“The agreed date is approaching. Are we truly going to hand over Mingyan?”
“The Northern Di are brutal and bloodthirsty. I’ve heard their general particularly enjoys torturing young, beautiful women. How could Mingyan endure that?”
“Indeed, but we cannot withstand the Northern Di’s wrath either! The city gates can no longer hold…”
“Wenyi bears some resemblance to Mingyan in appearance…Xie Guidu’s deep voice carried from inside the room. Dou Wenyi crouched beside the window at the wall’s edge, her back turning cold.
Her husband… her brother… What were they discussing?
Ten days ago, the Northern Di cavalry had launched a surprise attack on the imperial capital. The imperial relatives and nobles had fled south in panic to escape the disaster. As Chief Minister, Xie Guidu led five thousand Tiger Leopard Riders in a desperate defense of Tianning City.
Unable to breach the city, the Northern Di general had proposed a peace condition: the defending forces must hand over the renowned Crown Princess, Dou Mingyan.
Although Dou Wenyi disliked her sister, she couldn’t bear to see her suffer such a fate and had tactfully advised Xie Guidu against agreeing. Xie Guidu had calmly assented.
So he truly couldn’t bear to sacrifice Dou Mingyan—instead, he intended to sacrifice her?
Impossible!
When Xie Guidu was afflicted with a rare poison, it was she who tested antidotes on herself, repeatedly damaging her heart meridians until she developed the cure.
Back then, he had held her hand and promised he would always protect her.
How could he…
“Fourth Sister is your wife! How can you bear to do this?” Her brother Dou Mingxiu’s voice was filled with disbelief.
“You know… the only person I’ve ever loved is Mingyan. But we were destined to be apart in this lifetime.”
Mentioning his beloved, Xie Guidu’s brows softened with rare tenderness.
“Guidu, watch your words! Third Sister is the Crown Princess. The entire Great Zhou now depends on the Crown Prince—how can you speak so recklessly?”
“That’s why I’ve never overstepped. I even married Wenyi for her sake!” Xie Guidu’s tone grew momentarily impassioned before cooling again.
“Someone must be sacrificed in today’s situation. As long as we can hold out until reinforcements arrive, I will personally rescue Wenyi. For the rest of our lives, I will repay her a hundredfold.”
An eerie silence fell over the room, so heavy that Dou Wenyi could barely breathe.
“Very well. In the future… we will both treat her well…”
Dou Wenyi closed her eyes in agony, her nails digging deep into her palms beneath her wide sleeves. Blood and tears flowed silently.
Dou Mingyan… It was always for Dou Mingyan!
As an adopted daughter of the Dou household, she had received exceptional favor from her parents and even her brothers due to Master Xuanming’s prophecy that she was “unspeakably noble.”
Relying on this “noble destiny,” Dou Mingyan had repeatedly framed her. Even when it was clearly Mingyan who pushed someone or broke something, no matter how she explained, her family never believed her—instead branding her as the “star of disaster” who brought harm to all her kin!
Only her brother would occasionally comfort her when she was sad. Only Xie Guidu had pulled her out of the quagmire of the Dou residence when she was at her most desperate.
She had thought they were the only ones not bewitched by Dou Mingyan—her salvation.
Now she realized this help came with a price tag, demanding she repay Dou Mingyan with interest.
Even this marriage she cherished so deeply was merely a bargaining chip!
Powdery snowflakes drifted onto her face. Dou Wenyi felt dazed—how could it be snowing in Tianning City so early in autumn?
“Madam, what are you doing here?” The attendant’s exclamation accompanied the sudden opening of the door.
“Xie Guidu, you bastard!” Dou Wenyi lunged at Xie Guidu like a madwoman, slapping him hard across the face.
The veins on her neck bulged and throbbed. “You treacherous hypocrite! I curse you to be betrayed by your beloved for all eternity! May you die a wretched death!”
Xie Guidu’s face darkened as he roughly seized her wrist. “Wenyi, you shouldn’t have come back.”
Dou Mingxiu paled in shock. “Fourth Sister, have you lost your mind? Guards, seize her at once!”
With a sharp crack, someone struck her down. Before losing consciousness, she faintly heard that familiar voice: “She is the Crown Princess… we had no choice but to sacrifice you… Don’t blame me. Blame the cruel tricks of fate.”
A procession of carriages departed from Tianning City, swiftly heading toward the Northern Di camp.
Years later, people still refused to recall the calamity of the third year of Tianyou. Although the Great Zhou eventually reclaimed the lost territories at great cost, those who had been brutally harmed would never return…
“Miss, does it still hurt?” A voice reached her ears.
Dou Wenyi felt dazed and disoriented as she weakly lifted her eyelids. Excruciating pain radiated throughout her body, her knees feeling as though they were shattered.
Her maid Cuizhi carefully applied milky-white ointment to the bruised purple marks covering her calves. The cooling sensation jolted her awake.
“I brought you some steamed buns to tide you over.” Cuizhi pointed toward the plate on the altar.
Dou Wenyi instinctively scanned her surroundings. The ancestral tablets loomed like ferocious demons, watching her with sinister intensity.
“The master is truly heartless! You’re the one who suffered injustice, yet he beat you so brutally! It’s been three whole days, and he still forbids anyone from bringing you food. This is too much!”
This scene felt hauntingly familiar.
She had been reborn—returned to the most desperate moment of her previous life.
A few days earlier, she had gone to offer incense with her mother and Dou Mingyan. At the temple, she was abducted by ruffians. After immense struggle, she managed to escape. Having been missing overnight, she returned home in disarray.
What greeted her was her father’s whip, her mother’s scolding, and her elder brother’s cold indifference.
They all believed she had lost her virtue. After mercilessly lashing her dozens of times, they locked her in the ancestral hall and forced her to kneel in punishment.
Cuizhi’s eyes reddened, her heart aching. “Fortunately, Young Master Xie will come today to propose marriage. Once you’re wed, everything will be better…”
The Young Master Xie she referred to was none other than Xie Guidu!
Dou Wenyi’s mind buzzed, a chill spreading to her limbs. She could bear to hear no more…
In her previous life, even though she had never actually lost her virtue, the scandal had spread like wildfire.
Her feeble explanations were drowned out by public condemnation and vicious slander.
With her reputation in ruins, she had viewed Xie Guidu’s marriage proposal as her only lifeline. Holding a sincere and devoted heart, she had loved him her entire life.
But what had it ultimately brought her?