Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The maid urging me to drink my medicine is named Hongyu. She was sent by the Empress Dowager to serve me.

In my previous life, I was terrified of the Empress Dowager, so I hurried to drink it all. Little did I know that I would soon lose consciousness entirely.

When I woke up, my limbs had been pinned to the bed with thick iron spikes, and a wooden gag was stuffed into my mouth.

Outside, the servants were shouting, “Fire! Fire! Quick, save the Madam!”

But the truth was, no one came to save me at all.

There was only the choking thick smoke, the raging flames, and the crackling sound of the house burning down.

My face felt as if the skin were being peeled off, and the flesh of my entire body was being melted away while I was still alive.

…

At the thought of this, my whole body trembled.

Hongyu asked softly, “Madam, what is the matter?”

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.

With the Marquis away, I have to find a way to save myself!

I deliberately dry-heaved a few times and waved her off. “I’m feeling a bit of morning sickness. You go on out; I’m going to lie down for a while.”

Hongyu glanced at the decoction in her hand. “The people from the palace are still waiting to return and report to the Empress Dowager. If you don’t drink this, they might find it difficult to account for themselves.”

Pretending to be dizzy, I used my elbow to knock over the bowl of medicine. I cried out in alarm, “Oh dear, why didn’t you hold it steady? If the Empress Dowager blames you, what will you do?”

Hongyu likely hadn’t expected me to frame her so blatantly.

“It is no matter. This servant will go and fetch another bowl for you.”

She gave me a long, deep look before calling in two maids to clean up the spilled medicine.

Once Hongyu left, I instructed the two maids to tidy the room and redo the bedding. While they were busy and distracted, I slipped away.

I am not currently at the Marquis Manor, but at Qiyun Temple on the outskirts of the Capital City.

This temple is a family shrine funded and built by the Marquis Manor.

Hongyu had reminded me that since the Marquis was away on an imperial inspection tour and there was unrest caused by bandits in the Southwest, the roads were unsafe. She suggested I come to Qiyun Temple to pray for the Marquis’s safety.

She claimed that if the Empress Dowager knew I cared so much for the Marquis, her opinion of me would surely improve.

This was because my father is merely a minor Sixth-rank Official in the Ministry of Revenue, and I am only a concubine-born daughter.

Consequently, the Empress Dowager believed my status was too lowly and that I was completely unworthy of the Marquis. She had been against him marrying me as his successor wife from the very beginning.

But the Marquis’s affection for me could not be swayed.

Left with no choice, the Empress Dowager specifically selected female officials like Hongyu and Cuinong to serve me, supposedly to teach me etiquette and household management.

At first, I thought she was being kind.

Who could have imagined she would take advantage of the Marquis’s absence, having her maids trick me into coming to the outskirts of the city to stage an “accident” and kill me?

The reason was simple.

The Empress Dowager is the Marquis’s biological aunt. She had always wanted him to marry the high-born County Princess Wenjia, but the Marquis had rejected the proposal in public.

The Marquis disliked the County Princess’s arrogance and willful nature. It was said that the County Princess felt she had lost face and became so despondent that she fell ill.

County Princess Wenjia had been raised by the Empress Dowager since childhood, and the two were as close as mother and daughter.

Therefore, the Empress Dowager grew to loathe me and developed murderous intent.

I cannot stay in the Capital City any longer. I must head to the Southwest to find the Marquis. Now, he is the only one who can protect me!