness, "Miss, stop thinking about these random things."
She was certain a high fever had ruined Cui Ti's mind. Why else would she keep 'gazing' at that wall since yesterday? Could it be the miss didn't want to be a caged bird and wanted to smash her head to death for an early relief?
People scaring others may scare someone to death. Scaring oneself, Bai Ge became a shivering little dove, speaking in a low and careful voice, "Listen to me, Miss. A good death is not as good as living miserably. As long as you are alive, there is hope. If you are gone, those people in the north courtyard will be laughing in their dreams."
Cui Ti turned her head blankly towards her, "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
"I..."
Bai Ge touched her own nose. She thought she was speaking from the heart.
Don't be fooled by the Miss and the young ladies from the household being born from the same mother. To scrutinize, it would not be an overstatement to call them enemies. If the Miss was gone, not only would they be laughing, even Cui Dai would likely die from laughter.
Some people are blind in their eyes yet their hearts are not. Some people have perfect vision and intellect but cannot bear to speak the brutal truth.
She sighed having taken a mistress who was mistreated. Hypocritically, she slapped her own face, "Oh, I was just rambling nonsense. Miss, don't take it to heart."
"Where are the rabbits we raised? Go secretly set them free."
"Set them free?" Bai Ge watched the delicious roasted rabbits drifting away from her. Her eyes widened, "Why do you want to set them free?"
Because in a couple days, Cui Dai's people will come and abuse those rabbits to death.
Missing limbs and covered in blood, Cui Dai described vividly to her while ordering people to twist off the rabbits' heads, big and small, none escaped her vicious hands.
"Okay, okay, okay! Set them free, set them free!" Seeing Cui Ti's face turn pale with clenched fists, Bai Ge did not dare ask further. She got up and went to the rabbit cage.
Cui Ti's rigid back slowly relaxed as the pear blossoms fell in the spring breeze, falling on her slender shoulders.
Her thick hair like ink, her pale face without much color, the white gauze covering her eyes, instead highlighted her innate tranquility and gentleness.
"Miss, I'm back."
"Are they all set free?"
Bai Ge heavily nodded, "Mm!"
The more affirmative she sounded, the more dubious Cui Ti became, "Not one can be missing. They must all be set free."
"They're all set free, all set free. The rabbits hopped and jumped away happier than us!" She hid her hands behind her back, clutching a fat grey rabbit. Its companions had escaped while the grey rabbit struggled refusing to walk towards its death.
After a brief silence, Cui Ti lightly sighed, "Bai Ge, I cannot see with my eyes. You cannot lie to me."
This struck the softest spot in Bai Ge's heart. She held onto the rabbit coming before Cui Ti, her eyes as red as the rabbit's, "I didn't mean to deceive the Miss. Tomorrow, tomorrow is the Miss's 18th birthday. I kept this to celebrate your birthday feast. I can't set it free."
The 18th birthday huh.
Cui Ti came to a realization.
She had always known Bai Ge's loyalty. She knew Bai Ge not only took her as a mistress but compared to Cui Dai, Bai Ge was the sister who truly treated her as an older sister with respect.
"Over these years, I have been dragging you down."
"You didn't." Bai Ge firmly hugged the rabbit, fearing the other side would use a sob story to soften her heart. In any case, she had made up her mind. This rabbit must be sacrificed at the temple of her Miss's five viscera tomorrow!
The appeasing tactic didn't work. Cui Ti pursed her lips persevering, "Isn't there still rice left in the vat?"
The rice was specially delivered by Cui Dai yesterday.
Bai Ge was so angry she nearly cried, "We won't eat the rice she gave for the Miss's birthday! She came to humiliate us. Miss, don't suffer this grievance!"
Eating her rice was like conceding to her!
The smile on Cui Ti's lips faded slightly.
Worried she had said the wrong thing to sadden and distress her, Bai Ge was about to say some soft, consoling words when Cui Ti softly spoke, "The rice belongs to the Cui family. No matter how much I have fallen from favor, I still bear the Cui name. As Earl of Xining's eldest daughter eating a mouthful of the Earl of Xining's rice, what does it have to do with Cui Dai?
"She wants to humiliate me, but I will not think lowly of myself. She wants me dead, so I will live properly. Even if it's just to compete over a breath, I still need to fill my stomach first."
In its previous life, this rabbit had died a miserable death for her. In this life, she hoped it could become a happy, fat rabbit.
"Set it free."
Bai Ge was persuaded. She released her hands. The grey rabbit did not immediately scurry away. Instead, it rubbed around Cui Ti's skirt hem before turning its head, darting into the bushes and into a rabbit hole that seemed to have been burrowed unknowingly.
Cui Ti could not see this scene. Bai Ge was her eyes. She smiled, "The little bunny still knows gratitude."
"Mm. I'm hungry."
Bai Ge's lips twitched. She still felt heartbroken over losing a nest of rabbits.
"I'll go cook for the Miss now."
She looked at Cui Ti several times, sighing loudly, "The Miss is just too kind-hearted."
Which young lady from a rich family didn't have various delicacies laid out for her birthday banquet? Now look, no delicacies, the rabbit meat had also ran away with their legs.
Born from the same parents, Bai Ge felt injustice for her. How could the Miss's fate be so bitter?
She held back the tears welling up in her eyes and turned to prepare the meal.
The Miss was right. The rice belonged to the Cui family. As the eldest daughter, it was natural justice for the Miss to eat her own family's rice. It had nothing to do with Cui Dai!
On March 3rd, it was both Cui Ti's and Cui Dai's birthdays.
The north courtyard was lively and bustling. Earl of Xining and his wife grandly held a birthday banquet for their beloved daughter. Few remembered the blind young lady in the broken hut of the south courtyard.
Even if they unintentionally recalled her, it would be thought of as unworthy of mention.
A blind girl.
A freak considered inauspicious since birth by her parents.
Today, it was still a day worth celebrating for this same blind girl.
"Once the Miss passes today, you will become a young lady able to be proposed for marriage." Bai Ge wiped away a handful of tears, eyes red rimmed as she looked at her naturally beautiful mistress. "I wonder which gentleman will have such great fortune. If you ask me, the Miss's looks and figure are unparalleled in the world..."
Cui Ti sat there in a daze.
The air was humid with the smell of soil and fragrance of pear blossoms.
It had rained heavily in the second half of last night. She had been too excited to sleep well half the night. Closing her eyes, old memories floated up in her dreams. She feared it was only a dream and feared Pei Xuan would not come.
Bai Ge saw her as perfect in every way, but she knew among the well-born young masters in the great Western Capital, besides Pei Xuan, no one was willing to marry her and cherish her in their hearts.
No one who wouldn't humiliate or disdain her, and truly treat her as a young lady needing to be tenderly cared for.
She couldn't understand why Pei Xuan was willing to go against popular opinion to marry her when he didn't love her.
In her dream, she had been Pei Xuan's wife for three years. Pei Xuan didn't show affection very often. The most intimate time was when he came home drunk, held and touched her in a dizzy haze.
She was afraid he had mistaken her for someone else and carefully asked if it was her. He called her "wife", each "wife" made her breathing uneven and confused. In her chaotic state, she bit Pei Xuan's lower lip.
This bite woke him up.
The sober Pei Xuan had a different demeanor, gentle and restrained, the gentleman praised by all in Western Capital.
He helped dress her half-slipped clothes, fondly caressing the wrinkled fabric on her chest, "It's my fault, I scared you."
That was the closest Cui Ti had been to him.
Just one thought's difference caused her to miss the chance to repay him and bear him children.
Afterwards, Pei Xuan abstained from drinking alcohol. He only drank tea at home and touched no drops of alcohol outside.
He would still kiss and hold her, properly and appropriately, unlike the intimacy between ordinary couples. Yet she could not pick out anything improper about him other than him not consummating their marriage.
"People have one nose and two ears. Who is perfect?" Bai Ge was still counting off the Miss's many virtues on her hand.
Hearing this, Cui Ti suddenly understood a bit more. She had been obsessively attached. Pei Xuan was willing to pledge lifelong commitment to her and remain chaste. He didn't keep other women outside. She actually should feel satisfied. The most dazzling young master in Western Capital had become her husband.
One didn't necessarily need love to live on.
Or perhaps Pei Xuan was not a normal man. He didn't need someone to continue his family line for him. Or he had some hidden illness that prevented him from consummating.
Bai Ge of course did not know her casual sentence had led Cui Ti's thoughts to wander. She used chopsticks to pick up a white rice ball, "Miss, hurry and make a wish!"
At 18 years old, Cui Ti made an earnest request to the heavens:
I still wish to meet him again.
In the north courtyard, Cui Dai was enjoying the flattery from everyone as her natural right. She nearly showed displeasure on her face because her favorite spring pancakes were missing from the table.
In the south courtyard, Cui Ti took a bite of the rice ball with lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth. She smiled, "Delicious."
After simply celebrating her 18th birthday, she wanted to 'gaze' at that wall again. Bai Ge couldn't understand what was so special about that wall and felt completely puzzled as she helped adjust her position.
"Bai Bai, do I look nice today?"
Bai Ge laughed twice hearing this, "Nice, extremely nice. Miss must know true beauties still look beautiful wearing sacks."
She tried hard to praise Cui Ti's looks. Cui Ti raised her brow, "Alright, I know. No need to flatter more."
The spring breeze caressed her elegant brows and eyes, her water pink dress, her embroidered shoes had faded some five to six shades with the patterns no longer visible, the pear wood hairpin in her updo. She waited patiently, waited and waited until noon, until afternoon.
"Bai Bai."
"Yes, Miss?"
"Go spread a slightly bigger straw mat to the wall."
"Miss, we don't have extra big straw mats."
They were poor as church mice!
Cui Ti was silent briefly before laughing, "No matter. Go take the one on my bed."
Bai Ge didn't understand. She felt like the Miss had lost her mind but still went without saying a word.
After spreading the mat, she asked out of confusion, "Miss, why do you want to spread a mat here? It just rained. The ground is still wet. Won't the mud dirty the mat?"
"You're right."
Bai Ge waited to hear what she would say next, but after a good while, the Miss shut her mouth again.
"M'lord, m'lord, slow down. It rained last night so the ground is slippery!"
The young master in a spring shirt the color of pear blossoms strode vigorously, "It's even better it just rained. The air is fresh and it's perfect for going out to relax. With the exams over, you won't even let me have fun. Are you trying to suffocate me?"
As he spoke, the kite's string broke. "My kite!"
His brows furrowed.
“Good heavens, Miss! How did a kite drift in from outside?”
Cui Ti turned her head upon hearing this, “Do not speak. Take a few steps back.”
“Oh.”
Isn’t this strange?
The spring breeze is gentle and soft, with leaves twirling and gracefully dancing in the air.
Pei Xuan frowned thinking for a bit outside the wall. He gritted his teeth and rolled up his sleeves, starting to climb the tree.
Panting heavily, he finally made it to the top of the wall after much difficulty climbing the tree. A shout from the old servant behind made him shudder.
"Ah!"
Falling, he even thought this tumble would injure his tendons and bones preventing him from taking the palace exam.
Pei Xuan protected his waist as he climbed up, confirming his limbs were unharmed. Only then did he have the leisure to notice the straw mat spread neatly on the ground.
Strange. Who would randomly place a straw mat here?
He raised his head!