On the Wedding Night, Ms. Cui Realized

Cui Dai pretended to visit, claiming she wanted to apologize for her servant's impolite behavior, but in reality she had come to give Bai Ge a slap before leaving. 

However, when Cui Ti stood up for Bai Ge, her father, who had rushed over, scolded and disciplined her for several days.

It was similar to a dream but not completely.
If it was a dream, why didn’t the gods let her see the world? If it wasn't, how could it explain all the things that appeared in them?

“Mistress? Mistress???.”

“I am here.”

Bai Ge's voice trembled with emotion as she spoke: “Mistress, I will save every penny I can to hire the best doctor for you, so please don't lose hope.
Even if you've sustained an injury to your brain, you will recover.”

Cui Ti tentatively reached out her hand to touch Bai Ge's face, but her hand missed its mark and instead pressed against Bai Ge's shoulder. 

“Wait a moment,” Cui Ti said, her voice unsure.
“I need to confirm something.”

“What is it?.”

“Tomorrow, you will know.”

Cui Ti always wondered how it would feel to sleep, as she only needed to trick her brain.

Seeing her speak mysteriously and looking dazed after waking up, Bai Ge felt that the mistress fever became worse.

Anxiety and worry washed over her as she counted the copper coins in the bamboo tube three times while brewing a cup of tea.
She was determined to find a skilled physician that could examine her mistress's mind, but the money she had saved would barely be enough to purchase a single loaf of bread.

She secretly pitied Cui Ti.

Cui Ti clearly is her uncle's daughter, but everyone in the household knows that the real blood daughter is not her, but her younger sister—Cui Dai.

Cui Dai is the youngest daughter of his second wife.
She is fourteen years old and has a delicate and savage personality, and lives in the magnificent North Courtyard.

“She’s coming.”

“Coming?.”

Cui Ti sat up straight: “Help me see if the third sister is here.”

The mistress is anticipating Cui Dai!?.

Bai Ge was startled, and hurriedly looked outside the door.

…

Not long after breakfast, Cui Dai led a group of servants, who were eager to gawk and mock, over to her older blind sister's home. 

As they arrived at the door of the room, Cui Dai wrinkled her nose in disgust, “What is this smell? It's unbearable.”

A sharp-eyed servant stepped into the small courtyard without any sense of decorum, and spoke in a harsh tone, “Mistress, it's rabbit dung.”

Hearing it was rabbit dung, Cui Dai felt nauseous and said reluctantly, “Who would use rabbit dung to cover their yard? But because a mistake was made by my servants, I will come in reluctantly.”

It's worth noting that occasionally, rabbit manure is used to fertilize the land and grow vegetables.
Although Cui Ti is blind, she has exceptional hearing and a perfect memory.

In Cui Ti’s dream, Cui Dai said exactly what she said just now, but instead a few moments later.
However, because she still couldn't stand the smell of rabbit dung, Cui Dai sent someone to kill her litter of rabbits.

Remembering this, Cui Ti thought blankly: ‘So my dream was not a dream, but an experience from a past life.’

Then why did she come back?

Is it because she died in the lotus pond?

If she died, would Pei Xuan shed tears for her? Or, will there even be a Pei Xuan in this life?.

Trapped in this small courtyard for her entire life, Cui Ti knew very little about the happenings of her city.
In fact, she was unsure if there was even a prominent family named Pei in Xijing. 

The thought that there may not be a Pei Xuan, a lover who gave her the affection and respect she longed for in her dreams, caused Cui Ti immense heartache.

“What are you thinking about, big sister, with such a gloomy expression?” Cui Dai has always looked down on her blind older sister.
Her father didn't like Cui Ti and her mother avoided her.
As long as Cui Dai can remember, there were always people around her reminding her to stay away from the blind woman, so as not to bring bad luck. 

Before the age of ten, she took these words seriously.
But after her 11th birthday, she discovered the thrill of tormenting others and it quickly spiraled out of control.

Anyone below her status who dared to cross her would be killed, her parents didn't even bother to intervene.

“For your rations, I just took two bags of rice.
Why is my sister so worried? See because of my generosity, I brought you a bag of rice today.”

She untied the bag, grabbed a handful of white rice casually, and the rice leaked out from between her fingers like quicksand and fell to the ground.

The girl clicked her tongue twice, naively and viciously said, “Sister, look around you, it’s pathetic the kind of life you are living.”

She then made a gesture of oops: “How could I forget? My sister is blind and can't see.”

“You-!.”

“Bai Ge, shut up!.”

Bai Ge wanted to protect her mistress' dignity but was instead ordered to be quiet by her. 

When suddenly, Cui Dai flicked her sleeves and snorted coldly, almost ordering her servants to protect her, instead, she composed herself as she didn’t want to argue with a lowly servant girl.

“Third sister, I won't send you off,” Cui Ti spoke with no emotion.

“Who wants you to do that? You're a blind woman, take care of yourself first!.
Or else, someday, you could fall into a pond and die.”

Cui Dai deliberately waited for a while, but she didn’t see any anger in the other party's face, and even though Bai Ge had a sullen face, she was calm.
Seeing no emotion, Cui Dai was bored and spoke to her servants, “Let's go!.”

As the servants of the north courtyard walked away, Bai Ge couldn't help but complain: “Mistress! Why are you stopping me? She spoke so excessively…”

“It's too much.”

Cui Ti replied weakly, “What can I do?.”

In her dream, Bai Ge was furious and took action against Cui Dai but was struck across the face.
Cui Dai then reported the incident to her father, resulting in both of them being left to starve for two days.

The hunger was unbearable and both Bai Ge and Cui Ti's bodies felt weak and limp as they dragged themselves back home in humiliation.

The teasing behind them was relentless, many people laughed at Cui Ti for being blind and foolish, mocking her for pretending to be a noble member of the family.

This time, she didn't want to repeat the same mistakes.

Cui Ti sat on a long, dilapidated bench.
The bench was clean, but it was not strong enough to sit on, and it wobbled.

She also knew that Bai Ge would come over later and complain to her about the bench.

“Bai Ge, sit on the square wooden stool.”

Bai Ge stopped in her tracks, wondering how the mistress knew she was going to sit on the bench but instead directed her to sit somewhere else.

Sitting obediently across from her, her shoulders slumped: “Mistress, we can't be bullied all the time.
If we continue to be bullied, how can we survive?.”

“I know, I'm thinking of a way, don't make noise.”

Bai Ge looked at her helplessly, not believing that she could do anything.

The morning is bright and the years are dim.

When did she meet Pei Xuan?

It was after the spring rain that a kite flew over the wall, and he fell from the top trying to reach his kite.