The ninth year of the Republic, in the northern border city.
In a dark, moldy cell, a young girl dressed in a crimson bridal gown sat on a straw mat, staring at a few dead rats not far away.
Silver needles were thrust into the bodies of the dead rats, their sharp edges hidden in the dimness of the cell.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the Young Marshal’s wife who chopped off her mother-in-law’s hand on her wedding day! It’s an honor to finally meet you!”
Outside the cell door, a jailer in a black uniform adjusted his belt, his lewd eyes sizing up the plump young girl inside as a malicious smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
Rong Tangtang ignored him, lowering her gaze to glance at her wristwatch. It’s been three hours, and the Young Marshal still hasn’t come to get me. It seems I made a miscalculation with this risky move; I have to escape now. If I don’t, I’ll surely be dead by tomorrow!
“Little girl, all the provinces in the northeast are now under the House of Huo. Marrying Young Marshal Huo Siyu and becoming the young mistress of the Huo family is the supreme honor! Yet you didn’t know what’s good for you. Your mother-in-law said a few words to you, and you brazenly chopped off her hand. Tsk tsk, you’re just courting death! Heh, no one who comes in here ever gets out alive, unless…”
The jailer cleared his throat, rubbing his chin, his eyes filled with lust as he looked at Rong Tangtang, stopping mid-sentence.
Rong Tangtang raised her eyelids and sneered inwardly. Did he really take her for a fool who would deliberately challenge authority with her life? Of course not. This was merely a desperate gamble she had taken to avoid dying on her wedding night.
Half a month ago, her only brother had been framed as a murderer and thrown into prison, with the crime scene located right inside the Grand Marshal’s mansion.
In order to openly enter the heavily guarded Grand Marshal’s mansion to investigate the true culprit and clear her brother’s name, she had agreed to marry the notorious Young Marshal of the Huo family, Huo Siyu.
Who was Huo Siyu? The eldest son of Northern Grand Marshal Huo Zhenting, a feared King of Hell. He was ruthless in his actions and had a dark, unhinged temperament. He had married twice before, and both brides had died on their wedding night.
When her turn came, that lunatic was even worse: he didn’t even show up to the wedding, having his adjutant lead a wolf to take his place in performing the wedding bows with her.
The adjutant had announced publicly, “The Young Marshal is currently dealing with a critical matter concerning the safety of the entire North, so he cannot attend. Young Marshal’s wife, please take good care of the Young Marshal’s wolf for the next two days until he returns.”
He had even added that since she was now the Young Marshal’s wife, it was her duty to take care of his wolf.
That wolf had stared at her with immensely vicious eyes, its tongue hanging out as it panted heavily, baring razor-sharp white teeth as if it would devour her the moment the adjutant let go of the leash.
Ha, take good care of it? If she had walked into the bridal chamber leading that wolf, she wouldn’t have been left with even a bone.
By tomorrow, the newsboys all over the border city would be shouting, “Extra, extra! The Young Marshal’s third wife was mauled to death by a wolf on her wedding night!”
Terrified, she had thought to herself that she absolutely could not let the wedding continue or be left alone with the wolf.
Just then, her mother-in-law—the Young Marshal’s stepmother—began chattering incessantly, “As a wife of the Huo family, you must understand the principle that a husband comes above all else. Whatever your husband tells you to do, you must obey. You must put the bigger picture first. Even though your brother is a murderer, our Huo family doesn’t even mind. You need to show some gratitude…”
Rong Tangtang instantly hatched a plan. Without missing a beat, she pulled the hidden dagger from her sleeve, directly chopped off her mother-in-law’s hand, and shouted, “Stop nagging, you’re driving me crazy!”
Then, amidst a chorus of shrieks and gasps, she was dragged off to prison.
She had done her research beforehand: the Young Marshal and his stepmother were at bitter odds, at open and secret war with each other. The Young Marshal’s first two wives, as well as herself as the third, had all been found for him by his stepmother.
The Young Marshal assumed they were all spies planted by his stepmother, which was why her predecessors had both been disposed of.
Now, in her case, she needed to let the Young Marshal know that she and his stepmother were not on the same side.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Chopping off his stepmother’s hand was the olive branch she was extending to him.
She had expected him to come and fetch her once he got word, but now it seemed she had lost the bet.
Right now, her only straw to grasp was this jailer, and she had to hold onto it tightly.
With that, Rong Tangtang blinked, assuming a pitiful look, and pleaded, “I acted on impulse! Big Brother, save me, please! I don’t want to die!”
The jailer’s eyes lit up. Glancing around to ensure no one was nearby, he lowered his voice and said, “Let me have some fun, and I’ll get you out of here.”
“Are you a man of your word?” Rong Tangtang looked like an innocent, aggrieved little rabbit.
Excited, the jailer pulled out the keys to open the lock, eagerly stepping into the cell. “My word is good! I’m not the kind of guy who pulls up his pants and forgets! Be a good girl now, don’t yell or make a fuss! If you make me happy, I have my own ways of keeping you alive. If you don’t, you can kiss tomorrow goodbye—you’ll die in a hail of gunfire without even a whole corpse left. You hear me, you little bitch?”
Listening to the vulgar threat, Rong Tangtang nodded pitifully while clenching her fists behind her back.
As the jailer excitedly unbuckled his belt and puckered his lips for a kiss, completely letting his guard down, Rong Tangtang’s gaze sharpened. With a flick of her sleeve, she instantly whipped out two silver needles and thrust them straight into the jailer’s throat.
The Ren meridian was sealed, causing instant paralysis.
Ugh…
The jailer’s eyes bulged in agony, unable to utter a single sound as his hands instinctively clutched at his throat, only driving the silver needles deeper.
The next second, Rong Tangtang grabbed him by the head and slammed it straight against the blue-stone brick wall.
With two loud thuds, the jailer was knocked unconscious on the spot, bleeding from the head.
Without wasting a single second, she quickly stripped off the jailer’s black uniform, put it on, pulled the visor of the peaked cap down low, and turned to leave the cell block.
In the dead of night, the rest of the prison guards were slumped over their stools, fast asleep.
Rong Tangtang walked silently down the corridor, reached the prison courtyard, and steadily approached the massive black iron gate embedded in the high wall.
Her heart was pounding in her throat.
Gently pulling open the heavy iron gate, she saw two armed sentries outside nodding off with their eyes closed.
Holding her breath, she quietly slipped through and began to run for her life.
Sensing a gust of wind, one of the sentries snapped his eyes open. “Hey, where do you think you’re going in the middle of the night instead of standing guard?!”
The other guard woke up too, rubbing his eyes. “That guy looks unfamiliar!”
Both men snapped to attention, exchanged a glance… someone was breaking out of prison.
“After him!” shouted one guard, simultaneously blowing a whistle to summon more accomplices to catch the fugitive.
“Stop right there, or I’ll shoot!”
Bang!
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and a sharp pain flared in Rong Tangtang’s left arm.
At that exact moment, with a screech of tires—
A car abruptly pulled to a halt right in front of her.
Without a second thought, she threw the door open with all her might, scrambled inside, and tumbled into the back seat.
In her panic, she found herself face-to-face with a languid, tall man sitting in the back, most of his face shrouded in shadows.
The driver in the front turned around in shock. “Audacious!”
Before Rong Tangtang could process anything, she flicked out two silver needles, pressing them directly against the man’s throat to threaten his driver. “Drive! Or one needle from me, and he’ll be paralyzed for life!”