“This is what you asked for yourself, Mei Wanying. Now endure it.”
“You wanted this, and I gave it to you. From now on, stay in this backyard. Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me.”
Pei Yan’s cold words echoed in her ears. A golden hairpin pierced her slender neck, and the pain brought tears streaming down Mei Wanying’s face.
Dark red blood gushed out, splattering across her pale robes like vivid red plum blossoms blooming upon white snow.
As her life rapidly slipped away, countless memories flashed through her mind.
The final image that remained was Pei Yan’s sharp, handsome features.
Pei Yan had been forced to marry Mei Wanying.
When he was brought back to the General’s Manor as a child, General Mei had jokingly declared that he would one day become the Mei family’s son-in-law.
Pei Yan never took it seriously.
Mei Wanying, however, remembered it by heart.
The moment she first understood love, she devoted herself entirely to him.
For years, she followed him wherever he went. Everyone in the capital knew that Mei Wanying would marry no one but Pei Yan.
In the end, she got her wish.
What she received in return was bitterness.
The day she appeared at the military camp, Pei Yan’s expression darkened when he saw her pregnant belly.
He had been furious and ordered her to return to the capital immediately.
But she had been completely wrong.
Pei Yan had found a confidante.
The two of them were close, and the way Pei Yan looked at that woman carried admiration and tenderness.
Things he had never once given to Mei Wanying.
She lacked the courage to confront him.
Instead, she fled in humiliation, only to be kidnapped on her way back to the capital.
Their enemies demanded that Pei Yan exchange a city for her life within one day.
The sun rose and set.
Unwilling to put Pei Yan in a difficult position and terrified of suffering humiliation while alive, Mei Wanying pulled the golden hairpin from her hair and drove it into her vital point without hesitation.
The scent of blood filled the air.
She knew she would not survive.
Chaotic footsteps sounded around her.
“The hostage committed suicide!”
Someone else cried out.
“Pei Yan sent word… he said… do as you please…”
Another person cursed furiously.
“Hang her from the city wall! She’s Pei Yan’s wife, and she’s carrying his child! I refuse to believe he can still remain indifferent!”
Mei Wanying’s pupils gradually lost focus.
A final tear slid from the corner of her eye and disappeared into her hair.
If time could turn back, she would never force things again.
…
Spring rain drizzled endlessly through the night.
A clap of thunder startled Mei Wanying awake.
Instinctively, she reached for her neck.
Her skin felt smooth and unbroken.
No pain.
No sticky blood.
She touched it again and again.
There was no wound.
Everything had felt so real that she refused to believe it had merely been a nightmare.
Her hand moved to her lower abdomen, wanting to see if the child was still there.
Instead, she touched a hard arm draped possessively around her waist.
Their skin touched.
The man’s body radiated intense heat.
So hot.
As if it were burning.
She could hear breathing beside her, carrying the unmistakable scent of a man.
The air still held traces of alcohol, mixed with the lingering aftermath of pleasure.
Mei Wanying felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
The dream had contained this exact scene.
Inside Pei Yan’s study, they had shared a chaotic night.
Afterward, Pei Yan married her.
But their relationship immediately sank to its lowest point.
Countless scenes flashed before her eyes.
Her head throbbed with stabbing pain, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
Though the man’s chest was scorching hot, a chill rose from her feet, as though she stood in an icy wasteland, unable to feel the slightest warmth.
Whether it had been a dream or she had truly lived through another lifetime, the most important thing now was to leave.
To pretend none of it had ever happened.
She refused to repeat the same mistakes.
Holding her breath, Mei Wanying carefully lifted the man’s arm away.
Pei Yan was heavily drunk, but his instincts remained.
The moment she moved, his hand locked around her throat.
Terror shook her heart.
For an instant, she thought Pei Yan was going to strangle her.
Then his grip loosened.
“A-Ying?”
Mei Wanying thought he had awakened.
Her heart nearly leaped into her throat.
She remained silent.
Her slender fingers clutched the quilt tightly.
“Be good…”
He murmured softly.
There were no more words.
It seemed he had fallen asleep again.
Mei Wanying wanted to cry.
Although Pei Yan found her annoying and often avoided her, before this incident happened, he had always treated her rather well.
He had regarded her as a younger sister.
The golden hairpin she had used to take her own life had been his coming-of-age gift to her.
She had simply become obsessed, convincing herself that Pei Yan was her childhood fiancé and that they were destined for each other.
Quietly exhaling, Mei Wanying suppressed her emotions.
Ignoring the discomfort in her body, she carefully climbed out of bed.
She suffered from an eye condition and could not see in the dark.
Despite consulting countless famous physicians, no cure had ever been found.
The room was pitch black.
Unable to see anything, she had barely stepped onto the floor when she tripped over scattered clothing and fell heavily.
A dull thud echoed through the room.
It hurt.
Perhaps she was frightened of waking the man on the bed.
Or perhaps the fall truly hurt that much.
Either way, tears blurred her vision.
But she bit her lip and made no sound.
Feeling around for the scattered garments, she dressed herself as quickly as possible with trembling hands.
After tying her clothes haphazardly, she used the bedpost for support and stood up.
Her legs still shook.
Her entire body felt as though it were being torn apart.
Yet she dared not stay.
Only one thought remained in her mind.
She would never love Pei Yan again.
And she would never marry him.
In this lifetime, she would stay as far away from Pei Yan as possible.
Stumbling through the darkness, Mei Wanying left the study.
Lanterns hung beneath the eaves, finally providing a faint source of light.
Her steps became increasingly hurried.
The study disappeared far behind her.
She ran out of Pei Yan’s courtyard.
Today was the anniversary of General Mei’s death.
The family had opened the ancestral hall to conduct memorial rites, and those assigned to keep watch had been deliberately sent away.
No one knew what had happened inside the study.
“A-Ying.”
This time, it was a woman’s voice.
Madam Mei stood beneath the eaves, supported by Nanny Liu and carrying a lantern.
It seemed she had been waiting for a long time.
“Did it succeed?”
The tears Mei Wanying had been holding back finally poured down her face.
Only now did she realize that her own mother had been the one pushing everything forward behind the scenes.
No wonder she had insisted that Mei Wanying deliver the hangover soup.
In her previous life, she had not fled halfway through.
Therefore, this scene had never occurred.
Pei Yan had taken responsibility for her, and she had joyfully married him.
Later, when she and Pei Yan fell into a cold war, all her thoughts had revolved around him.
She had overlooked the guilt and worry hidden in her mother’s eyes.
Mei Wanying stared blankly ahead.
“Mother, I’m not marrying Pei Yan.”
A hand gently caressed her cheek.
Madam Mei looked at her with both helplessness and pity.
“If you don’t marry him, who will protect you?”
Mei Wanying possessed extraordinary beauty.
Graceful and elegant, she was renowned as the most beautiful woman in the capital.
At a spring banquet, the Crown Prince had taken a fancy to her and intended to bring her into the Eastern Palace as a secondary consort.
If General Mei were still alive, Mei Wanying could have become the Crown Princess herself.
Unfortunately, General Mei had died on the battlefield.
The Mei family now had only Mei Wanying left, with no brothers to support her.
Among the noble families, the Mei household had long since declined.
The Crown Prince was cruel by nature.
None of the women who fell into his hands met a good end.
Madam Mei was terrified.
The only solution was to marry her daughter off as quickly as possible.
Looking across the entire capital, there was only one outstanding young man capable of standing against the Crown Prince.
Pei Yan.
Yet Pei Yan refused to marry Mei Wanying.
With disaster looming overhead, Madam Mei had resorted to this desperate plan.
Once they had become intimate, Pei Yan would have no choice but to marry her daughter.
Mei Wanying did not want to cry, but her tears would not stop falling.
“If I acknowledge him as my elder brother, he will still protect me.”
Leaving aside the fact that Pei Yan could not remain in the capital at all times, even if he did, that alone would never extinguish the Crown Prince’s interest.
The only true way out was for Mei Wanying to marry.
“A-Ying, be obedient.”
Mei Wanying’s voice was unwavering.
“Mother, I would rather die than marry him!”