Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On the day I left Marquis Manor, Madame Yan did not come to see me off.

She had raised me for sixteen years. I thought there would be at least some affection between us.

But never mind. If there truly had been affection, why would she have let me leave?

Was the grand Marquis Manor really unable to support one more daughter?

Feng Zhaoqiu sat beside me. She was broad and sturdy, and with a flick of her wrist, she cracked the whip, making the old ox pick up its pace.

My body lurched, and I nearly fell off the cart.

Quick as lightning, she caught hold of me and helped me sit steady again.

“You’re too thin and weak. Your lower body has no stability. That won’t do.”

Among noble young ladies in the capital, slenderness was beauty. The ideal was to be as delicate as a willow in the wind. Who cared whether one’s lower body was stable or not?

I lowered my head and said nothing.

Feng Zhaoqiu fell silent as well. Only, when she raised the whip again, she used less force. The ox cart slowed, and the ride became steadier.

Baohua Village was not far from the capital. Once we left the city and traveled thirty li west, we arrived.

By the time we returned to the village, it was exactly noon, and every household was sitting in their courtyard eating lunch.

So I was put on display like a criminal paraded through the streets, watched from one end of the village to the other.

Feng Zhaoqiu seemed to be on good terms with the villagers. Quite a few people greeted her.

“Zhaoqiu, you brought her back?”

“Brought her back!”

Her answer rang out strong and clear, and the people who spoke to her smiled as they congratulated her.

What was there to congratulate?

My face darkened, and Feng Zhaoqiu immediately wiped the smile from her face.

She seemed a little afraid of me.

“We’re here.”

Before me was a small courtyard enclosed by earthen walls, tucked away in the most remote corner of the village. When the wind blew, dust rose everywhere. Fortunately, it was separated from the cowshed, so it could be considered clean.

There were two peach trees in the courtyard, their blossoms in full bloom.

Like someone presenting a treasure, Feng Zhaoqiu pushed open the door to my room. “This room faces the right direction. Warm in winter, cool in summer. And this bedding-it was all made with freshly fluffed cotton from this year…”

When she finished speaking, she looked at me cautiously, with both anticipation and unease in her eyes.

But I could not bring myself to play the part of a loving mother and daughter.

“If you truly cared about me, why did you sell me to someone else? Don’t tell me it was so I could live a good life. A swaddled infant can’t possibly despise poverty and chase wealth.”

Besides, Madame Yan had always held a grudge against me and had never treated me well.

Not only was my food, clothing, housing, and daily life all a step below Luo Rou’s, I was not even allowed to sit in on lessons with the tutor. It was only after the Old Madam discreetly reminded her that, since I at least bore the title of the eldest daughter of Marquis Manor, I could not be left unable to write even my own name, that she sent a maid to teach me to read.

That was why, when Luo Rou’s talent became famous throughout the capital, everyone in the capital also knew I was an uncultured fool who knew nothing of letters.

The laughable thing was, I had always thought Madame Yan simply favored my younger sister. I had never once suspected I was not her biological daughter.

After all, what wealthy household with plenty of children of its own would take in someone else’s child to raise?

“I…” Feng Zhaoqiu stammered.

I let out a cold laugh, unwilling to say another word to her.

In her panic, she blurted out, “I didn’t know who your father was. I couldn’t keep you alive on my own!”