The once-lavish Second Madam's courtyard was now little more than crumbling walls and flickering lanterns. The embroidered screens were gone, the silks pawned, the servants dismissed.
Second Aunt sat hunched at a low table, her once-perfect hair disheveled. Hua Mei, pale and hollow-eyed, paced like a caged bird.
News of the banquet had spread like wildfire. Every street corner whispered the same thing: "The Gentleman of Jade has claimed Hua Lian. What a fortunate girl! What a glorious match!"
Each word was a blade twisting into Hua Mei's chest.
"She took everything from me!" Hua Mei's voice cracked as she slammed her fist onto the table. "The praises, the elders' love, even the marriage that should have been mine! And now… Xu Han? How could she steal even that?"
Second Aunt's face twisted with venom.
"Don't be a fool, Mei'er. It was never hers by right. That wretched girl should have been forgotten in some corner, while you shone. She's only rising because she's cunning, not because she deserves it."
Her eyes narrowed, glinting in the dim light.
"But remember — the higher she climbs, the harder the fall. If we cannot reclaim our honor, we can still drag her down with us."
Hua Mei's voice trembled with desperation.
"Then what do we do, Mother? How do we make her suffer?"
Second Aunt leaned close, her whisper sharp as a blade.
"The Xu family has only just returned to the capital. Their footing is not yet secure. If we spread the right rumors — whispers that Hua Lian is ambitious, cunning, that she ensnared Xu Han with tricks… the court will doubt her. Even Xu Han may waver."
Hua Mei's lips curled in a bitter smile. "Yes… if I cannot have him, then I will ruin him for her. I'll watch her be cast aside just as I was."
Their laughter — brittle, venomous — echoed against the cold courtyard walls.
But neither noticed the quiet figure listening beyond the cracked gate: a servant once loyal to Hua Lian, who now carried tales directly to her ears.
And when Hua Lian heard of it later, she merely smiled faintly, her gaze sharp.
"So, you've chosen poison again, Second Aunt. Very well… let's see who truly chokes on it first."