As far back as Sanya can remember, besides the limited food, she had to get up before dawn every day to start a fire and boil water, then take all the family's clothes to the river to wash them, and catch insects to feed the chickens and ducks.

After feeding the chickens and ducks, it was almost noon. Sanya would be sent to the kitchen and not allowed to sit at the table. She only had a small bowl of porridge. If she didn't eat it quickly, Da Ya or Er Ya would take it to feed the chickens and ducks. If these children wanted to tease her, they would put insects in her porridge, and she would have to pick the insects out before eating.

After finishing her meal, she had to wash the dishes. After that, she would be kicked out of the house and required to gather a bundle of firewood and a basket of wild vegetables before she was allowed to return.

She would be locked in the woodshed at night and not allowed to eat.

Every day, Zhang Cuihua would constantly berate her, calling her a worthless woman, a prostitute, and a jinx that no one wanted. She said that only her family would give her a bowl of rice, and that she should be grateful and serve the Zhao family like a slave, and be Zhao Sanzhu's child bride.

Zhao Dazhu and Zhao Erzhu would lead the village children to mock her for being a child bride. They would corner her on the hillside behind where they were cutting grass and throw stones at her.

When Zhao Sanzhu heard from his friends in the village that he had a child bride, he felt he was being laughed at and would whip her with willow branches.

Sanya dared not resist, because if she did, she would only be beaten by the adults.

Sanya lived numbly every day, and slowly began to feel that she was adopted. She was lucky that others could give her food and keep her alive. Many girls in the village had to work every day just like her. Maybe things would be better when she grew up.

But one summer night, 12-year-old Sanya learned news that chilled her to the bone.

That day, Zhao Tieniu went to the county town as usual at the beginning of the month. When he returned, he happily announced that the emperor's youngest princess had become engaged to the family of the Grand General of the State, and the emperor had issued an edict to celebrate with the people.

Sanya overheard their conversation at the dinner table from the kitchen window and found it a bit puzzling. There was no tax exemption or money given as part of the celebration with the people, so why was the Zhao family so happy?

Sanya felt too hot to sleep that night, so she lay in her room, leaning against the wall to try and cool off. She overheard Zhao Gou Dan saying to Zhang Cuihua from the other side of the wall, "Sanya got engaged today, to a General of the State. Looks like she's very favored. This one at home shouldn't be allowed to go out anymore. Make her have a child with Sanzhu, preferably a boy, so they'll have something to plan for the future."

Zhang Cuihua said, "Sanya is so far away, how are we supposed to find her? What if she doesn't recognize us?"

Zhao Gou Dan seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Even if she doesn't admit it, she'll give us a large sum of money to get rid of us. No matter how much she gives, it's better than what we have now. Besides, she and San Zhuzi are twins. You could tell they were cut from the same mold right after they were born. She even has a mole on her back. She'll understand when she sees San Zhuzi."

Sanya held her breath when she heard this, and a moment later she heard Zhao Gou Dan say, "No matter what, our Zhao family will be honored in the future. We absolutely cannot let this one in the family ruin things."

Sanya didn't dare to move, keeping her eyes closed and pretending to be asleep. She rolled over a few times and moved away from the wall.

After a while, she heard someone open the door to her woodshed. The person looked at her for a long time before going out and locking the door.

Sanya was terrified. If what she heard was true, then she was the princess, and the one betrothed to the general was Sanya from the Zhao family.