Lin Fu could no longer suppress his rage, raising his hand to slap her across the face.
“Silence! Do you still refuse to admit your wrongdoing?!”
His strike was vicious—within moments, a red handprint bloomed starkly against her flawless pale cheek.
She was long accustomed to such treatment, not even bothering to cover the sting. Stubbornly meeting Lin Fu’s gaze, she gritted through the pain and declared, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
She truly believed she hadn’t erred.
Running away from the arranged marriage had been the most willful decision of her life.
Though it earned her a beating that left her half-dead,
She felt no regret.
At the very least, the marriage alliance was now irrevocably broken.
It was worth it.
Her unwavering defiance only fueled Lin Fu’s fury.
He snatched a wooden plank from a servant and swung it hard against Lin Xianyu’s knees.
Once, twice—
He didn’t stop until she could no longer stand, collapsing to the ground.
“Let me make clear exactly what you’ve done wrong! You fled your wedding, showing no respect for propriety. You disregard your elders and defy your father’s wishes, and even now you refuse to repent—this is unfilial! Someone as disrespectful and unfilial as you doesn’t deserve to be a daughter of the Lin family!”
With those final words, he hurled the plank furiously at her body.
Lin Xianyu didn’t dodge—she no longer had the strength to.
The heavy board struck her already frail form, sending fresh waves of bone-splintering pain through her.
Strangely, she didn’t resent this pain; her body didn’t resist it.
It kept her mind sharp and clear.
“I never considered myself a true daughter of the Lin family. Why should I marry whomever you command? I told you I didn’t want to marry Jiang Yunnan, that I refused to join the Jiang family. Did anyone in the Lin family ever listen to a word I said? Did anyone ever truly care how I felt? Since I was a child, have you ever treated me as your own daughter?”
“You wretched ingrate! You were born a Lin, and you’ll die a Lin! How dare you question me? I raised you all these years—not for you to freeload! We nurtured you for this very day. And what did you do? You’ve ruined our family!”
“You raised me just to hand me over to the Jiang family? You raised me to marry a complete stranger? You raised me so you could trade my future for your comfort and wealth?”
So her existence was merely a stepping stone for his social climbing.
“Marrying into their family is an honor! The Jiangs are a prestigious household—countless families have sought matches with their young master, countless girls dreamed of wedding him. You were given this chance and threw it away, yet you have the audacity to spout such nonsense! Do you have any idea how tarnished your reputation is in Suzhou? Do you know how much effort I invested to secure this match for you? And you—so recklessly—staged an escape and made the Lin family the laughingstock of the city! Do you realize the scale of the disaster you’ve caused? Everything is ruined! The relationship between our Lin family and the Jiangs is over forever!”
“I know.” She was fully aware.
“But I told you from the start—no matter what, I would never marry him.”
She still refused to yield.
Lin Fu trembled with uncontrollable rage.”What kind of thing are you? Marrying him is your good fortune!”
“For you, I am merely a tool for seeking wealth. For you, I’m not even worth as much as the cats and dogs in the mansion. Father, I suppose I’m not much of anything indeed.”
She struggled to rise from the ground, her entire being swaying unsteadily in the hall like a cattail that could be scattered by the wind at any moment, as if she might perish at any second.
Her voice was weak, yet she forced herself to point at Lin Fu and scold: “But you? What kind of thing are you?”
Lin Fu flew into a rage and immediately ordered her thrown into the woodshed, forbidding her from taking half a step outside without his command.
Su Youen had never had such wretched luck in her life.
First, she encountered the male lead she least wanted to see, then her eldest brother sent her off to the dull and tedious Academy.
On her way home, she actually came across someone attempting suicide. She kindly saved this person, only to be roundly scolded by them.
Yet when she realized who the suicidal person was, she understood: there’s no such thing as rock bottom—there’s always worse.
Even more unfortunate was that the suicidal person happened to be the other person she least wanted to encounter besides Jiang Yunnan: the novel’s female lead, Lin Xianyu.
She never expected her first meeting with Lin Xianyu to begin like this.
She encountered Lin Xianyu while passing by Xingchuan Lake.
Just as Youen reached the bridge by Xingchuan Lake, she spotted a woman in wedding clothes throwing herself into the lake.
Without a second thought, she shoved the stack of xuan paper she was holding into Su Yan’s arms and immediately jumped into the lake to rescue her.
Fortunately, during her time at the Western Depot, the Director had taught her how to swim.
Faced with this situation, she was able to remain calm and successfully pull the person ashore.
When she first noticed the wedding dress, Youen didn’t think much of it, focusing only on rescuing the person quickly.
Luckily, Su Yan was nearby. Skilled in medicine, he revived her in no time.
However, the moment she opened her eyes, her face was full of grief and indignation, her tone utterly anguished: “Why did you save me? Why…”
She had wanted release, so why was she dragged back into the abyss?
Su Youen frowned, imitating Su Yang’s tone as she spoke earnestly: “We saved you so you could live well.”
But for her, living was truly hopeless.
Seeing her so despondent, Su Yang couldn’t help but sigh softly. He crouched down, looked at her, and began his lecture: “Miss, life is hard for everyone. No matter what troubles you face, there’s always a solution. But if you end your life by drowning yourself like this, then there truly is no chance for a fresh start.”
“Besides, if you leave like this, think how heartbroken your family would be.”
The word “family” cut into her heart like a knife.
In that instant, the light in her eyes suddenly changed, as if all the water droplets had frozen into frost beneath her long, curved eyelashes.
Her voice gradually calmed, all emotion drained from it.
“My family are the people who despise me most in this world. They wish for my death more than I do.”
Seeing her like this, Youen suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
The calmer this woman appeared, the more frightened she became.
A bad premonition suddenly struck her.
Could this woman in wedding clothes before her be none other than the unfavored second daughter of the Lin family, Lin Xianyu?
Only then did she begin to carefully examine the wedding dress the woman wore.
Whether in style, pattern, or even the minute details, this wedding dress was extremely similar to Jiang Yunnan’s.
It couldn’t really be such a coincidence, could it?
Youen silently took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and tentatively asked, “If I may ask, is your attire an indication that you’ve just gotten married?”
Thank you all for the tips and votes~ Love you all~