In the tenth year of the Qingyuan era, in the capital of the Great Feng Nation, the temperature plummeted, and snow fell in flurries.
Within the West Garden of the Jingbei Hou Mansion, snow bent the tree branches. The cold wind whistled, and the charcoal brazier was ice-cold.
Lin Tangtang, with her large, pregnant belly, shivered all over, her hands frozen red.
“Mama… I’m so cold… Go get some charcoal…” Her teeth were chattering from the cold, and she nearly bit her tongue as she spoke.
“This old servant can’t make that decision. There’s a wedding banquet in the mansion today. All the charcoal has been prioritized for the front hall. How could there be any for you?”
Wang Momo, who was supposed to be serving her, had an indifferent and dismissive look.
“A wedding banquet? Whose wedding banquet?” Lin Tangtang’s eyes widened in alarm. Why did she know nothing about a wedding banquet in the mansion?
“The Young Master’s wedding banquet, of course.” The mama glanced at her clumsy, heavy body, a look of contempt in her eyes. “In your current state, don’t go out and offend the new madam.”
The words struck Lin Tangtang like a bolt from the blue.
She and Yang Chen, the Young Master of Jingbei Hou, had been engaged long ago, with the wedding set for just four months from now.
A few months prior, barbarians had suddenly attacked the northern border. Her father, General Beiwei, along with several of his sworn brothers and eighty thousand soldiers, had fought desperately to repel the enemy. As the battle situation grew dire, she had fled the warzone with her cousin, who was living at the General’s Mansion. After enduring countless hardships, she arrived at the Jingbei Hou Mansion in the capital to ask Yang Chen to seek an audience with the emperor and have the court send reinforcements.
Later, Yang Chen had led troops to the northern territories. Before he left, desperate to save her father, she had given herself to him amidst his coaxing and half-forced advances. Now, she was several months pregnant.
But today, Yang Chen had actually returned and was marrying someone else? Then what did that make her?
No, she had to go and demand an explanation.
She threw the door open and walked out onto the covered corridor, braving the swirling snow.
“Miss Lin, the Young Master specifically ordered that you are not to leave this courtyard!” Wang Momo hurriedly chased after her and grabbed her.
“Insolent slave! Why should I listen to you?” Lin Tangtang grew fierce, striking a nerve on Wang Momo’s elbow. The mama’s grip immediately loosened.
Clutching her belly, she staggered toward the East Garden, one foot sinking deep into the snow after the other.
Inside the East Garden, red silks hung high, and longans and peanuts were scattered across the bed, creating a boundless scene of celebration.
Lin Tangtang’s shoes were soaked through, and her clothes were covered in snowflakes when she pushed open the door.
She saw Yang Chen drinking cross-cupped wine with his new bride.
And that new bride was none other than the cousin she had rescued from the northern border battlefield, risking her own life: Lin Jiaojiao!
“You… what are you two doing! How could you do this to me?”
She stumbled and fell to the ground, the brilliant red of the decorations searing her eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you to watch her? How did you let her cause a scene here?” His good time interrupted, Yang Chen glanced unhappily at the approaching, head-bowed Wang Momo.
“It was Miss Lin who was too aggressive… She insisted on coming out. My arm is still numb…” Wang Momo lamented tearfully.
“Hah, already with child and still so restless.”
Yang Chen set down his wine cup and looked down at Lin Tangtang. “Since you’re here, I’ll tell you the truth. From now on, Jiaojiao will be the main mistress of the Hou Mansion. You will be a concubine.”
“A concubine? What a joke! I, the proper daughter of the General Beiwei’s Mansion, as your concubine? Yang Chen, don’t you push me too far!” Lin Tangtang laughed, a mixture of fury and misery.
“What kind of fantasy are you living in, sister? Proper daughter? Hmph, the Beiwei army committed treason. The General’s Mansion fell a month ago. The fact that you’re still here, safe and sound, waiting to give birth is due to the Young Master’s benevolence…”
Lin Jiaojiao rose gracefully, her words stabbing at Lin Tangtang like daggers. “Your father and brothers are all dead. Who do you have to back you up now?”
“Treason? Dead?” Hearing the devastating news, Lin Tangtang’s vision went black. Her knees gave way, and her body swayed precariously.
How could her father and brothers, who were devoted to their country, possibly commit treason?
She didn’t believe it…
Leaning on the doorframe, Lin Tangtang slowly got to her feet, her trembling body facing Yang Chen. “Didn’t you seek an audience with the emperor and personally go to the northern border to support my father and brothers? What exactly happened?”
Facing her bloodthirsty gaze, Yang Chen turned his head slightly to the side.
“The Beiwei army colluded with bandits, killed civilians to claim military merits, and defrauded the state of military funds. His Majesty personally issued an edict for the Young Master to go and suppress the rebellion.”
Lin Jiaojiao, a radiant smile on her face, stood beside Yang Chen. “Now, on the merit of suppressing the rebellion, the Young Master has been promoted by His Majesty to the first-rank Grand Marshal Who Pacifies the North!”
“To suppress a rebellion, not to provide aid?” Lin Tangtang froze, a chill running through her. Her face was deathly pale, as if someone had squeezed her heart tight. She struggled to speak, “You… you betrayed the General’s Mansion?”
“Insolence!” Yang Chen snapped, looking down at her with disdain. “You are now a person of the Hou Mansion. Watch what you say, or else…”
A hint of murderous intent flickered in Yang Chen’s eyes. He would not allow anyone to question the matter of the Beiwei army’s rebellion.
“Or else what? You’ll kill me?”
Lin Tangtang’s voice was hoarse, hatred growing wildly within her. “Yang Chen, as long as I am alive, I will definitely get justice for the General’s Mansion!”
With that, tears streamed down her face, and she turned to leave.
“Audacious! Where do you think you’re going?” Yang Chen was furious and shouted, “Men, seize her! Don’t let her leave the mansion!”
Outside, the wind and snow raged. Lin Tangtang was forced to her knees in the snow by a swarm of guards.
“Let go of me!” Lin Tangtang’s belly tightened in spasms. The biting wind felt as if it were blowing straight into her heart.
She struggled with all her might, but it was useless.
Holding a red oil-paper umbrella, Lin Jiaojiao walked gracefully to her side and whispered in her ear, “Sister, you guessed right. The Beiwei army did not rebel. However, some people needed the Beiwei army to ‘rebel,’ and I just contributed a tiny bit of effort, writing a letter in uncle’s handwriting in exchange for the position of the Hou Mansion’s madam.”
Lin Tangtang’s head was buzzing.
Her father had treated Lin Jiaojiao like his own daughter. The very first character she learned to write was taught by him. To think that in the end, she would use this to backstab the General’s Mansion.
“Lin Jiaojiao, is this how you repay the General’s Mansion for raising you? Even a stone would have been warmed after all these years…” Lin Tangtang was overcome with emotion and coughed violently.
“Sister, how can living under someone else’s roof compare to being your own master? Why should everyone revolve around you and not me? All these years in the General’s Mansion, I’ve long had enough!”
Lin Jiaojiao’s eyes were wild with triumph. “Because I provided evidence, the Young Master married me as his primary wife. And you, once so high and mighty, have lost the protection of your father and brothers. You’re only fit to be a lowly concubine. Your child will have to call me ‘mother’ as well.”
Hearing this, Lin Tangtang felt as if even breathing was an agony. All the strength seemed to drain from her body.
These two people—one was the fiancé who had once sworn eternal love to her, the other was the cousin the General’s Mansion had cherished and raised.
Yet, they had conspired together, joined forces to betray her, and taken the lives of her father, her brothers, and the eighty thousand soldiers of the Beiwei army!
Under the successive blows, a warm flow of blood trickled from between Lin Tangtang’s legs, instantly staining her white skirt red.
A sharp pain shot through her, and she curled up on the ground, breaking out in a cold sweat.
It wasn’t her due date yet. Lin Tangtang knew she was going into premature labor, one foot already in the grave.
Watching the agonizing Lin Tangtang, a surge of pleasure welled up in Lin Jiaojiao’s heart. The corners of her lips curled up, and she returned to the bridal chamber.
“Young Master, today is our auspicious day. Shall we rest early…” Lin Jiaojiao draped herself over the man’s chest, as pliant as if she had no bones.
Yang Chen wrapped an arm around Lin Jiaojiao’s waist.
The door to the bridal chamber was closed once more.
Inside, the bed curtains hung low, bare shoulders were revealed, and soft moans echoed continuously.
Outside, Lin Tangtang collapsed in the snow from a difficult labor, her blood staining the white ground a shocking, heart-wrenching crimson.
Like a plum blossom withered by a ravaging wind, she watched with wide eyes as the silhouettes overlapped in the candlelight within the room.
The pain that cut to the bone, the utter humiliation!
The tears that slid from the corners of her eyes froze into frost. Her breathing grew weaker and weaker, her eyes filled with unwillingness to yield.
As the last snowflake fell, Lin Tangtang lost all consciousness.