“Among these five gentlemen, I won’t marry a single one.”
Xie Qingran’s voice was as clear as spring water, yet in the solemn atmosphere of the Xie family main hall, it fell like a heavy stone into a lake, stirring up massive waves.
“What nonsense are you speaking? According to the Great Jin Law, if a woman remains unmarried by twenty, the light punishment is twenty lashes, while the severe penalty is exile—bringing disaster upon her family.”
Madam Xie, Wang Shi, arched her willow-leaf eyebrows in anger. Her well-maintained lotus-like face glared furiously at Xie Qingran as she said, “You have only two months left until you turn twenty. If you don’t marry, do you intend to jeopardize your father’s and brother’s official careers?”
The aggressive accusations felt all too familiar.
Sitting in her chair, Xie Qingran’s expression momentarily wavered, lost in a daze.
This was no dream.
She had truly been reborn.
She had returned to the age of nineteen, on the very second day after the Xie family had brought her back to the capital from the countryside where she had been raised by an old matron.
“Ran’er, don’t be willful.”
Her father, Xie Yankang, spoke up at that moment.
Unlike Wang Shi, he wasn’t enraged. Instead, he sighed, resembling any caring father in the world who had worn himself out worrying for his daughter. Pointing at the portraits in the hall, he said with earnest concern, “These are five young men your mother and I have carefully selected. Is there not a single one that pleases you?”
Hearing this, Xie Qingran followed her father’s gesture and swept her gaze over the five portraits before her.
Each strikingly handsome face acted like a key, unlocking the blood-soaked shackles of her past life’s memories.
They were each more handsome than the last, with tall and elegant statures.
Yet their methods grew increasingly ruthless.
And their hearts were all devoted to the Xie family’s adopted daughter, Xie Hanyue.
In her previous life, Xie Qingran, yearning for familial affection and fearing that her marriage would bring trouble to the Xie family, hastily chose one from among them to marry.
Yet, she inexplicably lost her purity and was successively rejected in marriage five times.
Little did she know that they were all devoted to the adopted daughter Xie Hanyue, whose every tear would captivate them, leaving them utterly spellbound.
Merely to win Xie Hanyue’s favor, they took the lead in isolating and bullying her in the capital, schemed to strip her of her purity, and broke off engagements with her five times.
In the end, her reputation was in ruins, leaving her with no way out. She had no choice but to marry a widower—who had outlived three wives—the night before her twentieth birthday, just to survive.
Yet, even that was part of their scheme. They bribed the widower to deliver her into a den of beggars, where she was tortured to death!
Only in her final moments did she learn that it was all the doing of those five distinguished sons of noble families. Even the widower had been bribed by them, all to win Xie Hanyue’s favor.
A single tear from Xie Hanyue had cost her an entire lifetime.
Seeing her remain silent for so long, Wang Shi grew so furious that she twisted the handkerchief in her hand, barely maintaining the dignified composure she prided herself on as a noblewoman. She scolded, “I think she’s been corrupted by that old hag in the countryside! She’s even more unruly than she was as a child. Such fine young men, and she refuses to marry any of them—she hasn’t an ounce of Hanyue’s understanding!”
Snapping back to reality, Xie Qingran turned her gaze, cold and steady, toward the undisguised resentment and irritation on Wang Shi’s face. A sense of absurdity and mockery rose within her.
Yes, she was the legitimate daughter of the Xie family, yet due to a childhood incident where she was accused of “willfully pushing down a noble consort,” her parents had hastily sent her to the countryside, leaving her in the care of an old matron sent by the consort. For years, she had longed for her parents every single day.
Yet, the very day after she left home, her parents, using their “overwhelming grief” as an excuse, adopted Xie Hanyue, who took her place and enjoyed all the affection and care that should have been hers.
Now, heaven had shown mercy, granting her a second chance at life. Xie Qingran refused to have even the slightest connection with any of them ever again!
Including the Xie Family.
The tragic outcome of her previous life made Xie Qingran fully understand that blood ties, though thicker than water, sometimes could not compare to the bonds formed through daily companionship.
“Does Mother blame her daughter for being mischievous in childhood?”
Xie Qingran stood straight-backed, her elegant posture flawless, meeting Wang Shi’s gaze openly and honestly: “Has Mother forgotten that it was you who suffered humiliation from the Noble Consort, kneeling in the bitter cold for nearly half an hour? Out of concern for you, I pushed the Noble Consort.”
Wang Shi’s face stiffened, flushing with anger and shame: “Are you blaming me? I’ve done my utmost to compensate you! Even these five young masters were secured by me swallowing my pride to plead on your behalf!”
“Your daughter wouldn’t dare.”
Xie Qingran smiled faintly, remaining perfectly composed: “Mother gave me the gift of life. I bear no resentment for shielding you from misfortune. However, Father, Mother, your daughter isn’t ungrateful—I simply believe there are better choices in the capital besides these five gentlemen.”
“Better choices?” Wang Shi was taken aback, then her expression shifted dramatically as if struck by a thought, “Don’t tell me you’re thinking… of entering the palace? Xie Qingran! Have you lost your mind!”
Xie Yankang’s face also darkened, clearly sharing Wang Shi’s suspicion, “You’re being foolish! Everyone knows His Majesty dotes exclusively on the Noble Consort now, their bond is unbreakable, the rear palace is practically deserted! Entertaining such thoughts now would bring disaster upon the Xie Family!”
“Wrong.” Xie Qingran shook her head gently, a faint, ambiguous curve touching her lips: “What your daughter means is—”
She deliberately paused, letting Wang Shi and Xie Yankang’s impatient gazes intensify before parting her vermilion lips to enunciate: “Zhen. Guo. Duke. Manor.”
“What?!”
These four words struck like a thunderclap from a clear sky!
Not only Wang Shi, but even Xie Yankang sprang to his feet, his face filled with shock and disbelief, “You… you want to marry into Zhen Guo Duke Manor?”
“Indeed, your daughter wishes to marry into Zhen Guo Duke Manor.”
Xie Qingran repeated unhurriedly, a composed smile gracing her lips.
She was confident Xie Yankang would agree.
Although the five gentlemen selected by the Xie Family came from prominent families, none… could compare to the prestige of Zhen Guo Duke Manor.
Most importantly, no one would accuse Xie Qingran of delusions of grandeur or social climbing.
Because…
It was common knowledge that Zhen Guo Duke Manor had just concluded an extremely brutal battle, with nearly all its male members sacrificed!
Now, the vast Zhen Guo Duke Manor had only one remaining heir—the once exceptionally talented but now leg-disabled and facially disfigured heir:
Xiao Jue.
Rumored to be sinister and temperamental, perpetually confined to his sickbed.
A veritable King of Hell returned from death’s door.
He also had two young brothers merely eleven or twelve years old, an infant sister, and the widows and young children left by three elder brothers who died in battle…
A whole household of orphans and widows—an enormous burden!
“This is unacceptable!”
Wang Shi stood up agitatedly, her last shred of matriarchal dignity crumbling as she anxiously exclaimed: “Zhen Guo Duke Manor is a pit of fire! Marrying there would ruin your entire life!”
For the first time, genuine disapproval and a trace of heartache showed in her eyes.
Xie Qingran couldn’t help but glance at Wang Shi, feeling a cold, detached chill in her heart.
Perhaps Wang Shi’s heart wasn’t completely devoid of affection for her own flesh and blood.
But this meager mother-daughter bond, compared to the years of favor shown to Xie Hanyue and the future prospects of the Xie father and sons, ultimately amounted to—
A world of difference.
A glint of excitement flashed swiftly in Xie Yankang’s eyes but was immediately suppressed as he hypocritically chimed in: “Your mother is right! Given the Zhen Guo Duke Manor’s current circumstances, how could our Xie Family push our own legitimate daughter into such a situation? No, this marriage alliance is absolutely unacceptable!”
Xie Qingran sneered inwardly while maintaining an increasingly deferential demeanor. She rose and walked before Xie Yankang and Wang Shi, resolutely kneeling as she declared: “Father, Mother, the Xie Family has raised me for many years, and I’ve no way to repay this grace. Now that His Majesty is concerned about comforting the Zhen Guo Duke Manor and settling the Young Master Xiao, if our Xie Family voluntarily offers to marry a daughter there, we could ease the Emperor’s worries, gain imperial favor, and greatly benefit our clan. I… am willing to brave any danger for the Xie Family, even at the cost of my life!”
She spoke with profound sincerity.
The calculation in Xie Yankang’s eyes finally overwhelmed his meager hypocritical paternal affection. After a moment of feigned anguish, he nodded with a pained expression: “Since… since your resolve is firm, your father… shall grant your wish. Our Xie Family daughter truly understands righteousness!”
With the family head’s decision made, Wang Shi’s lips trembled, unable to voice opposition for a long while.
Having anticipated this outcome, Xie Qingran lowered her head to conceal the barely perceptible mockery in her eyes: “Thank you for granting my request, Father and Mother.”
The law compelled this marriage.
But since she had a choice this time, Xie Qingran would never again be the mud beneath others’ feet in this lifetime.