Chapter : 01
Shen Hua Seems to Have Gone Mad from Her Illness
The seventeenth year of the Jiayou era.
A bitter, bone-chilling wind swept through the corridor, causing the white lanterns and funeral banners to sway together while the wooden lattice windows rattled.
Shen Hua, dressed in white mourning clothes, knelt before the memorial tablet. A thin, shrill voice sounded beside her.
“Your father left this world so suddenly. He really was a heartless man. Shen Hua, as long as you behave yourself, I won’t let you go hungry.”
There was a faint trace of delight around the eyes of her stepmother, Madam Shen Xue.
Standing there with an air of dignity, she had forced out a few cries of mourning, but there was not the slightest trace of grief on her face at having lost her husband.
When Shen Hua’s father, Shen Wei, was alive, Madam Shen Xue had always pretended to be a virtuous and loving mother, treating him with great warmth. Yet Shen Hua had always kept her distance from her. Shen Wei himself had never had a kind word to say about Madam Shen Xue.
From today onward, Madam Shen Xue was the mistress of the Shen household. She could now control everything in the family.
The thought brought her unparalleled joy.
Shen Hua’s eyes wavered slightly, but she continued burning paper offerings in silence. Her eyes remained fixed on the sheets of spirit money as they were devoured by the flames and reduced to ashes.
Annoyed by Shen Hua’s complete lack of response, Madam Shen Xue roughly poked her slender back with a finger.
“When someone speaks to you, you should answer. Are you deaf?”
The frail Shen Hua nearly toppled forward.
Seeing Shen Hua bite down hard on her pale lips, beads of cold sweat forming across her forehead, Madam Shen Xue felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her chest.
“Someone as sickly as you, someone who has barely clung to life thanks to precious medicinal herbs—your father was probably the only person who could regard you as some kind of treasure.”
Madam Shen Xue now believed she could manipulate Shen Hua however she pleased.
At that moment, Shen Hua struggled to straighten herself and looked directly into Madam Shen Xue’s eyes.
Then she slowly lifted her pale lips into an indifferent yet icy smile.
“After entering this household, Mother never received even a single glance of affection from Father. And after all these years, you still haven’t had a child of your own. It is only natural that you would harbor resentment.”
Her words struck precisely at Madam Shen Xue’s sorest spot.
“Shen Hua, you!”
“Father may have left us in haste, but it is truly unfortunate that there is not a single man in the main branch. I heard that Mother intends to adopt Shen Qu, the illegitimate son of the second branch, as your son?”
Her voice was calm and devoid of emotion.
Yet there was a faint loneliness hidden within her dark eyes that ordinary people would have found difficult to notice.
Meeting that gaze sent a chill down Madam Shen Xue’s spine.
She was astonished that a girl who had not even undergone her coming-of-age ceremony could possess such eyes.
Shen Hua understood Madam Shen Xue’s intentions perfectly.
Now that Shen Wei was dead, Madam Shen Xue, being a woman, would naturally need a son.
What Shen Hua could not understand was why she had chosen Shen Qu of the second branch, who was a year older than herself.
Madam Shen Xue rolled her eyes and spoke irritably.
“Of course. If I don’t adopt a son, then who will send your father off properly? Don’t tell me you want the main branch to die out like this?”
Shen Hua took a handkerchief from her sleeve and stared at it blankly for a moment.
A magnolia pattern, which she had grown fond of three years ago, was embroidered upon it.
She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and then spoke.
“I cannot allow it.”
The words were brief, but filled with determination.
“What did you say?”
Madam Shen Xue was so furious that she nearly rolled her eyes.
“This is something the clan elders and I decided together! Even the second branch has agreed to it. Who are you to interfere? Your father cherished you so much, yet you’re such an ungrateful little wretch! Shen Hua, you’re already betrothed. In a few years, you’ll become a member of the He family. Whatever the Shen family decides, what does it have to do with you?”
Shen Hua was exhausted both physically and mentally, but she silently endured Madam Shen Xue’s tirade.
Her demeanor was strangely calm.
Yet when the words “the He family” were spoken, disgust and rejection briefly flashed through her eyes.
Despite her obvious illness, Shen Hua kept her back perfectly straight.
“Second Uncle married the daughter of the Prefectural Judge not long after Grandmother passed away. Despite Father’s opposition, he insisted on separating from the main household. It seems he was worried that the main branch might cling to him and try to benefit from his success.
“Yet Father later relied on his own abilities to enter the embroidery business. He rebuilt the family fortune and eventually became the wealthiest merchant in Fengzhou.
“How did Second Uncle treat Father in return?
“He failed to pass the imperial examinations and accomplished nothing of note, yet he acted superior and looked down on merchants. He even despised Father for being obsessed with money, but whenever he ran short of funds, he would come begging Father for money—and he never repaid a single coin.
“Isn’t it obvious what such a shameless and despicable man intends?”
Shen Qu, the second branch’s son, was fifteen years old this year—already old enough to understand the ways of the world.
If he were adopted into the main branch, sooner or later the entire family business of the main branch would fall into the hands of the second branch.
Shen Hua’s tone became utterly resolute.
“If there is no innocent child in the collateral branches who understands nothing of worldly affairs, then find someone among our distant relatives. Whoever it is would still be better than Shen Qu.”
The genealogy had not yet been changed, so it was not too late.
Shen Hua hoped that Madam Shen Xue would reconsider even now.
No matter how strained their relationship was, on this matter, they should at least stand together as the women of the main branch.
Madam Shen Xue fell silent for a moment, perhaps because Shen Hua had struck too close to the truth, or perhaps because she had been caught off guard by such unexpected words.
Then she exploded in anger.
“How dare you lecture me?”
“I only said it because I hope Mother will think carefully.”
Shen Hua calmly looked at Madam Shen Xue.
But even if she had struck the truth, there was little a young unmarried lady who had not yet undergone her coming-of-age ceremony could actually do.
Contrary to Shen Hua’s hopes, Madam Shen Xue violently waved her hand.
“Shen Hua must have gone mad from her illness. Drag her out.”
Shen Wei had not even been buried yet, but Madam Shen Xue was already in such a hurry that she had summoned all of her maternal relatives into the household.
Her nephew constantly hovered around Shen Hua whenever he got the chance, pushing his fat face into her vicinity.
It was obvious what he was after.
The servants had evidently realized that the balance of power in the Shen family had shifted.
Their attitudes changed immediately. They began watching Madam Shen Xue’s mood and obeying her every command.
It was only a matter of time before the entire Shen household became Madam Shen Xue’s domain.
At her furious command, four or five older female servants rushed over and dragged Shen Hua away.
The frail Shen Hua could not resist at all and was helplessly dragged out of the mourning hall.
“Miss!”
Yicui, the maid who had been anxiously pacing outside because she was not permitted to enter the mourning hall, cried out and hurried over to support Shen Hua.
Her face flushed red with anger when she saw the marks left on Shen Hua’s wrist.
She looked ready to curse out the people who had dared to treat the eldest daughter of the main branch so roughly.
But Shen Hua leaned weakly against Yicui and said,
“Let’s go back for now.”
Her head hurt as though it were splitting apart, and she could no longer endure it.
Countless memories, tangled together like a vast net, seemed to tighten around her mind.
One memory after another surfaced before her eyes.
Her second uncle, Shen Xuewen, rising to power and swaggering about.
Shen Qu, that wolf-like bastard, revealing his ambitions.
The cold and heartless He Chu, the eldest son of the He family to whom she had been betrothed.
And finally, herself being led away by Shen Xuewen and sold to Zhu Zheng, the Prefectural Judge.
She remembered dying from fury and vomiting blood.
Yet when she opened her eyes again, she had returned to three years earlier.
Everything she had witnessed in her previous life had not yet happened.
But before long, it would all happen again.
After returning to Yuanluo, Shen Hua lay down on her bed with Yicui’s help.
Yicui stood beside the bed, gazing at the slender silhouette of the woman faintly visible through the thin curtains.
Shen Hua looked so fragile that she seemed as though she might break at any moment.
And yet, would her circumstances not become even more difficult from here on?
Shen Hua remembered the miserable end Yicui had met in her previous life.
Her vision gradually grew hazy.
At the time, Yicui had been on the verge of marriage.
While trying to protect Shen Hua, she had been violated by Zhu Zheng.
Shen Hua’s throat became unbearably dry and itchy, and she could not stop coughing.
When she sat upright, Yicui quickly poured a cup of warm water and handed it to her.
After drinking several mouthfuls and moistening her throat, warmth slowly returned to her body.
Shen Hua clutched the silk quilt and looked around the room with a complicated expression.
Apart from Yicui, there was not a single other servant in sight.
Realizing what Shen Hua was thinking, Yicui stomped her feet in anger.
“Those spineless people. Every last one of them has gone over to the First Madam’s courtyard. They’re probably fawning over her happily right now.”
As the day slowly faded, darkness descended over the surroundings.
At some point, snowflakes began drifting down from the sky.
Overnight, snow accumulated thickly.
The weight was too much for the tree branches to bear, causing them to bend downward in strange, curved shapes.
Shen Hua sat against the headboard, her eyes lowered as she pondered.
She appeared calm on the outside, but inside, she was desperately anxious.
Yicui entered the room, lifted the bed curtains, and brought over the medicinal decoction sent from the kitchen.
The pitch-black medicine looked bitter enough simply to stare at.
“Miss, why don’t you go to the clan elder and ask for his help? He’s the fairest person in the entire family. He’s always looked after you, too. I’m sure he’ll help you.”
A mocking smile spread across Shen Hua’s lips.
“Fair?”
The clan elder and Shen Xuewen had long since become allies.
The decision to adopt Shen Qu had most likely been encouraged by the two of them.
And it was not true that the clan elder had treated her particularly well.
In her previous life, Shen Xuewen had coveted the main branch’s fortune and had taken an interest in Shen Hua, who was being kept captive.
Of course, Madam Shen Xue had offered no help.
In the end, Shen Hua had gone to the clan elder as though desperately grasping at the last piece of straw.
But the clan elder had sent the Shen Hua who had barely managed to escape back to Shen Xuewen.
He had always worn a benevolent expression, but his words had subtly blamed Shen Hua instead.
“Yangyang, you should listen to your Second Uncle. He is your father’s brother. Would he really harm you?
“And Shen Qu treats you like his own younger sister.
“You are a daughter of the Shen family, and your marriage has already fallen through. Your health has been weakened by illness, and you probably don’t have much time left to live.
“Wouldn’t it be better to obediently follow along?
“Sacrificing yourself for your Second Uncle and Shen Qu would at least give your life some value.
“Don’t cause a scene. Listen to me.
“Don’t bring shame upon the family for no reason. Families should naturally live together in harmony.”
The clan elder had called Shen Hua by her childhood name, Yangyang, and behaved like a kindly elder.
Yet every word that came out of his mouth had been vicious beyond measure.
Shen Hua downed the medicinal decoction in one gulp.
Yicui had prepared some candied fruit to ease the bitter taste, but Shen Hua declined it.
The medicine would not cure her anyway, but drinking it was still better than taking nothing at all.
