"I'm not trying to drive you away. You've served me for many years, and granting you your freedom is something I've long planned to do. It's a testament to the bond we've shared as master and servants,"
Cui Lingyao forced a faint smile, reassuring them, "If you want to stay and serve me, it makes no difference whether you have your indenture contracts or not."
What an incredible show of respect.
Xia Zhi was deeply moved. She accepted her indenture contract, knelt, and kowtowed in thanks.
"Rise," Cui Lingyao said, raising her hand slightly and rubbing her temples wearily. "I'm a bit tired and want to rest. I'll be skipping breakfast."
"Yes."
'The commotion from the bedchamber last night went on for so long. Her mistress probably didn't sleep a wink.'
'She really does need a good rest.'
Hearing this, Xia Zhi was about to withdraw, but a thought occurred to her, and she asked for instructions, "If Consort Li comes to pay her respects, should I announce her?"
"She won't come," Cui Lingyao said, already lying back down, her voice muffled. "If she does, just send her away. Tell her she doesn't need to come pay respects in the future, either."
She was utterly exhausted and had no energy to play backstabbing games with other women.
She rested until well past noon, when a staticky buzz sounded in her mind.
The system was waking up.
Xia Zhi came in to attend to her and reported in a low voice, "Consort Li came this morning. This servant told her you had instructed her to go back, but she refused to accept it. She thought you were giving her the cold shoulder and stood under the eaves, face pale with anger, for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn before finally leaving."
Cui Lingyao, on the verge of returning home, was preoccupied with figuring out how to die. She paid her no mind.
Xia Zhi glanced at her mistress's expression, then suddenly leaned in closer and said with a smile, "The Prince sent someone back at noon to ask if you were awake. The messenger said he would be back early today to accompany you."
With the concubine entering the household yesterday, all the servants attending to her had been worried sick about their mistress.
But now, seeing that the Prince had first skipped the bridal chamber and now seemed intent on mending his relationship with his wife and restoring their former affection...
...there was nothing that could make them happier.
But Cui Lingyao was startled by the news. "Coming back early?"
'This won't do. It's already afternoon. If Xie Jinbai comes back early, how am I supposed to die?'
With that, she gave an urgent order: "Prepare a bath. I wish to bathe."
'I want to go home clean.'
She bathed, changed her clothes, and put her hair up in a simple style. Her entire appearance was plain and unadorned; aside from a single jade hairpin, she wore no jewelry.
Cui Lingyao began to ponder how she should die.
'Getting poison at such short notice is impossible. Besides, the Prince Mansion is heavily guarded. If Xie Jinbai's men discovered it, it would only lead to unnecessary complications.'
'Hanging? My tongue would stick way out—it's ugly, not to mention I could easily be rescued, and all my efforts would be for naught.'
'Slitting my wrists? Watching the blood drain out takes too long. I could easily be saved then, too.'
'Setting myself on fire?'
'…Forget it.'
'Being burned alive would be too agonizing.'
'And what if a loyal servant pulled me out? I wouldn't be dead, but I'd be covered in burns.'
'And it would be a shame to burn down such a nice courtyard.'
'So, drowning myself in the lake?'
'In this cold, I'd probably freeze to death soon after jumping in. That would be quick.'
'It's just…'
Cui Lingyao turned to Dongzhi, who was waiting on her during her meal, and asked, "After two days of heavy snow, has the Lotus Pond in the back garden frozen over?"
Dongzhi was taken aback. "This servant does not know."
They were high-ranking maids who served by their mistress's side. On a snowy day like this, they wouldn't go outside unless necessary.
Cui Lingyao put down her chopsticks and stood up. "Let's go and see."
'If the lake isn't frozen, I'll jump in.'
'If it is frozen, I'll come back and slit my throat. Clean and simple.'
'I'll use the dagger Xie Jinbai gave me.'
'A single slice to the throat.'
'No matter what, I have to die.'
...
In the dead of winter, the world was a vast expanse of white, covered in ice and snow.
Cui Lingyao wrapped herself in a thick fox-fur cloak, took a hand warmer, and brought only Xia Zhi and Dongzhi with her.
The trio of mistress and servants made their way toward the Lotus Pond in the back garden.
Xia Zhi and Dongzhi couldn't for the life of them understand.
The Lotus Pond was a sight to be enjoyed in the summer. Now, in winter, the lotuses had long since withered. What could possibly be worth their mistress making a special trip just to see if it had frozen?
Even if she wanted to admire the snow, she should have at least let them prepare a charcoal stove and hot tea to keep warm.
Cui Lingyao had no time for such concerns.
The system in her mind had just fully awakened.
It confirmed with her again: [Host, are you sure you want to go back?]
Cui Lingyao didn't break her stride, answering with her thoughts, 'I'm sure.'
[Understood. The energy required to send you back has been gathered. You may choose a method of death to depart this world.]
By the time she heard this, Cui Lingyao had already reached the edge of the Lotus Pond.
The pond, so beautiful in the summer, was now frozen.
The thickness was uncertain, but it was frozen solid.
Cui Lingyao was a little disappointed to have made the trip for nothing, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. Her heart set on returning home, she unhesitatingly prepared to turn back and slit her throat.
'Dying by my own hand will hurt a bit, but to get home, I can't worry about that.'
'The gushing blood will definitely be terrifying, and the room will be a mess to clean up.'
'It'll be hard on the servants.'
As these random thoughts ran through her head, she turned, and out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Li Wanrong's figure emerge from a corner a few meters away.
The other party had spotted her as well.
Her expression shifted slightly before she called out in a shrill voice, "So Sister is here as well."
Compared to Cui Lingyao, who had only brought two maids, Li Wanrong had a much larger entourage.
There were over a dozen maids and old women in total. Some carried a charcoal stove, others held brushes and ink, a teapot, and cups.
It looked as though she had come prepared to sip tea and admire the snow, and perhaps even paint if the mood struck.
Cui Lingyao vaguely recalled that Li Wanrong's skill in painting was considered exceptional among the noble ladies of the Capital City.
In a few short steps, she was standing before Cui Lingyao.
Having been snubbed on her wedding night, how could Li Wanrong be happy? Now, looking at the culprit, even the smile on her lips was tinged with coldness.
"This morning, I went to pay my respects to you, Sister, only to be turned away at the door. I imagine you were too exhausted from yesterday to get up. How is it you still have the strength to come strolling here?"
This was an accusation that she was not a virtuous and generous wife, and that she was deliberately trying to put the new concubine in her place.
Eager to get home, Cui Lingyao had no time to trade barbs with her. Hearing her words, she gave a perfunctory nod. "I'll head back now."
The proper mistress of the house, upon meeting a concubine in her own courtyard, had a first reaction of wanting to flee.
The expressions of Li Wanrong's maids and old women shifted.
They clearly hadn't expected that the proper daughter of a Marquis Mansion, who had been managing the Prince Mansion for three years, would be such a pushover.
Cui Lingyao had no idea what they were thinking. Having said her piece, she turned to leave.
"Hold it!"
Li Wanrong sneered. "On my, your little sister's, wedding day, you were capable of using lowly tricks to vie for favor. Why are you putting on such a timid and cautious act now?"
Her words were dripping with sarcasm, but the woman in front of her acted as if she hadn't heard a thing, not even pausing in her steps.
She was being completely ignored.
Li Wanrong, who had spent her wedding night alone and been given the cold shoulder that morning, was now being ignored once again. Her face turned ashen as she ordered her attendants, "Stop her!"