"You asked for this, Mei Wanying. You will bear it alone."
"I gave you what you wanted. From now on, you will be confined to these courtyards. Whether you live or die is no concern of mine."
Pei Yan's cold words echoed in her ears. A golden hairpin pierced her slender neck, and the pain brought tears to Mei Wanying's eyes.
Dark red blood spurted out, spattering her plain clothes and blooming into the most jarring red plum blossoms.
As her life rapidly faded, countless fragments of memories flashed through Mei Wanying's mind.
The last image to crystalize was of Pei Yan's piercing gaze.
Pei Yan was forced to marry Mei Wanying.
He was brought to the General Mansion as a child, where General Mei had laughed and called him the future son-in-law of the Mei family.
Pei Yan didn't take it seriously, but Mei Wanying took it to heart.
From the first stirrings of love, she threw herself at Pei Yan, heart and soul.
She chased after him for many years, and everyone in the Capital City knew that Mei Wanying would marry no one but Pei Yan.
In the end, she got her wish and married him.
But the fruit she tasted was bitter.
The day she appeared at the military camp, Pei Yan's expression darkened at the sight of her pregnant belly.
He flew into a rage and ordered her to return to the Capital City at once.
Mei Wanying didn't go back, believing that with a child, Pei Yan would soften toward her.
But she was utterly wrong.
Pei Yan had found a female confidante. Their interactions were intimate, and the way Pei Yan looked at that woman held both admiration and tenderness.
That was a look she had never received.
Mei Wanying lacked the courage to confront him. She fled in a panic, only to be abducted on her way back to the Capital City.
The enemy demanded that Pei Yan trade a city for her, giving him a one-day deadline.
The sun rose and set. Mei Wanying did not want to put Pei Yan in an impossible position, and she feared the dishonor of being kept alive.
Pulling the golden hairpin from her hair, she resolutely plunged it into her own neck.
The smell of blood filled the air. Mei Wanying knew she would not survive.
The chaotic sound of footsteps arose, and someone exclaimed, "The hostage killed herself!"
"Pei Yan sent word… He said… He said to do as we please…"
Someone cursed angrily, "Hang her from the city gate! She's Pei Yan's wife, and she's carrying his seed! I refuse to believe Pei Yan can keep playing tough!"
Mei Wanying's pupils lost focus. A final tear slipped from the corner of her eye, disappearing into the hair at her temple.
'If I could go back in time, I wouldn't force it anymore.'
...
A gentle spring rain fell through the night. Mei Wanying was jolted awake by a rumble of thunder.
She subconsciously reached for her neck, her fingers touching smooth, delicate skin.
It didn't hurt.
Nor was there any stickiness of blood.
Uncertain, she felt it again and again. There was indeed no wound.
'That all felt too real. It couldn't have been just a nightmare.'
Her hand moved to her lower abdomen, wanting to check if the child was still there.
Instead, she touched a hard arm, draped authoritatively across her waist.
Skin met skin, and scorching body heat spread to her.
'So hot.'
'As if I'm about to burst into flames.'
The sound of breathing was by her ear, carrying a man's scent.
The lingering fragrance of alcohol hung in the air, mixed with the scent of recent intimacy.
Mei Wanying felt as if she'd been struck by lightning.
'The memory! There was a scene just like this!'
In Pei Yan's study, they'd had a chaotic night together.
Afterward, Pei Yan married her, but their relationship immediately plunged to a freezing point!
Countless scenes flashed before her eyes. Mei Wanying's head throbbed as if pierced by needles, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
The man's chest was scorching, but a chill rose from her feet, as if she were in a world of ice and snow, unable to feel a shred of warmth.
'Whether that was a dream or I've truly been reborn, the most important thing right now is to leave.'
'I'll just pretend none of this ever happened.'
'I refuse to walk the same path to ruin!'
Mei Wanying held her breath and carefully moved the man's arm away.
Pei Yan was heavily drunk, but his instincts remained. The moment Mei Wanying moved, his hand locked around her throat.
Mei Wanying's heart seized. She thought Pei Yan was about to strangle her.
The next moment, the large hand relaxed its grip.
"Ah Yin?"
Mei Wanying thought he was awake, and her heart leaped into her throat.
She didn't make a sound.
Her long, slender fingers gripped the brocade quilt tightly.
"Be good..."
He murmured, then fell silent, apparently having drifted back to sleep.
Mei Wanying wanted to cry.
Although Pei Yan found her annoying and always avoided her, he had actually treated her quite well before this incident.
He had treated her like a little sister.
The golden hairpin she had used to kill herself was the very coming-of-age gift Pei Yan had given her.
She was the one who got fixated, thinking that Pei Yan was her child husband, a match made in heaven.
Letting out a silent breath, Mei Wanying suppressed her emotions. Enduring the discomfort in her body, she carefully and quietly got out of bed.
She suffered from an eye condition that left her unable to see at night. Despite consulting countless renowned physicians, no cure had ever been found.
The room was pitch black. Mei Wanying couldn't see a thing, and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she tripped over scattered clothes and fell.
She landed with a muffled THUD.
It hurt.
Perhaps from helplessness, from the fear of waking the person in the bed, or perhaps because the fall genuinely hurt, a mist of tears welled up in Mei Wanying's eyes.
But she bit her lip and made no sound.
Fumbling for the scattered clothes, she dressed herself with trembling hands as quickly as she could.
Haphazardly tying the sash, Mei Wanying used the bedpost to pull herself up.
Her legs were still shaking, and her body ached with a tearing pain, but she didn't dare to linger.
There was only one thought in her mind: 'I won't love Pei Yan anymore, and I won't marry him.'
'In this life, I will stay far, far away from Pei Yan!'
In the darkness, Mei Wanying stumbled out of the study.
Lanterns hung under the eaves. She finally caught a glimpse of light, and her pace quickened.
The study was left far behind as Mei Wanying ran out of Pei Yan's courtyard.
Today was the anniversary of General Mei's death. The family had opened the ancestral hall for rites, and the night watch had been deliberately sent away.
No one knew what had happened in the study.
"Ah Yin."
This time, it was a woman's voice.
Mrs. Mei, supported by Nanny Liu, stood under the eaves holding a lantern. She looked as if she had been waiting for a long time.
"Is it done?"
The tears Mei Wanying had been holding back finally streamed down her face.
Only at this moment did she realize, with a shock, that her own mother had been orchestrating everything.
No wonder she had been told to deliver the sobering soup.
In her past life, she hadn't fled, so this confrontation had never happened.
Pei Yan had to take responsibility for her, and she had married him in bliss.
Later, during her cold war with Pei Yan, her mind was so focused on him that she had overlooked the worried and guilty looks in her mother's eyes.
Mei Wanying's eyes were vacant. "Mother, I will not marry Pei Yan."
A pair of hands caressed her cheek. Mrs. Mei's expression was one of helpless pity. "If you don't marry him, who can protect you?"
Mei Wanying was born with the bones of a beauty, a graceful figure, and looks that could topple cities. She was known as the Capital City's greatest beauty.
At the Spring Banquet, she had caught the eye of the Crown Prince, who wished to install her in the Eastern Palace as a Concubine.
If General Mei were still alive, Mei Wanying could even have become the Crown Princess Consort.
Unfortunately, General Mei had died in battle. Mei Wanying was the sole heir in the mansion, with no brothers to support her. In the circles of the powerful, the Mei family had become a fallen household.
The Crown Prince was violent by nature; no woman who fell into his hands came to a good end.
Mrs. Mei was terrified, her only thought to marry her daughter off as soon as possible.
Across the entire Capital City, the only young man of talent who could contend with the Crown Prince was Pei Yan.
But as fate would have it, Pei Yan was unwilling to marry Mei Wanying. With matters so desperate, Mrs. Mei could only resort to this last-ditch effort.
'Now that they've shared a night together, Pei Yan must marry Ah Yin!'
Mei Wanying didn't want to cry, but the tears wouldn't stop. "If I acknowledge him as an older brother, he will protect me all the same."
'Setting aside the fact that Pei Yan can't always be in the Capital City, even if he were, that wouldn't be enough to deter the Crown Prince. The only way out is for Wanying to get married.'
"Ah Yin, just listen to me."
Mei Wanying's tone was firm. "Mother, I would rather die than marry him!"