In a daze, her skirt was slowly lifted.
Shen Sangning thought it was a hallucination.
As the respected Old Madam of the Ningguo Duke Residence, who would dare come to her bed in the middle of the night to fool around?
It wasn’t until she felt a touch that Shen Sangning abruptly sobered, her eyes flying open to pitch darkness.
There was a man on top of her.
Heavens!
Shen Sangning was horrified and immediately pushed at him. “Insolent! Bas—”
The word was torn apart by a gasp of pleasure.
Truly, the world had degenerated, and people were no longer what they once were!
Shen Sangning had been a widow for many years. She never thought that at the age of forty, she would have to suffer such humiliation.
The shock was so great that she didn’t even notice her own voice had become youthful.
“Bastard!”
She couldn’t push him off, nor could she fight back. Her heart hardening, she bit down on the man’s shoulder, wishing she could tear off a piece of his flesh.
“Hiss—” The man sucked in a sharp breath.
The scent of blood spread across Shen Sangning’s tongue and filled her nose.
The man stopped. His powerful presence made the air around them turn cold as he suppressed his anger and commanded in a deep voice—
“Someone, attend me!”
Shen Sangning’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe he dared to call for people.
Seeing a maidservant about to enter the room, she had no time to hide and could only fumble frantically on the bed, grabbing whatever clothes she could find and pulling them on.
She still had her dignity to consider!
Soon, the maidservant lit an oil lamp. The dim yellow light illuminated an unfamiliar bridal chamber, and the young man before her.
But the moment Shen Sangning saw his face, her humiliation and anger turned to shock.
Because he looked exactly like her husband’s short-lived elder brother—a young Pei Ruyan.
At this moment, Pei Ruyan’s thin lips were pressed into a firm line. He had a high-bridged nose and a pair of long, slender danfeng eyes that were fixed on her, his expression unreadable, though the corners of his eyes were tinged with red.
He was bare-chested, revealing a set of eight-pack abs. His broad shoulders and narrow waist were covered in a light sheen of sweat, and a small circle of teeth marks on his shoulder was dripping with blood.
Shen Sangning was in no mood to admire the view. Her mind was a mess as she looked down at her own fair, smooth wrists, suspecting she had been reborn.
But even if she was reborn, she shouldn’t have been reborn in her brother-in-law’s bed! What sort of scandal was this!
Just then, Pei Ruyan’s stiff voice sounded from above her head—
“Did I hurt you, or… were you unwilling to marry me?”
Marry?
Shen Sangning was even more stunned to hear this. How could she have married Pei Ruyan? Wasn’t her stepsister supposed to marry him?
No, that wasn’t right. The original engagement had indeed been between Shen Sangning and the Heir, Pei Ruyan.
But her stepsister, Shen Miaoyi, had also wanted to marry into the ducal residence. So, she had orchestrated a chance encounter with the second young master, Pei Er, making him fall for her and securing their engagement.
Before the wedding, Shen Miaoyi, still unwilling to marry Pei Er who could not inherit the title, took advantage of the fact that they were getting married on the same day. She secretly switched their wedding attire and swapped their marriages.
Shen Sangning had inexplicably completed the wedding ceremony with Pei Er and, in the end, could only accept the reality of being married to him.
Now that she was living it again, why was it different?
She was deep in thought, completely oblivious to Pei Ruyan’s darkening expression.
Seeing his new wife unable to answer, Pei Ruyan’s brows knitted together. “Since you were unwilling to marry me, why didn’t you say so earlier? Was it I who insisted on marrying you?”
From beginning to end, Pei Ruyan never mentioned the wound on his shoulder.
He quickly dressed and got out of bed. Seeing that the person on the bed had no intention of asking him to stay, he left the bridal chamber without a second glance.
Shen Sangning was in a hurry to sort out her thoughts and paid him no mind.
She ran barefoot to the bronze mirror and saw her own face, young again at eighteen, and was lost in a long daze.
In her previous life, because of the marriage swap, she had married Pei Er, who was in love with Shen Miaoyi. She had to deal with Pei Er’s dissatisfaction on one hand and endure her mother-in-law’s torment on the other. It was utterly exhausting, grinding her once-gentle temperament into an impatient one.
First, she won over her mother-in-law, then used her mother-in-law’s authority to discipline Pei Er. She reformed the prodigal son, who turned from his wastrel ways, dismissed his concubines, and became devoted only to her.
Later, Pei Ruyan died suddenly, and Pei Er inherited the title. He won fame and success on the battlefield, restoring the Ningguo Duke Residence to its status as a top-tier noble family. Shen Sangning became an object of envy among the noble ladies of the capital.
Shen Sangning had toiled for half her life to finally achieve a peaceful existence, and now, she had to start all over again?!
And this time, her stepsister hadn’t swapped their marriages. Her husband was Pei Ruyan, who was fated to live for only two more years…
“Miss, why did the Heir leave with such a dark face?”
Her dowry maid, Ziling, ran into the room anxiously. Seeing Shen Sangning staring wistfully into the mirror, she thought her mistress was heartbroken over it and immediately burst into tears.
“The Heir is so cruel, abandoning you on your wedding night! How will you manage in the days to come!”
Shen Sangning rose from the bronze mirror and pattered back to the bedside, looking at the scattered wedding robes.
This time, the robes had not been switched by Shen Miaoyi.
A jolt went through Shen Sangning. “Ziling, has there been any change in Shen Miaoyi lately?”
Ziling was confused. “The Second Miss was unwilling to marry the Second Young Master Pei before, disdaining him for having no title and no future. But half a month ago, she suddenly changed. She was very happy when she got married.”
Shen Miaoyi was also reborn, and half a month earlier than her, Shen Sangning thought.
The marriage between Shen Sangning and Pei Ruyan had been personally arranged by the Old Duke of Ningguo before he passed away.
In her previous life, Shen Miaoyi had schemed to switch their marriages but failed to live the good life she had hoped for.
Because the Duchess, who looked down on even Shen Sangning, the legitimate daughter of the Lian Chengan Marquis, was even less likely to approve of a burdensome stepdaughter.
Furthermore, Pei Ruyan was completely devoted to his official duties. By the time he died, Shen Miaoyi had not borne him a single child.
Shen Miaoyi’s life as the Heir’s wife was a miserable one, which could be considered her just deserts.
Starting over, perhaps she thought that marrying Pei Er would change her life.
Unfortunately, she had miscalculated one thing.
As long as Pei Ruyan didn’t die, Pei Er could never take his place.
And even if Pei Ruyan died, as long as he had a son, Pei Er still couldn’t take his place.
Therefore, as long as she gave birth to Pei Ruyan’s child…
As Shen Sangning was silently calculating, Ziling’s delighted voice suddenly sounded by her ear.
“Miss, you and the Young Master have already consummated the marriage!”
The blood-stained handkerchief of chastity on the bed was quite conspicuous.
But Ziling’s delight lasted only a moment before she noticed blood on the pillow as well. Seeing the crimson on Shen Sangning’s lips, her heart sank.
“The Heir bites during consummation? How could he bear to do that to someone as gentle as you!”
Reminded by her words, Shen Sangning also recalled her own actions during their union.
She was filled with regret now. “I was the one who bit him.”
If only she had known, she would have bitten him more lightly.
Pei Ruyan already had no interest in women. What if he refused to share a bed with her again?
At this thought, Shen Sangning’s head buzzed. She changed into clean clothes and ran out.
She had to go find him.
She would apologize if she had to, and conquer if she must.