Was this a dream?
Jiang Suihuan reached out dazedly for the hemostatic forceps, and the icy touch sent a shiver through her entire body.
This wasn’t a dream—it was real. Her laboratory had traveled through time with her.
There was no time for joy. She decisively selected hemostatic and local anesthetic medications from inside, along with some instruments, and began suturing her own wound.
This was Jiang Suihuan’s first time stitching up her own injury. Though somewhat troublesome, her exceptional medical skills allowed her to complete the suturing in less than an hour.
Exhausted, she leaned against a tree and sat down, taking out a bottle of Blood Replenishing Pills from her laboratory. She poured out three and swallowed them.
These Blood Replenishing Pills were refined from many rare ingredients. There were only five pills in the bottle, and she had always been reluctant to use them.
Never did she expect to consume three at once.
Looking at the two remaining pills in the bottle, she contemplated finding an opportunity to refine more in the future.
As for the scars on her face, once they scabbed over, applying the scar removal cream should prevent any serious issues.
The sky gradually brightened. While the anesthetic in her chest was still effective, Jiang Suihuan leaned on the tree trunk and slowly stood up, intending to return to Jingcheng to seek justice.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea churned in her stomach. She bent over uncomfortably, retching dryly. Frowning, she thought, The medicine I just took was developed by me personally—there shouldn’t be any side effects.
Leaning against the tree trunk, Jiang Suihuan placed her left hand on her right wrist to check her pulse. The next second, her face paled dramatically.
Pregnancy pulse?
How was that possible!
From the original host’s memories, since their marriage, she and Chu Jue had never consummated their relationship. How could she possibly be pregnant!
Suddenly, a fragment of memory flashed through her mind.
The original host had been tricked by Jiang Meier and locked in a dim woodshed. A tall, well-built man suddenly appeared, breathing heavily, his features unclear.
All she could see were his strikingly beautiful eyes, bloodshot as if he were under the influence of some aphrodisiac. He seemed restless and feverish.
The man’s voice was deep and magnetic, as though he was struggling to suppress something: “You… get out of here!”
But the kind-hearted original host stepped forward instead: “Who are you? Why are you in the woodshed of Nanming Wangfu?”
“Your breathing sounds off—are you ill?”
…
The man could no longer control himself and pinned the original host down.
A long time later, the man stood up and apologetically placed a jade pendant on the silently weeping original host.
“I’m sorry about what happened tonight. This is my jade pendant. If you ever encounter difficulties in the future, you can bring it to find me.”
As the memory faded, Jiang Suihuan snapped back to reality and frantically searched her person.
Though the man’s face was unclear in the memory, his demeanor suggested he was no ordinary person.
“Found it!” Jiang Suihuan pulled out a clear, emerald-green jade pendant from her robes, engraved with the character “Gu.”
Tucking the pendant away casually, she picked up a branch from the ground to use as a walking stick and moved forward.
This was Luanzang Gang, where corpses lay scattered everywhere. She had no intention of tripping over one.
Just as she was about to leave, her branch accidentally poked someone lying on the ground.
The person let out a low groan, startling Jiang Suihuan so much she nearly jumped.
There was actually another living person in Luanzang Gang besides her!
She looked down at the man lying on the ground. He was handsome and slender, but his body was covered in wounds—a gruesome sight.
Good heavens, he was in even worse shape than she was.
Jiang Suihuan surveyed her surroundings. Around the man lay twenty to thirty corpses clad in night clothes, all dead from sword wounds.
In the man’s hand was a blood-stained sword.
It appeared a fierce battle had taken place here last night.
Driven by her instinct to save lives, she crouched down and poked the man’s shoulder with the branch in her hand. “Hey, are you still alive?”
The man opened his eyes, his dark pupils as unfathomable as deep pools.
When he saw the woman beside him with a face covered in blood scabs, he assumed she was another assassin sent by that person. He instinctively swung his longsword, his voice cold as ice. “Who is your master!”
The man was too weakened by his injuries. Jiang Suihuan deftly deflected the sword with her branch using minimal effort, then swiftly delivered a chop to the man’s shoulder, knocking him unconscious again.
Jiang Suihuan guessed the man had mistaken her for an accomplice of the assassins lying on the ground.
She retrieved medical instruments from her laboratory, sutured the man’s wounds, and applied some medicine to accelerate healing.
“That’s all I can do. The rest is up to you.”
She removed the hairpin from her head and placed it in the man’s hand. “If you survive, don’t forget to repay me.”
This hairpin was among the several large chests of jewelry the Emperor had recently bestowed upon Nanming Wangfu. Jiang Meier had taken all the other valuable pieces, leaving the original owner with only this hairpin.
Most of the Emperor’s gifted jewelry were unique pieces, the only ones of their kind in the world. Additionally, the original owner had engraved her name on the hairpin, making it easy to track her down through it.
The man seemed to hear her, gripping the hairpin tightly in his hand.
Jiang Suihuan leaned on her branch and slowly made her way back to Jingcheng.
The streets were bustling with people. Her blood-stained clothes and face covered in blood scabs caused passersby to stop and stare.
She didn’t care. The more people who saw her, the better it was for her.
A passerby recognized her. “Eh? Isn’t that Nan Ming Wang’s Zheng Fei? How did she end up like this?”
“How tragic. I heard Nan Ming Wang dotes exclusively on his Ce Fei. This Zheng Fei has never been favored since she married into Nanming Wangfu.”
“You don’t understand. Nan Ming Wang’s Zheng Fei is the Marquis Family’s Daughter. Rumor has it she was lost since childhood and, after being brought back, knew nothing about music, chess, calligraphy, or painting—utterly foolish. Her younger sister, Nan Ming Wang’s Ce Fei, is a renowned talented woman in Jingcheng.”
“No wonder then. If I were Nan Ming Wang, I’d also dote exclusively on the Ce Fei. That Zheng Fei’s bloody, mangled face would give anyone nightmares.”
…
Jiang Suihuan ignored the surrounding whispers and arrived at the gates of Houfu.
After all, she was their biological daughter, the face of Houfu.
For Nan Ming Wang to let the Marquis Family’s Daughter suffer such severe injuries was a slap in the face to her family.
Moreover, based on her understanding of the two, this situation could work to her advantage.
The guards at the gate were nearly scared out of their wits at her ghastly appearance and hurried into Houfu to report.
Soon, Houye and Hou Furen emerged.
When they saw Jiang Suihuan standing at the gate drenched in blood, they were horrified.
Jiang Suihuan fell to her knees with a thud. “Father, Mother, please uphold justice for your daughter!”
Although Hou Furen was deeply disappointed in her biological daughter’s lack of accomplishments, her heart ached at the sight of her in such a state.
She rushed over and embraced her daughter. “Suihuan, what happened to you? Tell Mother, and I will see justice done for you!”
Facing her concerned expression, Jiang Suihuan gathered her emotions, struggling to feign a tearful tone.
“Mother, Nan Ming Wang stabbed me with a dagger, and for some reason, Mei’er disfigured my face and threw me into Luanzang Gang…”
Hou Furen could hardly believe her ears, while Houye was enraged. For Nan Ming Wang to treat Jiang Suihuan this way was simply disregarding their Houfu!
As for Jiang Meier, though not his biological daughter, she had been obedient and sensible since childhood and couldn’t possibly have done such a thing.
She must have been acting under Nan Ming Wang’s orders.
“Go ‘invite’ Nan Ming Wang and Jiang Meier here immediately! Tell them the Princess Consort is at my residence!”
Houye roared at the guard beside him, who hurried off toward Nanming Wangfu.