Chapter 100

100 Fear not, sister Part I

Bai He’s condition was kept a secret. The news of the lieutenant-general being comatose would certainly affect the soldier’s morale. Those in the Yue family mansion perfectly maintained their calmness.

As for Bai Han and Yue Mei, they left quietly, appearing normal even though their hearts felt as if they were torn apart. Yue Mei was worried sick. She returned to Bai mansion with a pale face and red-rimmed eyes, her husband holding her hand beside her and a secret weighing heavy over them both.

The first miss of the Bai family, however, did not return with her parents. Bai Yu stayed at Bai He’s bedside and cried almost the entire night. She did not eat. No one could deduce anything from her impassive eyes. She did not leave her sleeping brother for two days and nights.

Her tears never stopped. It was as if compensation, the only thing that she could do for Bai He.

On the third day, Bai Yu fainted and had a fever for over three days. All without realizing that outside of Yue mansion, rumors about her had spread over the capital.

‘The first miss of Bai family is a jealous and violent woman. She dared to hurt even her highness, not fearing the punishment.’ The fate that Bai Yu had been trying to avoid seemed to force everything back onto its original course yet again.

“Her highness?” Her brows furrowed. A frown appeared on the face of the sick person who had just recovered. “Which her highness did I offend without fearing punishment?”

The only ‘her highness’ she conflicted with was Taizi Fei. And Bai Yu was almost certain that the new concubine in Taizi’s palace would not spill a word of her name, not while she was enjoying her new position.

“I don’t know, miss. This rumor was heard several days ago. People only say her highness, but no one mentions a title.”

.....

The corner of her mouth curved up. Oh, now that she thought about it, she had gone to one palace in these past few days...It seemed that second consort wanted to get back at her, but feared that she would be ridiculed for letting others trample over her in her own palace, so she intentionally omitted her title when spreading the word.

“What should we do? Miss’s reputation...”

“There’s no need to do anything,” Bai Yu flatly said.

“But the rumor-”

“That rumor is partially true.” Xiao Xi and Xiao Chang’s eyes instantly widened.

“It was unintentional, but I did hurt her. Other parts of the rumor are all false. But let them talk, you just think of it as compensation for me slapping her.”

“S...slap...”

Her phoenix eyes glanced at the two maids. “You don’t believe me?”

Xiao Chang and Xiao Xi promptly shook their heads. “Everyone knows that miss is the number one beauty, a fine young lady who cannot kill even a mouse. How can miss have the strength to slap other people?!”

Xiao Xi spoke. If it was some time before this, she might agree, but now she had practiced martial arts. Xiao Xi who was used to her acting like a sheltered lady must have forgotten about that fact while Bai Yu was sick in bed. Bai Yu turned to Xiao Chang, who had been looking at her. “Of course, everyone knows that.”

The maid seemed to understand the meaning in her words. She handed Bai Yu a cup of medicine, then respectfully asked her for permission. “Xiao Xi and I would like to ask for Miss’s permission to go out to the market.”

Bai Yu smiled. “Don’t dawdle. Cover yourself up, and don’t stay in the sun for too long.” After telling her with words full of implications, she drank all of the medicine in one gulp. Fatigue had accumulated in her body ever since she had gone to the border. Furthermore, she also stayed by her brother’s side for two full days without eating or drinking.

All the while that she was holding her brother’s hand, Bai Yu could only cry and blame herself. But now that she had fallen ill, her thoughts changed. She realized that if she let something happen to her, Bai He would not be able to meet her when he woke up. And so, she decided to take care of her health to be able to stay by her brother’s side longer. Bai Yu had overcome everything fate had thrown at her already.

Now the matter concerned Bai He, but she would surely overcome it like many times before! Her future will have her brother beside her like in the past.

This morning Xiao Xi told her the rumor. In this time and age, reputation was of utmost importance to young ladies who had yet to marry. But it was not for Bai Yu, who had been in the entertainment industry for so long that she no longer cared about what tabloids had written about her.

The rumor that she was jealous was not true. The only truth was her hurting a royalty.

Though she had avoided tainting her reputation from when she tried to frame Bai Hua for poisoning her in the palace, she still ended up having the same fate from unintentionally hitting that second consort.

Yue Nan had told her ‘You cannot always blame the fate destined for you. Sometimes, it is your own actions that dictate your fate’.

Now Bai Yu understood his words. He not only saw her past, but her future that was changing as well. Her biaoge was truly the three-eyed seer revered by the Da Chu people.

Because she had acted on her emotion and lashed out that time, she could only blame herself for destroying her own reputation. And so, Bai Yu endured and accepted it for these past few days. Right now, what she cared about was her health and her brother, not her reputation that was tainted by someone else’s words. It was partly because the rumor was a half-truth, and partly because she paid no mind to it. The silver lining was that the rumor might have made Ouyang Mingxian change his mind and no longer want a ‘jealous and violent’ woman in his palace.

She felt slightly guilty for that second consort. Back then, her patience was worn thin by her unstable emotion and provocation from the consort, and so she threw out her hand in response to being pulled back, forgetting that her hand was gripping the black jade tight. Still, considering that the consort had provoked her first and later released a rumor to destroy her reputation, Bai Yu considered them even.

During the past seven days that her brother was asleep, Bai Yu lost her appetite because of stress. She had asked her grandfather to cancel all her training for the time being so that she could dedicate her time to taking care of Bai He, who was still sleeping in the Meihua building.

After she had recovered, Bai Yu ordered Xiao Xi to bring her a mattress for her to sleep on the floor beside the bed. There were objections, but she did not listen to anyone. The first miss’s stubbornness that had seemed to disappear now returned, and so others could only comply with her wish.

Days passed and rumors of Bai Yu’s behavior increased, each worse than the one before. Some said she would throw tantrums and cause destruction when things did not go her way. Some said she was so arrogant that she disrespected Taizi Fei. Some even said she once hurt the fourth princess in a fit of rage after the princes had interfered with her marriage to Qin Wang.

However, amidst the negative rumors, some argued that a sheltered young lady like her would not have the strength to physically harm others. And now Miss Bai was disturbed by the gossip so much that she fell ill. Various doctors came to visit Yue mansion, and when asked, they all said that they went to treat Bai Yu. It was impossible for such a frail woman to be so violent.