Chapter 2

Yuan Shaoxuan had come personally to ask for my hand.

He claimed to have fallen in love with me at first sight during a flower-viewing banquet hosted by the Princess Royal. He would marry no one else.

After our wedding in my previous life, our marriage had seemed harmonious and full of affection.

Believing we were a devoted couple, I put my heart into managing the household, serving my mother-in-law, treating the servants generously, and being kind to the concubines.

I felt particular pity for Su Zhirou.

She was my mother-in-law’s cousin’s daughter. Before she was even born, their parents had promised her to Yuan Shaoxuan.

She had grown up alongside him; they were childhood sweethearts.

But just after her coming-of-age ceremony at fifteen, her family fell into disgrace, and she became the daughter of a disgraced official.

In the end, she not only lost her betrothal but could enter her fiancé’s household only as a concubine.

Looking back, I had been foolish. Once I learned that Yuan Shaoxuan had broken off the engagement because her family had been convicted, I should have known what sort of man he was.

At first, I did not believe there were no feelings between them, and it troubled me.

But he neglected and mistreated her so severely that even I sometimes thought he had gone too far.

He would scold her coldly, leave her short of food and clothing, and confine her to her rooms again and again.

So I believed he truly loathed this concubine he had taken at his mother’s command.

As a woman myself, I grieved for her.

I looked after her in everything and treated her with care.

When the palace sent fruit from the south, every mistress received some. Yuan Shaoxuan withheld it only from Su Zhirou.

I would quietly send my portion to her.

Since my elder sister, the legitimate daughter, was the empress, such fruit was nothing unusual in the Grand Tutor’s household. I had long since tired of it.

In the depths of winter, every room had ample charcoal and thick padded clothes. Su Zhirou’s rooms, however, had only last year’s old garments, and often ran short of charcoal.

Knowing the servants were currying favor with those in power, I gave the steward a pointed warning and sent my personal maid to deliver newly made padded clothes.

When another concubine, Lady Fang, framed her, Su Zhirou could not explain herself. She only kept repeating that no words could clear her name.

Without investigating, Yuan Shaoxuan intended to confine her.

I painstakingly uncovered the truth, righted the injustice, and restored her innocence and freedom.

Later, I died in childbirth.

I thought my life, though short, had been complete in every way.

But after death, my soul did not enter the cycle of reincarnation. Instead, it wandered the world.

I watched Yuan Shaoxuan eagerly seize my dowry and give it all to Su Zhirou.

He immediately raised her to the position of lawful wife and went to the palace to claim an imperial title for her in recognition of his achievements.

Su Zhirou cast aside her old appearance of innocent suffering.

Dressed in the Persian cloud-patterned brocade my elder sister had given me, covered in gold, silver, and jewels, she strutted everywhere like a bright butterfly finally brought into the sun.

She also withheld the servants’ rewards and made life difficult for the other concubines.

Yuan Shaoxuan did not mind in the least. He indulged her every whim.

Watching them cling to each other, I realized that his neglect and cruelty had not meant he didn’t love her.

He loved her so deeply that he had used a deception to protect her.

So the two of them had been playing me for a fool!

My soul laughed until it wept. When I opened my eyes again, Heaven had given me a chance to start over.

This time, I would watch closely.

Without my helping hand, when their so-called “true love” truly had to endure neglect and cruelty, how many trials would it withstand?