Liang Wan stared at him for a long time before she realized that Lu Xiu wasn't smiling at all! It was just that when he narrowed his eyes, it created an illusion!
It made sense. In the eyes of someone like Lu Xiu, ordinary people like them were no different from utensils, birds, beasts, or plants. She wondered if he kept birds because he worried they would go hungry outside. No. Just as he said, it was purely for his own amusement.
Which person in this Imperial City didn't have an empty chest? Let alone someone like him who stood at the absolute pinnacle? Human life was nothing but a speck of floating dust.
Liang Wan lowered her eyes, staring at the ground. In Jinye City, it was impossible to survive without an empty chest!
"How did you kill him?"
The man, who was already halfway into the carriage, suddenly turned his head to look at her.
It was not surprising that Lu Xiu had this question. Although Zhang Shi was a civil servant, given his build, how could a frail young lady take him down? And kill him in a single strike, no less?
"I stabbed him straight in a fatal acupoint with a hairpin."
"You know medicine?"
Liang Wan nodded. "I've read a few medical books."
When Father was alive, although he served as the National Sacrificial Officer, his private passion lay in studying medicine. In his spare time, he had taught her a great deal. However, after Father passed away, her uncle had taken over the household because the eldest branch had no sons. To the outside world, she was still the Third Lady of the Liang Mansion, but what she was forced to learn was all about how to seduce and please men—
Liang Wan tilted her head up and slowly took a few deep breaths to force back her tears.
Lu Xiu caught a glimpse of the red corners of her eyes and shook his head. "Studying medicine to save people is a bit boring."
When she looked at him again, he had already entered the long-eaved carriage.
Liang Wan knew that she had managed to escape today's calamity, but what about what was to come?
During last year's Shangsi Festival, her uncle hosted a winding stream party for his guests. Cui Hao had come along with an old friend. Among all the extravagant and flowery essays, his alone was unadorned and possessed a unique strength of character. Yet, precisely because of this, he was met with the cold shoulder and ridicule. After they became acquainted, she learned that his family had fallen into ruin and that he constantly hit walls due to his Commoner Clan status. However, his humble yet dignified way of conducting himself made her see him in a different light.
Later on, upon learning that her family was going to send her to Wang Sikong, Cui Hao proposed helping her escape to the countryside to take refuge at his relative's home. As it turned out, this was simply jumping from one fiery pit into another!
They had agreed to meet at a designated location, but she waited and waited to no avail. When she finally woke up, she saw a mess all over the bed, while Zhang Shi stood naked on the ground, putting on his clothes. She fought him desperately like a madwoman, but unfortunately, her injured body only resulted in her being violated once more.
A young lady from a scholarly family had supposedly run to a brothel of her own accord to engage in illicit relations with a man. From that day onward, she, Liang Wan, became the number one slut in Jinye City!
He had first plotted to harm her, then pretended to take her in, before putting on act after act of bitter melodrama. In the end, she had been coaxed and deceived by him into becoming a tool to seduce her superiors.
Liang Wan looked up. Above the firmament was a sky full of stars. In this world, she was just as insignificant as these stars. But this time, she was not only going to survive and live well, but she was also going to make every single person who had bullied and humiliated her pay the price they deserved!
As the long-eaved carriage departed, Liang Wan wiped her tears and stood up from the ground.
A little further ahead was the Liang Mansion, but that was no longer her home; it was just another Hu's den. Yet, before she had enough ability to protect herself, the outside world was no safer than being in there. Her past life was proof of that lesson!
This time, she could not repeat the same mistakes.
Liang Wan walked to the riverbank and untied her cloak. Spotting the stone steps that women used to wash clothes, she closed her eyes and jumped right off the edge.
The Si River was the inner city river of Jinye. The channel was narrow, and the water was calm. However, the early spring river water was bone-chilling, freezing her so thoroughly that her mind went numb.
Liang Wan climbed out of the river, trembling violently, and wrapped herself in the large cloak. However, this did not make her feel any better. Her soaked clothes clung tightly to her skin beneath the cloak, and as the wind blew, she was so cold that her teeth chattered. She stumbled to the door and, this time, knocked only a few times before it opened.
As expected, she developed a fever. Her entire body burned a beet red, yet she was still so cold that she clutched her quilt tightly and curled up into a ball.
In her groggy state, it felt as though someone was shaking her. She was already delirious from the fever, and after being shaken like this, she saw double when she opened her eyes.
Liang Wan rubbed her eyes, barely managing to see clearly. "M-Mother?"
Looking to the side, she realized that quite a few people had entered her room, which usually felt like a cage. Everyone wore a stern expression, and the atmosphere was indescribably oppressive. Liang Wan certainly did not believe they looked this solemn because she had a fever.
"Awan, where on earth did you go? Your uncle sent people searching everywhere for you, but they couldn't find you! How did you end up in this state? What happened to your clothes? Were you—"
Her mother seemed to be using all her strength. The hand gripping Liang Wan's arm dug in so fiercely it nearly pierced her flesh, and even her voice pitched.
In her previous life, she had knelt in front of the door, but no matter how much she cried and begged, her mother had refused to see her.
Liang Wan shook off the grip of the woman from the He Family and shot her a cold smile. "Was I what? Deflowered by a man?"
The woman from the He Family looked thunderstruck, her face instantly turning ashen. "What did you say? Say it again!"
The resentment and grievances she had accumulated over two lifetimes suddenly surged along with her boiling blood. Liang Wan's nose tingled, her eyes turning bloodshot as she clenched her fists.
"Do you care about anything other than that? In your eyes, if I lose my chastity, should I just go and die immediately? From beginning to end, have you ever genuinely cared about me with even a single word?
"From childhood to adulthood, I've only been allowed to do what you permit. Am I your daughter? Am I even a human being? I am simply a puppet controlled and manipulated by you! A puppet that must carve chastity and obedience into her brain every waking moment!
"I truly don't understand how I could end up with a mother like you!" she said, tears cascading down her face.
SLAP! A heavy slap landed on her face. Liang Wan was struck so hard she saw stars, collapsing onto the bed and unable to get up for quite a while.
The woman from the He Family was furious, her entire body trembling.
The atmosphere took a drastic turn. Mrs. Zhang, who had been standing to the side, quickly stepped forward. "Let's talk things out calmly!" she urged. She then turned her head and gently scolded, "Awan, how can you contradict your mother like this?"
With half her face swollen, Liang Wan looked at Mrs. Zhang through tear-blurred eyes.
In the Liang Mansion, this aunt of hers always prided herself on being charitable and generous. Furthermore, she had a plump figure, which made her look much more amiable and approachable compared to her thin, taciturn mother.
The woman from the He Family was in the middle of a fit of anger. She shoved Mrs. Zhang aside, threw back the quilt, and yanked Liang Wan up, frantically tearing at her sleeve.
Liang Wan was pulled left and right, her eyes red as she watched quietly.
The whole room of people also watched in silence.
It was only when the woman from the He Family saw the conspicuous guardian sand on her arm that she breathed a sigh of relief, though her face remained cold.
Liang Wan withdrew her arm with a wooden expression.
Taking this in, Mrs. Zhang softened her tone considerably. "Awan, as an unmarried lady from a scholarly family, you must never speak such nonsense again!"
Even though the guardian sand was still there, seeing her disheveled clothes still left the woman from the He Family feeling alarmed. "Where did you go? What on earth happened? Speak!"