“Old Grandma has sent a number of maids. The last maid warned us that old grandma would come to personally scold you if you weren’t up soon!” Qing Yue reported.
The night before, Qin Wanru had requested not to be woken early. If her grandmother sent someone, Qing Yue was to send them off with a vague reply.
Qi Tianyu had already found out about the swap. In her previous life, he blamed Qin Wanru for ruining his marriage with Qin Yuru. Furious, he made a cruel plan. He would pretend to be unaware of the swap and let his men carry the bride’s sedan chair to the Qi mansion. When it arrived at the gate, he would tear off the veil in front of everyone and push her to the ground, accusing her of being vicious and presumptuous.
Qin Wanru had known nothing about these plans and it had played out exactly as Qi Tianyu intended. At only eleven years old, her reputation had been destroyed. She became the laughingstock of everyone in Jianzhou.
In this present, however, her long lashes demurely hid her bloodthirsty eyes. They were no longer the eyes of a child. She flipped over on the bed and sat up, dangling her legs over the side.
“Is the sedan almost here?”
“Almost! I heard earlier that it was about time,” said Qing Yue. She squatted on the ground, helping Qin Wanru put on her shoes.
“I guess everything is ready then?” Qin Wanru asked as she stood.
“Don’t worry, Miss. Brother Fengzi just sent somebody to tell me everything is ready. He’s waiting for the sedan to arrive!” Qing Yue said, standing up as well.
She was looking at Qin Wanru with sparkling eyes, almost overcome by emotion. Something about the girl had felt different since yesterday, but she was thankful for the change. Her young mistress was becoming more sharp-witted. Not only did she rescue Nanny Yu from the laundry room, she’d seen through the plot to switch the brides.
Wang Feng, the man Qing Yue called Brother Fengzi, was Nanny Yu’s son. He oversaw the most critical element of Qin Wanru’s plans. Wang Feng was to destroy the wedding sedan.
If Qin Wanru wished to change the future, she had to ruin Qin Yuru and Qi Tianyu’s plans now before they grew into an even bigger disaster.
She needed the whole world to know that Qin Wanru had not stolen her sister’s husband. It was Qin Yuru who had refused the marriage and tried to push the responsibility onto her little sister.
“Please send word to Grandma,” Qin Wanru said. Since it was almost time for the wedding, she had to begin preparing. If she didn’t, Qin Yuru would notice something was wrong.
“Yes, Miss. Shall I help you put on your wedding gown first?” Qing Yue asked, blinking.
“It’s alright. First, please call for Grandma,” said Qin Wanru. Her eyes were still cold. Clad in a white robe, she still aimed to look like she’d just gotten out of bed and had not yet had time to get ready.
Qing Yue obeyed immediately, hurrying off to find Grandma Qin. Qin Wanru walked up to the dresser and looked into the mirror. Reflected back was an innocent, weak child, face pale as snow, lips red. She was young now, but her features showed she would someday be a great beauty.
However, she stood out a bit too much…
The marriage between the son of Jiangzhou’s magistrate and the daughter of Ninyuan’s general was an important event to the people of Jiangzhou. The entire city was excited, and a crowd was gathered at the gates of the General Qin’s mansion to watch the bridegroom pick up his bride.
Qi Tianyu had led the sedan all the way from his own mansion, the entire procession accompanied by lively music and celebration. When they finally arrived, Qi Tianyu leapt down from his horse and lifted the long train of his robe to walk up the steps.
Suddenly, a group of men carrying broomsticks and poles dashed from the crowd. They began to strike at the sedan, smashing it apart.
The crowd froze, not knowing how to react. Some even assumed it was an odd family custom to strike the bride’s sedan, but they realized something had gone very wrong when it began to collapse. The attackers moved in to stomp on the pieces.
“Stop! Someone restrain these men!” Qin Tianyu called. No longer stunned, he began to issue angry orders.
The moment Qi Tianyu issued those orders, men stepped forward to restrain the sedan’s destroyers.“This sedan is useless!” one of the restrained men cried. “The elder daughter refuses to marry you and has forced her younger sister to take her place. However, the younger sister isn’t willing to marry you either.”“That’s right! First Daughter Qin doesn’t want to marry you, and her sister won’t take her place! Please give up, Master Qi!” another man cried.“Destroy the sedan so our eldest miss won’t have to marry him!” yet another man cried, his voice even louder.Outraged, Qi Tianyu grabbed a man who was still trying to hit the sedan with his broom.“Even the younger sister doesn’t want to marry me? Does she think this marriage is such a joke that she can just decide not to marry me?”The man he’d grabbed was Wang Feng, Nanny Yu’s son. He burst out laughing.“Isn’t it strange, Master Qi? You were supposed to marry the elder sister, but here y
“You can’t let Grandma Qin see you looking like this. Second Miss, you need to get dressed or you won’t make it to the bridal sedan chair in time!” a woman said, hurrying into the room. This was Nanny Fang. She stretched out her arm, showing off the fine red wedding dress and hoping the sight would tempt Qin Wanru into getting ready. “Have a look, Second Miss. This is the wedding dress that you sister prepared for you. Isn’t it beautiful? You should try it on!”Qin Wanru looked at Nanny Fang, then the dress in her hands, and sneered.“Second Miss… is something wrong?” Nanny Fang stammered.The normally sweet and naive young lady seemed to have bloodlust in her eyes. Nanny Fang felt like that icy, black glare could see her soul.“Qing Yue, hurry up!” Qin Wanru ordered coldly, ignoring Nanny Fang.Qing Yue rushed over, taking a comb off the dressing table. She arranged Qin Wanru’s hair in double ringed buns suitable for a girl of her age.“Second Mi
“Second Miss,” Qing Yue screamed. She ran to Qin Wanru’s side.A crowd of people stood at the door, including Grandma Qin and her servants. They saw Qin Wanru lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Grandma Qin’s face changed from scolding to horror.“Hurry! Somebody get a doctor!” she screamed.The servant girls rushed to obey as Grandma Qin picked up her half dead granddaughter.“Zhuozhuo! Zhuozhuo, what happened?” she asked, voice trembling on the edge of tears.Zhuozhuo was Qin Wanru’s nickname, but nobody called it with love like Old Grandma Qin.“Grandma, big sister wants me to marry brother Qi, but… but I don’t want to marry him! She won’t let me just… I don’t want to marry him! Please don’t let her kill me…” Qin Wanru said, words broken and faint. Her hands went slack and she lost consciousness.It was a risky move, letting herself get injured so severely, but Grandma Qin would remember her tantrum when she insisted on the marriage. W
“I want the engagement nullified. This wasn’t my idea. Big Sister talked me into it. She couldn’t take it when I backed out of her plan at the last minute, so she had Nanny Fang attack me with a pair of scissors! Is she trying to force me to marry him no matter what?” Qin Wanru asked. She pushed Qin Yuru’s hang away and ran into Qing Yue’s arms where she could hide her cold eyes.Hearing that, all the people watching felt the blood drain from their faces. Qin Wanru was still at the age where she spoke her thoughts openly, so it felt reasonable for her to say something so bold. They all turned to look at Qin Yuru.Qin Yuru stepped back, face falling.“W-what did you say, Second Sister?” Qin Yuru blurted, pointing at her sister with a trembling hand. She felt her panic rising.“What are you saying, Wanru? You forced your sister to let you marry him. How can you say she forced you into it? As for the injury, it’s just an accident! You never change. You always bl
The Qin Mansion was relatively small, so it did not take long for Qin Wanru to lead the group to Qin Yuru's room. When she saw Qin Wanru about to let them through the door, Qin Yuru lost her nerve. Casting her other concerns aside, she walked up to Qin Wanru and put out her arms out to block her."What do you plan to do in my room, Second Sister?" said Qin Yuru and she glared fiercely at Qin Wanru, her face drained of color."Not much. I just want to look at the letters our cousin wrote you!" replied Qin Wanru calmly, staring back at Qin Yuru."Letters... what letter?" Qin Yuru was so terrified that she almost bit her tongue. She had no idea how Qin Wanru had found out about the letter.When Madam Di had first begun trying to set up the match with Duke Yong’s family, Qin Yuru had started corresponding with Di Yan. Their letters expressed their mutual commitment to make their relationship work. It was, in fact, Di Yan who had urged his mother to agree to their
Inside, Qin Yuru sat paralyzed on the floor, overcome by shock. She stared blankly at Qi Tianyu, who forced his way in by kicking down the door, shaking like a leaf. She looked so frail and pathetic.On any other day, Qi Tianyu would be pained to see Qin Yuru in such a state. At this moment, however, Qi Tianyu's eyes were filled with violence.He snatched the rosewood box from Qin Yuru's hand, opening it without hesitation. He pulled out the letter and a quick glance told him what Qin Wanru had said was true."Alright, the Qi family is not worthy of you. If we are not worthy, you could have just broken off the engagement amicably..." Qi Tianyu scoffed. He looked ready to slash the delicate Qin Yuru into a thousand pieces."Brother Tianyu, it's not what you think..." Qin Yuru said, panicked. She reached out her hand to touch his leg and began to weep.Consumed with rage, Qi Tianyu kicked Qin Yuru away. He thought of the years he’d spent dreaming of their
The engagement between the two families was broken. The eldest daughter of the Ningyuan army general did not guard her chastity. She had such a malicious heart that, pregnant with another man’s child, she devised an evil plan for her younger sister to take her place in marriage.The news snowballed as it spread.Within half a day's time, the entire city of Jiangzhou was talking about it. In a matter of hours, the eldest Miss Qin despised, universally agreed to be the most shameful girl they’d ever heard of. Some even weaved her story into a ballads. When the news reached Qin Huaiyong, he quickly sent men to suppress the rumor, but it was impossible to completely stop people from talking. The Qi family was secretly protecting and spreading the story. By now, the news had even spread far beyond Jiangzhou...The Ningyuan army general was furious. Qin Yuru wailed and cried and even tried to commit suicide. She had shaken the foundation of her entire household.
Chu Liuchen was the crown prince when the late emperor was still alive. He was only a few months old when his uncle usurped the throne and scraped his status as the crown prince. He became Prince Chen, half locked up under house arrest in the South Court in the palace. This was why he was also known as the Crown Prince of South Court.She remembered hearing about him in her previous life. Some said he was a handsome, distinguished gentleman. Other claimed he was a sly and bloodthirsty man. Either way, Qin Wanru didn’t see it as any of her business who he was. She’d only seen him once from far off.Back then, he was the high and mighty crown prince, looking down at her like she was some kind of lowly creature.Right now, on the other hand, she had no choice but to face up to this younger version of Prince Chen.She wanted to keep her distance from him as much as possible, but she couldn’t help but perk at the chance to be recognized by somebody so powerful.