(1) Like a pancake, made from eggs, flour, vegetable, and meat
The next day would be the day Li Chang Le took off the gauze. Jiang Fifth had wrapped her face with gauze, but after removing the gauze, there was no way to hide it anymore.
Throughout the night, Jiang Fifth was so terrified that he could not sleep. He was terrified of the next day. While in a sleepy daze the next morning, someone suddenly woke him up. The young maid’s face was full of fear: “Lu Gong, Young Miss… Young Miss…”
Jiang Fifth saw Li Chang Le’s face in his nightmare. He sat up straight as if sleepwalking. Calling him like that gave him a splitting headache. He subconsciously brought his hand up to rub his face and then sighed. Fortunately, his disguise was still intact. For some reason, he was worried that Li Wei Yang would find out about his identity. He was a bit afraid of this girl and genuinely felt that if she discovered his identity, it would certainly not end well.
After quickly washing his face and combing his hair, he walked out of the courtyard with determination. Since he was an aristocratic man, he could not stay in the inner courtyard, so he had been arranged to stay in a room in the east wing. Now, he had to walk past many doors to reach the inner courtyard.
There was heavy rain last night. The shiny, green banana leaves in the courtyard were drooping. A single bead of dew rolled down like a pearl, and with a crystal clear sound, fell onto Jiang Fifth’s head, scattering upon impact. He felt even more tense and uneasy, resenting not being able to turn around immediately and leave. However, he had already reached the door, so he couldn’t avoid it.
Li Chang Le had gotten up early and was seated and waiting, lavishly dressed. She wore a lovely peach-colored top and a long skirt with beautiful michelia flowers that others could not turn their eyes away from. The delicate silk veil was still covering her face. Liu Mama calmly stood beside her while the pale-faced maidservants kept their heads bowed.
Jiang Fifth felt dizzy just thinking about the nightmare he had. The fear of having to face death was plunged into his chest like a blade. A chill swept over his head. When he walked through the doors, he missed a step and hastily caught onto the door before he fell.
“All of you, leave us,” Li Chang Le sat there, poised and emphasized every word. Her voice was pleasant as if to prove that she was still as beautiful as before. Jiang Fifth should be happy, but at that moment, he really couldn’t smile.
The maidservants all withdrew one by one. Li Chang Le’s gaze seems to pierce through her veil, making him almost want to leave with them. He reluctantly sat down in a chair. The teapot on the table had grown cold. There was the smell of candied melon seeds in the air, Furong cakes(1), plums and bird’s nest on the table, but no one was in the mood to touch them. The entire room was under a terrifying silence.
Jiang Fifth had no other choice. He went over and cautiously said: “I’ll help you remove the gauze.”
Li Chang Le could not wait to take off the veil: “Hurry up!”
Jiang Fifth did not speak as he held the scissors and with a slicing motion, cut open the gauze on her face. The white gauze, tainted with blood, unraveled and fell to the floor with a soft sound. Jiang Tian did not dare to look at her face and only lowered his head, looking at his wide embroidered sleeves.
Li Chang Le anxiously stood up and walked over to the mirror. She did not expect to still see a face full of scars and screamed. She grabbed onto the embroidery table and forcefully hurled it at the bronze mirror. The mirror shattered, its life lost. Tan Xiang, visibly afraid, anxiously called out: “Young Miss… Young Miss…”
Li Chang Le whipped around and as if had gone mad, smashed everything in the room. The beautiful room was quickly reduced to pieces. Liu Mama and Tan Xiang looked at each other, neither dared to approach her and persuade otherwise. In her wrath, it was likely that Li Chang Le would give the order to drag both of them out to be beaten. These days, three Yatous had been beaten for no reason until their skin peeled.
Once Li Chang Le smashed everything to pieces, she suddenly stared at Jiang Fifth. He did not know what she was thinking. Moments later, she still had not spoken. Jiang Fifth felt a little scared and said: “You… Why are you looking at me?”
Li Chang Le slowly said: “I remember, when you were a child, your face didn’t look like this? Can you let me see your face?”
Jiang Fifth frowned and looked at Liu Mama, who was also blank-faced, not knowing why Li Chang Le suddenly made such a request.
Li Chang Le took a step closer and said: “I want to see. Take off the mask and let me see!”
Jiang Fifth was shaken by her strange tone and reluctantly said: “Alright! But don’t lose your temper anymore!” Having said this, he ordered Tan Xiang to prepare water and washcloths. Tan Xiang quickly brought them over.
He went into the inner room and came out an hour later. The moment he came out from behind the curtain, the room suddenly lit up. Jiang Tian’s natural face was very handsome, born with a charming and romantic face. Compared to his Fourth Brother, he was less masculine in some ways but also more elegant. Although he did not have phoenix eyes, when he looked on with his handsome eyes, the average person will be frightened by his charm.
Tan Xiang was the first to see him and stiffened; Liu Mama was also stunned. Although she knew that this was the Fifth Young Master of the Jiang family, Fifth Young Master rarely made an appearance, so this was the first time she saw his face up close and was startled for a while. Turning back, she was immediately worried that this would provoke Li Chang Le even more. With her face destroyed like this, even a slightly pretty young maid would be taught a lesson, not to mention Jiang Tian and his extraordinary looks.
Li Chang Le stood in the same spot, not moving at all. Liu Mama tensely stood up. At that moment, Li Chang Le suddenly rushed over and seized Jiang Tian’s sleeves: “Jiang Tian, you have a way, don’t you? If you can wear a mask, I can too, right?! You have seen my looks before, you think I can live with a face like this?! I can’t! I can’t at all! Living like this is no better than being dead! Jiang Tian, no, Fifth Brother, save me! You need to save me! Please…” She cried, burying her face into his chest as she clutched his robe with both hands, so tightly that even she trembled slightly.