But before her was no longer the bridal chamber, nor a hospital room.
Her eyes met a cramped, crowded scene—an old bed, stacked stools, blackened walls. Familiar yet unfamiliar. This was…
Xia Xian froze. How could this look so much like the Chu family home thirty years ago, before it had been repainted and expanded?
Before she could think further, a voice she loathed dragged her back to reality.
“Xia Xian, this old woman is begging you. The eldest is already gone—just accept your fate. It doesn’t matter who you marry; you’ll still be a daughter-in-law of the Chu family. Just marry our second son!”
“Later, the two of you can have two sons. Give one to the eldest’s branch so his line won’t die out. You’ll have done right by him, and you won’t have to remarry. You just married into this family and your husband died—people will say you’re a widow who killed her husband! You won’t find anyone else to marry!”
“The second son will take on both branches through Jian-xiao. This tradition has existed since ancient times. You don’t need to feel any burden.”
“Yes, Xia Xian, believe me—I’ll treat you well for the rest of my life! You’re both my sister-in-law and my wife. What reason would I have to treat you badly?”
“You think my eldest brother had good character—honest, reliable, with a job. As his younger brother, how could I be any worse? And now that he’s gone, his job has passed to me. I’m no worse off than he was.”
“Don’t worry. As long as you stay, I’ll listen to everything you say! If you say east, I’ll never go west! I’d give you my life if I had to!”
The two of them played off each other, piling on promises. Anyone with weak resolve would easily be persuaded and led into the trap.
They were both holding Xia Xian’s hands—no wonder her body had just convulsed. She’d been trying to push them away.
Hearing this familiar speech, Xia Xian suddenly understood. She had returned to thirty years ago! To the time when the eldest Chu had been dead for just two days, and the second son and his mother were pressuring her to stay!
Xia Xian looked down at the two people kneeling at her feet, begging her. She was shocked and overjoyed, unable to stop herself from breaking into a smile. She still wore the troubled expression from moments before, and combined with that smile, it looked nothing short of eerie.
Chu Sheng, who had been so confident, frowned at the sight of her. He felt something slipping beyond his control.
“Who wants it?!”
“You think your life is worth something? Who wants your broken, worthless, pathetic, miserable life!”
“I haven’t even settled the score with you yet! The three of you Chu family members conspired to trick me into this marriage! The eldest Chu was sick and you hid it from me! You turned me, an innocent maiden, into a twice-married widow! You just wait! I’m going to tell everyone about this! I’ll have my parents come settle accounts with you, and everyone will point and curse at you!”
Xia Xian’s words rang out with force. She shoved them both away, knocking them to the ground, as if she’d suddenly become a strongwoman.
She looked at them with hatred and disgust, flames burning in her eyes, wishing she could kill them both.
They spoke so sweetly now, but after tricking her into getting the marriage certificate with the second son, they couldn’t even pretend for a single day! And once she got pregnant, they got even worse! Their ugly true faces were fully exposed!
They even dared call her damaged goods. The eldest Chu was so sick he was at death’s door—he didn’t even have the strength for the wedding night! Her first time had been with the second son!
She didn’t know why there had been no blood, but she knew exactly who she’d slept with. There was no way she could be wrong!
“Pah! Screw your mother! Who’s broken and worthless? I gave you a little face and you dare act high and mighty with me? Who do you think you are!”
“You were already engaged to the eldest! You were supposed to marry into our family! So what if he was sick? Was he not your man just because he was sick? Tricking you into marriage! I haven’t even said you killed my son with your bad luck!”
“He wouldn’t have died so fast! It was you, you jinx, marrying in and cursing him to death! Now I don’t want you either! I’m warning you—you owe my son a daughter-in-law who doesn’t demand a bride price, or I’ll come to your house and make a scene every single day! Let’s see who’s afraid of who!”
Old Mrs. Chu could only keep up the act for one second. The moment she heard Xia Xian’s mockery, she dropped it immediately, standing up and cursing at her, jabbing her finger at Xia Xian like a chicken claw.
“Mom!”
The second Chu son hadn’t expected his mother to show her cards so quickly. He’d felt he could persuade Xia Xian—they shouldn’t have revealed their hand this fast. He tugged at his mother disapprovingly.
He was angry too, but he still needed Xia Xian right now, so he had to swallow his pride.
“Son, don’t be afraid of her! Do you really think I wanted her to marry in? If our family had money, she wouldn’t even touch a scrap of our clothes!”
Old Mrs. Chu spouted nonsense, and Xia Xian couldn’t help but snort with laughter.
“That’s right, I can’t touch a scrap of your clothes—because your family is so poor you don’t even have clothes to wear!”
“The eldest Chu borrowed new clothes from someone to wear on our wedding day, and the moment he returned them, he died! What bad luck! Wasting a person’s new outfit—they probably burned it, hating your whole cursed family to the bone!”
“Enough! Xia Xian! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“Don’t push me to lose my temper! Do you really have to make this so ugly? Isn’t it a win-win for everyone if you marry me? What the hell are you kicking up a fuss about!”
Chu Sheng wasn’t one to take insults lying down either—his patience lasted only about two seconds longer than his mother’s before he started yelling at Xia Xian too.
“Nobody cares whether you lose your temper or not. If you’ve made things ugly, don’t blame others for making a scene. The ones celebrating are you! The one suffering is me! Whoever wants to deal with the Chu family can go right ahead—I’m done serving you all!”
Xia Xian couldn’t be bothered to waste more words on them. She turned around, grabbed the bundle she’d packed, and made to leave.
She’d been planning to leave today anyway.
Even if the Jade Emperor himself came down, nothing was going to stop her from going home!
“I won’t let you leave! Even if you don’t marry me, you’re staying in the Chu family as a widow! You were born a Chu family member, and you’ll die a Chu family ghost!”
Chu Sheng flew into a rage, grabbing hold of Xia Xian’s bundle to stop her from leaving.
“That’s right! Let’s see where you little tramp can run off to! You’ll die in our house if it kills you!”
Old Mrs. Chu came up and started shoving Xia Xian as well. Both of them were the type to harm others without any benefit to themselves—seeing someone else do well was like having their own flesh carved out.
“You old hag are the one born from a tramp’s womb! Your son’s a short-lived, selfish bastard! You think I wouldn’t dare hit you?!”
Xia Xian had been holding back her anger, not wanting to strike first and lose the upper hand. But now that Old Mrs. Chu had made the first move, she wasn’t going to hold back!
She immediately let go of the bundle. Chu Sheng, caught off balance, staggered backward clutching it and slammed into the table. Meanwhile, Xia Xian reached out, grabbed Old Mrs. Chu by the hair, and yanked with all her might, as if she were going to tear every strand out!
“Don’t act like your age gives you the right to bully me!”
In essence, she was actually older than Old Mrs. Chu at this point! Beating her up carried no guilt whatsoever!