"Aunt Liao, what on earth are you doing? Where did these words come from?"
The voice of my maternal grandmother also came over.
All I heard was Lady Liao crying, "Sister Mei, I was envious back then, because you took my favor. After your downfall, I ordered people to abuse you in secret. Reflecting back, I was blinded by jealousy and committed such heinous acts. Your granddaughter kindly saved my daughter regardless of past grudges..."
After hearing this, Cai Wei was stunned. All along, she believed that the person who instructed others to abuse her grandmother must be either Lady Wang, the wife of Duke An, or her children. She was preparing to investigate this matter and once verified, she would destroy Duke An’s mansion out of vengeance for her grandmother. But unexpectedly, Lady Liao suddenly came out, confessing that she had once abused Lady Mei, leaving Cai Wei surprised and shocked.
On the other side, Fei’er sharply scolded, "For mere jealousy, you could harm another person so ruthlessly? Look at my grandmother’s face, and all those scars on her body. Aren’t you afraid of retribution?"
Lady Liao wept, "I already regret it. Today, I came specifically to apologize at your door. Now I am kneeling in front of you. Whatever punishment or retribution you want to give me is up to you. I just hope you could let go of your anger. Otherwise, even if we were sent to the Eighteen Layers of Hell, we still wouldn’t be able to rest in peace."
Cai Wei got dressed and went to the Eastern Room where her grandmother stayed. She saw Aunt Liao from Fangfei Pavilion kneeling by the edge of the Kang, crying rivers of tears while chokingly confessing her sins.
"When you hadn’t entered the Mansion, I was the favorite of the Duke. When you entered the mansion, I not only lost the Duke’s favor, my son Yongji also got his leg broken."
"At that time, I was simply foolish. I thought you were my nemesis, who took away my favor and hurt my son. That’s why I opposed you everywhere. Even after you went blind, I continued to torment you. I was really... ungrateful and vicious, no better than dogs or pigs..."
Lady Mei was sitting on the edge of the Kang, silently listening to Lady Liao’s confession. Her scar-ridden face showed no expression, as if she were unaffected by everything being said.
Yet, Cai Fei and Lady Du were indignant and agitated, sternly accusing her.
"You were so cruel to a blind old woman. Aren’t you afraid of retribution?"
"Man proposes, God disposes. Your evil deeds will surely be punished by heaven!"
Lady Liao was kneeling there, silently crying, continuously apologizing despite the accusations of Lady Du and Cai Fei.
Lady Mei suddenly raised her voice, "Everything’s in the past. I don’t want to bring them up again. You can go home and repent. I don’t want to see you again..."
"Thank you for your generosity, sister, I will remember..."
Lady Liao bowed deeply to Lady Mei out of reverence and wiped away her tears as she left.
"Grandmother, she harmed you , are we going to let her off just like that?"
After Lady Liao had left, Cai Fei stomped her foot in anger.
"No way! Grandmother has suffered so much; we can’t let her off so easily. I’m going to the Old Madame to expose her evil deeds and have her banished from the mansion, allowing her to end up on the streets."
Lady Mei said calmly, "Let it go; all those old grudges are from a long time ago. I have already stopped caring. As long as we are together, I can endure any hardship."
Lady Du said, "Fei’er, don’t cause trouble. Do you think the Old Madame doesn’t know about these matters in the mansion? She is either indifferent or willingly lets them be."
Cai Fei bitterly said, "So we just let it go? After all the suffering grandmother has suffered, we’re letting her off easy?"
Lady Mei said, "Speaking of it, it was me who first took away her favor. It’s no wonder she hated me. Let the past be the past. Let’s not discuss it anymore. As long as we can live peacefully as a family, that’s all I ask for."