The Princess Wei Yang

Chapter 24: Destroyed Silk

As everyone happily left with their silks, Li Wei Yang stayed back. Every afternoon, she would stay back to brew tea for Lao furen.

Lao furen was really interested in her lifestyle before coming back to the Li’s estate and would always question her about it.

In a gentle voice, Li Wei Yang would retell Lao furen of the interesting stories she has encountered at the Li’s in Ping Cheng.

However, Lao furen would shake her head and said, “San yatou, you are not speaking the truth.”

Looking at Lao furen with a pair of clear eyes, Li Wei Yang finally said after a few minutes, “Lao furen, do you really want to hear the truth?”

Lao furen nodded. “I want to hear the truth.”

Li Wei Yang took a deep breath. Regarding some things, if a person really wants to know then they will eventually discover the truth. So there was no need to hide it.

“I stayed at the Li’s in Ping Cheng until I was seven years old. The Prime Minister’s estate still hasn’t sent anyone to pick me up so they immediately sent me to the Zhou family living in the village. The matron of the Zhou’s family was Liu shi. She was very harsh and would usually never let me eat. When I was younger, I didn’t understand things so I would steal food from the kitchen but she would find out and punish me.” Li Wei Yang pulled up her sleeves, revealing the scars on her wrists. “Right here, on my back, on my legs, all have scars.”

Shocked, Lao furen stared at Wei Yang, unable to believe it. “Did you tell her that your father is the Prime Minister?”

Li Wei Yang chuckled. She knew Lao furen wouldn’t believe her, but it was the truth. “I cried and told Liu shi that my father was a courtier in the Capital, but instead she would scoff at me. I stayed with the Zhous for six years. In the summer, it was hard to sleep because of mosquito bites. In the winter, the bedroom was like a glacier. The Zhou’s daughter thought of me as a playhorse. My hands and knees were scraped to the point of bleeding. My fingers too were filled with wounds because of sowing and heavy housechores. Even my feet are calloused.” Her voice wasn’t loud, there was no anguish in her tone—she didn’t even mention the times when she was almost beaten to death—and yet, her leveled tone hinted of pain, hardship and helplessness.

Lao furen and Luo mumu were both still in horror.

Lao furen instinctively glanced at Wei Yang’s small hands before slowly and carefully reached for Wei Yang’s hands. It was then that she noticed there were scars on the delicate hands. The scars were faint so she hadn’t noticed it until now when she took a closer look.

Luo mumu shook her head. All the xiaojies in the Prime Minister’s estate were born with silver spoons in their mouths. They lived in luxury and were protected from the harsh reality but San xiaojie had to live it. In her veins ran the Prime Minister’s blood but she was bullied by a lowly farmer’s wife.

Staring at Wei Yang, Lao furen felt pain in her chest. She could not imagine how a young, seven year old girl could’ve survived day-after-day living in that environment, could not imagine what it had done to her maturity.

Lao furen slowly spoke up, “Child, you have suffered greatly. I didn’t know how harsh they had been to you—”

Li Wei Yang smiled. Her dark eyes seemed to be reflecting Lao furen’s face. “No, I didn’t feel suffering from those things. The thing that pained me the most was when the festivals came. I would watch Li laoye and his family go out to celebrate. I had wanted my father there so I could be spoiled, wanted to admire the flowers with father, celebrate the Lantern festival together, but other people would yell and scold me. They would say I was an orphan with no parents.” Li Wei Yang didn’t cry, simply because there are certain things in this world that, even if you cry, you won’t be able to attain it. This logic, she has known since she was young.