(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.
If it were any other day, Jiang Tian would certainly be happy to have a woman fall into his arms, but he had personally seen Li Chang Le’s cruelty in the past few days. When her hair had all fallen out, she forced all the maidservants in the courtyard to cut their long hair and use it to make a beautiful wig for herself. Because some maidservants had lovely eyes, she quietly found an excuse to dig out their eyes and then chase them out, even selling them into brothels.
With her beauty destroyed these days, she could not bear to have any pretty maidservants walking around her. The former Li Chang Le had disappeared, replaced by a madwoman of extreme cruelty and wickedness.
Li Chang Le raised her head. In the pond-like depths of her eyes, he saw his face reflected back. There was a sly ripple, but around those eyes was a terrifying sight. Almost everything can be said to be rotten flesh. There was an intolerable stench up close. He had done his best and could only save her life but had no way of completely removing the poison. Her skin certainly will not go back to what it once was…
She held onto his arm with one hand, as firmly as steel tongs. He winced, but she seized his collar with her other hand: “Fifth Brother, help me, help me! That little Li Wei Yang, I can’t let her get what she wants!”
The rotten smell from her body almost made him vomit. He wanted to pull away, but she had seized him. Tears fell onto the back of his hand. In a fleeting moment, his heart softened. He loosened his sleeve and gently wiped away the tears on her face. He sighed and softly said: “What do you want me to do?”
“Your other face… You can make a face exactly like before! No, even more beautiful! I want to be even more beautiful! You have a solution, isn’t that right?!”
Jiang Tian lowered his voice and said: “Cousin, calm down first, I’ve already thought of this method!”
Immeasurable hope appeared in Li Chang Le’s eyes. Jiang Tian slowly continued: “This face of mine is unspeakably costly, but more importantly, it is airtight, so it cannot be compared to a real face. It is always stuck against the skin. My face is fine, so I can put it on, but your face… If you wear this mask, you cannot imagine how those scars will worsen and rot. Parts of your face that were not affected will become even more terrifying…”
As he spoke, Jiang Tian felt sorry for her: “This mask can only be worn for a few hours a day. You cannot wear it all the time. Do you want to see your entire face rot away? Even if you cannot stand it, this will bring you pain and torment when your scars cannot breathe and will only keep festering. You must constantly reduce inflammation and take medicine, and someday you will die… Do you understand now?”
Tan Xiang’s eyes were wide in terror. She could see it. If the Eldest Miss wore this, her face will be unrecognizable in the future. It’s no different than drinking poisoned wine to satiate thirst… She hastily said: “Eldest Miss, you can’t! If Young Miss wears this, what will you do when your face rots entirely? And Jiang Young Master said it can take your life too!”
Li Chang Le’s voice grew colder and more vigorous by the moment: “I don’t care! I definitely don’t need this destroyed face! Fifth Brother, help me! Help me do it now!”
Jiang Tian looked to her in horror. He truly could not understand. It was very difficult to save her life, how could she go down the road to death like that? It was too terrifying. The way he saw it, beauty was important but to throw your life away to preserve your beauty was not something he could do! Besides, watching as your skin rots underneath a layer of fake skin was horrific! As a man, he naturally did not understand Li Chang Le’s thoughts. For a renown beauty, she would be willing to live ten or twenty years less to maintain her beauty and youth.
Jiang Tian shook his head: “No! I can’t do that, it would harm you! Grandmother wouldn’t agree with it either?”
Li Chang Le coldly eyed him: “You refuse?”
Jiang Tian shook his head again, but Li Chang Le suddenly let go of him and went over to the table. She took a shard from a broken porcelain vase and placed it against her neck: “If I die, there’s no way for you to face Grandmother! She won’t forgive you!”
This maternal granddaughter was the flesh and blood of her own flesh and blood. The Duke’s Furen loved Li Chang Le the most, even far more than her other grandchildren… Of course, Jiang Tian was aware of this. He also knew that when the Duke’s Furen had fainted when she heard her face was destroyed and became bedridden ill… If not for that, she would have ran over here with an army, but Li Chang Le did not think of this. She was only concerned with her own face. Whether the Duke’s Furen was well or ill, she did not bother to ask about her health… It definitely made one feel cold all over. Jiang Tian looked at her, calm again: “Alright… I will.”
It was you who wanted to wear a mask, so you will have to bear the consequences alone. Do you think only your flesh will rot? A face that originally relied on drugs to stop the rotting must now be sealed off with a layer of dead skin, unable to breath. It is conceivable that this decay will gradually spread to the head, neck and finally the entire body…
Li Chang Le was crazy, but he did not intend to stop her anymore. He had already done everything he could, but this is her choice! To be honest, he had already had enough of this Eldest Miss who was beautiful on the outside but cruel to her bones. Let her hold onto her beauty until death. That fake face will only last a year and when the mask breaks, her life will also end…
Jiang Tian entered his medicinal study and exactly fourteen hours later, he came out in the middle of the night. Li Chang Le never waited patiently for so long, but this time, she waited until Jiang Tian walked out with a box. She opened it herself and found a layer of skin as thin and delicate as a cicada’s wing.
“Among all animal skins, the thinnest is human skin, but the lightest is suede, but it is not breathable and will crack after some time. Every night, you must take it off and put it back into the incense box to keep it intact... Because it is ultimately not human skin… You must think carefully.”
Li Chang Le’s gaze fell on the box, staring deeply into it. She simply did not hear what Jiang Tian was saying. She seized the box. Her eyes were bright as if ablaze, and she had a mesmerized smile, “I can restore my appearance. Li Wei Yang, you must have never thought I could restore my beauty, haha…”
“I only hope so.” Jiang Tian sighed deeply.
Li Chang Le could not hide that face for very long. Soon, she had let everyone in the courtyard see her.
The sunlight was pleasant, but Lao Furen, who was drinking tea, felt the midday sun made her rather dizzy. She lightly coughed and placed her hand against her forehead, “How can this be?!”
Li Chang Le came over with a smile on her face. Although her expression was a bit unnatural, her face was exactly the way it was before. There was no damage at all: “What’s wrong, Lao Furen?”
Lao Furen carefully looked at her face, turned away and softly asked: “Wei Yang, am I seeing things?”
When Li Wei Yang saw Li Chang Le’s appearance, her first reaction was shock, then it was suspicion. What were the chances that an injured face could return to normal in just a month? Although she did not suspect Lu Gong’s medical skills, this was too absurd. She believed in miracles, but she did not believe in supernatural miracles. A scarred wound needed a long time to recover, and that day, she clearly saw that Li Chang Le’s face was beyond recognition.
Liu Mama’s face was full of joy: “Lao Furen, this is all thanks to Lu Gong. His medical skills are truly unrivaled in the world. Young Miss had taken off the gauze, and her face returned to what it used to be!”
Second Furen could only blink and could barely speak. Beside her, Li Chang Ru was also stunned and speechless.
“This… is quite a miracle! Lu Gong’s medical skills are indeed godly!” Although Lao Furen was rather surprised to see Li Chang Le’s face had recovered, she outwardly expressed her joy, but of course, her expressions lacked a bit of insincerity. She seemed a bit disgusted too. Seeing Tan Xiang worriedly standing behind Li Chang Le, Lao Furen quickly found fault: “The Eldest Miss has just recovered, who told you to let the Young Miss walk this far?”
Li Chang Le quickly replied: “The weather is so nice. I wanted to go out a bit. Why? Does Lao Furen not want to see me, huh? Or is Third Sister unhappy to see my face has recovered?”
“Of course not…” Li Wei Yang slowly said: “I am naturally overjoyed that Eldest Sister has recovered. It seems we owe Lu Gong a grand reward…” She spoke more slowly with every word, her eyes directed straight ahead. She finally smiled and emphasized every word: “Eldest Sister, your complexion seems even more radiant than before. I wonder what magical immortal pills Lu Gong used?”
Li Chang Le sneered: “If Third Sister wants to know, then make a cut onto your own face. When Lu Gong also treats you, won’t you find out then?” Her face could not breathe at all and was always damp. She could even hear the scar tearing wide open, the agony of skin peeling away from the flesh. She had to endure bit by bit, but she desperately endured because even if she died, she had to let Li Wei Yang see her face. She wanted her to know that she, Li Chang Le, will always be the most beautiful under the sky!
Lao Furen frowned: “Chang Le! What nonsense are you saying?”
Lao Furen’s favor towards Li Wei Yang had long been an open secret. Li Chang Le did not answer her question and only bowed her head and smiled. She suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with repressed, loosely disguised hatred, looking straight at Li Wei Yang: “Third Sister, Eldest Sister was only joking with you. What is there that can’t be said between us sisters? Don’t you think so?” Having said this, she solemnly turned around and left: “Tan Xiang, I can’t walk any further. Escort me back.”
She suddenly appeared, then immediately left. What was the meaning of this? Li Wei Yang frowned slightly, but then saw her turn back and ask: “Lao Furen, can I attend the Empress’ banquet?”
Lao Furen looked to her in surprise and stiffly nodded.
Li Chang Le nodded as if this was the reason for her appearance. Then Tan Xiang helped her hastily run back home. Li Wei Yang suspiciously stared at her retreating figure, then looked down in deep thought.
Beside her, Second Furen clenched her handkerchief: “How can that be! Her face was clearly destroyed! How could it go back to the way it used to be! Could it be that Lu Gong is a divine doctor!”
Lao Furen pondered for a bit: “Last time Min Zhi was ill, he also came up with a way. It is hard to blame those who call him a divine healer. It seems that is true! To be able to save the muscles, flesh and bones, he must be extraordinary!”
Li Wei Yang did not believe it because Lu Gong had said that her face could not recover in front of everyone. How could it heal completely in the blink of an eye? Moreover, if Li Chang Le’s face was fully healed, why did she need to leave so anxiously? It seemed as if she was about to faint. There must have been something that could not have been said. But what was the reason that could make someone with a destroyed face restore their former beauty? At that moment, Li Wei Yang was not aware that behind Li Chang Le’s beauty was a horrifying torment, but this type of torment was far more terrifying than living with a hideous face.