Chapter 1 A Dream of Nanke
"Mother, wake up! Our house is about to be ransacked!"
The tender, soft voice of a child broke the tranquility of the backyard of the Marquis of Anping's residence.
Li Nanke's fair face was covered in tears, her voice filled with fear, and she pushed her sleeping mother with her little hands.
Song Yi opened her eyes blankly, with the languid feeling of a beauty just waking up. Seeing her daughter sobbing, she instinctively patted her gently.
"Ke'er, are you having another nightmare? Don't be afraid, Mother is here."
My daughter caught a cold a few days ago and has been having nightmares ever since. In just a few days, her round little face has become noticeably thinner.
Song Yi tenderly hugged her daughter and patted her back gently to comfort her.
"Don't be afraid, dreams are all fake, they can't come true."
Li Nanke's shoulders trembled as she cried, and her little body started shaking uncontrollably upon hearing these words.
"No, the dream was real."
She dreamed that the world she lived in was actually a storybook, and the storybook was called "After the Exchange Marriage, I Reached the Pinnacle of Life".
The female protagonist in the book is named Song Hui, and she is her aunt.
In her previous life, her aunt Song Hui, relying on her father's doting affection, married the heir of the Marquis of Anping's mansion, but was tragically exiled and died after her family's property was confiscated.
Her mother, Song Yi, married a poor scholar, yet became the wife of a prime minister at a young age, enjoying immense prestige.
Reborn on the day of the marriage selection, this time the aunt did not hesitate to choose to exchange marriages and marry a poor scholar.
Meanwhile, her mother married the heir of a noble family, becoming a contrast to her aunt's glamorous life, and suffered the fate of having her family's property confiscated, being exiled, and dying a miserable death from abuse.
In the world of storybooks, she was only eight years old when the Marquis's family was raided and the entire family was exiled to Qianzhou.
On the first day of their exile, they were forced to reduce their rations, kneel as punishment, and suffer various beatings.
On the second day of her exile, her grandmother was beaten to death while trying to protect her, and she vomited blood all over her.
My grandmother never closed her eyes until she died.
On the third day of her exile, those damned yamen runners set their sights on my mother.
They dragged their mother into the bushes.
Her father, who was used to being a playboy and dissolute young man, went mad and started beating the yamen runners.
However, he was surrounded by several constables and beaten to the point of near death.
Then, in front of her father, those beasts dragged her into the bushes as well.
It was her mother who risked her life to protect her. Her mother said the child was only eight years old and too young.
Her mother replaced her with her own body.
Those beasts violated my mother, and then tortured my father, who was barely clinging to life, to death right in front of them.
During the long journey of exile, Mother was dragged into the bushes time and time again.
All just so that she could live in peace.
When they reached their place of exile in Qianzhou, the mother could no longer bear it and committed suicide.
She was then sold into a brothel by the corrupt officials who had taken money from her. After enduring countless beatings, she finally reached marriageable age and was then bought by a cruel and violent man for her virginity...
She didn't believe it at first, but the things in her dream all came true!
The first time, she dreamed that her grandmother’s beloved cat suddenly died, and the next day the cat really did die, and her grandmother was bedridden for several days.
Then she dreamed that it rained for days on end, the water level of the lake in her house rose sharply, almost flooding the back garden, and many fish were washed out.
Who knew that what happened in my dream would actually happen?
Recalling the tragic events of his dream, Li Nanke couldn't help but tremble, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Ke'er, be good, Mommy will stay with you and sleep a little longer."
Song Yi's voice interrupted Li Nanke's thoughts. She grabbed her mother's hand and shook it hard.
She cried, "Mother, you can't sleep anymore! What I said is true. The Imperial Guards will come to ransack our house as soon as it's light!"
She woke up from a nightmare and was reminded by her maid that today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, the day her whole family was exiled after their property was confiscated.
Time is running out.
"Oh, they're raiding our house? I see, that's scary."
"Sleep a little longer. When you wake up, your mother will talk to you about the confiscation of your property."
Song Yi wiped away her daughter's tears and lifted the blanket to tuck her into bed.
The gentle tone, as if coaxing a child, clearly showed that the speaker did not take what the child said seriously at all, and simply assumed that the child was young and talking nonsense because of a nightmare.
Li Nanke was anxious and flustered, and her tears fell even faster. She had just wiped away her tears when they streamed down her face again.
The first rays of morning light streamed through the paper windows, making the furnishings in the room begin to come into focus.
The sky began to brighten.
She could almost hear the Imperial Guards' perfectly synchronized footsteps, rushing towards the Marquis's mansion gate with overwhelming force.
Knowing in her heart that now was not the time to cry, she pursed her lips and held back her sobs.
With a kick of his little legs, he straightened up in his mother's arms.
He cupped his mother's face in his hands, making her look at him. Despite his tear-streaked face, he spoke more calmly and clearly than before.
“Mother, I saw it in my dream. Father was reported for embezzlement, and our family was really raided and exiled.”
"Grandmother, Father died on the road to exile, and our whole family was bullied so badly..."
Recalling the miserable pain she experienced in her dream, she trembled all over, her voice becoming rapid and shrill.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from outside, followed by a deafening banging on the door.
Looking at the brightening sky outside, Li Nanke was overwhelmed by a sense of despair.
It's too late...
"King Xuan has ordered the confiscation of property; everyone, come out immediately!"
With a sharp shout, the gates of the Marquis of Anping's residence were flung open.
A spacious, vermilion sedan chair stopped in the front yard, and the imperial guards who were confiscating the property rushed in like tigers.
After a moment of panic, everyone in the Marquis's residence was herded to the front yard.
The Imperial Guards stood in the courtyard, each with a sword at their waist, their expressions solemn.
The eunuch delivering the imperial decree had a shrill voice.
"Upon investigation, it has been found that Li Mu, the heir of the Marquis of Anping and the Director of the Granary Department of the Ministry of Revenue, embezzled money and passed off inferior goods as superior ones. His Majesty has decreed that the entire mansion be searched and confiscated, and no corner should be overlooked."
The people from the Marquis's residence were driven into a side hall in the front courtyard.
The eunuch delivering the imperial decree whispered a few words to the person inside the sedan chair.
A moment later, a single word came from inside the sedan chair, as cold as a knife.
"copy."
The Imperial Guards immediately dispersed and rushed in different directions to begin ransacking homes.
The atmosphere in the side hall was oppressive and heavy.
Li Nanke's grandmother, the Lady of Anping Marquis, was already ill. Upon hearing the imperial edict to confiscate her property, she fainted.
They were carried directly into a side hall.
Aunt Sun sat in the corner, holding her two children, looking panicked, and kept muttering that the sky was about to fall.
Li Nanke leaned against his mother Song Yi's chest, his round, fair face wrinkled.
Everything before her eyes was exactly the same as what she had dreamed of.
My father was a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse department, responsible for managing the Ministry's warehouses.
Someone reported that my father was corrupt and accepted bribes, directly putting substandard goods that were supposed to be tributes from the prefecture into the warehouse.
In the Great Chu, those who embezzle or accept bribes are punished ranging from having their property confiscated and being exiled to being beheaded.
The imperial edict to confiscate their property is like a knife, already held to their throats.
Li Nanke's small body shivered, her eyes darting around.
No, we need to find a way to get out of this predicament quickly.
Before I could even figure things out, I heard my grandfather, Marquis Anping, angrily speaking.
Where is that rebellious son?
Song Yi held her daughter, her hands trembling, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls.
One moment I was thinking about how my daughter's dream had actually come true; she dreamed of having her house ransacked, and then people really did come and ransack it.
Then he started thinking about how he would survive if his house were really raided; his mind was in complete turmoil.
Hearing her father-in-law's rebuke, she cried so hard she couldn't speak.
"Father should be at the Censorate at this time. The Censorate will investigate the case and report to His Majesty before they come to confiscate our property."
A clear, childlike voice spoke.
Marquis Anping turned his head and saw that it was Li Nanke who was speaking, so he frowned.
He waved his hand impatiently, "Go away, what do you know, you little kid? Go away and don't get in the way."
But Li Nanke's words suddenly reminded him of something, and he asked Song Yi in a low voice.
"I remember your brother-in-law was transferred to the Censorate?"
Song Yi was crying her heart out. After thinking blankly for a moment, she nodded.
Marquis Anping lowered his voice and said, "Write a letter asking for help. In a little while, I'll send a clever person to crawl out through the dog hole at the back corner gate and deliver the letter to your brother-in-law."
Your brother-in-law is the Vice Censor-in-Chief; if he could lend a hand, there might be a way to resolve this matter.
Song Yi's eyes lit up, as if she had suddenly found a lifeline.
Yes, her younger sister Song Hui has always been her closest friend, and her brother-in-law's mentor is the current Right Prime Minister.
If they can help, my husband will be alright, and the crisis of having our house raided can be resolved.
Marquis Anping gave Song Yi careful instructions.
"You must have stated in your letter that if they can help our whole family get off the hook, we will reward them handsomely."
Song Yi nodded.
“My sister and brother-in-law are both very good people. They will definitely find a way to save our family when they see this letter. There is no time to lose, I will write the letter now.”
Li Nanke hugged Song Yi tightly and said urgently, "Mother, you can't write to Aunt!"
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