Chapter Two: Build Your Dam and Name It for Me

Lin Wanyue, noticing that Lin Qingci did not immediately scold Lin Zhaozhao, felt a sudden, profound sense of crisis.

In the past, Lin Qingci would have lashed out at Lin Zhaozhao for being sharp-tongued and cruel if she had so much as raised her voice at Wanyue, let alone kicked her. But now...

"It hurts so much..." Lin Wanyue clutched her calf, her voice thick with tears. "Is my leg broken?"

"Big sister, you jumped around just fine after falling from a three-meter-high attic, but you think your leg is broken from a three-step staircase?" Lin Zhaozhao was speechless. "Are you alright?"

*If this pathetic scratch is enough to require a doctor, then by the time we get there, it’ll be fully healed anyway!*

*And honestly, with such a clumsy excuse, exaggerated acting, and brainless scheme, could there really be any idiot who believes this?*

Lin Qingci, who believed it wholeheartedly, stood frozen. *Sister Wanyue’s health has been delicate since childhood; how could she compare to Lin Zhaozhao, who was raised rough in the countryside and used to hardship? Just because Zhaozhao is healthy doesn't mean Wanyue is!*

*Wow! Look at Lin Qingci’s little expression—he truly lives up to his future role as the Grand Eunuch, the heroine’s loyal lapdog!*

*Let me guess: this little white lotus is about to say, "Oh, Brother Qingci, don't be angry. It’s not Sister Zhaozhao’s fault; she only wants me dead because she resents me for taking her parents. I’ll just leave, that’s all!"*

"Lin Zhaozhao!" Lin Qingci roared. It was one thing to call him a eunuch, but to speculate about Sister Wanyue? She was truly vicious!

"Forget it, Brother Qingci. Don't be angry. It’s not her fault. She only wants me dead because she resents me for taking her parents. I’ll just leave!" Lin Wanyue sobbed.

*See? What did I tell you?*

*Three years! I don't know how many days and nights have passed, and every time something as trivial as a sesame seed happens, she threatens to run away from home, yet she never even lifts her butt to leave!*

*A fake phoenix who is both a bitch and a pretender—does she really think she’s the pure and kind eldest daughter of the Marquis of Qingyuan? Only this little eunuch would believe her!*

Lin Qingci was stunned. *What is with this talk about "butts"? Does Lin Zhaozhao have any manners befitting a young lady of a noble house? And don't you dare call me a eunuch again!*

Lin Qingci was burning with rage, but since Lin Zhaozhao was only saying these things in her heart, he had no outlet for his anger. Seeing that Lin Qingci wasn't standing up for her, Lin Wanyue dug her nails into her palms in frustration.

*Holy crap, this little white lotus looks so hideous right now!*

*I bet she’s going to fake a faint next to stir up more drama!*

No sooner had the thought crossed Lin Zhaozhao’s mind than Lin Wanyue, lying in Lin Qingci’s arms, gave a dramatic kick and went limp.

Lin Qingci gasped, "!!!"

*Could it really be that coincidental?*

He was flustered, anxious, and bewildered, but his long-standing concern for Lin Wanyue took over. "Lin Zhaozhao, you show no respect for your elder sister! Just you wait!"

"I won't wait!"

Lin Zhaozhao lunged forward and delivered a resounding slap to Lin Wanyue’s face. "Stop your damn acting!"

*SMACK.*

"Ah!" With a shrill scream, Lin Wanyue performed a perfect "carp leap" to jump up and retaliate. "Lin Zhaozhao, how dare you hit me!"

Lin Qingci was paralyzed. *Wait, sister, weren't you unconscious?!* What was this chaotic mess happening before his eyes?

...

In any case, the commotion at the Huiyue Pavilion quickly reached the ears of the original owner’s mother, Lady Bai.

Lady Bai had been preparing to attend the full-month celebration for the Duke of Auxiliary State’s grandson, but upon hearing that her children were fighting, she abandoned the banquet and hurried to the pavilion with her maids and matrons in tow.

She arrived just in time to see Zhaozhao pinning Wanyue to the floor, while Lin Qingci tried to intervene, only to be cursed at in return.

Lady Bai’s vision went dark. "Zhaozhao! What are you doing?!"

Beating her elder sister and bullying her brother—what would people think if this got out? What about her reputation?! It was clear that because this child wasn't raised by her side, she had developed such a wild and unruly nature. She would have to discipline her strictly and teach her some rules, or she would be a disaster once she married into another family!

Lady Bai stiffened her face. "Stand up at once!"

But the next moment, a voice rang out—

*What the hell! Who is this beauty?! Is she my mother?!*

*No way? I thought I was motherless!*

*Unbelievable! My timing for transmigrating is perfect—it’s not even at the point where the concubine drives my mother to her death yet!*

*What "motherless"? What "concubine"?! There are no concubines in this massive Marquis’s manor!* Lady Bai stared—Zhaozhao hadn't opened her mouth! Could she be hearing her daughter’s inner thoughts?

Lady Bai’s heart trembled. Had she not been a woman who practiced Buddhism and believed in the supernatural, she surely would have fainted from the shock. But this was her daughter, so she stepped forward.

*Oh my God!*

*She’s even more beautiful up close!*

It wasn't just her—phrases like "skin like congealed fat" or "willow-thin waist" couldn't even begin to describe Lady Bai’s beauty. She wore a sky-blue, gold-embroidered ru skirt, and her dark hair was pulled into a simple bun held by a white magnolia hairpin, exuding an air of poise and elegance.

*Is this really my mother?! If I recall correctly, the book said Lady Bai was in her thirties, so how can she look like this? She’s a masterpiece by the Goddess Nüwa! Should I just drop to one knee, offer her flowers, and kiss her hands right now?*

Lady Bai’s face flushed. "...Zhaozhao?" Was her daughter truly this brazen in her thoughts?

"Mother!" Lin Zhaozhao offered a sweet and sincere smile. After all, according to the plot, her mother had always treated the original Zhaozhao with nothing but love.

*It’s just a pity that such a beautiful mother ended up with a blind, philandering father!*

*If I remember right, soon the Old Madam’s niece, Zhao Shuangshuang, will use the "gambling father, sick mother, lost brother, and broken self" trope to get my father drunk and spend a night with him, then force a marriage as a secondary wife with a big belly!*

*And my mother? She and that blind fool were in a passionate, star-crossed love! Who knew her best friend would turn into a mistress and stab her in the back? It led to my mother’s depression, and she passed away not long after!*

Lady Bai: "???"

*What? The Marquis and her dear friend, Miss Zhao, spent a night together? How could that be?! What is going on in Zhaozhao’s little head?!*

Fortunately, she seemed to be the only one who could hear it.

Lin Qingci, who was also hearing these thoughts, was speechless. *Just listen to how ridiculous this is! Not only is she cursing me as a eunuch, but she’s saying Mother is going to die! Good thing Mother can't hear her, or she’d be so upset!*

Lin Zhaozhao, oblivious to their distress, continued her own inner turmoil:

*They say a child without a mother is a blade of grass. Few people in this manor care for Lin Zhaozhao, and Lin Wanyue constantly frames her with things like faking falls from the attic. She was just a child who wanted affection, yet she was labeled an unruly, bad kid.*

*If only Mother were still alive, Lin Zhaozhao wouldn't have ended up being framed by Lin Wanyue to such a miserable death in her past life!*