“Yes, Niannian has been back for quite a while now. What took you so far past?”
Ning Yulian chimed in immediately, her voice heavy with worry for her daughter.
Gu Qianqian forced a coquettish smile. “Mom, I waited at the village entrance for ages, but since Niannian was nowhere in sight, I slipped off to the cornfield to relieve myself. She must have passed by right around that time!”
Turning to Gu Niannian, Qianqian batted her eyelashes and asked, “Big sister, I only stepped into the cornfield for a quick bathroom break. You couldn’t possibly have arrived right then, could you?”
Gu Niannian let out a quiet, inscrutable smile. “You were in there for quite a while. Weren’t you worried the cornfield mosquitoes would eat you alive?”
A flush of red crept up Qianqian’s cheeks, and she put on a heavily artificial, honeyed tone. “Oh, sister, what are you saying? I was only inside for a few minutes. Naturally, the mosquitoes wouldn’t bother me.”
Suppressing the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, Niannian lowered her voice just a fraction. “When I reached the village entrance, I thought I heard a man and a woman talking in the cornfield. It gave me quite a fright—I actually thought ghosts haunted the place!”
At those words, the color drained entirely from Qianqian’s face.
Could Niannian have found out what Hu Wangze and I were doing in the cornfield tonight?
Panic spiked in her chest. Qianqian quickly forced out a denial, stammering, “Niannian, what nonsense are you talking about? I just came straight back from the village entrance. I didn’t hear anything like that!”
A knowing curve touched Niannian’s lips. “Don’t be so nervous, little sister. I was just making conversation. No need to take it seriously.”
At dinner, watching Niannian grow more stunning by the day, Qianqian felt a bitter surge of jealousy she could barely contain.
A cold, calculating gleam flashed in her eyes. She hastily smoothed her expression into a warm smile, careful not to arouse Niannian’s suspicions.
Feigning sisterly affection, Qianqian walked over to Niannian and handed her a pre-prepared glass of red wine.
“Big sister, thank you so much for coming such a long way to attend my wedding. I’m deeply grateful. Let me toast you first—here’s to wishing you top honors on your exams this year!”
Niannian felt a flicker of surprise. Isn’t this just a weasel wishing the chickens a happy New Year? Why was Qianqian suddenly acting so sweet and attentive?
A proverb instantly popped into her head: Unprovoked displays of courtesy usually mask ulterior motives. It looked like she needed to keep her guard up.
“Thanks!”
Niannian accepted the glass with polite indifference. Instead of drinking, she casually turned it over in her hand, swirling the crimson liquid. Under the warm light, it cast a rich, amber glow.
Her expression turned contemplative. Qianqian’s sudden about-face was completely out of character; such sudden warmth was unprecedented.
When something is abnormal, there’s bound to be a demon behind it. Niannian knew full well that Qianqian was up to no good.
Unsure of what scheme her stepsister was cooking up, she stared at the glass and deliberately delayed taking a sip.
Seeing that Niannian was just holding the wine without drinking, Qianqian grew anxious. She quickly downed her own glass of wine in one gulp.
Holding her empty glass out to Niannian, she urged, “Come on, big sister, it’s just a glass of red wine. It won’t get you drunk.”
Hesitating for another moment, Niannian finally raised the glass to her lips and slowly swallowed the contents.
A sweet, syrupy liquid moistened the tip of her tongue before sliding down her throat and into her stomach.
A cool sensation bloomed across her taste buds. Niannian smacked her lips slightly and set the glass back down on the table.
Watching Niannian finish every last drop, Qianqian hooked the corner of her mouth into a subtle, triumphant smirk. Everything was going precisely according to plan.
Hiding her glee, she put on a mask of sisterly concern. “You must be exhausted from the journey today, big sister! If you’re tired, you should get some rest early.”
Indeed, a heavy wave of fatigue and sleepiness was washing over Niannian. Her head began to spin, and her eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
She never would have dreamed that Qianqian had actually spiked her wine.
“I am pretty tired. I won’t keep you company any longer; I’m heading up to my room to rest. We still have an early morning tomorrow to send you off.”
With that, Niannian stood up and made her way toward the stairs, only to find her limbs completely sapped of strength and her legs turning to jelly.
She stumbled, quickly catching herself on the banister.
Seeing this, Qianqian hurried over to steady her, piling on the fake sympathy. “Sis, you really need to eat more. Look how thin you are—you don’t even have the strength to walk.”
With her head pounding and vision blurring, Niannian didn’t have the energy to spare a single word.
A ruthless calculation flashed in Qianqian’s eyes, and she thought viciously to herself: Gu Niannian, you motherless little bitch, you actually thought you could fight me? Just let yourself be smug for a little longer—soon enough, I’ll let you see what I’m truly capable of.
Niannian’s upper and lower eyelids were practically glued together by then.
Once Qianqian had guided her into the bedroom, she turned on her heel and slipped out, making sure to pull the bedroom door shut behind her.
Vaguely, Niannian sensed an intensely sweet, heavy fragrance lingering in the room, setting off alarm bells in her mind.
Yet the drug in the wine had already taken effect, and her consciousness was slipping away fast.
Right as her awareness began to fade into a haze, a strong sense of foreboding gripped her.
Her body, however, refused to obey commands. Dragging her leaden legs, she managed to stumble toward the bed before collapsing onto the mattress, fast asleep.
Hiding just outside the door, Qianqian let out a cold, venomous laugh. Little bitch, just stay put in there. Tomorrow…
Meanwhile, over at the Huo family estate in the capital, Huo Sheng’an’s face darkened the moment he learned that the Gu family daughter he was expected to marry was actually the younger sister, Gu Qianqian.
Throwing caution to the wind, he broke out in fierce opposition, loudly rebuking his parents and grandfather.
“Have you all lost your minds? You swapped my bride behind my back without getting my consent! Where on earth are there parents like you?”
Facing their son’s fury, Huo’s parents could only exchange looks of helpless guilt.
To be fair, they knew they were in the wrong. But back then, Gu Changlin and Ning Yulian had come straight to their home, pleading in tears and begging to swap their elder daughter—the original match for the arranged engagement—with their younger one.
Huo’s father had initially refused outright. However, after relentless sobbing and wailing from the couple in front of Elder Huo, and their claims that Gu Qianqian was of delicate health—with a fortune-teller predicting a major life trial that could only be averted by marrying a soldier—they begged for her to become a Huo daughter-in-law.
Mindful of the fact that Elder Gu had once saved Elder Huo’s life, the old man had pressured Huo’s parents into reluctantly agreeing.
They had kept the switch hidden from Sheng’an all along, figuring that since he and Gu Niannian hadn’t seen each other in years, he wouldn’t know the difference.
Who could have guessed that Sheng’an would somehow catch wind of the news? Upon learning that his bride-to-be wasn’t the original Gu Niannian, he was completely stunned.
Now, with their son demanding answers, the older couple stood there entirely at a loss for what to do.