The Wan family had no choice but to send her to Putuo Temple outside the West Gate of Jing Cheng. Once she went, she never returned.
She had hanged herself.
Only after her death, when her spirit drifted and discovered the truth about Putuo Temple, did she realize that her dear friend had not died from shame after being caught eloping with someone. Instead, she had been driven to such despair that she lost the courage to live and had no choice but to end her own life.
“Gao Jichen, if you dare say another word, I’ll kick you so hard you’ll never be able to be a man again.” Huo Ningyu raised her foot, aiming threateningly at the man’s lower body.
“You… you… How shameless! I didn’t believe the rumors in Jing Cheng, but now I see they’re true.” Gao Jichen scrambled to his feet and fled.
“Qingdai, are you alright?” Huo Ningyu turned to her friend, who was still leaning against the mountain wall.
“Wuwu…” Wan Qingdai threw herself into Huo Ningyu’s arms, sobbing quietly.
Huo Ningyu gently patted her back, letting her cry out her sorrow. She knew that once the tears were shed, her friend would feel better.
After a quarter of an hour, Wan Qingdai finally stopped crying.
“Ningyu, thank goodness I ran into you. My stepmother wants to marry me off to her good-for-nothing nephew, Gao Jichen, and he’s been pestering me nonstop. Just now, a palace maid said you were waiting for me here. I thought you were upset about the broken engagement and wanted to confide in me. I didn’t suspect anything and came straight here. Who knew that shameless scoundrel would be waiting for me instead? I tried to leave, but he blocked my way and even had the audacity to grab my hand.”
As she spoke, Wan Qingdai immediately began wiping her hand repeatedly with a handkerchief.
So filthy!
“Qingdai, you’ve been deceived.” Huo Ningyu, recalling her friend’s fate in her previous life, felt compelled to warn her.
Wan Qingdai’s almond eyes were still glistening with tears. Her delicate, pink cheeks were streaked where the tears had smudged her makeup, and her pitiful appearance tugged at Huo Ningyu’s heart.
“As soon as I saw him, I knew I’d been tricked.”
“Qingdai, I’m not talking about him luring you here today. I mean the matter of your stepmother wanting to marry you off to Gao Jichen.” Huo Ningyu explained, seeing her friend’s misunderstanding.
“What do you mean?” Wan Qingdai was stunned.
“Has the Gao family come to propose marriage?” Huo Ningyu asked instead of answering.
“No, I only heard from my second younger sister by chance that my stepmother has this idea.” Wan Qingdai replied truthfully.
“That’s it. The Gao family is an influential clan. Even though Gao Jichen is uneducated and the third son, many are still willing to marry him. But your stepmother has already married into the Wan family. If you were to marry back into the Gao family, wouldn’t that be an exchange marriage? The Gao family would never do something so laughable.” Huo Ningyu analyzed.
“Are you saying my second younger sister lied to me?” Wan Qingdai felt as if she had just woken from a dream.
“Exactly. She must have conspired with Gao Jichen to ruin your reputation and make your father dislike you, so you’d be sent to Putuo Temple. Your eldest brother would surely defend you, and then your father would grow displeased with him too. Once you’re in Putuo Temple, your life would be ruined. If your brother acts more rashly, your father might even kick him out of the household. After all, he has more than one son. Who stands to gain? You should know by now. Your stepmother might have pretended to be kind when she first entered the household, but over time, with her own children, she’ll start planning for them. You and your brother, as the children of the first wife, will become thorns in her side. If both of you are out of the way, no one will stand in her path.” Huo Ningyu spoke bluntly.
The eldest brother of the Wan family did indeed end up being manipulated into running away from home and joining the army. Whether he died or not, she did not know.
Wan Qingdai trembled all over.
“Ningyu, I…” She was afraid.
Without a mother to protect them, she and her elder brother were like orphaned children.
At first, their father still cared for them, but after remarrying, he left her to the stepmother’s care. At that time, she was only one year old and remembered nothing.
For a while, she thought that was her birth mother, only realizing it was her stepmother when she grew older.
Even then, she sensed the difference in treatment between herself and her younger sister in front of their mother.
Her mother always said that as the elder sister, she should yield to her younger sister.
Over time, yielding became a habit.
She never competed with her younger sister for anything.
Even after being so accommodating, they still wouldn’t let her be.
“Qingdai, don’t be afraid. You’re fifteen now and will be married off in a couple of years. Once you’re married, you’ll be free from your stepmother’s control. Perhaps better days await you,” Huo Ningyu comforted her.
“But she won’t find me a good match.” Wan Qingdai was now fully awakened.
“From now on, you must not be as weak as before. Learn to stand up for yourself. If she tries to marry you off to a bad family, make a scene—cry, make a fuss, even threaten to hang yourself. I doubt she’d risk her reputation,” Huo Ningyu suggested.
The reason she had become friends with her was that Wan Qingdai reminded her so much of Jiang Ning’s usual demeanor—frail and pitiful.
Of course, she now knew Jiang Ning was merely pretending.
But Qingdai had been living under her stepmother’s thumb, day after day, developing a timid nature.
Huo Ningyu enjoyed protecting the vulnerable. Whenever she saw someone bullying Qingdai at gatherings, she felt compelled to stand up for her.
“Yes, thank you.” Wan Qingdai’s gaze grew resolute.
If she continued to yield to her second younger sister everywhere and obey her stepmother as before, she wouldn’t even know how she died.
When her mother passed away, she left behind a considerable dowry. Her stepmother must have had her eyes on that fortune.
Her stepmother was merely a false legitimate daughter registered under the principal wife’s name, which was how she married her father as a second wife.
If not for encountering that beast Gao Jichen today, along with Huo Ningyu’s words, she wouldn’t have known when she would have awakened.
“You must stay far away from that Gao Jichen. Whatever you do, don’t fall into his trap,” Huo Ningyu reminded her again. “If you encounter something you can’t handle, send your maid to find me. I’ll do my best to help.”
“I’ll remember.”
“Come on, let’s go have fun together. The Empress said she prepared many games. I only know how to play Pitch-pot; I’m no good at the others.”
Huo Ningyu dared not attempt the lantern riddles—she truly wasn’t as well-read as Jiang Ning.
She was more fond of playful activities.
“I heard the Empress had the Imperial Kitchen make an enormous Reunion Cake. I wonder just how big it is,” Wan Qingdai mentioned, having overheard this earlier.
“Regardless of its size, we’ll find out at the banquet.” Huo Ningyu had seen it in her previous life—it was indeed massive.
The two entered the Imperial Garden and, just at the entrance, encountered Wan Qingdai’s second younger sister, Wan Qingling.
Her eyes darted around restlessly as she craned her neck, eagerly watching the path.
The moment she spotted Wan Qingdai, she visibly froze.
How did she return so soon?
Did Third Cousin fail to win her over?
What a useless fool.
Then, noticing Huo Ningyu walking alongside her, a scheme suddenly formed in her mind.
She hurried forward with quick, light steps.
“Elder Sister, why are you still associating with her? Her reputation is so tarnished that everyone in Jing Cheng avoids her. Do you want your own reputation to end up like hers?” Wan Qingling put on an expression of both concern for her sister and bitter disappointment.
“Younger Sister, how can you speak of Ningyu like that? She has been wronged. She and Young Master Xie have never overstepped propriety,” Wan Qingdai immediately defended Huo Ningyu upon hearing her second sister’s words.
“You’re not with her every day. How would you know?” Wan Qingling shot a contemptuous glance at Huo Ningyu.
She disliked her elder sister, and naturally, she also disliked Huo Ningyu, who was close with her elder sister.
“I say, Second Miss Wan, you’re not with me every day either. So how would you know about my affairs with Xie Zhengyang?” Huo Ningyu’s gaze turned sharp.
A mere thirteen-year-old girl daring to show such disrespect—how utterly absurd.