Su Tanghuan, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, was drowsily slumped by the side of the nuptial bed.
On the wedding bed, her new husband lay unconscious.
In a state between sleep and wakefulness, a scorching chest suddenly pressed against her back. A long arm wrapped around her, holding her tight.
Frightened, she dug her fingers into the edge of the bed, on the verge of tears from shame and anger. She reached out to push the muscular man behind her. “Don’t…”
“Quite bold of you!”
A low, hoarse voice chided by her ear. He seized her wrist, raised it high, and flipped over to press down on her, uninhibitedly kissing his way down her jade-like neck.
The sensation of his ravaging kisses was both tingling and painful.
She couldn’t help but murmur softly, “Please be gentle. My summer clothes are thin. If someone sees, I’ll be ruined…”
The Nobleman let out a soft scoff.
A domineering sentence fell beside her ear: “Who would dare say anything? I’ll cut out his tongue!”
She was swept up horizontally into his arms and carried into the side room.
The red curtains fell, draping all the way to the floor, their sheer fabric hazily silhouetting a pair of figures entwined in an intimate embrace.
Her small hand would, from time to time, touch a crescent scar below his lower abdomen.
It wasn’t until she collapsed onto the floor from exhaustion, her body aching, that she abruptly startled awake from the dream.
“Young Mistress, what’s wrong?”
Her young maid, Huan’er, hurriedly helped her up.
Su Tanghuan got to her feet, her limbs weak and limp, and a cold sweat began to break out all over her body. It was that dream again—the one about her future fate!
Seven months ago.
Her parents had tragically encountered bandits while traveling for business and were robbed and murdered.
Overnight, her uncles seized all the fields and shops, and sixteen-year-old Su Tanghuan became like meat on a chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered.
Fortunately, her Aunt, who had married into a high-ranking family, promptly sent people to bring her to Xingyang, where she lived in the prestigious clan’s residence with the status of a cousin-miss.
One month ago.
Her Aunt had tearfully grasped her hand, saying a master diviner had calculated that only if she married her cousin to ward off ill fortune would he, gravely ill in bed, have a chance of survival.
She also promised that if her Cousin were to die, and Su Tanghuan wished to leave, she would help her find a good family to marry into, provide her with a generous dowry, and ensure she lived a life free of worry.
To repay this kindness, Su Tanghuan agreed to the marriage.
From that moment on, she was plagued by the same nightmare every day.
Initially, it was just scattered, sensual fragments of a dream. The closer the wedding day approached, the more complete the dream became.
Until the dream on the night before the wedding, she finally saw the whole picture.
It began with her Cousin’s sudden death on their wedding night.
Her Aunt’s attitude completely changed. Blaming her for cursing the Second Young Master to death, she locked Su Tanghuan in with the coffin for a whole month, leaving her no way to escape.
She had thought that if she obediently endured her cousin’s mourning period and waited for her Aunt’s anger to subside, she could beg to be set free.
Who knew…
Her Uncle was suddenly stripped of his official post, and her Aunt actually drugged her, sending her to a Nobleman’s bed as a plaything.
Between the sheets, the distinguished Nobleman became obsessed with her body.
She had even thought the Nobleman liked her a little and wanted to ask him to save her.
Who knew, her Aunt told her that the Nobleman was in marriage negotiations with the prestigious county clan, the Qinghe Cui Clan, and cursed her for being a toad lusting after a swan’s flesh—a foolish delusion!
Afterward, her Aunt, despising her, divorced her, but still refused to let her go.
She sent her to the beds of different noblemen, wringing out her last bit of value and having her tortured to death.
…
Su Tanghuan shuddered.
She turned her head to look at the large, red silk canopy. Lying beneath the mandarin duck brocade quilt was the very Cousin who was going to die tonight!
She quickly pulled herself together, walked to the bedside, lifted the red curtain, and carefully checked on her Cousin.
His eyes were shut tight, his face deathly pale.
Mustering her courage, she reached out a hand to check for breath under his nose. It was as faint as a gossamer thread. She snatched her hand back.
In a little while, her Aunt would bring people over, just in time for her Cousin to breathe his last.
If she didn’t escape now, she would lose her chance.
But where could she escape to?
The final fate of an unregistered orphan girl would be even more miserable than what she experienced in the dream.
A person appeared in Su Tanghuan’s mind.
Perhaps he was the only one who could save her.
She turned back to look at Huan’er.
Huan’er was a house-born servant of the Zheng residence. Although she was kind to her, Su Tanghuan didn’t dare risk revealing her thoughts.
Su Tanghuan took Huan’er’s hand and said softly, “Huan’er, go report to Aunt. Just say that Cousin is doing well and tell her to entertain the guests with peace of mind. I’m here.”
Huan’er nodded. “Alright.”
“I want to prepare a bowl of ginseng and fish floss congee for Cousin, so he can have something to line his stomach when he wakes up before taking his medicine. If Aunt permits, please go instruct the kitchen to prepare it.”
Huan’er was worried about her.
“Should I have them make a bowl of noodles for you too? You haven’t eaten all day, and you look a bit pale.”
Su Tanghuan’s nose tingled with a sour feeling.
Lowering her gaze, she released her hand, turned back to the bed, and pretended to gently tuck the quilt in for her Cousin.
She said softly, “Alright, thank you, Huan’er.”
Huan’er felt that her mood was off, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.
After Huan’er left, Su Tanghuan quickly shut the door.
While shedding the multiple layers of her wedding gown and putting on a moon-white, cotton, front-fastening common dress, she tied the sash and looked around.
Her only remaining five hundred taels of silver notes and the jewelry her mother had left her had all been taken by her Aunt. She was now penniless.
She needed money to escape.
Su Tanghuan strode to the dressing table and pried the pearls off her wedding headdress.
Opening the jewelry box, she bent the ends of the only pair of real gold hairpins at the very bottom, turning them into a small piece. She wrapped it up with the pearls in a handkerchief and stuffed it into the inner pocket of her short jacket.
The back window of the room was high and small; she had to stand on her tiptoes just to reach it.
She dragged a chair over, stepped on it to push the window open, and thankfully, it wasn’t sealed shut.
She struggled to climb up, stuck her head out to look down, and saw nothing but pitch darkness outside. She could only grit her teeth, close her eyes, and jump.
Her feet gave way upon landing, and her knees slammed heavily onto the ground, the pain making her whole body tremble.
With no time to cry, she scrambled up and, limping, dove into the low bushes, running with all her might toward the back garden.
Fortunately, the servants were all in the front courtyard attending to the wedding banquet guests, so the back garden was empty.
Su Tanghuan ran for her life. She reached the covered walkway, passed through the moon gate in the middle, and entered the western side-courtyard. There, under the outer wall, was a hidden doggy door.
She was ecstatic.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps arose.
Immediately after, she saw a group of people carrying several lanterns, escorting her Aunt as they walked from the covered walkway. She quickly hid behind the rockery.
Her Aunt’s steps were hurried. “What kind of state is Second Young Master in that he can still drink congee? She’s been attending to him for so long, doesn’t she even know how to care for someone? She’s truly nothing but trouble.”
Su Tanghuan’s heart burned with anxiety.
She had hoped to use Huan’er to delay her Aunt, but it seemed her plan had failed. Her Aunt would soon discover she had run away.
Huan’er trotted behind, speaking up for Su Tanghuan. “Second Young Mistress has been taking good care of him, but she hasn’t eaten all day either, so she’s hungry.”
Her Aunt swung her hand back and slapped her.
“What did I send you to do? Was it to look after her food and drink? I told you not to leave her side for a moment! If anything happens to Second Young Master, and something goes wrong with the ghost marriage bride, you can just hang yourself and accompany him!”
Huan’er clutched her face, too terrified to even cry.
Su Tanghuan’s heart pounded in shock.
So her Aunt had long predicted that Second Young Master wouldn’t make it. That’s why she forced her into this marriage today. If he died, she would make her perform the wedding rites as a ghost wife!
She really was going to use her and then defile her.
Zheng Su-shi, you are truly vicious!
Su Tanghuan glanced at Huan’er’s pitiful state, but she couldn’t even save herself, let alone anyone else.
Once the group had passed, Su Tanghuan sprinted desperately toward the doggy door.
Just as she pulled aside the weeds, she heard a shout from behind her, “The Second Young Master has passed away!”
The residence instantly descended into chaos.
“Quick, quick, hang up all the prepared funeral items.”
“Oh no, the Second Young Mistress is missing! Find her quickly, we can’t let her get away!”
“Find her, quickly! She can’t have gone far.”
Terrified, Su Tanghuan scrambled through the doggy door on all fours.
Outside the doggy door was the narrow alley between the high walls of the Zheng residence and the Grand Tutor’s residence.
The person she wanted to ask for help was precisely Grand Tutor Ji’s own elder brother, the Heir of the Loyal and Brave Marquis, Ji Yuan.