Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I had it all planned out. Once we reached Lingzhou, I would return whatever gold and silver I hadn’t spent to the Old Madam and the others.

Taking Jiang Suisui with me had only been a moment of madness. I wanted to live a peaceful life with my little sister from now on. How could I drag her into supporting a simple-minded child too?

That was why I had to bring the Old Madam along.

Jiang Suisui was her granddaughter. She couldn’t possibly refuse to care for her.

Those jewels were worth more money than an ordinary person could spend in a lifetime. It would be more than enough for the Old Madam to support Jiang Suisui until she married.

Assuming anyone would marry her, of course.

Either way, that wouldn’t be my problem. Once we reached Lingzhou, the Jiang family and I would go our separate ways. Saving one of their young ladies was already more than generous of me.

As for the old nanny’s curse, I didn’t believe a word of it.

Jiang Zhuye had told me he’d haunt me even as a ghost, but hadn’t I simply pulled up my trousers and walked away?

Men were only passing strangers in my life. My little sister was my one true home.

Speaking of Jiang Zhuye, I had indeed dreamed of him lately.

In my dreams, he clung to me like some seductive spirit, all those beautiful muscles flashing before my eyes. One moment, his scorching body pressed against mine; the next, he slipped away without warning. I could look but never taste, leaving me so frantic that I woke drenched in sweat.

More often, though, I dreamed of him fully clothed, standing protectively in front of me.

I had just turned sixteen when I entered the Duke’s Manor, an age when a girl was at her loveliest.

That year, my gambling-addicted father had just sold my little sister. While he was searching for a broker willing to pay a high price for me, I beat him to it and sold myself to the Duke’s Manor.

No matter how shameless he was, he wouldn’t dare demand my return from the Duke’s Manor.

I knew I was pretty. Otherwise, the brokers wouldn’t have lit up the instant they saw me, only to haggle desperately with my father afterward in hopes of taking me away for the lowest possible price.

That was why I always kept my head down and worked hard in the Duke’s Manor. I only prayed that when the young ladies and madams were in a good mood, a little more money might trickle through their fingers so I could save enough to redeem my little sister as soon as possible.

But First Young Master Jiang noticed me anyway.

First, he sent one of his concubines to ask whether any of the other young masters had taken me into their bedchambers. I wasn’t on my guard then, so I told her the truth.

Sixth Miss, whom I served, might have been simple-minded, but she had a good heart.

Precisely because her mind had never fully developed, none of the manor’s secret schemes had tainted her. All she knew was to cling to me and grin foolishly.

But a good heart couldn’t protect the people around her.

Whenever First Young Master cornered me behind the rockery and molested me, all she could do was sob in terror. I would even have to wipe away my smeared rouge before comforting her.

If I hadn’t told First Young Master Jiang that I would kill myself if he truly forced me, he would probably have made me his concubine long ago. I would have been trapped in the manor for the rest of my life, let alone been able to support my little sister and buy her freedom.

Fortunately, Jiang Suisui was the granddaughter left behind by the Old Madam’s favorite son. First Young Master Jiang feared that the Old Madam would punish him if he caused a scandal, so he abandoned the idea for the time being.

Disgust colored every single day I spent in the Duke’s Manor.

Things only changed after Jiang Zhuye returned home.

I was in a wretched state the first time I saw him.

First Young Master Jiang had suffered some humiliation outside the manor. When he returned and found that I still refused to submit to him, his rage flared, and he began tearing at my clothes right in front of Jiang Suisui.

Jiang Suisui screamed incoherently and lunged forward to grab his arm, only for him to fling her face-first onto the ground.

I was so humiliated and furious that I wanted to die.

All I could do was beg First Young Master Jiang to take me inside instead of doing this in front of Jiang Suisui.

By then, I no longer wanted to live anyway.

I only wanted to get inside, grab a silver hairpin, and ram it through First Young Master Jiang’s throat while his guard was down.

I wasn’t the sort of woman who couldn’t go on living after losing her chastity. I simply refused to let him defile me.

Why should I be trampled underfoot just because I was lowborn?

Whenever the masters of the manor sold a servant, they always said our worthless lives meant nothing.

If my worthless life could be traded for the life of their precious golden heir, who would dare claim it wasn’t a bargain?

Even if he had been born above me, could he possibly have more lives than I did?

My only regret was that I would never see my little sister again.

First Young Master Jiang became wildly excited when he heard my plea. Ignoring Jiang Suisui’s sobs and struggles, he dragged me toward the room.

Perhaps Jiang Suisui’s screams were so loud that they carried to the nearby training grounds.

An eighteen-foot serpent spear shot past First Young Master Jiang’s cheek and buried itself in the door behind him.

A moment later, Second Young Master Jiang’s boots appeared before my eyes.

He said, “I didn’t risk my life serving the empire so you could stay home and commit such vile acts without a care. Do it again, and I’ll chop off your hands before going to apologize to Grandfather.”

First Young Master Jiang had punched me in the eye, so when I looked up at Jiang Zhuye, I couldn’t see him clearly. All I could make out was a hazy silhouette wreathed in sunlight, like a god descending from the heavens.

At long last, someone decent had appeared in this damned Jiang family besides that simpleton, Sixth Miss.

That was my final thought before I fainted.

Now my “worthless life” had laid hands on the god in my heart. In a way, I had finally vented some of my resentment toward the Jiang family on Jiang Zhuye.

I knew I was despicable. Jiang Zhuye had never mistreated me, yet I had repaid his kindness with betrayal.

But I was spiteful by nature, and I had every intention of using this chance to latch on to him.

I had planned it all perfectly. Even if the Old Madam went back on her word and refused to reward me, forcing me to keep working for the Jiang family to save money, I would still secure the status of Second Young Master Jiang’s bedchamber woman. That way, First Young Master Jiang would never have another chance to touch me.

Of course, the Old Madam’s authority came from never going back on her word. She would hardly withhold a servant’s promised reward.

If everything went according to plan, I could already imagine how furious the Jiang family would be when they learned that I had thoroughly devoured Jiang Zhuye and then fled.

The Jiang family had always been the ones bullying men and preying on women. Now little Jinque had pecked out their eye instead.

A pathetic revenge was still revenge.

Of course, that depended on everything going according to plan.

I was too ignorant of the world to imagine that the mighty Duke’s Manor could truly collapse overnight.

And somehow, I had ended up saddled with two burdens.