"Hao Xiangwan, I curse you! May you spend your whole life following someone else, may all those who love you and those you love leave you, may you be lonely and helpless for life, may you never get what you want, and may you be a solitary person for all eternity, hahahahaha..."
Xiang Wan woke up with a start, opened her eyes and looked out the window. It was still pitch black. The pattering rain was hitting the eaves like a jumble of disordered strings, noisy and making her feel particularly annoyed.
The melodious sound of bells drifted from afar, each chime piercing the night and echoing through the valley.
As her heartbeats gradually calmed down with her breathing, Xiang Wan realized that she was covered in sweat, which soaked her clothes and made them sticky against her skin.
The room was dark, and I couldn't see anything. I felt a warm current coursing through my body, like I'd been drugged.
"Quickly find a place to hide, someone's coming."
The system suddenly sounded in her mind. Without hesitation, Xiang Wan got out of bed, fumbled to put on her clothes, and was about to push the door open when she heard a series of hurried footsteps outside.
There was no time to lose. Xiang Wan quickly clutched the boots to her chest and hid under the bed. Just as she finished hiding, she heard the door being pushed open with a bang, and then she saw a pair of embroidered shoes come to her bedside. The oil lamp in his hand cast a long shadow that swayed back and forth on the floor.
"You brat, you actually got away!" A middle-aged woman's voice, filled with rage, rang out from above. "She was drugged; she can't have gotten very far. If I catch her, I won't let you off the hook, hmph!"
The footsteps faded into the distance, and Xiang Wan remained lying motionless under the bed.
Not long after, the man returned, glanced into the house, banged hard on the door frame, and hurriedly left.
Now, they must really be far away. Xiang Wan immediately got up, dusted herself off, closed the door again, and lay down on the bed to receive the plot.
The original owner's name was Hao Xiangwan, and she was the personal maid of Hao Yuchun, the eldest daughter of the Hao family.
In Ping'an County, a small county town, the Hao family was considered a prominent and wealthy household. More than half of the shops in the entire county belonged to the Hao family, not to mention the surrounding fields and forests. Even the county magistrate greeted Hao Xuan, the head of the Hao family, with a smile.
Hao Yuchun is Hao Xuan's eldest daughter. From birth, Hao Xuan doted on Hao Yuchun, and whenever he had something delicious or fun, she was the first person he thought of.
When Hao Yuchun was three years old, Hao Xuan bought a three-year-old orphan girl from a matchmaker and named her Hao Xiangwan, who was there to keep Hao Yuchun company.
The two were about the same age, and Hao Yuchun treated her like a younger sister, sharing all the good things with her and confiding her innermost thoughts. Hao Xiangwan was not a bad person and valued this young lady, who was like a sister to her, highly, always putting her first in everything she did.
Originally, Hao Xiangwan thought she could accompany Hao Yuchun for life, and even when Hao Yuchun got married, she could be part of her dowry and continue to serve her. However, when Hao Yuchun was sixteen years old, something unexpected happened.
Hao Xiangwan accidentally saw Granny Shi, Hao Xuan's wet nurse, putting medicine into the tea. She was so frightened that she forgot to breathe. When she came to her senses, Granny Shi had already left, and another maid came and took the tea away.
Hao Xiangwan was worried and followed behind, only to find that the maid was carrying tea and heading straight for the young lady's courtyard. She quickly slipped in through the back door, took the tea from the maid, and was about to pour it away when she saw Hao Yuchun and Hao Xuan come out of the room.
Hao Xiangwan was startled and almost spilled her tea, but Hao Xuan caught it in her hand. They chatted and laughed as they headed towards the pavilion. Just as they were about to drink, Hao Xiangwan panicked, rushed over, knocked the tea out of their hands, and told them everything she had seen.
Hao Xuan's expression was grim, while Hao Yuchun looked utterly astonished. Hao Xuan had praised her a few times and rewarded her before leaving in a hurry.
Over the next few days, Hao Yuchun treated her even better, giving her jewelry she usually wouldn't wear, which overwhelmed her with gratitude. She remembered that day, Hao Yuchun brought a set of jade teacups, saying that since they were sisters, she wanted her to taste what tea brewed in such a set tasted like. Hao Xiangwan didn't think much of it and, at the young lady's urging, drank the entire pot of tea. After finishing, she felt a little sleepy, so Hao Yuchun told her to go back to her room to rest.
That rainy night, Hao Xiangwan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. In her hazy state, she seemed to see someone enter her room. Her memory then abruptly ended. She only knew that when she regained consciousness, she was met with the entire Hao family's rebukes, mockery, and insults. Even Hao Yuchun, who usually treated her very well and regarded her as a sister, looked at her with pity and regret.
"What a shameless slut! How dare she seduce the young master! Burn her alive!"
"base"
Shameless
"whore"
"lewd"
...
Bound to a pillar and verbally abused by everyone in the mansion, Hao Xiangwan felt desperate. She didn't understand what she had done wrong to deserve this treatment.
Bound under the scorching sun for a day, Hao Xiangwan never gave up trying to defend herself. She explained to everyone and asked Hao Yuchun for help, again and again, but all she got in return was merciless ridicule and indifference.
Someone couldn't bear it and wanted to give her some water, but was stopped by Hao Zheng, the furious young master of the Hao family, who said that the person who seduced him did not deserve sympathy.
At this moment, Hao Xiangwan realized that the person who entered her room that night was Hao Zheng, but she had not drugged him, yet no one was willing to listen to her explanation.
Firewood was piled at her feet, and a group of people with torches surrounded her. Hao Yuchun, carrying a bowl of water, ignored everyone's attempts to stop him and came to her side, trying to feed her, but she turned her head and knocked the bowl away.
Hao Xiangwan had figured out the cause and effect. The one who caused all of this was the pure and kind young lady in front of her.
"Why?"
Her lips were dry and cracked, and she suffered immense physical and mental trauma, but nothing could drown out the sorrow in her heart. The man she had once been willing to give her entire life for had, in the end, betrayed her. Now, she knew she couldn't escape; all she wanted was to know why all of this had happened.
Hao Yuchun took out a handkerchief and gently wiped her sweat, but the words he spoke were vicious.
"It's just that you shouldn't have been born in the same era as me."
The following words were what startled Xiang Wan awake from her dream.
The hatred was so intense, the impression so profound, that even she, a transmigrator, was affected to some extent.
Hao Xiangwan was burned alive, her piercing screams echoing through the heavens. No one spoke out in her defense; everyone clapped and cheered. The smug, malicious, jealous, gloating, and callous gazes that fell upon her were like thorns piercing her soul, filling her with extreme rejection, disgust, and hatred for the entire Hao family. In her dying moments, she wished to offer her soul as a sacrifice, so that everyone in the Hao family would suffer a terrible death!
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