Chapter 1

“Congratulations, Lord Heir, both mother and son are safe.”

Lying in bed, listening to the midwife’s voice, I pursed my lips into a smile, my eyes overflowing with happiness.

When Lin Shenyi came in, he was holding a bowl in his hands.

With a wave of his hand, everyone in the room smilingly retreated.

“Ruiyi, drink your medicine.”

His voice was very cold and faint, completely devoid of the joy of becoming a new father.

It was exactly like this past year, perfectly echoing the idiom: treating each other with the polite respect of guests.

The moment I smelled the medicine, the happy smile on my face vanished instantly.

“What… what is the meaning of this?” I tried hard to suppress the shock and panic in my heart.

I stared at Lin Shenyi with eyes full of disbelief.

The medicine in the bowl was poisoned.

Or rather, it was simply a bowl of poison.

“I knew I couldn’t fool you,” Lin Shenyi said. With one hand, he pinched my chin, and with the other, he forced the medicine into my mouth.

My resistance and struggles were entirely in vain.

The liquid spilled over my chest, but most of it was still forced down into my stomach.

Lin Shenyi let go and stood aside, watching me coldly.

I leaned over the edge of the bed, clawing at my throat, trying to throw it up.

“It’s useless, Ruiyi. This is deadly poison. Even if you throw it up, you won’t survive,” Lin Shenyi said indifferently, walking over to sit down.

He watched my dying struggles.

Of course I knew it was poison.

I raised my eyes to look at him, my gaze filled with confusion and despair. “Why?”

We had been married for a year. Even if there was no deep affection, there was no hostility either. We had never even bickered. Why would he be so ruthlessly cruel as to put me to death?

I had never wronged him.

“Because you took a position that doesn’t belong to you.”

“…”

My eyes widened.

Where did this come from?

“You were the one who came to our door to propose. I didn’t force you to marry me.”

“Your dowry was very generous.”

How could there be such a shameless person in this world?

What did the generosity of my dowry have to do with him? Did he marry me just for my dowry?

But he was the heir to the Duke’s estate; would he really lack that bit of silver?

It was just an excuse.

Then what was his true motive? What was it?

A sharp cramp tore through my abdomen. I clutched my stomach, wanting him to call a doctor for me.

But I was a doctor myself.

My dowry wasn’t just a gift from my parents; a large portion of it was the consultation fees I had earned from treating patients.

It was accumulated little by little to reach such an amount.

“Ugh.”

I cramped all over from the pain, and then I saw someone slowly walk into the room.

Her face was actually seventy or eighty percent similar to mine.

“You… you…”

Who was she?

I didn’t know the answer.

Just as I was about to pass out, my heart was filled with resentment and absolute indignation.

I reached out, trying to grab her.

But I fell heavily to the ground.

Her foot stepped on the back of my hand, and she reached down to grab my hair.

“From now on, I am Ren Ruiyi. I will enjoy everything that is yours.”

“Including your son.”

“Did you really think the person who consummated the marriage with you that night was Shenyi? It was just a street beggar.”

“Not only are you going to die, but your son won’t live long either.”

If at first it was pain and resentment.

In this moment, it was world-shattering humiliation and monstrous fury.

How could they scheme against me like this?

What exactly did I do wrong?

Was it wrong to practice medicine and save lives? Was it wrong to be filial to my parents?

I was stuffed into a sack, hoisted over someone’s shoulder, and then tossed into a dry well.

I passed out from the excruciating pain.

When I woke up again, it was pitch black all around, save for the sounds of birds and frogs.

Fortunately, my hands and feet hadn’t been bound. I used all my strength, scratching until my fingers bled, until I finally tore a hole in the sack.

I untied the rope, crawled out, and leaned against the well wall, staring up at the night sky.

I opened my eyes as wide as I could to keep the tears from falling.

At this moment, crying was not what I needed to do.

I had to find a way out. I had to purge the poison.

Then I would get my revenge and take back everything that belonged to me.

Lin Shenyi and that woman harmed me; wouldn’t they also harm my parents?

And my child…

I didn’t dare waste another second. I reached out and started clawing at the well wall.

It wasn’t until dawn that I finally climbed out. When I collapsed onto the ground, all ten of my fingers were dripping with blood, and the pain shot straight to my heart.

My whole body shook like a leaf.

I looked around, unable to tell north from south. I only had one thought in my mind: get out of here and survive.

I thought if I was lucky enough to meet a kind soul to escort me back to my maiden family, my parents would surely seek justice for me.

Unfortunately, my luck was terrible. Stumbling along, I missed a step and tumbled down a hillside.

It hurt terribly, but I gritted my teeth, not daring to pass out. I was afraid I would never wake up again.

Thankfully, heaven didn’t want me dead. As the sun was setting, I finally found a kind person willing to take me back to the city.

However, I vastly overestimated human nature.

He wasn’t taking me back to the city at all. Instead, he turned around and sold me to a brothel.

“Are you asking for death? She’s clearly a woman who has already given birth, and you still have the nerve to ask for an exorbitant price! If it weren’t for her pretty face, let alone ten taels, I wouldn’t even give you a single tael of silver!”

And just like that, I was sold.

No matter if I claimed to be the legitimate daughter of the Xuanping Count’s estate or the Heir’s Wife of Duke Lin’s estate, the madam wouldn’t believe a word.

And I didn’t have a single piece of jewelry on me to prove my identity.

“If you want to live, you better behave. I’m only giving you some dignity because of your excellent skin. If you don’t want to live, I’ll force you to take clients tomorrow.”

The madam’s words made me shrink back in terror.

Even though I was well-read and possessed masterful medical skills, at this moment, I lacked the courage and ability to resist.

No matter how much my heart burned with anxiety, I could only grit my teeth and endure it.

I drank my medicinal soup on time every day. I had to nurse my body back to health, and I couldn’t leak a single detail about my medical skills. I watched as the madam’s smile grew more satisfied every time she looked at me.

I knew I only had one chance: to negotiate terms with the man who bought my first night. I would ask him to pass a message to the Xuanping Count’s estate. In exchange, I would use my medical skills to treat anyone he wanted saved. Even if it meant being used by him, I would accept it.

“Did you hear? The Heavenly Immortal Pavilion got a new girl whose beauty surpasses heaven itself. Rumor says her aloofness is out of this world…”

“I had the fortune of seeing her from afar, and she truly lives up to the name.”

On the night of my debut, I wore a veil and walked a lap around the stage. It was then that I spotted an acquaintance sitting in the crowd.

The playboy heir of the Prince of Qin’s estate, Li Jinmu.

He seemed to recognize me as well. He shot up from his seat, his phoenix eyes brimming with pure disbelief…