Lin Ran felt a scorching heat throughout her body, and her head throbbed with bouts of dizziness. Looking at the man before her, her heart felt as though it had fallen into an icy abyss.
However, she still pinched her palm with all her might to keep herself conscious, issuing a sharp warning:
“Zhu Chengcai, this is the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, not a place where you can act wantonly!”
Zhu Chengcai gave a lewd smile.
“That’s right, this young master knows this is the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion. This young master also knows that you are the legitimate eldest young lady of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, but so what?”
“After tonight, you won’t be!”
“If you serve this young master well and make me comfortable, I might even reluctantly marry you into the Zhu household. Otherwise, if this young master becomes unhappy, the dignified eldest miss of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion will be reduced to the concubine of a mere merchant!”
“You…”
Lin Ran was overcome with rage, causing the effects of the drug to manifest even faster. She felt as though her entire body was about to collapse onto the floor; she could only lean weakly against the table, rapidly thinking of a countermeasure.
Not long after she had finished drinking tea in the courtyard, she felt something was wrong with her body. She couldn’t call for anyone, and that was exactly when Zhu Chengcai entered.
Zhu Chengcai was the younger brother of her father’s concubine, Aunt Zhu.
In the middle of the night, Zhu Chengcai appeared in her courtyard just as she happened to be drugged—this forced Lin Ran to suspect it was the handiwork of Aunt Zhu.
But she truly hadn’t expected Aunt Zhu’s courage to be so great!
To actually dare to move against her so openly within the Marquis Mansion, was she not afraid that her father would blame her?
However, she had no time to hold Aunt Zhu accountable now. Since she couldn’t rely on anyone else, she could only save herself!
Lin Ran didn’t want to provoke Zhu Chengcai, so she could only resort to an intentional threat:
“Zhu Chengcai, you also know that I am the eldest young lady of the Marquis Mansion, yet you still dare to treat me like this? Aren’t you afraid my father will take action against you and the Zhu family?”
As she spoke to distract Zhu Chengcai’s attention, she slowly moved closer to the vase on the table.
Zhu Chengcai did not disappoint her expectations, pointing at Lin Ran and laughing mockingly.
“Hahaha…”
“At this point, this young master won’t hide it from you anymore!”
“Do you want to know why I dare to act like this?”
“Isn’t it all because of the tacit permission from my brother-in-law, the Marquis!”
“Last month your mother passed away, and now the only relative from your maternal family, Old Man Shen, has also died from excessive grief. There is no one left to stop my brother-in-law from promoting my sister to the position of primary wife!”
“A helpless little girl like you can be disposed of however he wishes!”
Lin Ran’s hand, which had just tremblingly touched the vase, suddenly froze.
What?
It was tacitly permitted by her father?
Then, a bitter smile followed.
She should have guessed it long ago, shouldn’t she?
In the dignified Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, allowing an outside male to break into the inner courtyard without a single servant stopping him—even a single shadow hadn’t appeared.
Even her own personal maid had been sent away!
To think she had still held onto a final glimmer of hope!
That was it!
Her mother had just finished the first seven days of mourning when her maternal grandfather followed.
The vast Shen family had all fallen into her father’s hands. As an heir who possessed half of the Shen family’s bloodline, she was surely an eyesore to everyone!
Over there, Zhu Chengcai was still shouting unscrupulously, insulting Lin Ran to his heart’s content.
Lin Ran closed her eyes and took a deep breath before using all the strength in her body to pick up the vase and smash it toward his forehead.
“Ah…”
Zhu Chengcai cried out in pain as he touched the blood on his forehead, and he kicked Lin Ran.
“You bitch, you still dare to fight back!”
Lin Ran was already drained of strength; this kick sent her falling directly to the floor. Her temple happened to strike the corner of the table, and blood instantly flowed out like a flood.
However, it was also this pain that brought a bit of clarity to Lin Ran as the drug took effect.
Taking this opportunity, she grabbed the teacups and the teapot from the table and continued to smash them all toward Zhu Chengcai’s forehead. Then, she immediately stumbled toward the bedroom and locked the door behind her.
Zhu Chengcai’s forehead had been struck repeatedly, and a large hole had already formed. Blood gurgled outward, blurring his vision and making his head feel heavy and dizzy. But at this moment, he was submerged in rage and didn’t care about his injuries; he only wanted to catch the culprit, Lin Ran!
He kicked the door violently, roaring:
“Lin Ran, you bitch! Come out!”
Lin Ran was already somewhat delirious by now, but she still managed to find a dagger in the room, clutching it tightly in her hand to prevent Zhu Chengcai from breaking through the door.
However, Zhu Chengcai’s voice outside grew weaker and weaker.
Until a “thud” was heard—Zhu Chengcai had collapsed to the ground. Only soft groans remained from his mouth, accompanied by a pool of blood.
Only then did Lin Ran breathe a sigh of relief, allowing herself to slowly collapse and sit on the floor.
The tea in that teapot had been drugged by them. Just now, she had intentionally smashed Zhu Chengcai’s forehead open before smashing the teapot; he was bound to be affected by the drug. Presumably, the drug was taking effect now.
With such a large wound, if the bleeding couldn’t be stopped in time, his end could well be imagined.
Although she had temporarily dealt with Zhu Chengcai, Lin Ran’s current situation was not good.
She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to resist the drug’s properties and would ultimately still fall into the trap of that pack of wolves!
Thinking of this, Lin Ran couldn’t help but feel a surge of grief.
First, she had sent away her mother, and a few days later, she had sent away her maternal grandfather. Before she could even emerge from the pain of losing her closest relatives, she was struck by her biological father!
Although the relationship between her father and mother had long since broken down, she was still her father’s biological flesh and blood. Even if she were beaten to death, she never would have imagined her father would plot against her like this!
But it wasn’t surprising, either!
Just because her mother had injured her body during a difficult labor when giving birth to her and had never been able to produce a male heir for the Marquis Mansion, her father had always been dissatisfied with her mother, and by extension, had never given her a kind look.
Later, her father wanted to take a concubine, but her mother disagreed, and the two began to argue incessantly.
Her father had completely forgotten the promise he made when he sought her mother’s hand in marriage—that he would never take concubines or elevate bedchamber maids!
In the end, her mother couldn’t overcome her father and he took Aunt Zhu.
More than that, when Aunt Zhu gave birth to the only male heir of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, her father even wanted to elevate Aunt Zhu to the status of an equal wife.
How could her mother possibly agree!
In the end, it was her maternal grandfather who stepped forward to reject her father.
Her maternal family, the Shen family, were Imperial Merchants. They had been in business for generations; to say they were as wealthy as a nation was an understatement!
Even though dynasties changed, the Shen family’s business had never been interrupted.
Therefore, even the Dingyuan Marquis had to be wary of the Shen family!
But things were different now!
By her grandfather’s generation, the Shen family had only her mother as a daughter. Now that all the members of the Shen family were gone, how could those treasures accumulated over generations not attract greed?
Even her father was no exception. It was just that he was even more ruthless—he wouldn’t even let her go, even though his daughter was the heir!
Lin Ran clenched her teeth, unaware that her fingernails were sinking deep into her palms. This bit of pain was not even one-ten-thousandth of her heartache.
Since he had no regard for familial affection, he couldn’t blame her for being unfilial!
Immersed in a myriad of thoughts, Lin Ran didn’t notice that the blood from her temple was slowly flowing down her jaw and into the jade pendant around her neck.
A flash of white light flickered, and Lin Ran discovered to her horror that she was standing in front of a bamboo house.
Hadn’t she just been hiding in her bedroom?
How did she end up in the middle of nowhere in the blink of an eye?
However, Lin Ran had no time to think about these things right now because she saw a river.
The scorching heat in her body was growing stronger, almost burning away her last trace of reason. She desperately needed water to extinguish it!
Lin Ran stumbled and crawled to the riverbank, plunging her entire body into the river, hoping the cold water would clear her head!