Chapter 2: The Mute Girl's Unspoken Words

Mother Xu’s face turned deathly pale with fury. That Lady Ye!

The Third Miss had been pushed into the water by the Fifth Miss and had nearly lost her life. Yet, as the mistress of the house, Lady Ye had merely sent a doctor over without ever showing her own face. And now, she was busy fretting with the culprit over whether they might face any fallout!

Seeming to sense Mother Xu’s seething hatred, Tantai Jing, the Third Miss, tightened her grip on Mother Xu’s arm. This touch brought Mother Xu back to her senses. Recalling the Third Miss’s behavior inside the room earlier, Mother Xu forcibly suppressed her emotions. Turning to Taohong, she said with feigned anxiety, “The Third Miss insisted on coming here despite her condition, and I had no choice but to follow her wishes!”

Taohong scanned the three of them. Mother Xu looked anxious, Suxin had swollen, red eyes, and the Third Miss appeared so frail and sickly she could barely stand. Surely, they couldn’t have heard anything!

Taohong lowered her voice, “The Mistress is currently reprimanding the Fifth Miss and has sent all of us servants away. Since the Third Miss has arrived, I will go and announce your presence immediately. We wouldn’t want the Third Miss to be scorched by this intense sun!”

As Taohong turned to enter the main hall, it was clear that Lady Ye and the Fifth Miss, Tantai Xuan, had already heard every word spoken under the veranda. Taohong’s entry was not to announce them, but to clear away the broken teacup Lady Ye had shattered.

Lady Ye glared bitterly at Tantai Xuan. It was fortunate that Tantai Jing’s life was tenacious; the doctor had predicted she might not survive the night, yet here she was, awake!

Tantai Xuan, who had been frantic moments ago, grew even more annoyed upon hearing that Tantai Jing had arrived. To think that Tantai Jing could actually get up to pay her respects—it made her feel as though she had worried for nothing, though she still felt a lingering sense of trepidation.

Lady Ye smoothed her skirts and adjusted the jade pendant at her waist until it sat perfectly straight. Seeing that Taohong had cleared away the porcelain shards, she said, “Invite the Third Miss in.”

As Taohong bowed and retreated, Lady Ye shot Tantai Xuan a warning look, her voice softening from its previous harshness. “Stop calling her a little wench at every turn. She is your Third Sister!”

Tantai Xuan snorted but remained silent, though her expression of dissatisfaction faded slightly. Lady Ye had secretly told her that her father was currently under review for his performance in office, and the inner courtyard could not afford any scandals. If their father learned that she had pushed Tantai Jing into the water and nearly killed her, kneeling in the ancestral hall would be the least of her worries.

Mother Xu and Suxin supported the frail Tantai Jing with aching hearts. In just three short years, even Lady Ye’s maids dared to disregard the Third Miss. The Third Miss’s fever had not even broken, yet Taohong had forced her to wait out in the scorching sun.

Upon entering the main hall, Tantai Jing bowed to Lady Ye but remained completely silent.

Lady Ye assumed Tantai Jing was harboring resentment, but she dared not probe further at this moment. Seeing the girl, who looked as if she might collapse at the slightest breeze, Lady Ye became even more conciliatory. If her husband were to return and see this, he might refuse to step foot in her courtyard for days.

“Why did you get up? I heard you were still running a fever,” Lady Ye said, feigning concern and anxiety. “Quick, bring a chair for the Third Miss!”

Tantai Xuan, however, was boiling with rage. Tantai Jing’s display reminded her of her own past. Because Tantai Jing was born of the primary wife, back when her own mother had only been a concubine, even Lady Ye had been required to pay her respects to Tantai Jing. Now that her own mother was the mistress of the Tantai household, why should she have to endure anyone’s attitude?

“Third Sister, it’s not that I want to lecture you, but even if you are ill, you cannot neglect the proper etiquette toward Mother. If word gets out, people will say our household lacks manners! Do not let your behavior implicate me and the Sixth Sister!” Tantai Xuan fixated on this trivial matter, refusing to let it go.

To her surprise, she caught a glimpse of a troubled look on Tantai Jing’s face. Tantai Xuan took a deep breath, feeling immensely satisfied. At last, Tantai Jing had met her match and was being disciplined by her!

Tantai Jing gestured lightly, and only then did Lady Ye and Tantai Xuan notice that Suye was following them. Suye was a maid Lady Ye had gifted to Tantai Jing, often relaying news from the Liru Courtyard back to Lady Ye.

At the gesture, Suye stepped forward, holding a fine wolf-hair brush in one hand and a stack of paper in the other. She offered them to Tantai Jing, showing little respect, but smiling at Lady Ye and Tantai Xuan. Suye thought that if Lady Ye and the Fifth Miss knew the truth of the Third Miss’s condition, they would surely laugh out loud.

Tantai Jing noticed Suye’s subtle behavior but pretended not to see. Taking the brush, she opened the lid of the tea Taohong had served, dipped the brush into the tea, and wrote on the small table in front of Lady Ye: “Mother, please forgive me. Jing’er has lost the ability to speak, which is why I did not offer my greetings.”

Lady Ye, who had been inwardly fuming at the waste of her fine tea, was stunned. She asked in astonishment, “What do you mean you cannot speak? Is your throat hoarse?”

Lady Ye was so shocked that she failed to conceal her delight in that instant. Tantai Jing lowered her head and offered a bitter smile. How foolish she had been in her previous life, failing to see Lady Ye’s true character and believing her to be a virtuous and kind mother!

Mother Xu stepped forward at the right moment and lamented, “Mistress, the Third Miss’s throat seems to have been burned by the fever. Ever since she woke up, she has been unable to speak. I had no choice but to have Suye carry paper and a pen for her.”

Tantai Xuan, lacking Lady Ye’s self-control, asked with undisguised glee, “Is it temporary, or will she never speak again?”

Tantai Jing had inherited her biological mother’s gift for a beautiful voice. When she spoke softly, it was like a gentle murmur, and when she raised her voice, it was like the song of an oriole; even her everyday speech was as clear and pleasant as a babbling spring.

Tantai Xuan felt this was the best news she had heard in a decade. Mother Xu choked back sobs and said, “I fear she may never recover! The doctor examined her earlier; there is nothing wrong with her throat, yet she cannot produce a sound. The doctor suspects the high fever damaged her brain, causing this muteness.”

Seeing the distress of Mother Xu and Suxin, Lady Ye felt that as the mistress of the house, it would not do to offer no words of comfort to the only daughter left behind by the former wife now that she had suddenly become a mute.

Suppressing her inner excitement, Lady Ye put on a grave and mournful expression. She took Tantai Jing’s hand and said, “At least your life was spared. You don’t know—the doctor said earlier that you might not survive until tomorrow, which frightened me terribly. That you are only left mute is a mercy from the heavens!”

Tantai Jing kept her head down, avoiding the hypocritical expressions on the faces of Lady Ye and Tantai Xuan. In her past life, it was Lady Ye who had ordered Suye to poison her on her wedding night, rendering her a mute. Now that she had returned from the dead, she had moved that timeline forward by three years. Lady Ye should be pleased, surely!

Inside the main hall, each person harbored their own secret thoughts when they heard Liulü’s voice ringing out from outside: “I pay my respects to Master!”

Lady Ye started in surprise, glancing at Tantai Jing. At this hour, the Master should have been at the government office. Why had he returned? Could it be that the Third Girl had sent someone to deliver the news to the office?