An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

Sang Ling’s illness was cured on the fifth day after he came to the palace.

It was a coincidence that day. Sang Wu had gone to the mountains with them, but he twisted his leg just as he set out, so he returned to Yuchen Palace to recuperate. When the old lady was bored, she gathered the rest of the people for a picnic.

Before leaving for the meeting at 9:00 p.m., the two sisters of the Sang family went together to greet their father and pretend to serve him.

Sang Wu gave two earnest instructions: "When you meet the nobles, you must know how to show courtesy in time, and don't look around when you are at the banquet."

As he was talking, Sang Ling couldn't help coughing twice, and then he felt a gaze coming from above his head. Sang Wu was of course aware of his eldest daughter's condition, so he said, "If you two are to sit in front of the two ladies, then Ah Ling will apologize and sit in the back."

Sang Ling nodded and said "yes", and did not pay much attention to this biased arrangement - after all, she had to go today. She had been staying at home for more than ten days. If she did not show up, it would inevitably cause gossip from others. But now she could not help coughing, and it would inevitably offend the noble man in front of him.

So if you have to go, just don't sit too close.

She nodded and said "yes". Just as she was about to lead Sang Mei out, she was stopped by her father.

Sang Wu's gaze rested on the maids of his two daughters - the maid led by A Mei was thin and weak, and really could not hold up the aura, but the one brought by A Ling from the Gao family looked more decent.

So he waved his hand and asked the two maids to switch places. Sang Ling rolled his eyes and did not ask any more questions.

*

As Sang Wu expected, the Sang family members at the picnic party were seated at the front.

Sang Mei had been led to the front mat by the eunuch. Her sister had dressed very carefully today. She wore a light crimson skirt, which made her originally fair skin look even whiter. She had a double bun on her head, and wore a South China Sea tortoise-shell ornament. When she was led to the front to pay her respects, she immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Sang Ling did not step forward. She bowed and apologized to the eunuch as her father instructed, then knelt down at the end of the table. Her dress was not very ostentatious among the other girls in her family. She had brought mostly dark-colored clothes with her. She was currently wearing a dark blue straight-hem gown, and she had not put on the gold gauze Zen robe that her aunt had custom-made for her.

It's not good to be too eye-catching. Although the typhoid fever has been cured, there is still a cough at the end. It would be even worse if it offends a noble person.

Therefore, it would be best to get through today's banquet smoothly and then return to the palace quietly, hoping that the two ladies won't notice that there is someone coughing below.

This picnic was held at the foot of the mountain. There was a lake to the east and endless fields beyond. The royal family had already arranged for people to prepare seats, platforms and umbrellas for the arrival of the host and guests. There were also several performances to liven up the atmosphere. Sang Ling was absent-minded for a long time before he raised his eyes to look ahead - Ya Nu had already sat in the front row with Sang Mei.

She withdrew her gaze quietly, and in her spare time, she began to sigh about Sang Wu. He was indeed an old wily man who had experienced many years of ups and downs in the officialdom. When he was in such an occasion with a noble, he could even pay attention to the maidservants around his daughter. But it was true that as the daughter of a noble family, even the slaves around her could not be bad.

During the banquet, two or three actors performed, which made Empress Wu and the Empress Dowager on the main seat smile. Sang Ling sipped the honey with a blank expression, not wanting to join in. He was in a daze until the sun rose high in the forest. At noon, the tables of the officials and their wives were filled with delicacies - all of which were mountain products hunted by the entourage.

After all, it was an original and uncontaminated thing. Sang Ling became slightly interested and leaned his head to look at the stove beside him. The meat was freshly roasted and when it was ready, the servants would serve it directly to everyone's dining table. There was also a small bellows next to it.

While the slaves were working, she occasionally heard some laughter. She was still calm and was about to pick up a piece of meat when she suddenly heard a scream from the front.

Everyone at the table turned their heads. Someone in front of them jumped up and down, as if someone's kettle had boiled. The servants beside them also dispersed suddenly. Sang Ling leaned down from his kneeling position and looked forward.

"Snake, there's a snake!" someone shouted.

The daughter fell to the ground behind the desk, and saw a three-foot-long red-headed snake biting her calf. The palace slaves who rushed forward acted quickly and threw a sharp stone the size of a fist at her. The snake immediately loosened its bite and fled into the bushes, disappearing in a moment.

Sang Ling looked more closely and finally recognized that the person who was bitten was Sang Mei.

"Call the doctor quickly." The old lady's voice sounded in front. Empress Wu turned to one of the eunuchs and said angrily, "Li Xing, how could this thing appear?"

The crowd was noisy, and the eunuch being questioned kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Majesty, we have really taken good care of it, and there are people guarding it, there is no way this thing could get in."

They were all old men in the palace, how could they not think of this? Even if Li Xing did not think about it, the people under him could arrange it. In previous years, when Huanlin Mountain held a picnic, it was always done smoothly. Not to mention poisonous snakes, even a fly had to be guarded against.

"Unless, unless someone brought it in." He said tremblingly.

"Yes, he was the first to crawl out from under the maid's skirt!" Another eunuch spoke up immediately, pointing at the elegant woman next to Sang Mei. Sang Ling was startled and pushed the person in front of him away and stepped forward.

"Has the doctor arrived?" Empress Wu had no choice but to put aside the question she was about to ask. Then she heard the servant quickly reply, "We sent someone to pick him up. I estimate it will take a while."

Sang Mei on the other side just came back to her senses from her fear, and a faint moan came from her, accompanied by the pitiful crying voice of a girl. I don't know who suggested: "Let the poison be sucked out first, it will give you some relief for a while."

The crowd gathered around at once, talking about their own ideas. Amid the noisy discussion, Sang Ling leaned over to Sang Mei's side. When he was about to examine the wound carefully, he saw Ya Nu volunteering to step forward. "I - I'll do it -" she said, and leaned over.

She waved her hand violently to ward off the girl.

"What are you doing?" This was the cry that was uttered by Sang Mei.

The Sang family's youngest daughter's delicate face was covered with tears, even her eyelashes were moistened into clumps, and her lips curled up, finally showing the appearance that she should have at her age.

"It's no use." Sang Ling turned back solemnly, and then looked at Ya Nu with a hint of annoyance, "How many lives do you have? If there is a wound in your mouth, you will die faster!"

"She brought the snake in!" Sang Mei suddenly cried out, "It crawled under her skirt!"

Only when her life was at stake did the daughter's true appearance fully reveal itself. After all, she was only an eleven-year-old girl. Even if she had pretended to be calm before, now she thought she was really going to die and didn't care about anything else.

Ya Nu could only crawl forward on her knees, repeatedly saying “Yes, young lady, I’ll come right away—” Before she could finish her words, she heard a “pop” and the young lady slapped Madam Mei in the face.

Everyone around was stunned, and then they noticed this girl who came up from nowhere.

"If you yell again, you'll die faster."

The dark blue-dressed girl turned around, picked up the kettle on the table, and poured the water on the wounds of the two Sang family girls. At the same time, she told the servants, "Bring some clean water, the more the better."

Not many people in the room knew Sang Ling, only a few of his classmates from the gatehouse. Ban Le glanced down, then exchanged a glance with Dai Chengjun. The two ladies on the main seat didn't recognize him either, but Empress Wu still remembered this pretty face. She looked at the eunuch who followed, and her questioning intention was self-evident.

Only Sang Mei was still somewhat dazed by the slap she had just received. She could only wake herself up from the chill coming from her calves, but she had even deeper doubts in her mind - how could someone like Sang Ling know how to remove snake venom?

"None of your business!" She pushed Sang Ling away with all her strength, and even the hatred in her tone could not help but be released. After she finished speaking, she seemed to realize that there were two noble ladies in the field, so she had to quickly lower her head again to restrain her sudden loss of composure.

Someone said, "Then use a knife to cut the wound open and drain the blood to remove the toxins."

"No!" Sang Ling patted the mud on his hands and didn't bother to argue with Sang Mei - if the flesh was cut, there might be infection. There were no antibiotics in this era. He could only wait for the doctor to come and carry the patient back. The key was to deal with it properly. After saying that, he squatted back and continued to rinse with clean water.

Unexpectedly, the legs under the copper basin moved away immediately.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking?" The daughter in front of him lowered her voice. Even though her eyes were filled with tears, hatred was clearly bursting out from them.

She frowned, still not understanding why her sister hated her so deeply. In just that instant, anger surged in her mind and she reached out to slap her again.

Everyone held their breath and kept quiet, except for Ban Le who lowered his eyebrows and smiled. He glanced at Dai Chengjun opposite him and saw that she was also holding her mouth. Even without saying it, they knew what each of them was thinking: In the past, Sang Ling herself didn't care. The two of them heard a lot of gossip in the gatehouse. Ever since Sang Mei entered the Zhi family's school, she has heard people comparing the two sisters every day. It was that Sang Ling turned a deaf ear to it. The two of them were angry for no reason, and it was not good to say anything to her face. Otherwise, it would make her sad. On weekdays, this sister can be said to have taken all the limelight in the school. Today, when she came to the meeting, one sat in the front and the other sat in the back. Let you show off, let you be bitten by a snake, you deserve it - Ban Le spat silently.

Sang Ling was just turning around to get another basin of water when he saw Ban Le and Dai Chengjun exchanging glances. He was stunned for a moment, then turned back and continued to clean Sang Mei's wound.

After two consecutive slaps, everyone had a rough idea in their minds. Everyone knew that the Sang family had two daughters, but the eldest daughter was ugly, while the younger daughter was very beautiful. Judging from this situation, the one wearing a dark blue dress must be the elder sister? But wasn't it said that the eldest daughter of the Sang family was extremely ugly? At present, no one in the audience could compare to her. Not to mention being ugly, even if she was praised as beautiful, it would still be insufficient.

Sang Mei suddenly screamed and pushed Sang Ling away again. Cold water leaked out from the basin, soaking Sang Ling's lower body. He wished he could slap him for the third time.

I heard a shout from outside the crowd, "The doctor is here!"