Liang Wan stared for a good while before she realized that Lu Xiu wasn't smiling at all. It was just an illusion created when he narrowed his eyes.
'Right. In the eyes of someone like Lu Xiu, ordinary people like her were no different from vessels, beasts, or plants.'
'Does he raise birds because he's worried they won't have enough to eat in the wild?'
'No. Just as he said, it was purely for a bit of fun.'
'Who in this Imperial City wasn't hollow inside? Especially someone like him, standing at the very pinnacle?'
'A human life was nothing more than a speck of dust.'
Liang Wan lowered her eyes, staring at the ground. In Jinye City, you couldn't survive if you weren't hollow inside!
"How did you kill him?"
The man, halfway into the carriage, suddenly turned his head to look at her.
It wasn't strange for Lu Xiu to have such a question. Although Zhang Shu was a civil servant, how could a delicate young lady possibly take down a man of his size? And with a single, fatal blow?
"With a hairpin, straight into a vital point."
"You know medicine?"
Liang Wan nodded. "I've read a few medical books."
When her father was alive, though he was the National Sacrificial Officer, his private passion was studying medicine. He had taught her quite a bit in his spare time.
But after her father passed away, her uncle took over the family, as the main branch had no sons.
To the outside world, she was still the Third Lady of the Liang Mansion, but what she was taught had all become about how to charm and please men—
Liang Wan tilted her head back, took a few slow breaths, and forced back the urge to cry.
Lu Xiu glanced at the reddened corners of her eyes and shook his head. "Studying medicine to save people... rather uninteresting."
When she looked at him again, he was already inside the long-eaved carriage.
Liang Wan knew she had escaped today's ordeal, but what would happen next?
Last year during the Shangsi Festival, her uncle hosted guests for a winding stream party. Cui Hao had come with an old friend. Amidst a sea of ornate and decadent literature, his was the only one that was simple, unadorned, and possessed its own integrity. But for that very reason, he was met with cold shoulders and ridicule.
After they became acquainted, she learned that his family had fallen from grace and that he faced obstacles everywhere due to his Commoner Clan status. Yet, he carried himself with a quiet dignity, neither servile nor overbearing, which made her see him in a different light.
Later, when he learned her family was going to send her to Wang Sikong, Cui Hao suggested helping her escape to the countryside to take refuge with his relatives.
In the end, it was just jumping from one fiery pit into another!
They had agreed to meet at a designated spot, but she waited and waited, and he never showed up. When she woke up again, the bed was in disarray, and Zhang Shu was standing naked on the floor, getting dressed.
She fought him like a madwoman, but unfortunately, her injured body only led to her being violated once more...
A young lady from a scholarly family, running off to a brothel to fornicate with a man—from that day on, she, Liang Wan, became the number one slut of Jinye City!
First, he schemed to ruin her, then he pretended to take her in. After that, he staged one sob story after another, and in the end, she was tricked by him into becoming a tool to curry favor with his superiors.
Liang Wan raised her head. The vast sky above was full of brilliant stars. In the grand scheme of this world, she was as insignificant as one of those stars.
But this time, not only would she survive, she would make every single person who had ever humiliated her pay the price they deserved!
The long-eaved carriage receded into the distance. Liang Wan wiped away her tears and got up from the ground.
A little further ahead was the Liang Mansion, but it was no longer her home. It was another dragon's pool and tiger's den.
But until she was strong enough to protect herself, the outside world was no safer than that place. Her last life was proof of that!
This time, she could not repeat the same mistakes.
Liang Wan walked to the riverbank and unfastened her cloak. Spotting the steps women used for washing clothes, she closed her eyes and leaped off the edge.
The Si River was the inner-city river of Jinye. The channel was narrow, and the current wasn't strong.
But in early spring, the river water was bone-chillingly cold, freezing her until her head felt numb.
Liang Wan crawled out of the river, shivering, and wrapped her large cloak around herself. It didn't make her feel any better. The soaked clothes underneath clung to her skin, and when the wind blew, she was so cold her teeth chattered uncontrollably.
Liang Wan stumbled to the door. This time, after only a few knocks, it opened.
As expected, she developed a fever. She was burning red all over, yet she was still so cold that she hugged the blanket tightly and curled into a ball.
In her drowsy state, it felt like someone was shaking her. Already delirious from the fever, the shaking made everything worse. When she opened her eyes again, everyone she saw had a double image.
Liang Wan rubbed her eyes and could finally make out the person. "Mo...ther?"
Looking to the side, she saw that her room, usually like a cage, was now filled with people. Every one of them had a solemn expression, and the atmosphere was unspeakably oppressive. Liang Wan knew they weren't looking so grim just because she had a fever.
"Aweng, where on earth did you run off to? Your uncle sent people everywhere to look for you, but they couldn't find you! How did you end up in such a state? Your clothes... were you—"
Her mother seemed to be using all her strength. Her grip on Liang Wan's arm was so fierce it felt like her fingers would dig into her flesh, and even her voice had changed pitch.
In her last life, she had knelt before the door, crying and begging, but her mother had refused to see her.
Liang Wan wrenched her arm free from Mrs. He's grasp and gave her a cold smile. "Were I what? Ruined by a man?"
Mrs. He looked as if she'd been struck by lightning, her face instantly turning deathly pale. "What did you say? Say that again!"
The resentment and grievances from two lifetimes suddenly surged up with her blood. Liang Wan's nose tingled.
"Do you care about anything else besides this? In your eyes, if I lose my chastity, I should just die immediately, shouldn't I? From beginning to end, have you ever once truly cared about me?"
Her eyes were bloodshot as she clenched her fists.
"From the day I was born, I could only do what you allowed! Am I your daughter? Am I even a person? I'm just a puppet for you to control and manipulate! A puppet that must have chastity and obedience engraved on her mind at all times!"
"I really don't understand how I ended up with a mother like you!"
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.
SLAP! A heavy hand struck her across the face. Liang Wan saw stars and collapsed onto the bed, unable to get up for a long moment.
Mrs. He was furious, her whole body trembling.
The atmosphere shifted abruptly. Mrs. Zhang, who was standing to the side, quickly stepped forward. "Sister-in-law! Let's talk things over calmly!" Then she turned and gently chided, "Aweng, how can you talk back to your mother like that?"
One side of her face swelling, Liang Wan looked at Mrs. Zhang through blurry, tear-filled eyes.
In this Liang Mansion, this aunt of hers had always presented herself as charitable and magnanimous. She was also plump, which made her seem more approachable and kind than Liang Wan's own thin, quiet mother.
Mrs. He was in a fit of rage. She shoved Mrs. Zhang aside, threw back the blanket, and hauled Liang Wan up, frantically trying to pull up her sleeve.
Liang Wan was pulled to and fro, but she just watched quietly, her eyes red.
Everyone else in the room also watched in silence.
Only when she saw the conspicuous guardian sand on Liang Wan's arm did Mrs. He let out a sigh of relief, though her face remained cold.
Liang Wan expressionlessly pulled her arm back.
Mrs. Zhang took this in and softened her tone considerably. "Aweng, you are an unmarried lady of a scholarly family. You must never speak such nonsense again!"
Even though the guardian sand was still there, seeing her disheveled clothes, Mrs. He couldn't help but feel alarmed. "Where did you go? What on earth happened? Speak!"