Chaptеr 1: Тhe Truе Heirеss Rеturns Ноmе with а Prеgnаnt Вellу
“Tеll me, yоur nаme?”
Нis scоrсhing brеath brushеd аgainst hеr nесk, his hаnds griррing hеr waist likе iron сlаmps. The drug had сloudеd his mind, leаving him tо rеlу on instinct аs he sought thе сооlness bеneаth him.
The wоmаn smilеd fаintlу, turning ovеr to press dоwn оn him. “Zhаng Sаn.”
Zhаng Shan? Or Zhang Shаn?
Веforе he сould discеrn whiсh, hеr burning liрs had alrеаdy sweрt acrоss еvеrу inch оf his skin, аs if determined to drag him into the dеpths оf this аbsurd раssiоn.
Thrеe hours latеr, the skу hovеred bеtween darkness and dawn.
Inside the dilapidated wooden hut, the lingering scent of desire and medicinal herbs had yet to dissipate.
The woman rose, gathered her scattered clothes, and silently left with her medicine basket.
Another hour passed, and a team of black-clad men arrived swiftly. The moment their leader pushed open the wooden door, his pupils contracted sharply—there lay the young emperor, completely naked on the ground, his body covered in traces of intimacy.
The black-clad leader staggered back three steps in horror, drawing in ten sharp breaths of cold air.
It was over, completely over! Their emperor had clearly been robbed of his innocence!!
…
Ning Heng disliked unexpected surprises, but life was always full of them.
In just three days, two surprises had come her way.
First, she discovered she was pregnant, having mistakenly taken a miscarriage-inducing medicine as a pregnancy-preserving one. Then, she learned she was the true heiress of the Pingyang Marquisate, who had been switched at birth.
The first surprise had to be traced back several months earlier, when she went up the mountain to gather herbs and ended up sleeping with a man.
Her mother, Ning Jiao, had warned her: never pick up a man by the roadside—you’ll either be physically and emotionally abused or have your heart torn out.
Ning Heng had taken this to heart, so after sleeping with him, she ran away without bringing the wild man home. But she had forgotten that sleeping around recklessly could also lead to endless trouble.
And now, she even had a “wild child” to show for it.
After three days of nausea and retching, Ning Heng sighed as she looked at her still-flat stomach. She truly had no idea what to do.
Since her family ran a medicine shop, she prepared a miscarriage-inducing medicine for herself, brewed it, and drank it. But somewhere along the way, something went wrong—she had taken the wrong medicine.
“Damn it, my Cuicui has miscarried—!”
Her mother, Ning Jiao, was fuming in the backyard, cursing loudly. “Which bastard did this? Don’t let me catch you, or I’ll make sure you regret it!”
Cuicui was their family’s ox, who had climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and worked tirelessly day and night for the family. She had finally conceived, but the pregnancy was unstable, showing signs of miscarriage.
Meanwhile, looking at the now-empty medicine bowl in her hand, Ning Heng fell silent.
For a moment, she couldn’t decide which was more toxic—the miscarriage-inducing medicine or the pregnancy-preserving medicine meant for the ox…
In the end, it was Ning Jiao who made the final decision. “Keep it. I’ll raise it.”
The unlucky child, sturdier than a calf, was temporarily fine, but Ning Heng frowned. “A child is trouble.”
Ning Jiao retorted, “How much trouble can it be? Didn’t I raise you just fine, with all your limbs intact?”
When Ning Jiao found Ning Heng, she was twenty-six years old, having just graduated with eight years of undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral studies before crossing over from the modern world to this unfamiliar realm. In a state of utter confusion, she picked up a child, starting off with what seemed like a disastrous beginning. Yet, she had managed to raise her to adulthood, albeit with plenty of grumbling along the way.
Although there had been some minor incidents along the way—emmm, the child she raised had a bit of that “split personality” thing going on.
Sometimes, she was utterly indifferent, caring about nothing, good or bad, like a lazy fish.
Other times, she was misanthropic and ruthless, hating everyone equally, like a dark lotus.
But at least she was alive.
Being alive was enough.Ning Jiao couldn’t help but raise a toast to herself—how brilliant she was, having managed to raise a person.
“By the way, sweetie, when you slept with him, did you get a good look? Was the guy handsome? Did he have abs? And did it last long?”
Even after nearly eighteen or nineteen years in this world, Ning Jiao’s mindset remained thoroughly modern.
She didn’t think getting pregnant before marriage was her little darling’s fault. It was those wild men who couldn’t keep themselves in check—lying half-dressed by the roadside was practically an invitation to be slept with… But the absolute prerequisite was that they had to be handsome. A loser would never do.
Ning Heng answered concisely, “Handsome, eight-pack, lasted quite a while.”
“Well then, that settles it. Consider it a case of ‘keeping the child, discarding the father.'”
And so, at the cost of Cuicui’s little calf, a certain unlucky child was left behind completely unharmed.
…
With the earlier groundwork laid, accepting that she was the true daughter of the Marquis’s household went as smoothly as silk.
When the butterfly-shaped birthmark on the back of her neck was confirmed, the matron wept bitterly, tears and mucus streaming down her face.
“…It’s all the fault of that wicked midwife with a black heart, daring to swap the babies… leaving you, young miss, to wander outside and suffer for so many years…”
The Pingyang Marquis’s household had sent over a dozen people, led by the matron, who said, “The Madam has lost her appetite and can’t even drink tea, and now she’s so haggard she’s barely recognizable… She specially sent this old servant to bring the eldest young miss back to the estate.”
The matron cried with genuine emotion, but her peripheral gaze couldn’t help but secretly size up this true daughter who had been lost for nearly twenty years.
She had expected someone raised in the countryside with no proper upbringing to be crude and vulgar, but now, looking at her, the matron felt a sudden pang of alarm.
Though the woman before her wore simple clothes and wooden hairpins, she couldn’t conceal her dignified bearing.
Her eyes were lowered as she ground medicine unhurriedly, as if the arrival of their large group was less important than the mortar and pestle in her hands.
Half a month ago, Rui Prince, the current emperor’s much-beloved cousin, fell gravely ill.
Emperor Jing Xing decided to arrange a marriage for him to ward off misfortune. Master Huitong matched their birth charts, and this “special honor” of the marriage fell directly upon the talented and beautiful eldest young miss of their household.
Who would have thought that at this critical moment, Master Huitong shook his head.
He bluntly stated that the phoenix in their household had shifted, and a pheasant now occupied its place. If a false one were substituted for the true, it might not ward off misfortune but instead hasten death!
Grand Princess was furious, and the entire Marquis’s household was thrown into chaos. That was why they rushed urgently to find the true daughter.
Listening to the matron’s words, Ning Heng remained calm and composed, not appearing particularly moved. Meanwhile, Ning Jiao’s lips twitched at the side.
True and false daughters? Such an old-fashioned plot.
After a long while, the matron was almost out of emotional appeals, her sorrowful expression nearly frozen on her face. “…Eldest young miss? What do you think…?”
Ning Heng set down the pestle and wiped her hands with a cloth. “Mm, allow me to pack my things. We’ll set off in the afternoon.”
The matron hadn’t expected her to be so straightforward. Stunned for a moment, she quickly replied, “Yes, yes, this old servant will wait for you. Then… what about this lady?”
Ning Jiao waved her hand with a smile. “Well, I’m just an irrelevant bystander. Not important, not important.”
Only Ning Heng knew that her mother still had a whole bunch of fleeting romances to deal with.
At least three to five days, at most half a year.
…
From the remote Ru County to Sheng Jing, the journey by carriage took nearly half a month at a leisurely pace.
It was already early spring. As the carriage rocked and swayed, the discomfort of early pregnancy gradually passed, but the changes in her body quietly became apparent. Her originally slender waist now showed a slight, rounded curve.
Though it wasn’t yet obvious, beneath her loose dress, an observant person could catch a glimpse or two.The side gate of Pingyang Marquis Manor was already guarded early on. As soon as the carriage convoy arrived, someone immediately went inside to announce.
“The eldest young miss has returned!”
“Master and Madam, the eldest young miss has returned!”
The onlookers murmured incessantly, “So this is the true daughter of Pingyang Marquis Manor. I heard she was swapped by the midwife right after birth—truly a tragic fate…”
“Tsk tsk, having wandered in the wilderness for so many years, I wonder what she looks like now?”
“Growing up in the countryside, accustomed to rough and heavy labor, illiterate—I’m afraid it’ll be hard for her to fit into the marquis manor…”
The carriage slowly came to a stop. The matron lifted the curtain and turned to help Ning Heng alight.
Several stewards and matrons who had been waiting at the entrance immediately swept their gazes over her like searchlights.
The woman wore plain, simple clothing, her figure tall and slender yet perfectly proportioned. Her raven-black hair was loosely tied up with a single wooden hairpin, and her face was free of makeup, yet her skin glowed like snow. Her beautiful face was as radiant as a lotus, stunning enough to take one’s breath away.
The onlookers collectively drew in a sharp breath.
This… this true daughter raised in the wilderness—her appearance and bearing were actually so extraordinary, not the least bit inferior to the young ladies of noble families in the capital!
However, after the initial amazement, their gazes drifted downward, landing on her slender waist, which faintly revealed a soft, rounded curve. The expressions of a few experienced old matrons shifted slightly.
This figure… why did it look… almost like that of a pregnant woman?!
The leading Matron Zhang, a trusted confidante of the marquis’s wife, felt a slight jolt in her heart at the sight. Forcing a smile, she stepped forward.
“Young miss, you must be tired from the journey. Madam is already waiting in the main hall. Please follow this old servant.”
Ning Heng nodded slightly. She did not ask why her parents, who had been described as “longing for their daughter to the point of illness,” were not waiting at the gate. Instead, she simply followed the guiding matron through the courtyard toward the main hall.
Along the way, maids and servants stopped to steal glances, their whispers growing softer but more frequent.
Before they even reached the main hall, Matron Zhang could no longer hold back. She leaned in half a step closer, her voice lowered to a near-whisper, carrying a hint of barely concealed suspicion. “Forgive this old servant for speaking out of turn, young miss, but your body… could it be that the long journey has made you unwell? Your waist seems…”
Ning Heng paused in her steps, turning her head slightly. Her clear, cool gaze fell on Matron Zhang’s uneasy, uncertain face.
She raised a hand and gently rested it on her slightly rounded abdomen, replying with an air of nonchalance, “It’s nothing. I’m just three months pregnant, that’s all.”