The back of her neck ached fiercely. Liang Wan tried to lift her hand, but her arm was pinned down by something heavy.
When she finally opened her eyes, she was met with a lecherous face.
'It's...'
Her lips trembling, Liang Wan stared fixedly at the middle-aged man who was lowering his head, impatiently tearing at her clothes. Tears began to well up uncontrollably.
'She was back.'
'Back to the day she lost her innocence!'
Liang Wan shoved the man with all her might, but his corpulent body remained as immovable as a mountain.
Seeing she was awake, the man flashed a greasy smile. "Little missy, let me take good care of you!"
As he spoke, his large hand moved impatiently to lift her skirt.
"Zhang Shu!"
The man's hand froze, and he looked utterly stunned. "You... you know who I am?"
'Know him? Of course I did.'
'I would remember him even if he were reduced to ash! He wasn't just the man who had ruined my innocence; he was the beginning of my entire miserable life!'
The man chuckled. "Cui Hao must have told you, right? I never would have thought that a young lady from a scholarly family would be willing to sell her body for some down-and-out man from a Commoner Clan! But rest assured, as long as you take good care of me, forget a mere introduction—even securing a position for him won't be difficult!"
'Cui Hao... it was Cui Hao again!'
Liang Wan gritted her teeth, her eyes so red they looked as if they could drip blood.
To curry favor with Wang Sikong, her family had tried to send her to him as a concubine, but she would have sooner died than obey. She never imagined that while attempting to escape, she would be kidnapped and have her innocence stolen.
Overnight, she became the laughingstock of all of Jinye City, branded a shameless harlot who had run away with a lover.
She had knelt before the Liang Mansion, pounding desperately on the doors, but not a single person would open them. No matter how she wept and explained, no one believed she had been framed, and eventually, she cried until she passed out.
When she awoke, she had been taken home by Cui Hao and his mother. It was then that Cui Hao told her he wanted to marry and take care of her.
The laughable part was, what she had believed to be true love forged in adversity was nothing but a meticulously crafted lie!
The words spoken by the two eunuchs just before her death echoed in her ears, every last one.
Liang Wan raised a hand, slowly reaching up into her hair until she felt a cold, hard object.
A soft SQUELCH. The hairpin plunged straight into the man's neck. She yanked it out, and blood gushed forth like a spring.
Zhang Shu's eyes bulged and his mouth gaped open. He didn't even have time to cry for help before he collapsed, stiff as a board.
Liang Wan violently shoved the corpse away and wiped her tears. 'She had sworn that if she were given another life, she would make them all suffer a terrible death!'
'And now, starting from this very moment, Zhang Shu is the first!'
Her hands covered in blood, Liang Wan stood silently in the middle of the room. This was Tongle Hall, the largest den of vice in all of Jinye City.
She had only learned where she was in her past life after walking out this door. But the moment she did, her reputation was utterly destroyed.
But now, not only was she in a brothel, she had also killed a court official. If she walked out now, she would be walking to her death.
Liang Wan took a moment to compose herself. 'I must find another way to escape! I've been given a second life, and I absolutely cannot die like this. I haven't even had my revenge!'
From the clamorous hall downstairs drifted sounds of song, dance, and laughter from the revelers.
Liang Wan leaned back against the door and scanned the room. The man on the floor was already lifeless.
She rummaged through chests and cabinets for a long time but couldn't find any clothes to change into. Left with no other choice, she picked up the teapot from the table, washed her face and hands, removed her blood-stained inner shift, and put on only the outer robe that had been thrown to the floor.
Once she was ready, Liang Wan unhesitatingly picked up an oil lamp and lit her inner shift. By the time it burned away, the room was a sea of flames. Thick smoke billowed outwards as Liang Wan curled up behind the door, covering her mouth and nose tightly.
'Either burn to death or gamble on an escape. I have no other choice!'
People were running for their lives, fighting the fire, searching for one another...
Shouts echoed one after another. Tongle Hall had descended into utter chaos.
In the hallway outside, the crowd fled in a blind panic. Liang Wan struggled to crawl out of the room and join the throng running for the exit.
Everyone was focused only on escaping, each person looking more disheveled than the last. When she saw that her own appearance was no different from anyone else's, the heart that had been lodged in her throat finally dropped a little.
Outside the main gate, the calf-drawn carriages of numerous officials and nobles were packed together, blocking the street so completely that nothing could get through.
She kept her head down, covering half her face with a piece of cloth, and randomly picked a carriage. Tailing its attendants, she left the blazing Tongle Hall farther and farther behind.
Once she turned the street corner, she crouched down and quickly scanned her surroundings. 'Barring any surprises, I just need to go through this alley on the right and keep heading west to get back to the Liang Mansion!'
She got up and ran into the alley.
"Stop!"
A voice suddenly rang out from behind her. It was low and cold, unnerving in the early spring night.
Liang Wan covered her face, not daring to move.
Steady footsteps approached, each one seeming to land directly on her heart. She felt as if she were suspended high in the air, and whether she would land safely or fall to her death seemed to depend entirely on his whim.
Peeking through her fingers, Liang Wan saw a pair of dark blue leather boots come to a stop before her.
"Liang... Wan?"
Liang Wan went rigid. 'He actually recognizes me?'
In the next moment, he casually brushed aside the hand covering her face.
The man before her wore a pearl-white, cinched robe. A faint chill emanated from his slender eyes, and the corners of his lips were curled in a playful smirk, as if, in the midst of profound boredom, he had stumbled upon a curious ant.
'How could it be Lu Xiu...?'
Liang Wan felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured over her head, chilling her from head to toe.
In her panic, she had only thought of escaping as quickly as possible; she hadn't noticed she was following Lu Xiu's carriage!
"Are you very afraid of me, young lady?" Lu Xiu narrowed his eyes.
'Afraid?'
'He wasn't just Grandmaster Lu's son, born late in his life, but also the Empress Dowager's youngest brother. He wasn't old, yet everyone gave him a wide berth!'
'Who in all of Jinye City wasn't afraid of him?'
Liang Wan lowered her eyes and clutched the damp cloth in her palm. Her instincts screamed at her to run. She took a step back, and he took a step forward. Suddenly, her ankle twisted, and she fell to the ground, with no path of retreat left.
Lu Xiu leaned down, looking intrigued.
Suddenly, she felt a warmth on her neck as the cool pads of his fingers grazed her warm skin. The lingering scent of cool pine on him was pervasive, and the humiliating memories in her mind came rushing back from the dead.
Liang Wan gritted her teeth and turned her head away. "I beg you, my lord, let me go."
Her deliberately hushed voice held a hint of a sob, which sounded rather alluring as it entered his ears.
Lu Xiu scoffed. "What, are you going to confess without being prompted?"
Liang Wan's expression faltered; she didn't understand what he meant.
A mocking smile played on Lu Xiu's lips, and his tone was certain. "This isn't your blood!"
Seeing the crimson stain on his outstretched fingertip, Liang Wan flinched. 'So he wasn't planning on doing anything to me.'
In her past life, there had been rumors that Lu Xiu had no interest in women, preferring men instead. It seemed those rumors were true.
'Thank goodness...'
"I'm talking to you."
Startled, Liang Wan looked up. 'The blood... I must not have cleaned it off properly in my haste!'
Lu Xiu's fox-like eyes bored into her. He rubbed the blood on his fingertip and brought it to his nose, sniffing delicately. "The Assistant Minister of the Secretariat has been murdered. The fire started in the very room where his body was hidden. Tell me, young lady, do you think Zhang Shu's blood smells like this?"
Liang Wan's brow twitched. "I don't understand what you're saying, my lord."
"Oh?" Lu Xiu's eyes curved into a smile. His gaze drifted past the top of her head, his tone filled with a strange sense of anticipation. "Perhaps, young lady, you'll be able to understand what they have to say."