Chapter 1: Ten Years of Widowhood
Qin Mingzhu was drowned in a pond by the children she had raised.
One day, she was stripped naked and forced to kneel and crawl on a needle board, allowing inch-long steel needles to pierce her body, leaving her flesh and blood all over the place and the pain going deep into her bones.
She was widowed for ten years, yet she was labeled a slut...
When she looked up, the scene in front of her was quite warm and beautiful, as if a real family was talking and laughing, pointing and talking to her.
The stepson she had personally raised and meticulously groomed to become the top scholar, served tea and water to the extremely distinguished woman sitting in the middle, smiling and welcoming her, while saying:
"This kind of slut just can't stand loneliness. Dad must have seen through her true nature when he left. If I really kept her, it would simply tarnish your reputation. How can she compare to the beauty of the princess mother?"
The stepdaughter, who had been cared for for many years, massaged the shoulders of the elegant woman in a flattering voice.
"My daughter has long discovered that she is a promiscuous womanizer in private. It's a shame to have such a stepmother. Fortunately, Dad came back in time, otherwise our family would have lost all their face!"
Her mother-in-law, who had been bedridden for many years but had been taken care of so well by her, now had a gloomy face: "Son, this kind of woman should be thrown into a pig cage, otherwise how can we, the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, face people in the future!"
The only one she picked up was her adopted son, who was only nine years old. He was tied up and beaten to a bloody pulp. Even though many of his teeth were knocked out, his childish voice was still roaring incoherently.
"Mom was wrongly accused. I saw with my own eyes someone put drugs in her tea..."
"Shut up!"
A sharp shout came from the front. The seemingly elegant and handsome man had an icy face and a voice as sharp as a knife: "I was caught in bed with you, the evidence is irrefutable, what else can I say? Qin Mingzhu, I almost died fighting for my country. Thanks to Your Highness the Princess, I recovered and returned after years of recuperation. I thought I could see you again and reward you for all your years of hard work and care for the family, but this is how you greet me?"
"I thought that because your father had shown some kindness to my mansion, I allowed you to be the mistress of this mansion and enjoy wealth and splendor for so many years. Now I have repaid you. Before the princess returned with me, she was willing to compromise and be my mistress. I never thought you would be so despicable!"
The extravagantly dressed woman tugged at the man's sleeve and whispered softly, "My husband, please don't be angry. It's not worth it for a woman like this. I never thought my sister, who has a good reputation outside, would be like this in private. She's really shameless. If I knew that my husband had died in battle, I would definitely abide by my duty and remain a virgin for him for the rest of my life."
Qin Mingzhu had tears of blood in her eyes, but she couldn't help wanting to laugh.
Her father, a general, became disabled and injured while trying to save the old marquis. He fell seriously ill and died a few years later, and her mother also died of depression.
She married into the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion as a second wife and married the eldest son of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, Yan Qinghao. On the day after the wedding, her husband left for the battlefield to fight. Not long after, the news came that he had died in the battle. She had been a widow for ten whole years!
During these ten years, she had devoted all her energy to supporting the huge mansion and carefully raised the two children left by the previous mistress. As a result, at the stepson's top scholar banquet, her deceased husband suddenly returned and became the unattainable prince consort of the Northern Frontier Kingdom, bringing the noble and unparalleled Northern Frontier Princess back home!
The Southern Yan Kingdom where she lived had been at war with the Northern Frontier Kingdom for many years, with countless casualties on both sides. It was only in recent years that they signed a peace treaty.
She could never have imagined that her husband had faked his death and escaped, and even had an affair with the princess of the enemy country.
This banquet for the top scholar became her death warrant. She was drugged in the middle of the banquet and returned to her room in a daze. She then became what she is now.
All arguments became sophistry, and all struggles seemed powerless and ridiculous. Under the absolute authority of this princess of the Northern Frontier, if she didn't do this, everyone around her would die!
Blood flowed all over the floor along the needle board. Qin Mingzhu felt extremely chilled. Her father died to save the old marquis. She spent all her family wealth to stabilize the marquis's mansion for ten years. The two children she raised with great effort became ungrateful in the blink of an eye and tried to please others. Only the adopted son she picked up was still standing by her. How ridiculous her life was!
Qin Mingzhu's voice was filled with tears, but she was quite weak due to excessive blood loss.
"The thing I regret most in my life... is marrying into the Marquis's Mansion!"
She is not stupid or foolish, so she knows why she has ended up like this.
Princess Beijiang wanted to be the legal wife, but Qin Mingzhu was known for her virtue, and divorcing her without reason was a big taboo.
In addition, there has only been peace between Northern Xinjiang and Southern Yan for a year, and countless people are resentful of the Northern Xinjiang royal family. If some trouble arises again, many people will definitely find it difficult to accept this princess.
It was unprecedented for a princess to follow Yan Qinghao to Southern Yan. As a princess of a royal family, how could she be willing to be a concubine?
And her husband, for whom she had been a widow for ten years, made a decisive decision upon his return, without any regard for feelings, and wanted her to die. Only in this way could he gain a firm foothold and keep his future untainted!
She was alive and in their way...
Yan Qinghao's face darkened upon hearing this. "She's still so reckless even now. Come, put this bitch in an iron cage and drown her in the pond as a warning to all!"
Upon hearing this, the stepson volunteered, as if to express his determination: "Dad, I'll come myself!"
Qin Mingzhu, covered in blood, had no strength to resist. Her blood had almost drained out and she looked like a pool of bloody mud. She was casually put into a cage and thrown into the lotus pond in the backyard.
Just as the cold water of the lotus pond flooded her eyes, she saw a scene that shocked her.
A figure suddenly rushed into the mansion, and countless chaotic and noisy sounds resounded throughout the mansion. Yan Qinghao and the princess, who had been calm and complacent, turned pale.
The figure was still wearing armor, but his helmet had been thrown away somewhere long ago. The long sword in his hand was dripping with blood. He rushed into the mansion like a madman, shouting non-stop.
"Where is Mingzhu!"
Qin Mingzhu's mind was in a mess. She could not imagine how Yan Fengxiao, the third son of the Yan family born out of wedlock, could appear here.
Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she saw the other party actually slash at Yan Qinghao and the Northern Frontier Princess with a knife...
Blood splattered everywhere!
Heads rolling down!
The man picked up his adopted son, who was also covered in blood, and rushed to the lake. His bloodstained face was filled with a rare look of panic.
His lips moved as if he was saying something to her.
Qin Mingzhu could no longer hear clearly, and could only vaguely see the movement of his lips. As smart as she was, she seemed to understand...
He was saying: He wanted her not to die, he wanted to take her home with their biological son...
Qin Mingzhu was stunned, shocked, and dazed for a moment... but then she couldn't help but curl up the corners of her lips and smiled.
I see...
Something seemed to have touched her heart, and a very inexplicable and complicated emotion penetrated into her already cold and broken heart.
But before she fell into the water, she was already exhausted and bled out...
She has been a well-behaved woman for many years and has never been moved even when she knew that the man liked her.
The result was a miserable death with the reputation of a slut.
She is unwilling...
…
Qin Mingzhu suddenly woke up and opened her eyes.
A familiar chattering voice came from the side.
"Madam, you are finally awake. It's a good thing that Doctor Zhou came quickly this time, otherwise the little boy in your belly would be in danger. You must take good care of the Second Miss. She dared to push Madam even though she knew you were pregnant. The Marquis died in the war, and you feel sorry for the child who has lost her father, but who will feel sorry for you, Madam..."
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