Volume One, Chapter Two: The Truth of That Year

Lin Yanluo stepped slowly out from within the gates of the Marquis’s residence, her sumptuous gown fluttering gently in the breeze. The golden bracelet on her wrist gleamed brilliantly under the sunlight.

She came to a halt, her gaze sweeping over Lin Chuyao with a look of utter contempt etched between her brows.

Years had passed since they last met, and Lin Yanluo had become even more beautiful. Her skin was smooth and flawless.

“Do you still have the nerve to come back?” she spoke coldly, her voice slicing through the air like an icy blade, laced with scorn. “You made a catastrophic mistake, nearly dragging down the entire Marquis’s household, and now you show up looking half-dead? It’s truly disgusting!”

Lin Chuyao stood quietly in place, her frail form seeming as if a mere gust of wind could topple her. Her eyes, shadowed beneath the curtain, fixed coldly on Lin Yanluo, silent yet radiating a chilling menace that unsettled the heart.

She said nothing, but the hand hidden in her sleeve slowly clenched into a fist, nails digging into her palm, the pain pulling her back to a bitter winter day five years ago.

That day, snow fell heavily, blanketing the courtyard in silver-white. She knelt in the snow while Lin Yanluo trembled behind her. Liu Xishuang sat solemnly inside the hall, her brows furrowed and eyes dark with gloom.

“Chuyao,” Liu Xishuang’s voice carried an unyielding authority, “Today, Princess Pingyang fell into the water. If no one takes responsibility, no one in the Marquis’s household will find peace. You are the elder sister; isn’t it right for you to bear some of the burden for your younger sister?”

Lin Chuyao looked up, disbelief flooding her eyes. “Mother, it was clearly Yanluo—”

Before she could finish, Lin Yanluo had thrown herself beside Liu Xishuang, clutching her sleeve tightly, eyes full of fear. “Mother, I truly didn’t mean it! If the princess knew the truth, she would never forgive us! Sister is the most sensible; she will surely help me, won’t she?”

Lin Chuyao froze, looking into Lin Yanluo’s tearful eyes and then at Liu Xishuang’s resolute gaze, a cold emptiness spreading through her heart.

“Chuyao, Yanluo is young and naive. Consider this a way to atone for her sins. I will remember your kindness,” Liu Xishuang’s tone softened, sounding both like comfort and command.

“But…” Lin Chuyao instinctively wanted to protest, yet upon seeing Lin Yanluo cowering behind their mother, she swallowed her words whole.

“Very well.” She closed her eyes, her voice barely a whisper, as if all her strength had been drained.

“Over these years, if it weren’t for Father and Mother’s desperate pleas, Princess Pingyang would have already condemned you to death! And yet you—ungrateful and shameless—dare to return and embarrass Mother!” Lin Yanluo’s sharp voice dragged Lin Chuyao back to the present.

“How much disgrace has the Marquis’s household borne because of you? Aren’t you ashamed to come back?” Her tone was tinged with a cruel satisfaction, as if Lin Chuyao’s silence was a surrender.

Lin Chuyao slowly raised her head, a cold smile curling at the corner of her lips, her voice icy as frost. “Ashamed? Surely my sister hasn’t forgotten the truth from back then.”

Lin Yanluo’s smile froze, panic flickering in her eyes.

---

Five years ago, despite being pushed to the brink of despair, Lin Chuyao was still gentle enough to inspire comfort.

She never defied others, much less exposed their faults publicly, silently enduring every humiliation. After all, she was the eldest daughter of the Marquis’s household—and Lin Yanluo’s own sister.

But now, standing before her, Lin Chuyao radiated a strange chill that made Lin Yanluo instinctively take a step back.

“Enough, Yanluo!” Liu Xishuang hastily interrupted.

“Your sister has just returned; this quarrelling is unbecoming,” Liu Xishuang scolded softly, though her tone lacked any real authority.

Reluctantly, Lin Yanluo stepped aside, and Liu Xishuang reached out again to grasp Lin Chuyao’s hand.

A tender smile blossomed on her face. “Chuyao, I know you have suffered much these years. Seeing you so thin pains me deeply. Rest assured, tell me if you need anything. Don’t keep your distance from us.”

Lin Chuyao gently withdrew her hand, replying coldly, “Mother is too polite. I lack nothing.”

Liu Xishuang’s smile faltered briefly before returning to normal. “The past is behind us. You are the elder sister; it’s only right to share some of the burden for your sister.”

Lin Chuyao lifted her gaze, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Right? Mother, do you forget that you used the very same word when you sent me to Princess Pingyang five years ago?”

Liu Xishuang’s eyes flickered, but she quickly regained composure. “Chuyao, at that time, I had no choice—”

Lin Yanluo sneered, unable to resist cutting in. “If you were so unwilling, you should have refused then! Since you accepted it yourself, don’t bring it up now to make a fuss.”

She always did this—relying on her status as the youngest to let even the gravest mistakes pass lightly.

Lin Chuyao raised her head, eyes cold and mocking. “You speak with such confidence now. Why didn’t you have this courage five years ago to reveal the truth?”

---

“You claimed it was a dispute with Princess Pingyang, that you accidentally pushed her into the water?”

Lin Yanluo’s face suddenly drained of color, her eyes flickering nervously as she forced out trembling words. “So what? I didn’t make you admit it—you confessed willingly. And now you want to use that against me? Dream on!”

Lin Chuyao laughed coldly, her voice growing sharper. “But I clearly tried to speak up, and each of you blocked my mouth.”

“You knew well that Princess Pingyang’s harsh punishment was borne of jealousy over my engagement to Fang Xiuran. If you had confessed, you wouldn’t have suffered such severe consequences!”

With that, she slowly removed the veil, revealing a face marred by scars. The sunlight cast a cruel light upon the tangled wounds, making them all the more striking.

Lin Yanluo’s face went pale, her gaze darting anxiously, her entire being shrinking under the weight of truth.

Still, she stubbornly persisted, “It wasn’t me who forced you. Since you accepted this, you should see it through. Now you turn around and bite back? Isn’t that laughable?”

A faint trace of panic flickered across Liu Xishuang’s face, but she quickly masked it with calm.

She sighed softly, her eyes complex with reluctant pity. “Chuyao, this is all in the past. Why cling to it? Rest assured, I will make it up to you properly in the future.”

Hearing this, Lin Chuyao curled her lips into a mocking smile, slowly replacing the veil. Her gaze settled on the lavish hall adorned with gold and jade, her eyes colder than ever.

“Make it up? Sending me to be a medicinal slave, ignoring me for five years—that’s your idea of compensation?” Her quiet laugh was laced with despair.

Liu Xishuang was at a loss for words, suppressing her impatience to speak gently, “Chuyao, you were wronged. Thankfully, you’ve returned. Let’s leave the past behind, shall we?”

Lin Chuyao remained silent. If she hadn’t come back five years ago, she would have died in the cold depths of the Xuan Medicine Valley. Her return was but an empty shell.

“Your old chambers have been kept vacant, waiting for your return. Perhaps you should rest now.”

Lin Chuyao gave no reply, turning away from the hall with a back that exuded bone-deep estrangement.