Chapter 4: Trumpet Creeper

That day was the death anniversary of Shaowei's mother.

Two years ago today, Feng Zhu died in Tianlang Zhai; this was her true death anniversary.

When Feng Zhu's corpse was brought back to the Capital by the Ling Family Army, the Feng Family outwardly claimed they had only recovered Feng Zhu's bones lost many years prior, burying them in the cenotaph previously prepared, and treated the day the bones were found as the "provisional" death anniversary.

Feng Xu placed great importance on sacrificing to his sister, and almost all members of the Feng Family were present.

Inside the Feng Family Tomb Garden, Shaowei was kneeling and bowing before her mother's grave when a servant hurried over and bowed to Feng Xu, who stood to the side, reporting: "Head of Household, Yan Xiangguo has personally come to pay respects..."

Feng Xu's expression turned serious: "I will go welcome him immediately."

As he spoke, his gaze fell for an instant on Shaowei, who had just stood up, then he instructed his wife: "Take the children onto the carriage to avoid him, lest they offend the Xiangguo."

Hou Lady Qiao agreed.

Shaowei wore a plain white skirt with a blue-green silk sash tied at her waist; she was not yet tall, and walking among a group of brothers and sisters, she did not attract attention, after all outsiders could not easily tell how many daughters the Feng Family had or their exact ages.

Shaowei, however, noticed that a gaze seemed to be searching specifically for her.

Shaowei subconsciously raised her eyes and turned her head, but her cousin Feng Xian stepped forward two steps, exactly blocking her gaze, and the boy's teasing, mocking voice sounded in her ear: "I once heard elders say that Yan Xiangguo originally sought to marry your aunt, but who would have thought your aunt's fortune was thin... However, speaking of which, if they had truly formed a marriage alliance with the Yan family back then, would there not have been no chance for you, little sister, to be born?"

Shaowei silently clenched her fingers in her sleeve and suppressed the impulse to strike him in the tomb garden.

Feng Xian noticed her expression and raised his eyebrows smugly.

And when they were about to leave the tomb garden and board the carriage, Feng Xian suddenly pointed at Shaowei and laughed out loud.

"Quick, look at her!" Feng Xian's voice sounded as if he had discovered some extremely amusing secret.

Shaowei frowned and swept her gaze away, only to see everyone's eyes gathering toward her; one female cousin stared with wide eyes in disbelief, another female cousin's face turned red, the servants bowed their heads one after another, and the old women's expressions were also strange.

Shaowei, not understanding, turned her head to look behind and below herself—what exactly were they laughing at?

"Young Lady!" Qiao Jiang, the maidservant following Shaowei, bent over in panic and raised her sleeve to block the part of Shaowei's dress stained red with blood behind her, lowering her voice anxiously and urging: "It is all because this slave was careless; please, Young Lady, quickly board the carriage with this slave to change clothes..."

Without her mother accompanying her, and with no elder woman beside her to teach her, Shaowei took a long time to understand from everyone's reactions what was happening.

This was her first menstruation.

Shaowei raised her eyes and looked at those faces mocking, ridiculing, and scorning her.

The two female cousins whispered to each other as they boarded the carriage, but Feng Xian's laughter grew increasingly unrestrained, laughing until tears came out.

"What are you laughing and making a fuss about? Get on the carriage quickly." Lady Qiao, who had boarded the carriage first, lifted the carriage curtain and scolded and urged her son, but the next moment her helpless expression suddenly turned terrified, and she let out a scream—

At the same time, Feng Xian's laughter stopped abruptly, turning into a cry of pain from falling to the ground.

Shaowei kicked him in the abdomen, then swiftly pressed him down onto the snow, one hand grabbing his robe collar, the other forming a fist and "Bang!" smashing into his face, one punch, two punches, without mercy.

"Stop her! Stop her!"

Shaowei had not appeared before people for some time, and moreover it was in the tomb garden; no one expected her to go mad and strike again under such circumstances—under everyone's eyes, her clothes stained with menstruation, too ashamed to hide!

A servant stepped forward to stop her, but Shaowei lifted her leg and swept him sideways, knocking him to the ground.

When another group of servants and maidservants surrounded her, they saw a dagger slide out of Shaowei's sleeve, which she held horizontally in her hand, pressing it against Feng Xian's neck; she turned her head and looked coldly at everyone: "Dare to meddle again, and I will add a new grave to this tomb garden today."

Lady Qiao, who stepped forward, had a face whiter than snow, her voice trembling: "You mad... you, you cannot do something foolish! Your mother is still watching you!"

Shaowei paid no attention to the shocked and terrified crowd; she held the dagger horizontally in one hand and pressed Feng Xian's head with the other, forcing his face to turn to one side to look at the snow dyed red by his blood, her tone carrying an icy curiosity: "Is bleeding a funny matter? Why aren't you laughing now?"

Feng Xian, with blood pouring from his nose and mouth, no longer dared to struggle; he shivered stiffly and said: "Shaowei little sister, I was just joking for a moment, I was wrong, wrong..."

Shaowei's disgusted gaze fell on his neck pressed by the dagger: "Feng Xian, if there is a next time, I will cut your throat."

Seeing Shaowei lift the hand holding the dagger, the threat removed, Feng Xian relaxed all over; just as he tried to sit up, he suddenly saw a flash of cold light before his eyes, and he subconsciously tilted his head to dodge—the cold light brushed past his cheek and flew by—

Terrified screams erupted around them.

"My ear... my ear!" Feng Xian screamed and wailed in terror.

Seeing that half of her son's left ear had been cut off alive, Lady Qiao was so shocked she nearly fainted.

When Shaowei first struck, Lady Qiao had already sent a servant to fetch Feng Xu; when he arrived, he saw Shaowei standing there holding a dagger, her plain dress splattered with many blood spots, her eyes stubborn, her whole body exuding an aggressiveness and ferocity like a wild beast in the mountain forest.

After silently exchanging a glance with Feng Xu, whose eyes were shocked and disappointed, Shaowei walked straight onto the carriage.

Feng Xian, still wailing and cursing without stop, was helped up by the servants; Lady Qiao cried to her husband: "She has struck before, but thinking she was young and ignorant and uneducated, I never bore to punish her, not even saying a harsh word... but she not only feels no gratitude, she goes further and further; Lord Hou did not see it just now, she wanted to kill Xian'er! She hides a knife on her person, she dares to kill!"

Shaowei sat in the carriage, wiping the blood off the dagger while listening to her eldest cousin Feng An, who had always been rather gentle and respectable, now nearly gnashing his teeth:

"A beast is a beast; a beast raised in the mountains, who knows when it will go mad and bite people!"

"Father, we truly cannot continue to indulge her like this, otherwise sooner or later she will cause a great disaster!"

"..."

Feng Xu closed his eyes and said: "Yan Xiangguo is still in the garden; do not make a disturbance anymore. Everyone return home first; I will properly handle this matter myself."

That Twelfth Month, Shaowei moved out of the Lu Hou Mansion to live at the Feng Family Estate outside Chang'an City.

Her uncle said this was also for her consideration, to avoid further conflicts with her brothers and sisters, and sighed as he told her it was not too late to go after the New Year Festival—but Shaowei did not linger and set out that very day.

For four consecutive New Year Festivals after that, Shaowei spent them all alone at the estate.

Tianhe Year 18, early summer arrived.

In the back courtyard of the estate, trumpet creepers climbing the entire earthen wall bloomed in full splendor, their colors brilliant and fiery like burning flames; a sultry wind blew, and several flowers, bloomed to the point of withering and curling, fell beneath the wall's roots.

Inside the house with doors and windows tightly closed, Shaowei also curled up on the bed; her snow-white inner garment was soaked with cold sweat, like a frost flower about to melt.

Zhan Zhan flew around inside the house, anxiously guarding Shaowei, losing several feathers in its flapping.

Shaowei's tightly closed eyes twitched slightly, as if she had fallen into a nightmare.

In the dream, she returned to Tianlang Zhai again; a sharp small knife cut across the girl's tender arm again and again, fresh blood flowed out again and again; the girl would initially struggle desperately, for she had been very good at risking everything to fight others since she was small, and no matter how she was beaten she would not submit—but that man threatened her with her mother.

There were rumors among the people that the Ren Emperor widely sought alchemists, desiring the art of longevity.

The matters sought by the emperor in the palace were also deeply believed by the bandit chief in Tianlang Zhai; there was a shaman in the zhai who, upon first seeing three-year-old Shaowei, showed astonishment, and after asking about Shaowei's Eight Characters of Birth, even plainly stated her fate was extraordinary and her value immeasurable.

Qin Fu did not care what fortune this cheap daughter of his might have in the future; what he cared about was whether this so-called unique fate could be of any benefit to him.

At that time, Qin Fu had been ill for a month without recovering; the shaman suggested using Shaowei's blood to make medicine and refine pills; after Qin Fu took the medicine, he actually improved, and afterward he began taking this pill every month, which meant Shaowei had her arm cut for bloodletting every month.

A child's body could not bear it, so the shaman fed Shaowei pills to forcibly strengthen her constitution; Qin Fu, in order to "raise well" this daughter, was also willing to spend lavishly, forcing her to practice martial arts and eat meat every day.

Shaowei grew up like this; her body seemed surprisingly strong and healthy on the outside, but inside chronic illnesses had already accumulated.

Starting from age ten, she would fall ill after every monthly bloodletting; each time it struck, the bones throughout her body felt as if they were shattering inch by inch, and her blood seemed to have entirely congealed into frost.

After leaving Tianlang Zhai, even though she was no longer subjected to bloodletting, this ailment still followed Shaowei, and its symptoms worsened with each passing year; the duration of each episode also slowly deteriorated and lengthened from one time unit.

Shaowei was unwilling to expose her weakness; no one in the Feng Family knew she suffered from such a strange illness.

This spring, when the illness struck again, Shaowei was unconscious for a full day and night; even though she had said beforehand that no one was permitted to approach the Inner Chamber, she was still discovered by the maid Qiao Jiang, who had served Shaowei for nearly six years; Qiao Jiang promised through tears that she would absolutely not inform anyone of this matter.

But Qiao Jiang broke her word.

On this early summer evening, when Shaowei fell ill, Feng Xian, reeking of wine, kicked open the door and burst into Shaowei's room.

Shaowei, dazed and heavy-headed, tried to open her eyes, only to see a blurred figure approach; his voice was also blurred like a shadow, but his hatred was exceptionally clear: "That ever cold and aloof Yan Xiangguo learned of your identity and actually intends to have his adopted son marry you into the Xiang residence..."

"What a pity, a cursed spawn is a cursed spawn after all; a lowly fate from birth cannot bear such fortune!" Feng Xian's hatred turned into a venting laugh: "Looks like you truly have only a few days left to live; you won't become the Xiang residence young master's bride, hahaha..."

Feng Xian married a wife two years ago; last year his wife bore him a son but he was missing two fingers compared to normal people, this was regarded as an ominous sign, and combined with the many misfortunes in recent years, Lady Qiao invited an "expert" to drive away evil; the expert stated directly that Feng Xian's fate was ruined because his missing left ear damaged his physiognomy.

Feng Xian resented Shaowei all the more.

At this moment, seeing that usually ferocious girl who always bared fangs and brandished claws curled up trembling on the bed, her skirt nearly soaked through, a surging desire for revenge ignited in Feng Xian's drunken eyes.

Good morning, thank you everyone for the comments! Haven't written a long work in half a year, so glad old friends are still willing to come read~ The story isn't clear yet, please have a bit more patience, hope everyone will slowly come to like this story too.

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(Chapter End)