Chapter 1: The Truth

  This is a spacious and simply decorated room, with all the dark hardwood furniture, including cabinets, tables, chairs, and beds, arranged in their proper places, exuding an atmosphere of solemnity and stiffness, devoid of any vitality. The intricately carved windows are tightly shut, pasted over with thick window paper, blocking out the sunlight and fresh air from outside, casting a gloomy and lifeless shadow inside, where the air is heavy with the scent of medicine.

  On the left side of the window, against the wall, was a blackwood bed with intricate carvings of landscapes and figures, hung with a half-new, half-old plain blue canopy. On the bed lay a woman of twenty-three or four years old, Zhao Jiyuan's original wife and the second daughter of the imperial merchant Yao family, Yao Cunhui. Her emaciated body, weakened by long illness, seemed almost invisible under the snow-blue flower-patterned thin quilt.

  At this time, Yao Cunhui was propped up against the moon-white pillow on the head of the bed, his hair disheveled and hanging down in front of his chest, his pale face as white as snow, his two eyes standing out exceptionally large, big and lifeless.

  Yao Cunhui had been bedridden for over three months, and Xie Yanghou sought medical attention and medication with great care, not knowing how many famous doctors he had seen or how much precious medicine he had used. He was worried to death, and everyone praised him, but her illness did not improve, and her body deteriorated day by day.

  "Alas!" Yao Cunhui slightly raised her hand, gazing at her own withered wrist, reminiscing about the radiant complexion she had when she first got married, her eyes dimming a little more.

  This body of mine is probably not going to make it until the end of the year!

  Yao Cunhui smiled wryly in resignation, but deep down she was calm and serene. Even if her life was short-lived, what did it matter? As a crippled woman, she had married such a considerate and caring husband, who remained devoted to her despite their wealth and status. What more could she ask for?

  She's been smart enough for this lifetime!

  The sound of footsteps outside grew louder, and Yao Cunhui was taken aback for a moment. The green flower-patterned door curtain was gently lifted, and a slender figure in crimson slipped in, accompanied by a maid.

  "Second sister, what's wrong with you?" This was the third young lady of the Yao family, Yao Cunmei, a beautiful and vivacious woman, with a pair of almond-shaped eyes that were exceptionally lively.

  "Third sister," A faint smile appeared on Yao Cunhui's pale face, and he forced himself to move his body: "You're here! Hehe, same old, same old!"

  "Second sister, don't say that," Yao Cunmei's face was pale and she sat intimately at the head of the bed, tightly grasping her sister's cold and thin hand as she spoke tearfully: "Second sister mustn't worry, I heard that brother-in-law has found another divine doctor from Jiangnan, it's said that this divine doctor has the ability to bring people back from the dead, he will definitely be able to cure second sister!"

  "Hehe!" Yao Cunhui couldn't help but smile lightly, and her heart was moved. She and Yao Cunmei were sisters with the same father but different mothers. In the past, when they were at home, Yao Cunmei always looked down on her and often teased her, but in recent years, she had improved a lot. It must have been because of her young age and ignorance back then! Yao Cunhui thought to herself.

  Just then, Hong Lian brought in a bowl of medicine and saw that the third young lady was also stunned. She came forward to pay her respects and smiled gently at Madame Yao on the bed: "Madam, it's time to take your medicine."

  After all these days, Yao Cunhui had already come to terms with life and death. Seeing this, he just smiled faintly and said: "Leave it here, we'll drink again later." What's the point of drinking again? It's just suffering a bit more before dying!

  "Madam..." Yan's eyebrows were furrowed with worry and concern, wanting to persuade but afraid of irritating Yao Cunhui, holding the medicine bowl and standing there at a loss for what to do.

  "Give me the medicine, you all go and do what you need to do, I'll take care of things here!" Yao Cunmei smiled as she saw this, and without saying a word, snatched the medicine bowl away. With a mischievous glint in her watery almond-shaped eyes, she winked at Hong Lian and said: "Don't worry, sister, I'll definitely persuade sister to drink all of the medicine, not a single drop left!"

  Yao Cunhui, who was lying on the bed, also revealed a hint of a smile.

  "Then, I'll thank Third Miss first!" Hong Lian also forced a smile, but she was not quite at ease. Her own master had a soft heart, and Third Miss had done something to her that she tolerated without complaint, but Hong Lian still harbored some reservations in her heart. As the old saying goes, "It's easy to change one's circumstances, but hard to change one's nature." Now that Third Miss was suddenly being friendly with Second Miss, Hong Lian couldn't shake off the feeling of unease.

  "You go out first." Yao Cunhui smiled at Hong Lian.

  Her nose suddenly felt sour, and her eyes couldn't help but well up with tears. It had been a long time since she'd seen her master smile, so it was rare for him to be in a good mood today, and she decided to humor him.

  Hong Lian knelt down and responded with a "yes", then quietly retreated with the maid brought by Yao Cunmei.

  "Sister, drink your medicine quickly." Yao Cunmei's soft and stubborn voice rang out, her small face full of persistence.

  Yao Cunhui couldn't help but smile and took a small sip from her hand, savoring the sweet plum.

  "Sister is just dragging on!" Yao Cunhui felt sad and sighed with regret: "We sisters are all the same, suffering the same fate!"

  Yao Cunmei's body trembled slightly, and she pursed her lips without speaking.

  Yao Cunmei was engaged at the age of 14, and her fiancé's family was also a prominent merchant family. Unfortunately, her husband-to-be died before they got married, so she became a widow waiting for marriage. Until now, at the age of 23, she is still unmarried.

  "You're still young, why don't you marry a good man and settle down? This can't go on like this. Such a wonderful time of life is being wasted!" Yao Cunhui advised with a bitter tone.

  Yao Cunmei still didn't make a sound, her slender white fingers unconsciously clenched into fists, and a hint of hatred flashed in her beautiful eyes. Did she really not know or was she pretending not to know? She kept telling herself to be content with her current situation, but why had she never thought about letting someone take her place after she died? In the end, she just didn't want things to go well for herself, didn't want herself to become Madame Hou! What concern, what attachment, all fake, everything was fake!

  Thinking that she had hinted countless times, both explicitly and implicitly, but to no avail, Yao Cunmei's anger and resentment surged like a tsunami, crashing down on her.

  She gave a cold smile, her face as frosty as she stared at Yao Cun Hui with raised eyebrows: "Second sister doesn't need to worry about younger sister, younger sister has already thought of an escape route. Once second sister dies, younger sister will come over and marry in, taking care of the Hou estate for Master Hou! Second sister, you can rest assured and go now!"

  Yao Cunhui's mind went blank for a moment, and she stared with wide eyes, frozen in shock before stammering: "What did you say?"

  "Are you deaf or stupid!" Yao Cunmei said with hatred: "I'm saying, I will marry over and marry Lord Hou! My good second sister, did you hear clearly?"

  Yao Cun's mind was filled with an indescribable shock, staring blankly at Yao Cun Mei, her words echoing in his mind, for a moment he didn't know whether it was a dream or reality.

  "Sister, don't you feel anything uncomfortable with your body?" Yao Cunmei sneered with a cold smile.

  Yao Cun Hui's face suddenly changed color, and big drops of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. "You, you put something in my medicine!"

  "Hehe!" Yao Cunmei's mouth curved up, smiling with joy and delight, softly saying: "It's a magical medicine that will help Sister escape early and ascend to the realm of ultimate bliss!"

  "Master Hou will never let you go!" Yao Cunhui groaned in pain, panting heavily, her trembling hands pressed against her abdomen.

  "Ah!" Yao Cunmei gazed at her with a mixture of pity and disdain, shaking her head slowly. Her expression was gentle, but her words were sharper than a knife: "Second sister, do you think that without the prince's permission, I would dare to do such a thing? When second sister fell ill and couldn't get out of bed, and no medicine could cure her, did you never suspect anything? The medicine sister drank was personally prescribed by the prince and brewed by Hong Zhi herself!"

  Yao Cunhui's mind was greatly shocked, and he stared at Yao Cunmei in terror, muttering: "No, it can't be!" Lord Hou, Zhao Jiyuan, back then he was just a down-and-out scholar. If not for the help of the Yao family, if not for the help of his maternal grandfather's family, among the countless scholars in the world, how could he have risen to prominence at such a young age?

  Yao Cunmei sneered coldly and said lightly, "Second sister, you're dull and not good at socializing, and you're also disabled. Don't you think about it? What makes you qualified to be the madam of the Hou Mansion? Besides, after marrying into the Hou family for so many years, you haven't produced any offspring. Are you going to let the Hou family become extinct? Do you think it's enough just because you've helped the master take in two concubines? What the master wants is a legitimate son who can inherit the title! Can you provide that? You have no self-awareness and are occupying the position of the madam, you shouldn't be alive, who should die?"

  "You, you're talking nonsense!" Yao Cunhui's heart was freezing inch by inch, her mind was in a mess, she didn't want to believe it but had to admit that what Yao Cunmei said made sense, a lot of sense. In fact, she had already vaguely sensed something, but she didn't want to investigate further, she chose to believe him, believe his promises and feelings for her, yet unaware that the most unreliable thing in this world is a man's promise, and the easiest thing to change is the emotions between men and women!

  "Haha!" Yao Cunmei was extremely delighted, laughing with unparalleled joy. She said, "If you want to die, then let you die knowing the truth! Do you know why your own sister's engagement, which was arranged since childhood, was called off? Why did your own brother fall to his death? And why did you become lame? Want to know? Beg me, and I'll tell you!"

  "You, you——" Yao Cunhui's entire world collapsed, and the intense hatred burned fiercely. Her face turned bright red as she panted heavily.

  So that's how it is! Does she still need to ask? Does she still need to beg for Yu Cunmei to tell her? The image of her stepmother's gentle and kind face flashed before her eyes, and Yu Chunhui's eyes turned red with rage, wishing they could both perish together.

  Yao Cunmei smiled and said, "Right, there's also Zhenxi Wang Shen Ke, do you still remember him? Heh heh, he really has a crush on you! I heard that for your sake, he vowed to never marry, even refusing the imperial edict, which made the Empress Dowager furious. His title was stripped and he was sent back to his hometown, who knows what happened to him now? Alas, it's all thanks to him that you were able to obtain this title at such a young age, Lord Hou should really thank him properly! All of this is because of your face!"

  Yao Cunmei sighed in admiration, but Yao Cunhui's heart was turbulent and shocking! Shen Ke, Shen Ke, the image of a 11 or 12-year-old boy with a green shirt, slender and lonely figure emerged in her mind. Did he love her? She didn't know, she had never known! What did he do for her, she knew even less! Except that year, it seemed like she hadn't seen him again, ever!

  Yao Cunhui's eyes blazed with fury as she stared at Yao Cunmei, her hands and feet icy cold and trembling uncontrollably. Her internal organs felt like they were being scorched and torn apart. The faces of her older sister, younger brother, young Shen Que, gentle stepmother, and the venomous face in front of her swirled and changed before her eyes. The cramping pain in her abdomen grew more intense by the second, was she really going to die? Was this how she would meet her end?

  Unwilling, resentful, unresigned! Heaven, as long as it can let her be reborn and take revenge, she would rather sell her soul to the devil!

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