Chapter 1 Chapter 1 At that time, he was unrestrained and crazy.
The candlelight cast shadowy figures within the dimly lit curtains.
The jade hooks hanging from the two corners of the canopy bed made a crisp clanging sound due to the vibrations.
The finest brocade quilt collapsed and the curtains fell to the ground...
The normally cool and pleasant scent, like pine needles and snow, transformed into a burning, scorching heat under the influence of the medicine.
Ji Wanyuan felt like her waist was about to break. She had been exceptionally flexible since childhood, but she couldn't withstand such "bullying".
As the rolling snowstorm crushed her, she felt it was extremely difficult to breathe.
Then, images of ransacking homes and exile flashed through her mind. She felt intense pain in her lower body, her consciousness became hazy, and her soul seemed to leave her body. The feeling was like the ghostly, drifting sensation described in storybooks.
Before she could even adjust to this feeling, the scene shifted to an exquisitely luxurious interior, where beaded curtains and jade screens shimmered with light. Someone was running and shouting in her ear, the noise was unbearable.
"Oh no! He's hemorrhaging! Hemorrhaging!"
"Young Madam, this is going to be a disaster!"
It seemed to be an imperial physician or a doctor giving instructions: "Bring water and ginseng soup to keep him alive; there might still be a chance to save him."
"Quickly, invite the master here..." Her personal maid, Emerald, was also calling out, and she even grabbed a little maid to ask why the master hadn't been invited.
The maidservant stammered that she had already gone to invite them, but the adults were too busy to come and asked the doctor and midwife to take care of them as best they could.
“Our young lady is giving birth, how can you not come, sir! She is bearing your children! What if something goes wrong! Our young lady has been—”
Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by the doctor and midwife's questions about the maid, "The young mistress's condition is serious. We must make a decision now. Has the master sent word: save the mother or the child?!"
The maid said, "The master said... to protect, to protect the child."
"Impossible! What about my young lady?!"
"..."
The dream was filled with loud and intense noise, and not long after, a thunderclap suddenly resounded through the sky, tearing through the heavens.
The light illuminated the entire room, and a beautiful yet ferocious pale face was reflected in the bronze mirror.
"ah--!!!"
The brocade quilt was flung open, and Ji Wanyuan suddenly opened her eyes. She sat up straight, her eyes wide, clutching her chest and breathing heavily.
"Oh dear, my little darling, are you having another nightmare?"
Upon hearing the commotion, Madam Ji immediately dropped what she was doing, walked around the screen from the outside, and strode in to embrace Jiao Jiao'e, who had woken up from a nightmare, covered in cold sweat and with her blood running cold.
"Mom's here, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."
Madam Ji hugged her only daughter tightly, patted her back, and told the maid to quickly bring the ginseng soup.
"Mother is here, Mother is here..."
In the tender embrace of her mother, Ji Wanyuan gradually came back to her senses.
She...she's having another nightmare...
I've lost count of how many times this has happened.
Coming to my senses, I looked up and saw the bronze mirror on the dressing table not far away.
Although her face in the mirror was pale and unsightly, it was still much better than in her dream. At least she didn't have a look of shock on her face, and her eyes weren't bulging out, clearly looking like she had died with her eyes open.
"Mother..." The thought of that haunting, gruesome scene of her death filled her with anguish.
Ji Wanyuan's little face slumped on Madam Ji's shoulder, afraid of burying herself in the crook of her shoulder, and she began to cry like a kitten, her voice taking more than a dozen turns, her whimpers heart-wrenching.
Tears and sweat mingled together as she gripped Madam Ji's hand tightly.
Upon hearing this, Madam Ji's heart was broken.
She said her father had already sent another invitation to the imperial physicians, who would arrive by noon at the latest to examine her again.
She even berated the previous imperial physician for being completely ineffective, saying that she had been taking medicine for almost a month, but her health hadn't improved at all, and instead, her nightmares were getting worse. She called him a quack doctor, and continued her tirade...
If her own mother had scolded the imperial physician like this before, Ji Wanyuan would not have cared at all, and might even have joined in the scolding to vent her anger!
But ever since that incident happened, and she learned some strange things, she has been unable to curse anymore.
She even felt that her mother was rather arrogant. The imperial physician was a person in the palace, a skilled physician used by the emperor, even if his official rank was not as high as her father's.
But he came to treat her illness, which is a favor from the Emperor. How could she be insulted like this? Saying he's a quack or not is like slapping the Emperor in the face. People who can enter the Imperial Medical Academy are selected through layers of screening.
It's no wonder that the Ji family later fell from power. The imperial physicians who had visited the Ji family all complained that the Ji family was arrogant and domineering, and their behavior even surpassed the imperial authority.
The things she learned in her dreams... are strangely coming true.
Thinking of this, she quickly said, "Alright, Mother, I just... have palpitations and have nightmares. It has nothing to do with the imperial physicians. Please... don't scold me anymore... don't say anything more."
Ji Wanyuan wiped away her tears and sniffed as she tried to comfort her.
Seeing her delicate daughter looking weak and listless with her head drooping, Madam Ji had no mind to notice her unusual behavior and simply replied, "Alright, alright, I won't say anymore."
The ginseng soup was served quickly. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but now, in her dream, when she was giving birth and experiencing postpartum hemorrhage, the doctor specifically requested ginseng soup.
Looking at the bowl of rich soup in front of her, she instinctively felt nauseous and even fearful.
When Madam Ji brought it over, Ji Wanyuan smelled the soup and couldn't hold it in any longer, so she leaned over the table and vomited.
"Yuan'er!" Madam Ji patted her back, "Don't scare your mother..."
Ji Wanyuan covered her mouth with a handkerchief, staring intently at the ginseng soup. "Quickly, take this thing away!"
He started gagging again as soon as he finished speaking. Since he hadn't eaten anything, he didn't vomit anything, just some acidic fluid.
After half an incense stick's time to calm down, she lay prone on the edge of the bed, her long hair cascading down her back, some of it dragging on the floor. Combined with her pale face, she truly resembled a female ghost.
"..."
In the afternoon, the imperial physician arrived.
This time, the most respected head physician in the palace, Imperial Physician Fu, has come.
This imperial physician was quite old and nearing retirement. He rarely treated others, except to take the Empress Dowager's pulse. It was because Prime Minister Ji cherished his daughter that he repeatedly petitioned the Emperor to have this physician examine Ji Wanyuan, and His Majesty granted his request.
Physician Fu was not in good health and walked very slowly. Madam Ji was worried about her daughter, so she only gave the physician a kind look at the first time, and then ignored him and urged him to hurry up.
Looking through the half-open window, Ji Wanyuan could see clearly. She wanted her mother to be more gentle and polite to the imperial physician, but she didn't have the strength to get up and speak.
Before long, the imperial physician arrived outside the curtain and covered her with a silk handkerchief to take her pulse.
"Miss Ji, please use your other hand so I can take another look."
Ji Wanyuan obediently did as instructed, but Madam Ji was very anxious. She wondered if Physician Fu could see anything special about the medicine. Was his medical skill really that good?
In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the pulse has been taken well.
Madam Ji hurriedly asked, "Imperial Physician, how is my daughter's health?"
“I’ve been taking medicine for a while, but it hasn’t helped at all. Lately, my nightmares have become more and more severe. Just now, I couldn’t even drink ginseng soup. The smell made me vomit sour water. I’m really worried about myself.”
Faced with Madam Ji's series of statements, Physician Fu frowned, hesitant to speak, as if he had something difficult to say and was pondering how to begin.
Seeing this, Madam Ji became even more worried. Could it be that her precious daughter had contracted some incurable disease?!
Thinking of this, Madam Ji could no longer restrain herself and sternly told the imperial physician to speak quickly and stop being so hesitant and frightening.
Hearing her mother's impatient tone, Ji Wanyuan felt it necessary for her to get up and try to salvage the situation, even if it might be of little use.
But she was really afraid that what happened in her dream would actually happen.
So she struggled to her feet and said weakly, "Mother... In this unbearably hot weather, it is already a great kindness for Physician Fu to come and treat my illness. Please don't do this."
"Imperial Physician, I am really troubling you. My mother Wan Yuan is just worried and confused. She is not disrespectful to you."
Madam Ji and Physician Fu were both taken aback.
Especially Physician Fu was extremely surprised. He had met this daughter of the Prime Minister in his early years. She was arrogant and domineering because she was the only daughter of the Prime Minister. Now she was so reasonable and gentle.
Hearing her weak and delicate voice, so soft and pitiful, it really didn't make one angry.
"It's alright," the imperial physician said. "Madam Ji, regarding Miss Ji's illness... there are too many people around, may we speak in private?"
Madam Ji thought that Physician Fu was afraid that Ji Wanyuan would worsen her condition if she heard about her own "illness," so she quickly invited him to a separate room.
After the person left, Ji Wanyuan collapsed back down, feeling uneasy.
Could this Imperial Physician Fu have diagnosed her illness?
No, that's impossible.
Shouldn't her illness be considered a psychological one?
The reason she started having nightmares and waking up in terror was because of what happened between her and... Wen... Wen Qiyan... some time ago... that led to the frequent nightmares.
Mentioning this man brings to mind his icy profile, his dangerously cold demeanor, his terrifyingly domineering presence, and his ruthlessness towards her…
Ji Wanyuan couldn't help but clutch the brocade quilt tightly, her leg bones trembling slightly.
"..."
Looking back, she was reckless and wild. She couldn't withstand his ferocity, and eventually her thoughts drifted. Then, like a ghost, she had a premonition and strangely knew some of the things that would happen later. This frightened her so much that she couldn't sleep at night, couldn't eat or sleep, and gradually became thinner.
Even if the imperial physician possessed supernatural abilities, how could he possibly know the strange events in her mind just by taking her pulse?
Medical skills aren't mind-reading abilities, are they?
Even if he could read minds, he'd still have to look at her face to guess what was going on; he was just taking her pulse.
"It shouldn't be anything serious," Ji Wanyuan comforted herself, "Phew, don't scare yourself."
She didn't want anyone else to know about what happened in what she called a "dream"...
Losing face is secondary; the main problem is danger! After all, it concerns my father, mother, and the Ji family.
A short while later, Madam Ji returned.
Hearing footsteps, Ji Wanyuan was about to get up when she heard her mother dismiss the maids serving in the inner room, and even her personal maid, Fei Cui, was sent away.
She then lifted the curtain and met her mother's slightly serious...and angry face.
Ji Wanyuan's heart skipped a beat. No way? They really know?
Her mind raced as she considered what might happen next and how to deal with it.
But then she suddenly heard her mother take a deep breath and ask sharply, "Wanyuan, whose child is in your belly?"
As if struck dumb by a blow to the head, Ji Wanyuan tilted her head back.
"…ah?"
A note from the author:
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Here I am, here I am, bringing you the new article.
The article is starting! A joyous celebration! May this article bring you good fortune!
Updated the day before yesterday! I'll ask for leave if something comes up, please add this to your favorites, my little darlings~ [Please!]
Let me recommend another of my serialized novels on the same theme, which is already completed! I'm currently writing a sweet side story, "The Fourth Year of Marrying into a Manor in Place of My Sister," which you can read by clicking on my author page~
The text is as follows:
After the Wei family fell into ruin and the eldest sister married into a better family, in order to save face for everyone, Yinluan, who was not favored in the family, was forced to take over her marriage with the Wei family.
In the fourth year of the substitute marriage, the Wei family's status was rising rapidly, but the eldest sister's marriage to a high-ranking family was not going well.
In the third month of spring, my mother and father, along with my eldest sister who had been divorced and returned home long ago, came to the Wei family's gate and summoned Yinluan.
"This marriage was originally given to you by your eldest sister. Now that you've had it for four years, it's time to return it to her."
The mother-in-law, who already disliked Yinluan, accepted the bribe and said in a condescending tone, "You have been in our Wei family for many years without conceiving. It is your blessing that your sister is willing to help you have children."
The younger sister-in-law had always been on good terms with the older sister, so naturally she was now on her side.
She had thought that her husband, with whom she had spent so many years, could resolve the matter. But ever since her elder sister entered the family, Wei Ruzhuo's gaze had been intentionally or unintentionally falling on her elder sister.
Yinluan called him several times without getting a response, then tugged at his sleeve, finally bringing him back to his senses. But he was still calling out his elder sister's maiden name, "Chen Tan said she doesn't fight for the first wife's position, only for a secondary wife, you see..."
Yinluan was stunned and speechless for a moment. How could this marriage, which she had helped to make perfect, have become a source of trouble for her?
What did her years of scheming and maneuvering in the Wei family amount to?
At this moment, Yinluan finally realized that no matter whether it was kinship or love, even if she humbled herself to the dust, she could hardly ask for a trace of affection.
All her words turned to sorrow and despair. After a long while, she lowered her eyes and said softly, "Since that's the case, then let's get a divorce."
*
In Wei Ruzhuo's eyes, Zhu Yinluan, though quiet and gentle, was too timid, too young to be lively, and knew nothing of love and joy.
Even though she was docile, virtuous, and exceptionally beautiful, she always appeared dull and wooden in his eyes.
So when she proposed divorce, he was surprised but didn't take it to heart, thinking it was just something she said in anger. A woman who divorces finds it difficult to remarry; her family dislikes and doesn't tolerate her, and before long she'll be crying and coming back.
Unexpectedly, this wait brought news that she had remarried.
His face was ashen, and he stared at the man's name on the glaring wedding invitation with a ferocious expression.
He was a high-ranking official, a close advisor to the emperor whom no one dared to offend.
*
Shen Jingzhan was born into a noble family and was promoted to the imperial court at a young age. He was exceptionally talented and handsome. Such a prodigy could easily obtain anything in the world.
His only disappointment was that the girl he loved got married early.
But what good is marriage? The eldest daughter of the Zhu family is obsequious and snobbish, while the sons of the Wei family are insatiably greedy…
After years of forbearance and long-term dormancy, Shen Jingzhan swirled the wine in his glass, his slender fingers caressing the portrait of the girl he had treasured for many years, his eyes lowered to conceal the deep and dark shadow in them.
*
After getting married, Yinluan accidentally learned that her new husband was not as gentle and kind as he seemed on the surface.
He was responsible for the Wei family's rise in social status, his elder sister's divorce was also related to him, and even their every encounter was not accidental.
This vast and intricate network, meticulously planned and executed, is all for the purpose of seizing her.
How did the latecomer surpass the former? Because he was competitive, greedy, and adept at deception.
Reading Guide:
Cold and aloof (not really a powerful minister vs. a gentle and delicate daughter of a minor official)
Slow-burn romance | Female not a virgin | Female protagonist's perspective: arranged marriage leading to love, male protagonist's long-standing secret crush and premeditated scheme | Ex-husbands all suffer tragic fates | Second male lead rises to power
The male lead is only kind, harmless, gentle, and refined towards the female lead, but he is ruthless and cold-blooded towards outsiders.
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