Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My elder sister thought I was being shy and teased me. “Ah Shu, His Highness is only a year older than you. It is not as if he is that much older. Surely you are not hoping to marry someone younger than you someday?”

I did not bother hiding my thoughts. “Sister, why not?”

Prince Cheng, Jiang Zhi, let his gaze rest on me for a brief moment.

Then he turned back to my sister and continued, “Since you are already married, Madam, but you did save my life, why don’t I take this child as my godson?”

My sister froze, then hurriedly waved him off. “How could we possibly accept that?”

My brother-in-law, Xu Chao, also declined at once. “Your Highness honors us too greatly. This humble official would not dare.”

But Jiang Zhi had already reached out, lightly teasing the child in my sister’s arms with one finger.

His fingertip paused on that soft, rosy little face. His eyes were dark and distant, and as if by accident, his gaze flicked across my sister’s face.

“Has he been named?”

My sister answered, “His name is Wen Lin.”

Jiang Zhi gave a slight nod.

“Then I shall give him a courtesy name-Nianzhi.”

Nianzhi.

Nianzhi…

Did he mean it as longing for Zhi?

My brother-in-law and my sister did not understand the meaning behind it. They only took it as an ordinary kindness and accepted with smiles.

But a chill ran down my spine.

I had never realized before that Jiang Zhi’s obsession ran so deep.

In my previous life, he spent his whole life longing for my sister too.

Back then, he had been in Yangzhou treating his muteness. Somehow, he lost his footing and fell into the water, and my sister happened to pass by and save him.

The first thing he did after recovering was prepare lavish gifts and personally come to ask for her hand in marriage.

Unfortunately, my sister was already married and had given birth.

Holding Wen Lin, who was still swaddled in infancy, she smiled and declined him gently. “I am five years older than you, and I only gave birth to this child a few days ago. My younger sister, however, is only a year apart from you. Perhaps she would be a better match.”

Jiang Zhi could only settle for second best and marry me.

After our wedding, he often stared at my face in a daze.

He also constantly complained that I was too lively by nature, nothing like my sister, who was calm as still water.

He disliked that my every word and action was unlike hers, that even the curve of my brows and the corners of my eyes were not gentle enough.

At first, I thought he simply did not like how restless I was, so I quieted myself and learned to be still like my sister.

Yet he remained dissatisfied, finding fault with me at every turn.

Until one day, Jiang Zhi came stumbling drunk into my room. He grabbed my sleeve and actually mistook me for my sister.

“Ah Qiao.”

His voice choked. “That younger sister of yours is not the least bit like you. She is not even one ten-thousandth of what you are… Why couldn’t you have waited for me a little longer?”

Every word of the truth carved into my heart.

I picked up the cold tea on the table and threw it all into his face.

Jiang Zhi jolted awake. Realizing I had seen through the most hidden, filthy corner of his heart, he flew into a rage out of shame.

From then on, he treated me even worse. He simply slept in the study and refused to touch me again.

Yet he doted endlessly on my sister’s child. Time and again, using my name as an excuse, he brought Wen Lin back to the manor and personally cared for him, making sure every detail of his food, clothing, and daily needs was exquisite.

As for me, years of sorrow weighing on my heart caused the child in my womb to sit in the wrong position, and I nearly miscarried.

Later, Wen Lin suddenly developed a high fever. Jiang Zhi went out in the middle of the night to fetch a physician himself and kept watch by the bedside until dawn.

I was alone in my room, clutching my faintly aching belly as cold sweat soaked through my nightclothes.

In the end, the child could not be saved.

When he returned, he stood before my bed and said without a trace of expression, “In this life, Wen Lin is my only godson. If this child is gone, then it is gone.”

In that instant, my heart turned to ash.

Fortunately, I later gave birth to Qiaosheng. Only then did the days ahead hold even the faintest glimmer of hope.

…