Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When she looked at the face in the mirror, she couldn’t hold herself back anymore and burst into tears. The left half of her face was covered in lines that looked like mountain contours, and her entire face was a dark green color. She looked like a demon and it was terrifying.
For an eight-year-old child, this was a blow that was difficult to accept. After crying for a long time, her emotions slowly began to stabilize. “If I look like this now, will Brother Prince still be willing to see me?”
Feng Qingling had returned to her own courtyard and was in an excellent mood. She wanted to share this happiness with her mother and brother right away. She told them everything she had just seen and smiled brilliantly as she recounted it all. “Mother! You have no idea how ugly Feng Qingcheng is right now! She’s even more frightening than a ghost! HAHA! I’m so happy! I’ll see how she can fight with me for the prince!”
Li Xuerou’s expression was indulgent as she said, “Alright now, alright now. It’s good that you’re happy, but the most important thing now is to make sure you get even closer to the prince. Without that little sl*t fighting with you, you can work hard on making sure the position as his wife becomes yours.”
Then she looked towards Feng Qingyan and said, “Yan’er, how’s your relationship with the prince so far? Has the prince started to regard you highly yet?”
Feng Qingyan smiled gently at Li Xuerou and said, “It’s gone pretty well so far. I believe I will be able to gain his complete trust in no time.”
“That’s good. Remember to put in a good word for your younger sister in front of the prince. If you can plant the idea of calling off his engagement to that little sl*t, that would be best. She and her sl*tty mother both have that sort of foxy and bewitching face, but now her face is as good as gone, so I don’t think there’s anything left to attract the prince to her.”
Feng Qingyan’s expression was filled with disdain. “Only someone like her would dream of trying to fight with Ling’er for the position as the prince’s wife. She’s just a good-for-nothing, so how could the prince possibly really make her his wife? Now that her face is disfigured, he definitely won’t want her anymore. Ling’er is both beautiful and talented, and our father is the head of the Feng clan now. So, of course, only Ling’er is worthy of the prince. Mother, don’t worry about it.”
Feng Qingling smiled smugly after hearing all this praise.
Three days later, Feng Qingcheng had slowly begun to accept reality and sat all by herself in the courtyard. She had thought of going out as well.
However, she realized that the door was locked from the outside, and there was no way she could open it. The only thing she could do every day was either rest or sit around and daydream. Now and then, someone would come with food, but the food was as bland as water, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Just as she went into a daze, the door to the courtyard opened. She thought it was a servant bringing food to her. She turned around and froze on the spot. It was actually the prince!
She was so shocked that it took her several seconds before she called out, “Brother Prince!”
The prince was shocked by what he saw as well and had barely snapped out of his fright when Feng Qingling noticed what happened. Her lips curled up slightly, and then she purposely pretended to sound terribly shocked as she exclaimed, “Your Highness, what’s the matter? That’s Qingcheng over there. She has contracted a terrible disease, and the doctor says it’s very hard to treat. And her face… has now become like this.”
The prince snapped out of his shock after hearing Feng Qingling’s words, and he sorted his emotions out. He looked at the girl in front of him, but he no longer looked warm and friendly. He now carried a faint coldness and aloofness. “I heard that you had fallen ill recently, and so I thought I should come and visit you. Since I’ve already seen you, then I shouldn’t stay for too long. Qingcheng, have a good rest.”
Feng Qingcheng’s heart immediately panicked when she heard what the prince said. “Brother Prince, you’ve just come, so why are you leaving? Is it because my face has frightened you?” Her voice was anxious and upset at the same time. Her phoenix-shaped eyes sparkled brightly as she looked hard at the prince.
If this expression had been on that fair and exquisite little face she used to have, the prince would have thought she looked beautiful. But now that this expression was on her demon-like face, it seemed… somewhat creepy.
The prince couldn’t stand it, and he tried to keep a straight face, but he really couldn’t continue looking at her face anymore. He didn’t bother with explaining anything nor consoling her and just left her with his cold last words. “How dare you question what I do? Besides, since you do know that this face of yours is frightening, then you should just rest well and not run around like this!” He flicked his large sleeves and walked out again, not bothering with Feng Qingcheng anymore.
Feng Qingling didn’t follow after him immediately. Instead, she looked at the stunned Feng Qingcheng and scoffed contemptuously, “My dear little sister… I didn’t want to say this, but seriously, now that you look like this, how could you still speak so boldly to the His Highness? Hoho. You’re no longer the Feng Qingcheng you used to be! Just stay here and recover from your illness!” With that, she quickly ran after the prince.
After hearing the prince’s heartless words and Feng Qingling’s sarcastic ones, she started to understand what was going on. “So, Brother Prince really had a change of heart, and my face now makes him like me even less than before.”
For the next four years, she lived by herself in that miserable and dilapidated place.
During those four years, she had been completely cut off from the world. Nobody spoke to her, and nobody came to visit her. It was as if she had been forgotten by everyone.
Even Feng Yiran never came by after Feng Qiming had sent him to a major sect to train, and no news was even brought to her. This situation made her feel that something was amiss, and sometimes she would worriedly say to herself, “Elder Brother has gone away for so long. Why isn’t there any news from him? Has something held him back?”
But nobody answered her, and she couldn’t get anyone to help her find anything out, either.
Just as she thought her life would just continue like this forever, one day, a person who had not come to see her in four whole years appeared.
The half-broken door of the small yard was pushed open, and a lady, standing at around five feet two inches in a pale green long dress with a beautiful face, sharp features, and a good figure, came walking in with light steps. This person was… Feng Qingling.
Feng Qingcheng was surprised that Feng Qingling had suddenly appeared, but she didn’t get very emotional. After all, since Feng Qingling had not come to see her in so many years, she didn’t think that Feng Qingling was suddenly here to bring her out of this place.
After Feng Qingling walked in, she immediately started to look the girl in front of her over from head to toe. She still had that demon-like face that was so unbearably ugly, and even though she was already twelve, she had barely grown due to a long period of insufficient nutrition and the slow-acting poison in her body. Also, her body was terribly thin, and her skin was sallow.
But even after noticing all this, she didn’t show any emotion on her face. “Qingcheng, it’s been some years since we last met. How are you feeling lately? Are you feeling any better? Or are you feeling any other discomfort?”
Feng Qingcheng didn’t think she was truly concerned for her. If Feng Qingling was truly worried about her, she wouldn’t have left her here for four years without coming to see her once.
Feng Qingcheng calmly looked back at Feng Qingling. “Thank you for your concern, but I don’t feel any other discomfort. I’m not sure why you have taken time out to come and visit me today?”
Feng Qingling looked suspiciously at the girl in front of her. She was still as ugly as the last time she saw her, but there was also something different about her.
However, she didn’t think too hard about it and stated her business there, saying, “I will turn fifteen tomorrow, so I’m here to tell you about my coming of age ceremony. I’ve brought some new clothes for you as well, so remember to change into these clothes and come for the ceremony tomorrow.” She then instructed her servant girl to pass the clothes over.
Feng Qingcheng took the clothes, looked up at Feng Qingling, then proceeded to agree to attend without saying much else. “Qingling, don’t worry. I will definitely be there.”