Revenge? The Kind That Wipes Out a Family - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Afterward, the Concubine who had never fought for favor suddenly changed her ways.
When my father came to her room, she no longer played dumb and foolish to anger him into leaving.
She served him with soft words and gentle care, and my father began to visit more and more often.
He would often say to her, “I nearly forgot how, back then, you were unrivaled in both beauty and talent.”
At last, one day, while my father was off guard, she pressed a knife to his neck.
My father was the Chancellor of the realm, a man who had weathered countless storms.
He looked at the Concubine with cold eyes. “I know you resent me. But our Little Fifth has already been ruined by your upbringing. If she is sent into the palace, she will bring disaster upon the Xie Family.”
Terrified, I tugged at the Concubine. “Concubine, I don’t want to enter the palace either. Just let Third Sister go instead…”
The always gentle, smiling Concubine actually kicked me. “Get out of my way!”
I was scared out of my wits, clutching my head as I watched helplessly while the Concubine went mad.
“Xie! You knew perfectly well that Zhao Xiaohuan, that wretch, was afraid the truth would come out and poisoned my Little Fifth, yet you did nothing!”
My father looked at her indifferently, as if certain she could not stir up any real trouble.
“It’s not such a big matter. Little Fifth is fine, isn’t she?”
The Concubine ground her teeth until they clicked and sneered. “Don’t think I don’t know. You’ve let your daughters fight each other since childhood, all so that one day you can send them into the palace to vie for favor. A man like you is not fit to be a father.”
My father only said, “Bai Shuang, stop making a scene. Put the knife down. Don’t frighten the child.”
But the Concubine pressed the blade even tighter.
She leaned close to my father’s ear and said, “Chancellor Xie is pure-stream official; naturally, your hands are spotless. But over the years, how much silver have you moved through my maiden family? I have the accounts right here.”
My father’s eyes finally narrowed. “What, is your own reckless nonsense not enough? You would drag your maiden family down with you too?”
The Concubine laughed wildly. “They treated me as a tool and sent me to you in exchange for wealth and glory. Why should I spare them any thought?”
Blood had already appeared on my father’s noble neck.
At last, amid their standoff, my father gave in.
He promised the Concubine that he would send me to a Daoist temple to take vows.
The day I was sent away, heavy snow was still falling.
Like a madwoman, the Concubine beat every concubine in the household and everyone who had come to watch the spectacle, then snatched several little padded jackets from my noble sisters and stuffed them into my arms.
The people of the Chancellor’s Manor cursed her endlessly, spitting at her and calling her a madwoman.
Someone muttered, “Don’t bother arguing with her. She doesn’t have many days left to live anyway.”
She quietly gripped the carriage, a smile on her face.
“Little Fifth, this is the best fate the Concubine could win for you. The rest of the road, you must walk on your own.”
“From now on, you can read, write, and learn anything you want to learn!”