The night was as dark as ink.
Zhang Jingwan’s hand trembled, and the Wintersweet bud about to bloom fell to the ground.
She stared at the maid who had come to report, disbelief coloring her voice: “Did the one from the West Wing truly throw the Heir Apparent off the bed?”
Even the usually composed Baizhi could not conceal the shock in her tone:
“Madam, this was told to me personally by Shun’an, who serves by the Heir Apparent’s side. It is absolutely true.”
After a pause, she leaned closer, whispering into Zhang Jingwan’s ear: “I heard the struggle was so intense that the Heir Apparent hit his head on the corner of the bed and bled. Shoucheng has already gone to fetch Doctor Zhao.”
“It even came to bloodshed?”
Zhang Jingwan’s face instantly lost all color:
“I thought she was merely straightforward, young, and a bit reckless because the Heir Apparent dotes on her. I never imagined she would be so unwise!”
She set down her scissors and, after a maid helped her into her cloak, hurried toward the study of her husband, Shao Mu, the Heir Apparent of Yong’an Marquisate.
“This time, she must be severely punished by Mother-in-law.”
She said bitterly.
…
In the West Wing of the Marquisate, inside Linlang Pavilion.
Lin Ruochu sat on the bed in a thin gauze robe, staring blankly at the glaring patch of crimson on the bedpost.
Jinque knelt at her feet, her face streaked with anxious tears:
“Concubine, why did you have to cause such a scene when everything was fine?”
“After the last incident three months ago, the Heir Apparent stopped visiting, and the stewards started treating us poorly, even withholding our charcoal. Now that the Heir Apparent finally came, why did you start another quarrel after just a few words?”
“The Heir Apparent’s head is bleeding, his face is injured—this is a calamity! You could be dragged out and beaten to death for this!”
Jinque grew more terrified the longer she cried. She was not this concubine’s dowry maid but a household servant originally assigned from the Heir Apparent’s courtyard after the concubine was brought into the residence.
Earlier in the year, when the mistress arranged for a virtuous concubine to bear the Heir Apparent’s child, Concubine Lin threw such a fit that she smashed half of Linlang Pavilion, infuriating the Marquess’s wife so much that she sealed off the courtyard, leaving everyone there to endure the Northwest Wind for three months.
After that, Concubine Lin seemed to come to her senses a little and personally coaxed the Heir Apparent back. Jinque had thought life would return to how it was before.
Three months ago, when news came from Concubine Sun’s courtyard that she was with child, Concubine Lin went even madder than the first time, slapping the Heir Apparent across the face and frightening everyone in the courtyard out of their wits.
Yet the Heir Apparent, being so fond of her, only left with a cold expression after the uproar, saying, “Take good care of the concubine,” before returning to the main residence. Though he stopped visiting, he did not punish her.
But this time, she has injured the Heir Apparent’s face…
The maids and servants in Linlang Pavilion whispered behind her back: Concubine Lin simply doesn’t know what’s good for her!
They said she was originally the legitimate daughter of a general’s household. To marry the Heir Apparent, she broke ties with her family, was struck from the family register, and lost both her maternal support and her social standing. That was why she was accepted into the residence as a low-ranking concubine.
If one said she was fortunate—a respectable young lady ended up living like a base-born.
If one said she was unfortunate—the Heir Apparent doted on her to the heavens, not even punishing her after being struck, and she could still win him back after three months.
They concluded: Concubine Lin was originally blessed with good fortune, but she insisted on ruining herself, turning her fate into one of misery!
As it happened, she had been weeping and sniveling every day, longing for the Heir Apparent’s visit. When he finally came, the two of them were so passionately in love that they drew the bed curtains, and the maids retreated outside the door, awaiting the good news of their mistress’s restored favor. Yet, Concubine Lin ended up kicking the Heir Apparent right off the bed!
To make matters worse, his head struck the bedpost, leaving a gash the size of a fingernail, and the bleeding simply wouldn’t stop!
Jinque felt as if the sky were spinning and the earth turning beneath her, terrified out of her wits. Shoucheng and Shun’an helped the Heir Apparent out without daring to say a word to her, and Jinque collapsed weeping by the bedside.
The reward money she had saved up would likely be of no use to her now!
For the Heir Apparent to be disfigured was a grave taboo—they might even be beaten to death, the servants who had been attending nearby!
As she wept, Jinlan and Jinyu from the inner courtyard followed suit, kneeling and crying as they entered.
The servants and maids in the outer courtyard also knelt, filling the courtyard with their lamentations.
The entire Linlang Pavilion was plunged into despair, mourning in unison as if for their own funeral.
Only Lin Ruochu, the one who had started it all, remained completely oblivious.
Jinque’s sobs seemed to come through a muffled layer—audible, yet indistinct.
At that moment, another, even more clamorous voice echoed in her mind.
A voice she detested to the core.
[System! I quit!]
[Shao Mu, that faithless scoundrel, promised me a lifetime together, only to marry another woman under that bitch Zhang Jingwan’s instigation!]
[Fine, he married her, but he actually slept with her—and got her pregnant!!]
[Whoever wants to Capture such a scumbag can go ahead! I’m done with this!]
The shrill female voice surged uncontrollably in her mind like a tidal wave.
Three years—it had been three years since that nightmare of a coming-of-age ceremony when she turned fifteen. For three whole years, she had endured this voice!
During those three years, she could neither move nor speak, as if trapped in a cramped iron cage. She could see everything around her but had no control over her own body, forced to watch as the woman inside her used her form to commit one absurd act after another!
At her coming-of-age ceremony, she was “forced” to fall in love at first sight with Shao Mu, the Heir Apparent of Yong’an!
“Forced” to tear up her engagement to Li Xuan.
“Forced” to drive her mother to severe illness, confined to her bed, and her father to remove her from the family registry and expel her from the Lin family.
Then “forced” to be settled in the rear courtyard by Shao Mu as a commoner.
No parental consent, no matchmaker’s arrangements, no betrothal rites, no wedding ceremony!
Just like that, she had become one of Shao Mu’s women in the rear courtyard, without any clarity or dignity!
Even those of the lowly servant class had contracts and documents. She, a lawful commoner, was treated worse than the lowest of the low!
Such utter humiliation!
All of it was thanks to the woman inside her body!
At first, when Lin Ruochu heard the voice within her, she thought she had been possessed by an evil spirit and felt nothing but terror. She prayed daily for someone to notice her abnormality and rescue her from the darkness.
But three years!
A full three years!
No one knew that the soul inside her body had long been replaced!
No one could save her; she could only save herself!
The voice in her head continued relentlessly.
[I injured Shao Mu—that bitch Zhang Jingwan will never let me off!]
[Let me rest first then; I don’t want to suffer. Send me into the Dimension to hide for a while. I should have enough Points to exchange for three days, right?]
Listening to the voice, Lin Ruochu gritted her teeth, controlled her body, and inched her way toward the bedside. Then, mustering all her strength, she slammed her head against the crimson bedpost.
Instantly, blood gushed forth like a fountain.
Screams erupted throughout the Linlang Pavilion.