“Make way! Make way!”
Amid the bustling streets, several impatient shouts suddenly rang out. Pedestrians hurriedly stepped aside, and moments later, a group from the General’s Mansion was seen carrying an iron cage toward the direction of the Vegetable Market.
The cage was covered with a black cloth. A gust of wind lifted a corner of the cloth, and the commoners instantly widened their eyes in shock.
The person locked inside the cage was not a ferocious beast but a woman!?
She huddled in the cage, barely clothed, with almost no inch of unblemished skin on her body. Old and new wounds, like ugly vines, twisted and covered her entire form!
Some areas were crusted with deep purple scabs, while others had already festered, slowly oozing murky pus… It was utterly horrifying, unbearable to look at!
The cage was thrown heavily onto the Execution Ground, and two rough maidservants dragged the person inside out with brute force.
More and more commoners gathered around, staring unblinkingly at that bloodless face…
Only then did they realize that the woman in the cage was none other than the young mistress of the General’s Mansion, the former Divine Physician, Su Mingyue!
Snowflakes swirled, and the biting cold wind pierced to the bone. Su Mingyue curled up weakly, barely opening her eyes.
“Save me… save me…” she pleaded toward the onlookers below.
But despite her utmost effort, her voice emerged hoarse, like a rusted saw—so faint even she could hardly hear it!
“I am innocent… I did not betray the country…”
Suddenly, a black leather boot stomped hard on her already mangled hand.
Su Mingyue let out a muffled groan of pain. Looking at the fine stitching on the boot’s surface, she couldn’t help but sneer inwardly…
He loathed her to the core, yet he could never bear to take off these fast boots she had once sewn for him with her own hands.
Xiao Yunhe swept his gaze over the gathered commoners, a flicker of pain unmistakably flashing in his eyes. “Fellow townspeople! The Northern Di spy who infiltrated our army has now been identified—it is none other than my lawful wife!”
At the mention of “spy,” the commoners who had just pitied Su Mingyue immediately erupted in fury.
“What a beast! No wonder she managed to return alive from Northern Di—she was colluding with the enemy and betraying our country!”
“Ungrateful wretch! Shameless! The General’s Mansion didn’t scorn you for spending three years as a whore in Northern Di. They fed you well and still treated you as the young mistress. Is this how you repay them?”
The commoners gnashed their teeth in hatred, completely forgetting all the kindness Su Mingyue had once shown them. They grabbed whatever objects were at hand and hurled them viciously at her.
Fed well?
Were they referring to the Xiao family making her wash clothes in the bitter cold of winter and the scorching heat of summer, feeding her leftovers even dogs wouldn’t eat, and forcing her to sleep in the ancestral hall for three whole years?
She survived her return from Northern Di because the three-year term had ended, and the Northern Di people wanted to use her to humiliate the Xiao family!
Six years ago, the Northern Di cavalry pressed upon the border, laying siege to Jinzhou City…
Amid raging flames of war and crumbling city walls, as the young mistress of the General’s Mansion and Jinzhou City’s most skilled physician, she had rushed among the wounded soldiers, striving to save lives.
Yet, to prevent his childhood cousin from being sent to Northern Di for a political marriage, Xiao Yunhe had personally escorted her onto a carriage bound for the enemy nation!
Hah, pawning wife as prostitute… No one asked whether she was willing or not. She was used as a bargaining chip for a truce, openly sent away amidst these people’s chants of “The General’s noble sacrifice!”
Three years later, she returned to her homeland covered in wounds, hoping only to exchange the Northern Di military intelligence she had risked her life to steal for a letter of divorce from Xiao Yunhe, so she could retreat from the world forever.
Xiao Yunhe had clearly agreed… yet she never managed to step beyond the gates of the General’s Mansion again!
At first, she couldn’t understand why. The Xiao family saw her as a disgrace, loathed her to the core, yet stubbornly refused to let her leave.
Later, it dawned on her—in the eyes of many Yan Kingdom defenders, her three years of suffering in Northern Di, enduring humiliation for a greater cause, made her a heroine!
A heroine should be remembered and revered, not scorned and cast out like worn-out shoes!
To maintain morale and uphold their prestige, the Xiao father and son could never allow her to leave the General’s Mansion!
Later still, the Xiao Family Army, using the intelligence she had brought back at the cost of her life, advanced with unstoppable momentum, directly assaulting the Northern Di Royal Court and severely crushing Northern Di’s spirit.
The emperor was overjoyed and issued an urgent decree, specially conferring upon General Xiao the title of Duke of Zhenguo, granting the exceptional honor of Nine Generations Hereditary Nobility.
Xiao Yunhe received the Iron Certificate with Red Script.
Lady Xiao was granted the title of First Rank Lady.
Even Xiao Yunhe’s cousin, Liu Ying, got her wish—an imperial marriage decree allowing her to marry Xiao Yunhe as an Equal Wife.
And her? She, who deserved the most recognition, received nothing!
Hah…
But even after she had resigned herself to fate, these people still wouldn’t let her go!
A month ago, Xiao Yunhe, driven by greed for glory, recklessly advanced and ultimately suffered defeat against Northern Di, committing an irreparable blunder!
Upon learning that her only son had committed such a grave mistake, Lady Xiao immediately shifted all blame onto her, accusing her of treason and colluding with the enemy.
Lord Xiao stood silently by, personally fabricating evidence of her treason!
Her husband, Xiao Yunhe, even picked up a brush and wrote the document denouncing her!!
With “witnesses and evidence” complete, she was imprisoned in the Military Prison, enduring endless days and nights of torture.
Truly, it was a fate worse than death!
Beneath the Execution Platform, Liu Ying wore an expression of sorrow and pity. She stepped onto the platform, removed her own cloak, crouched down to cover Su Mingyue with it, and gazed triumphantly at the woman clinging to life.
“Sister, you still don’t know, do you? It was I who planned to send you to Northern Di as a prostitute back then!”
“It was also I who told Aunt that your medical skills could raise the dead and regenerate flesh—if the enemy learned them, the consequences would be endless… That’s why she ordered your fingers to be broken, one by one, while you were still alive.”
“And one more thing—Xiao Lang’s defeat wasn’t your fault. It was I who deliberately leaked his battle plans to the Northern Di spy.”
???
Su Mingyue’s eyes snapped open, a gurgling sound escaping her throat.
Why?
She had treated her with genuine sincerity, regarded her as an intimate friend in the boudoir! Why would she do this??
Liu Ying’s eyes burned with overwhelming hatred, yet she raised a hand to caress the face that had once driven her mad with jealousy.
“When the emperor granted the marriage, with so many nobles and royals to choose from, why did you have to compete with me for my husband!?”
“Xiao Lang and I grew up together, innocent and inseparable… Do you know, I am the true daughter of this General’s Mansion!”
“All the glory, status, and identity you possessed… were all given by me! But why, as long as you were here, could I only ever be Xiao Yunhe’s Second Wife?”
“Why?!”
The past unfolded vividly before her eyes…
Su Mingyue suddenly understood… Hah, so that’s how it was!
No wonder Madam Liu treated her even better than her own daughter… It turns out that Xiao Yunhe was actually a fake young master!!
Others might not know, but she could be certain—Liu Ying could never be Liu Lingyi’s biological daughter!
How laughable…
A mouthful of salty, metallic blood surged up her throat. She stared fixedly at Liu Ying and, seizing the moment of her carelessness, bit down hard on her hand!
“Ah—!”
“Ying’er!?” Xiao Yunhe cried out in panic.
Su Mingyue turned her gaze toward the figure rushing over, only to be kicked violently in the chest by Xiao Yunhe the next moment. She flew out like a rag and slammed heavily against the Punishment Pillar!
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, blurring her vision.
When she opened her eyes again, Su Mingyue found herself back at the age of eighteen, on the very day the emperor granted her an imperial marriage.
“Physician Su has rendered great service in treating the Empress Dowager and deserves a generous reward!”
“Among all the talented young men, princes, and nobles in the court, whoever you choose, I shall personally grant you an imperial marriage and send you off in grand style!”