Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When I was eight years old, my world collapsed.

The Princess Consort brought me and her child back to Prince Zhao’s Mansion.

My eyes were swollen from crying, and I didn’t even have a chance to ask anyone what was happening.

The Dowager Consort of the mansion immediately darkened her expression. “No manners, completely unpresentable. Fine, since she’s been rescued, let her look after Yujie’s daily life. It’s just one more mouth to feed, after all.”

The Princess Consort remained silent, saying nothing.

And so, I became the Junzhu’s personal maid, taking care of her feeding, her messes, her washing, her baths, and applying her scented creams.

When I was ten, I had a conflict with a maid who tended the flowers.

She pointed at my nose and cursed, “You’re just a wild brat the Princess Consort rescued. If not for her kindness, you would have been sold into a brothel to be a whore long ago. How dare you act out here? You’re just as lowly as your mother.”

It was only then that I realized the entire household believed I was an orphan the Princess Consort had saved out of the goodness of her heart.

According to the Princess Consort, she had passed by a ruined temple, saw me being bullied, and brought me back to the mansion in a moment of softheartedness.

As for my mother, she was supposedly a lowly wench who seduced men, thinking she could use her body to survive the barbarians, only to be Ravaged to death.

Blood rushed to my head. I couldn’t understand. Why? Why?

It was my mother who saved her. My mother died for her. If my mother hadn’t stepped forward, she would have suffered the exact same fate.

How could she say such things?

I got into a fight with the maid, shouting the truth for everyone to hear.

“That year, it was my mother who passed the ruined temple! She saw the Princess Consort in labor and saved her! It was my mother who told the Princess Consort to leave first while she stayed behind to kill over a dozen barbarians…”

The crowd looked on in shock, but they quickly moved to cover my mouth.

The Princess Consort arrived.

Her face was livid as she struck me hard across the face.

“You wretched creature. I intended to raise you and marry you to a House-born Servant, but I didn’t expect you to be so worthless. A lowly wench by nature.”

I was punished, forced to kneel by the lake to reflect on my mistakes.

The lakeside was freezing. The wind made my head throb and my bones ache.

But my heart ached even more.

Raising me?

Marrying me to a House-born Servant?

So this was her way of repaying the debt.

And those servants-they clearly heard me, yet they all rushed to gag me.

At ten years old, I finally understood that in this world, only those with power have the right to speak. Ordinary people will only have their mouths covered and their throats throttled, never given the chance to utter a word.

I fainted from the cold and fell into a high fever.

By the time I recovered, I seemed a bit slow-witted.

Once, the water I brought for the Little Junzhu to wash her feet was too hot, and she cried out loudly.

The Princess Consort kicked me over, glaring at me with hatred.

The Junzhu’s Wet Nurse’s lips flapped incessantly.

“You blind thing! You were given the chance to serve the Princess Consort, and you’re useless. I think you did it on purpose. Princess Consort, this little wench must be nursing a grudge. If she stays by the Junzhu’s side, she’ll harm her sooner or later. Better to send her off to do some heavy labor.”

The Princess Consort’s voice was laced with bone-chilling hatred.

“Get out to the stables. I don’t want to see you again.”

From then on, I became a groom in the stables, tending to the horses.

During the day, I chopped fodder, carried water, brushed the horses, and cleaned the stalls.

At night, I had to get up to give them their night feed.

The work was heavy and filthy; I didn’t have a moment’s rest.

Old Zhao, who worked the stables, saw that I was too small and often took over the water-carrying, chopping, and cleaning, leaving me with lighter tasks.

He even taught me how to ride and exercise the horses.

In the early mornings, I would gallop through the outskirts on horseback, the wind of freedom brushing against my brow and hair.

I tasted what it felt like to be alive again.

However, the Princess Consort saw me.

The next day, Old Zhao was fired.

As he packed his bags to leave, he looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately he just let out a long sigh. “Just endure a bit longer. When you grow up, things will get better.”

That must be a lie.

He was grown, yet things weren’t better for him. His fate was still in the hands of others, and he hadn’t even received his wages for the month.

And I was worse off than him; I didn’t even have wages.

But at least I had a place to stay.

Where could he find another job after offending Prince Zhao’s Mansion?

I couldn’t sleep at night.

Countless times, I wondered: why?

Why do good people not get rewarded? Why would someone return kindness with enmity?

Later, I gradually understood.

My mother’s favor was too heavy-so heavy that the Princess Consort felt she had to repay it.

But she was selfish and cold by nature. She couldn’t carry the weight of such a debt, yet she didn’t want to be criticized as ungrateful. So, she twisted the truth and even grew to hate me, the living reminder of her benefactor.

If I had died back then too, perhaps she would have felt liberated.

She would only have needed to light a few sticks of incense and shed a few tears during festivals to be praised as a person of great sentiment and loyalty.

But I lived. She was forced to raise me, and forced to be constantly reminded by my presence of the debt she owed us.

No one wants to live in the shadow of a debt forever.

If you cannot repay the favor, then make the benefactor disappear.

Three days later, the stables caught fire.

But I didn’t die.

I was merely knocked unconscious by the smoke.

When I woke up, I looked at the Princess Consort and asked blankly, “May I ask where this is? Did you save me?”

Suspicion and disdain flickered in the Princess Consort’s eyes. She tested me with a few questions and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Keep her fed.”

“This servant will surely serve my master well to repay your kindness.”

I knelt and kowtowed, feeling her gaze fixed on me the entire time.

From then on, I worked diligently, constantly speaking of how the Princess Consort had saved my life.

Those who heard me would always wear mysterious smiles before offering a final comment.

“She really was turned into a fool by the smoke. But it’s better this way. Just make sure you remember the Princess Consort’s kindness well, hee-hee!”

Heh.

Hee-hee your head.