“Brother Heng, be gentler…”
“Isn’t this what you wanted? Tonight is our wedding night.”
“But you still married someone else after all.”
“Still saying such things? It seems I haven’t loved you enough…”
“Ah…”
Ji Yunshu, dressed in dazzling bright red wedding robes, heard the commotion from behind the door, her head buzzing.
She didn’t know what sin she had committed to end up staying up all night reading an old-school, melodramatic, angst-filled novel at her best friend’s recommendation.
Then, in a daze, she had transmigrated into the book as the cannon fodder supporting actress who shared her name.
The male lead was the second young master of the Changxing Houfu, Zhao Heng, who was childhood sweethearts with his cousin, Yao Ruolan, who had been raised in the manor since she was young.
And she was Zhao Heng’s vicious original wife.
Out of jealousy, she had used every unscrupulous means to suppress and frame the female lead, Yao Ruolan.
She became the creator of conflict between the male and female leads, a catalyst for their feelings, and a tool to drive the plot forward.
As the male and female leads engaged in their game of “he chases, she flees,” performing a saga of deep and torturous love, they eventually cleared all obstacles to live happily ever after.
Meanwhile, as the greatest obstacle between them, she suffered the destruction of her family, the ruin of her reputation, and a miserable death.
The point in time she had transmigrated into was precisely her wedding night with Zhao Heng.
According to the plot, although Zhao Heng had been forced by circumstances to marry her, his heart was entirely set on Yao Ruolan.
Fearing his sweetheart would be sad, he didn’t even enter the bridal chamber after the ceremony; he went straight to coax her instead.
One thing led to another, and he coaxed her right into bed.
Thinking of this, Ji Yunshu ignored the pleas of the room full of servants and ran straight out of the bridal chamber.
Since there was no going back, she had to do her best to change the tragic fate ordained for her in the book.
Everything started with marrying the male lead, Zhao Heng.
Therefore, the most urgent task was to find a way to settle this marriage immediately; she absolutely could not get entangled in the leads’ relationship.
She turned to the people following her and commanded, “Go invite the Marquis, the Madam, and my eldest brother here.”
The two maidservants complied and left.
Ji Yunshu stood guard at the door, listening to the commotion inside while calmly pondering how to handle this matter most securely.
Breaking the engagement was unlikely; in this era, personal will counted for very little in marriage, which was a matter concerning two families.
Furthermore, her marriage to the Zhao family had been settled while her grandfather was still alive.
At this thought, Ji Yunshu’s heart stirred. The person her grandfather had originally favored was the Shizi born to the Marquis of Changxing’s first wife—Zhao Shen.
However, an accident occurred when Zhao Shen was fifteen; he fell from a horse and broke his leg.
The Taiyi declared it could not be cured.
Thus, the marriage fell to Zhao Heng, the son of the successor wife.
Zhao Shen remained unmarried to this day.
His status as Shizi held a rank above Zhao Heng’s, and with a broken leg, he wouldn’t go out looking for trouble.
His birth mother had passed away long ago, and Madam Yao, as a stepmother, likely wouldn’t be able to exert much control over her.
Moreover, in the novel, Zhao Shen would die before long.
Wouldn’t that make her a wealthy and powerful widow whose husband died early?
The moment this thought arose, Ji Yunshu made her decision: swap the marriage back.
Right then, footsteps sounded from outside.
Leading the way were the Marquis of Changxing, Zhao Yun, and his wife, Madam Yao.
Ancient door panels were not soundproof. As soon as the group reached the door, they heard the intense sounds from within.
Furious, Marquis Zhao stepped forward and kicked the door open.
Madam Yao’s expression changed slightly; she wanted to stop him but was too late.
The maidservants and older female servants following behind peeked curiously, but quickly lowered their heads in embarrassment and shame.
Seeing such a vivid scene for the first time, Ji Yunshu couldn’t help but lean in for a better look, completely failing to notice Marquis Zhao’s gaze landing on her from not far away.
The two people locked in an embrace pulled apart in a panic.
Zhao Heng’s mind went blank. He hurriedly scrambled into his clothes and, with quick reflexes, grabbed an outer robe to wrap around Yao Ruolan’s body.
“You scoundrel! What are you doing? Do you have any idea what day it is?”
Seeing the scene, the Marquis quickly turned his back and shouted in uncontrollable rage.
Zhao Heng never expected his parents to suddenly appear at this time, along with his new bride.
His dark gaze landed on Ji Yunshu for a moment, and his heart settled slightly.
He had already married her, and they had just completed the ceremony; even if she was dissatisfied, what could she do?
Having thought this through, Zhao Heng knelt on the floor and lowered his head to admit his guilt. “Father, I drank too much and lost my composure for a moment. Please punish me.”
The Marquis kept a grim face and said nothing.
Seeing this, Madam Yao spoke to Ji Yunshu after some deliberation. “This matter is Heng-er’s fault; you have been wronged. However, things have already reached this point, and Ruolan’s status cannot surpass yours anyway. In a few days, we will simply take her into his quarters. You don’t need to take her to heart.”
Although her tone was gentle, she spoke with the air of one in charge.
She was certain that while it was indeed humiliating for a husband to take a concubine the moment the bride entered the house, the girl was already married. For the sake of her reputation and her future, a daughter of the Ji family could not possibly oppose her mother-in-law over a concubine who was bound to arrive sooner or later.
Ji Yunshu looked at Zhao Heng, who silently clenched his fists without saying a word, and felt a chill in her heart.
This was the source of his arrogance.
To Zhao Heng, this was the worst possible outcome.
In his heart, even if his elder brother Zhao Shen still held the title of Shizi, he was already a useless cripple.
As the future heir of the Houfu, no one would do anything to him over such a matter.
He could even use this as a legitimate reason to bring Yao Ruolan into his quarters.
Seeing everyone looking at her, Ji Yunshu’s eyes flickered, and she agreed. “Fine. But I have one condition: this girl must sign a deed of sale. From now on, whether she is beaten or sold will be entirely up to me.”
A concubine, after all, was merely a plaything that the primary wife could dispose of at will.
Once the deed of sale was signed, Yao Ruolan’s life would be in her hands.
Ji Yunshu didn’t believe Zhao Heng would dare to do it.
She made no effort to hide her malice, intentionally giving Zhao Heng a provocative look.
Zhao Heng’s eyes turned cold, and he blurted out, “Lan’er has already yielded the position of primary wife to you. Don’t go too far.”
Ji Yunshu sneered. If Zhao Heng had the courage to say he would marry no one but Yao Ruolan, she might have respected him as a man.
What “torturous love”? It was just a case of wanting to have his cake and eat it too. He was unwilling to give up status, position, or power, so he sacrificed his feelings instead.
Women were always the easiest to coax anyway; he could settle things later with a bit of effort.
Just as she was about to speak, a cold, clear voice rang out. “What does Second Young Master Zhao mean by those words? My sister followed the orders of our parents and the words of the matchmaker to marry into this house in an eight-bearer sedan chair. How is it that the position of primary wife was ‘yielded’ by someone else? Could it be that you were already engaged to this girl? If that is the case, I’m afraid your Zhao family must give my Wuan Houfu an explanation for this marriage fraud.”
Ji Yunshu’s eyes lit up as she looked at the elegant gentleman who walked in.
This was the original host’s eldest brother, Ji Yunlan.
The book didn’t dwell much on him, but his end was clear: the young general who was famous in the northern borders was set up by the male lead and died on the battlefield.
There was, of course, a reason why Zhao Heng was willing to wrong his sweetheart to marry her.
She was a legitimate daughter of the main branch of the Wuan Houfu; her father held military power, and her paternal aunt was the Empress Dowager. She could be said to be one of the premier noble ladies in the capital.
In the novel, Zhao Heng had initially hidden his relationship with Yao Ruolan very carefully.
Later, he went to the border and engineered the deaths of her father and brother in battle.
Then, he took over her father’s position in the military, rising to success by stepping over the corpses of the Ji family.
It didn’t seem like much when she was just reading the book—a vicious supporting character deserved a miserable end, after all.
But standing in this position, Ji Yunshu realized that the original host was only treated so cruelly because she wasn’t vicious enough.
The feeling of being protected by family was truly wonderful, and her eldest brother was truly formidable.
With a single sentence, he had pinned a crime on Zhao Heng.
Messing around with another woman on one’s wedding night was certainly scandalous, but it was just a domestic scandal at most.
Marriage fraud was different—it was an actual violation of the law.