Before Su Mei’s eyes lay complete darkness. Beneath her nose was the stench of damp earth mixed with the , fishy odor of rotting autumn leaves, so suffocating that she could barely breathe, yet she did not dare move an inch.
If she had not prepared this small pit early on, just large enough for her to curl herself into, and if Zikui had not helped conceal it with fallen leaves and shrubs, she would likely have been discovered long ago. Outside the pit, footsteps paced back and forth around her. Every time hurried steps sounded, they were accompanied by a sharp question.
“Have you found the Young Madam?” “No sign of her.” “Nothing here either.” Replies came from all directions. Su Mei’s heart thudded violently in response, so loudly that she feared it might be heard and give away her hiding place.
Time seemed to crawl. The air in the pit grew thin, her breathing increasingly labored, while footsteps continued to come and go around her.
Suddenly, all the sounds paused. Then came even more chaotic footsteps. Su Mei heard them greeting someone. “Greetings, Wei Family Heir.” Lin Henglǐ had arrived.
Su Mei’s breath caught. Cold sweat slid from her forehead, down along her brow bones, and seeped into her eyes, stinging them painfully. Even so, her entire body remained taut, not daring to blink.
“Didn’t the Young Madam come in this direction? How is it that you haven’t found her?” Lin Henglǐ’s calm voice reached her ears. Someone replied in shame, “We clearly saw the Young Madam and her maid come this way, but when we chased after them, they were gone.”
“The gate to this courtyard is still locked. They couldn’t have left from here. Search elsewhere. The Young Madam is in poor health. It’s late and the dew is heavy. If she stays outside too long, she’ll suffer for days again…”
Lin Henglǐ issued instructions and let out a soft sigh. His words were filled with concern and deep affection. Su Mei, however, felt goosebumps rise all over her arms. Hatred and fear churned within her. If not for him, how could she have suddenly fallen gravely ill for no reason at all?
“Fire there’s a fire! Nianchun Hall is on fire!” “The Young Madam has been found!” A clamor erupted from afar. Su Mei’s heart leapt into her throat. At that moment, the footsteps circling nearby finally retreated.
She knew this was the signal Zikui had arranged for her. This was her last chance. Once she could no longer hear any footsteps, she acted without hesitation. Reaching out, she frantically pushed away the shrubs blocking the pit, crawled out, and rushed toward the locked courtyard gate not far away.
Beyond that gate was a narrow alley, her only path out of the Wei Duke’s Household. A body that only days ago had been gasping after a few steps now burst forth with boundless strength at this final moment of seeking life. Su Mei sprinted to the gate and took out the key she had prepared in advance.
With a clang, the bronze lock fell to the ground. The lock had opened smoothly. She reached out to push the gate open when a voice sounded faintly behind her.
“Third Miss, so you were here after all. You’ve made your husband search everywhere.” The voice was like a lingering specter that could not be shaken off. It drifted in with the night wind and sent chills through her bones.
She turned slowly. Lin Henglǐ had somehow already returned and was standing no more than ten paces away. There was no one else with him. He stood there at ease, the corner of his lips slightly curved.
That smile, she could not tell whether it signified triumph or mockery at her futile attempt to escape. “Third Miss, I can indulge you in anything. Only leaving is not allowed.” Lin Henglǐ raised his hand toward her. “Third Miss, come back with me. No one will pursue what happened tonight. You are my wife. I will always stand on your side…”
Despair crashed down like a tidal wave, crushing her until she could barely remain standing. Trapped in this dead end, she had nowhere left to go.
The Wei Duke’s Household harbored wolfish ambitions. Her marriage to Lin Henglǐ was part of their scheme. Now that she knew of their secret plotting, how could they ever let her off lightly? Leaving her alive was only to restrain her father and brothers.
If that was the case, why should she cling to life and let herself be manipulated? Su Mei looked toward the gatepost. The frantic terror in her eyes slowly faded. She drew in a deep breath and gathered all her strength into her legs.
Just as she was about to throw herself forward with all her might, seeking only death, the courtyard gate creaked open. An arm reached in, yanking her away in an instant.
Her body lifted into the air. Before she could even cry out, she landed steadily in someone’s embrace. By her ear was the strong rhythm of a heartbeat, along with the sound of carriage wheels rolling over the ground. The night wind howled past her ears.
“Third Miss, forgive the offense. I can protect you and keep you safe. Don’t be afraid.”
Don’t be afraid, Those words, and that familiar voice, were like a stabilizing anchor. Su Mei lifted her head and saw the man’s lean jawline. Above it were gentle, refined brows and eyes. In a daze, she recognized him. “Lin Third Master…”
“Miss, Miss, wake up… you’ve had another nightmare.” An anxious voice broke into the illusion. Su Mei suddenly opened her eyes. Flickering candlelight stabbed into her vision as she was pulled free from those endlessly entangling memories of the past.
A handkerchief was pressed to her forehead. She shifted slightly and realized she was drenched in sweat, even her inner garments clinging to her body.
Seeing that she had woken, Zikui let out a long breath of relief. As she wiped the cold sweat from Su Mei’s brow, she said, “Miss, you’ve been having nightmares so often lately. Why don’t I pick a day and go to the temple to pray to the Bodhisattva for you?”
Su Mei propped herself up on the couch and slowly sat up, shaking her head. “Just have the physician prescribe something to calm the spirit. A couple of doses will be enough.”
She had grown accustomed to having this dream again and again. She simply had not expected that even after being reborn to the time before her marriage, this harrowing past would still refuse to fade.
Yes. She had lived again, returning to the spring of the year she had just come of age, not long after becoming betrothed to Lin Henglǐ. Just as in the dream, she had married Lin Henglǐ two years after the engagement in her previous life.
In the eyes of outsiders, her father was the Zhongyi Marquis, and the Lin family belonged to the Wei Duke’s Household. It was a match made in heaven. Yet who could have known that on her wedding day, she would break completely with him? The reason sounded as absurd as something concocted in a storybook.
On the day of her marriage, she personally saw her future husband embracing her elder half-sister, and heard with her own ears her half-sister say that they had been secretly involved all along. With guests filling the hall, she became a laughingstock.
But at that time, the war was urgent. Her father and brothers had rushed to the battlefield and could not even return for her wedding. With no one to stand up for her, she was drugged by Lin Henglǐ. A maid with a similar figure was substituted to perform the wedding rites in her place, deceiving everyone and delivering her into the Wei Duke’s Household.
When she woke, she slapped him across the face and severed all ties with him, yet in her heart she still had reservations.
She could not let such private matters distract her father and brothers while they were at war, so she endured it for the time being. That endurance entangled her with Lin Henglǐ for several years and nearly cost her life. Although she was later saved by Lin Third Master and carefully nursed by him, the damage had already been done. She never lived to see her father again and died with resentment in her heart.
Lin Third Master was also of the Lin family from the Wei Duke’s Household, Lin Henglǐ’s concubine-born uncle.
By the time she married into the family, Lin Third Master had already injured both legs and could not move easily. It was only by chance that she learned even the servants of the Lin family treated him harshly, often currying favor on the surface while secretly withholding his monthly allowance. Upon discovering that the Lin family could even mistreat their own, she quietly provided him with some assistance.
Two years after she married into the Lin family, Lin Third Master moved out of the Wei Duke’s Household. Who would have thought that in the end, she would owe him her life?
Thus, Heaven had not treated her too unkindly. It allowed her to receive her benefactor’s help first, and then be reborn before marriage, while everything could still be salvaged. “Miss, you’ve drifted off again.”
Pulled back from her memories by a gentle nudge, Su Mei gathered her thoughts. After being helped to bathe and change, she lay down to sleep again. She needed to rest well tonight. There were important matters to attend to tomorrow.
Perhaps Heaven truly heard her prayers. For the rest of the night, no nightmares troubled her, and she slept soundly until morning. When the sky had just begun to lighten, the servants in Su Mei’s courtyard were already busy.
After she rose and dressed, a matron came to report that the carriage for leaving the residence was ready, and that the gifts prepared for the elders of the Wei Duke’s Household had all been packed and loaded.
Su Mei lightly dabbed rouge onto her lips, pressed them together, and replied that she understood. Then she instructed, “Please go ask at Eldest Miss’s side as well, see if she needs any help. If everything is in order, we’ll still depart at the first quarter of the six hours, as agreed yesterday.” The matron smiled and agreed, lifting the beaded curtain as she went out to run the errand.
Zikui took out a gold hairpin carved with butterflies and flowers from the dressing case and held it up by Su Mei’s chignon, pouting in displeasure. “Miss, you’re just too soft-hearted. The Concubine-born Madam said one word about having you bring Eldest Miss to the Wei Duke’s Household, and you agreed just like that.”
Earlier, she had noticed that the way Eldest Miss looked at the Wei Family Heir was not quite right. But later, once Miss and the Heir’s engagement was settled, she feared speaking up would only upset Miss, so she kept silent.
Yesterday, the Concubine-born Madam eagerly insisted on bringing Eldest Miss to the Wei Duke’s Household again, which immediately put her on guard.
That Concubine-born Madam had married when Miss was eight, bringing along her daughter from her previous marriage. Somehow, she persuaded the Marquis to let that daughter also take the Su surname, becoming the Su family’s Eldest Miss.
In any case, neither mother nor daughter was harmless. She needed to find time to speak properly with Miss about this.
“Use that hairpin. Don’t change it.” Su Mei, unaware of the inner debate in her maid’s mind, stared at the mirror as she spoke. “Actually, letting Eldest Miss go is better for me. Although I’m engaged to the Wei Family Heir, there are still two years before the wedding. Even if elders invite us over as guests, it’s better to have others present. Before I’m married, I should still avoid impropriety.”
Hearing this, Zikui thought it over and found the reasoning sound, so she did not press the matter further. After saying this, Su Mei frowned slightly at her reflection.
Speaking of her engagement to Lin Henglǐ always made her uncomfortable. But if today went smoothly, she might be able to annul this marriage altogether.
In her previous life, Lin Henglǐ had explained that on their wedding day, he had intended to make things clear with her elder half-sister and end their entanglement. The two of them had already been involved before Su Mei’s engagement, yet after the engagement, they had rarely met again.
So now that she was engaged to Lin Henglǐ, her elder half-sister had fewer chances to see him. With fewer chances, how could Su Mei catch them in the act and cancel the engagement? That was why, upon learning yesterday that the elders of the Wei Duke’s Household had invited them over, she readily agreed to let her elder half-sister come along. If there was no opportunity, she would create one, to ease her half-sister’s longing. Once things were resolved early, she could properly repay Lin Third Master and not waste Heaven’s kindness toward her.
She did not know when the people she had sent to inquire about Lin Third Master’s whereabouts would bring back news. She had never known when his legs were injured. After being reborn, the first thing she did was try to find him, wanting to warn him in advance, yet he had not been in the capital recently.
Zikui finished fixing the gold hairpin and looked her over from left to right, feeling something was missing. “Miss looks a bit too plain.” As she spoke, she reached for another hair ornament. Su Mei hurriedly stopped her, saying it was unnecessary, and only put on her earrings before refusing to fuss any further.
A hypocrite was not worth her effort in dressing up. A woman adorns herself for the one who delights in her. Her most beautiful side should be reserved for the one who truly cherished her. With that thought, Su Mei felt a moment of daze.
After annulling the engagement with Lin Henglǐ, her father would likely choose another husband for her. She wondered what that person would be like. It did not matter whether he came from a great household. As long as his character was upright, he would be someone she could entrust her life to.
Ideally… someone like Lin Third Master? “Peh, peh, peh!” Su Mei suddenly spat toward the mirror. How could she compare potential husbands to the Third Master’s standard? That would be a desecration of her benefactor.