chapter 1
I plunged into the lake with a splash. Water rushed down my collar, and the shock made me shudder.
The heat in my body subsided a little. My thoughts cleared with it.
I paddled toward the thickest patch of lotus leaves. This corner of the lake was secluded; no one on shore would spot me without looking closely.
If I could hold out for half an hour, the drug would gradually wear off. Then I could slip ashore, return to my room, and change my clothes. I would escape the fate of my previous life.
Music drifted from far away, mingling with the faint sounds of drinking and celebration. The old madam’s birthday was a grand affair. Nearly half the capital’s noble and official families had been invited.
No one would notice that a penniless girl living on another family’s charity had disappeared.
Leaning against a lotus leaf, I closed my eyes. Images from my previous life surged through my mind.
Back then, I had panicked and hidden in a side room. When I next woke, Chu Heng lay beside me, while guests crowded outside, pointing and whispering.
My sister had rushed in and wrapped her arms around me, shielding me from their stares.
The marchioness, red with rage, ordered the servants to drag me away and beat me to death.
“The two sisters are exactly alike—shameless, lowborn sluts.”
My sister fell to her knees before the marchioness and kowtowed until blood covered her forehead.
“My lady, Heng’er is still young. Please spare her life…”
In the end, Chu Heng stepped forward and said he would take me as his concubine.
Yet in all the nights that followed, he humiliated me in bed without mercy.
“Go on, scream. Aren’t you good at tempting men? You climbed into my bed on purpose.”
Again and again, I told him I had been drugged. I did not know how I had ended up in that room.
He never believed a word. He would seize my waist and sneer, “You filthy whore. Who are you trying to fool? I saw through your little scheme at once.”
He had never even investigated. He simply decided I had trapped him because I wanted to rise above my station.
Until the day I died, I never learned who had drugged me.
Footsteps and laughter approached along the bank, dragging me out of my memories.
Several young noblemen were coming—two or three, judging by their voices.
“Where is she? I saw her come this way.”
I held my breath and sank deeper, peering through the lotus leaves.
Three richly dressed young men emerged from behind the rockery. I recognized the one in front: the legitimate son of an assistant minister in the Ministry of Works, a young man surnamed Zhou. His two companions were also notorious wastrels in the capital.
“When do you think the drug will take effect?” Young Master Zhou asked with a laugh.
“She should have collapsed by now,” replied a sharp-faced man.
Another smacked his lips. “That girl looked rather pretty once she dressed up today. No wonder Chu Heng is always talking about her.”
“What was it he said? That she looks born to seduce men, especially with those eyes of hers.”
“He wasn’t wrong. I only saw her from a distance, but that waist…”
“Will Chu Heng be angry if he finds out we touched her?”
“He spends every day complaining about what a shameless nuisance she is. We’re taking care of his problem. He ought to thank us.”
“Exactly. We’ll test the goods for him and see whether he was telling the truth!”
They stood on the bank in elegant robes, laughing until they doubled over.
I bit down on my lip. The taste of iron spread across my tongue.
So that was the truth.
Chu Heng had never been innocent.
He had ruined my name himself, telling others I craved wealth and rank, that I was seductive, wanton, incapable of behaving with propriety.
Once those rumors spread, men believed I was someone they could defile without consequence. These three had listened to him, entertained their vile thoughts, and drugged my wine.
“Maybe she went the wrong way. Shall we check the side room?”
“Come on. Let’s see whether the drug has kicked in.”
My nails dug deep into my palms. I drew a slow breath and forced the hatred surging inside me back down.