Chapter 3

Father and his scheming little darling might enjoy making spectacles of themselves, but my sister wasn’t going to indulge them.

She shut the gates in their faces.

When all his crying, shouting, and pounding proved useless, Father had to get up in embarrassment, wipe his tears, and take the girl back to the house he had bought for Jiang Youwei in Weishui Lane.

Jiang Youwei had actually come from an official’s family. Unfortunately, her father was dismissed for embezzlement, and she fell on hard times, becoming a singing girl in the pleasure trade.

But she was lucky. After only a few days of singing, she got in touch with Father, who bought her freedom and installed her in a house with two courtyards in Weishui Lane.

Father was the youngest son of the Marquis of Wu’an, born to a concubine. Fallen on hard times or not, his family still belonged to the nobility. They would never agree to him marrying a woman from the pleasure trade.

Worse still, Father insisted on making her his lawful wife. When Grandfather found out, he beat him soundly and drove him out.

Father and Jiang Youwei enjoyed a carefree life together for a while.

Soon, though, they squandered every coin they had.

And that was when Princess Duanyang, the ultimate sucker, arrived!

She took a fancy to Father and married him, giving him fine clothes, lavish meals, an official post, and a noble title. She kept him plump and pampered, never having to lift a finger to dress or feed himself.

Outwardly, he was respectful and obedient. Behind her back, he and Jiang Youwei sneaked around together, bleeding her dry.

Forced him into marriage? Please! He had volunteered!

Now he was cursing the cook after stuffing himself at her table. What a piece of work.

In the previous-life story, this body’s original owner drowned after she was pushed into the water for seeing Shen Yunzhi secretly meeting Prince An.

Lady Lin merely discovered the truth and tried to seek justice for her daughter. Jiang Youwei framed her for an affair with the steward, and Father beat her to death.

It was all just backstory, but now that I was Shen Yunru, I felt it as my own.

I wanted to see that scheming little Shen Yunzhi get ground into dust in this life.

Lady Lin had fallen ill with grief when Princess Duanyang died.

So she had missed Father’s attempt to wreck the funeral by bringing his little darling home that day.

When she heard my sister had thrown the shameless pair out, she exclaimed, “Good!

“The princess hasn’t even been dead seven days, and he dares bring that bastard into her funeral hall to make trouble!

“To think he did such a thing behind the princess’s back! He deceived everyone in this household…”

Didn’t he just?

Honestly, apart from a passable face and a talent for showing off a few verses, Father had absolutely nothing going for him.

Princess Duanyang was a forceful woman. If she hadn’t died, that mistress, her daughter, and Father would all have had hell to pay.

Unfortunately, she died too soon. In the previous life, my sister had been too sheltered, leaving those two women free to take everything from her.

Lady Lin patted my hand and told me earnestly,

“Ru’er, the princess showed me more kindness than I could ever repay. She died so suddenly. Your eldest sister must be suffering terribly.

“You are her only younger sister. At a time like this, you must stand by her and be of one mind with her. Do you understand?”

I could feel Lady Lin’s affection for Princess Duanyang. I nodded.

Though Lady Lin had come with the princess as a maid and later become a concubine, their bond had always been one of deep affection between mistress and servant.

Princess Duanyang had never used Lady Lin’s background to belittle her. She returned her bond of servitude and had her removed from the register of the servile class.

That made her a concubine with free legal status, eligible to be raised to lawful wife. Her standing was fundamentally different from that of an enslaved or servile concubine.

Because Lady Lin sided with Princess Duanyang, Father didn’t like her either. After I was born, he rarely visited her rooms.

Fortunately, Lady Lin had little affection for him herself. She was happy to shut her door and devote herself to raising me.