Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When I was eight, my chance finally came.

While the old man was drunk, I shoved him straight into the river.

I watched him thrash and struggle in the water until he sank beneath the surface. Only then did I feel the mountain that had been crushing me vanish completely.

After the old man’s body floated back up, I dragged it to the gates of Yongyang Marquis Manor, knelt there, and offered to sell myself so I could bury my father.

Everyone who passed by said I was filial. Not one person suspected I had been the one who killed him.

Marquis Yongyang was famous for being a charitable man. He often handed out porridge and relief during disasters, and the Marchioness of Yongyang was generous toward the servants as well.

The world was dangerous, with war and chaos everywhere outside. As an eight-year-old child, I had no way to survive on my own. Selling myself into Yongyang Marquis Manor was a choice I had thought through for a long time.

The carriage slowly came to a stop at the manor gates. I helped my lady down, and the moment we stepped out, I saw two people standing at the entrance.

They were none other than Second Miss Song Jinxuan, who had long been at odds with my lady, and her wet nurse, Nanny Huang.

“You already eloped with that Liu man. Why did you come back?

“Song Shuning, you were born wanton. You don’t deserve the Young Lord at all. You should be drowned in a pig cage.”

Song Jinxuan glared at my lady in bitter hatred, curses spilling endlessly from her mouth.

This Second Miss Song Jinxuan was born to one of the manor’s concubines. The Marchioness was kindhearted and had never mistreated Song Jinxuan.

But from childhood, Song Jinxuan had been proud and competitive, determined to stand above my lady in everything.

If my lady studied the qin, Song Jinxuan insisted on studying the zheng.

If my lady composed poetry, Song Jinxuan wrote lyrics.

My lady took after the Marchioness in temperament and paid no mind to Song Jinxuan’s petty schemes. The two of them had still been able to maintain a surface harmony, until last year, when Prince Chen’s heir became engaged to my lady. After that, the conflict between them erupted completely.

Song Jinxuan had admired Prince Chen’s heir for a long time and was set on marrying him. Unfortunately, Prince Chen’s Manor was intent on marrying its heir to a legitimate daughter.

That nearly drove Song Jinxuan mad with rage.

In truth, my lady was not satisfied with this marriage either, because Prince Chen’s heir already had someone he loved. She could not bear to break up a pair of lovers.

But a marriage was decided by one’s parents and arranged through a matchmaker. My lady had no way to refuse.

After the betrothal was settled, Song Jinxuan mocked and ridiculed my lady every time they met.

I even suspected that the poor scholar surnamed Liu had been a trap set up by Song Jinxuan through someone else, all for the sake of ruining my lady’s marriage to Prince Chen’s heir.

My lady ignored Song Jinxuan and helped me walk inside.

Song Jinxuan was not having it. She stepped forward to block us and shot a look at Nanny Huang beside her.

Nanny Huang nodded. She was the first to make trouble, rounding on me with a furious shout. “You lowly maid, you encouraged Eldest Miss to elope. Today, I’ll beat you to death myself.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand to slap me across the face.