Chapter 7

When my father arrived with the servants, Liu Chaoming and I were huddled together for warmth in a dilapidated temple.

It was the third day of our escape.

The already broken temple door was kicked open with force, and the howling wind swept in with snowflakes. The smile on my face froze, suspended in the icy world.

My father wanted to hand Liu Chaoming over to the authorities, accusing him of abducting a young lady from an official family.

I knelt on the ground, clutching my father’s boots, desperately pleading for Liu Chaoming.

My father slapped my face, missing slightly, and after a ringing in my ears, my whole face burned with pain. “Shameless thing, get up! You’ve disgraced the Zhang Family.”

His features twisted into a knot, veins bulging at his temple. Facing me, it was the first time I’d ever seen such intense emotion from him.

“You gave birth to me but never raised me, left me to fend for myself all these years, so why are you looking for me now? Why don’t you ask why I ran away? Why don’t you ask what Li Rongchuan did to me? Why won’t you stand up for me? How he tore my clothes, he-” Years of pent-up emotion erupted in an instant, and I screamed hysterically like a madwoman.

Liu Chaoming broke free from the servants’ grip, rushed over, and clamped his hand over my mouth, his hot tears falling onto my face. “Qiuhe, stop.”

That day, the wind and snow were fierce, and the wind stung my face.

My father had me pinned to a chair, forcing me to watch as Liu Chaoming was beaten to within an inch of his life.

My father said coldly, “No matter how lowly you are, you are not the same as him. You are a proper young lady.”

The servants pressed Liu Chaoming onto a bench, the wooden planks rising and falling, blood seeping through his gray robe, mottled like a vivid, variegated flower in full bloom.

Tiny snowflakes drifted down from the sky, settling on him, as if embracing him for me.

He lay on the bench, his forehead covered in beads of sweat, his breath faint as he whispered, “Qiuhe, you are so beautiful. I can’t protect you, and I am not worthy of you. I’m sorry.”

In the end, he was carried away unconscious.