Fu Zhen watched the brief life of another version of herself.
At first, Lady Bai doted on her as if she were her own daughter. However, unexpectedly, such doting gradually inflated the "Fu Zhen"'s greed.
Having witnessed the wealth and splendor of the Marquis Mansion, the "Fu Zhen" was no longer willing to return to her former shabby and poor life. Therefore, she tried every means to curry favor with Lady Bai and Chen Tingfeng. But Chen Tingfeng seemed to see through her false face. He was always cold - hearted towards her and often advised Lady Bai to beware of her.
The "Fu Zhen" was filled with unwillingness but had no way to deal with Chen Tingfeng. She didn't know whether Lady Bai had taken Chen Tingfeng's words to heart. After all, compared with others, she was just an outsider. Fortunately, Lady Bai still treated her the same. While she let out a sigh of relief, she showed more frequent attentions to Lady Bai, pretending to be a weak and vulnerable person to win people's hearts.
One evening, she made some food and wanted to send it to Lady Bai to taste. But she heard Lady Bai saying to someone, "Zhenzhen is getting older, and with her family background, the young men in the capital may not take a fancy to her. It's better to look for someone outside. As long as the family is decent, there's no need for great wealth."
But the "Fu Zhen" had already been dazzled by the glory and wealth of the Marquis Mansion. She was determined to marry a husband from a prominent family. She didn't want the nightmare of the past to happen to her again. She didn't want to leave the capital!
She was extremely tortured inside. And the next day, she saw Lady Bai take out many portraits for her to choose from. After asking, she found out that they were all from respectable but not extremely wealthy families. How could she agree?
On the surface, she smiled and promised to choose carefully, but in her heart, she hated the Marquis Mansion for not arranging a good future for her.
After much thought, she set her sights on Chen Tingfeng.
The Marquis Mansion had a sparse population. Chen Tingfeng was the heir apparent now and would surely become the marquis in the future. If she married him, would she still be worried about not having a good life?
After making up her mind, the "Fu Zhen" began to think about how to marry him.
Chen Tingfeng always disliked her affected manner. He didn't accept her overtures on the surface. After tossing and turning for several days, the "Fu Zhen" finally made up her mind. At the Hundred - Flower Banquet in June, she drugged Chen Tingfeng and successfully slept with him.
Once this incident happened, even though Chen Tingfeng's face was ashen, he had to marry her. But since this matter was not honorable, it seemed that Lady Bai finally saw her true face and no longer doted on her at all.
Chen Tingfeng didn't like her in the first place. After the marriage, he treated her coldly. Even on their wedding night, they slept in separate rooms.
Since then, everyone in the mansion knew that she, as the young mistress, was just a nominal figure. People secretly laughed at her behind her back and openly disobeyed her orders.
Once the "Fu Zhen" lost people's support, it was almost impossible for her to move forward in the Marquis Mansion. She wasn't very smart, and was spoiled by Lady Bai before, being stupid without realizing it. After the marriage, Chen Tingfeng's cold treatment, Lady Bai's indifference, and the servants' disobedience gradually distorted her personality. She often beat and scolded the servants to vent her anger.
The only thing that made her happy was that Chen Tingfeng didn't like women and didn't take concubines. Who would have thought that one evening, Chen Tingfeng brought back a woman. The woman was beautiful and talented, exactly the type that Chen Tingfeng admired the most. Seeing the two of them whispering to each other affectionately, the "Fu Zhen" could no longer suppress the hatred in her heart. She poisoned the woman's tea.
However, she poisoned the tea on a sudden impulse, and her method was not very sophisticated. Since Chen Tingfeng had suffered a loss from her at the Hundred - Flower Banquet, he was extremely vigilant against such tricks. Sure enough, she was discovered.
Chen Tingfeng was furious and confined her to the room. After that, he never even looked at her once.
The "Fu Zhen" had no confidants and liked to beat and scold the servants. Once she was confined, the maids were happy to see it. No one cared about her. Even the food sent to her got worse day by day. In the end, there were only leftovers.
Being locked up, the "Fu Zhen"'s personality became more and more distorted. She cursed all day long, making the courtyard restless. The maids avoided her even more. In the end, there was only her left in this large courtyard, which ultimately led to her tragic death.
One day, Fu Zhen started to have abdominal pain. At first, it was just a dull pain. Who would have thought that it got worse day by day. Finally, it was so painful that it felt as if a knife was stabbing into her abdomen, crushing her internal organs.
When the maids saw her like this, they invited a doctor for her. But the doctor couldn't diagnose the problem and only said that she had no illness. The maids immediately thought that she was pretending and looked down on her even more. They simply ignored her painful wails.
She finally died in great pain!
The "Fu Zhen" was tortured by the pain. Her appearance became haggard, and her face was like that of an old woman. Her originally smooth long hair became dry and rough, and there were even some white hairs. If others saw her again, they probably wouldn't recognize that this ugly person was the young mistress of the Marquis Mansion in her twenties.
On the night she died, it was pouring rain. The rain came in through the unclosed window and was blown by the wind onto her body. The coldness brought back her dazed spirit tortured by the pain. She propped herself up on the ground and tried to crawl over to close the window.
It was just such a short distance, but it seemed like she had walked for half a lifetime.
The thunder rumbled, and the lightning in the sky was like a silver dragon, illuminating her face for a moment.
She looked up at the sky as if it had a hole in it. It seemed that she had returned to the night when her mother died. It was also such a thunderstorm, and her mother was dying in bed.
Suddenly, she burst into laughter, laughing at her poor and miserable life. She laughed so hard that she vomited a mouthful of blood. Finally, she opened her eyes wide and fell to the ground.
She died with her eyes open.
"Ah!" Fu Zhen let out a scream and suddenly woke up from the chaotic and dark dream. Her forehead was covered in cold sweat. The pain in the dream seemed to still be churning in her abdomen, making her feel like she was dying.
She covered her stomach and retched a few times while lying on the edge of the bed.
The maid Cui Huan heard the noise and hurriedly came over to support her. "Miss!"
Seeing that she still couldn't stop retching, Cui Huan said anxiously, "Miss, I'll go find a doctor!"
Fu Zhen grabbed her and shook her head.
She raised her pale face and tried to smile to comfort her. "It's okay. I just had a nightmare."
The scene of her tragic death in the dream still lingered in her mind. She couldn't help but think, was it just a dream?
Such a real scene, such a painful life... and the "Fu Zhen" who died so miserably.
Was it just a nightmare?
No, she didn't believe it!
Fu Zhen suddenly clenched her hands tightly, and her eyes were blood - red.
She had to find a way, a way to verify whether the scene in the dream would really happen!
She tried hard to recall what had happened to the "Fu Zhen" in the Marquis Mansion on the second day in the dream. In the evening, her uncle Chen Xuan, the current marquis of the Marquis Mansion, would return from the military camp, and Chen Tingfeng would miss the family dinner tomorrow night.
Fu Zhen's expression was solemn. There were countless emotions surging in her eyes, and finally, they gradually calmed down.
She lay back on the bed, looking at the patterns carved on the bed canopy, and slowly closed her eyes.
Everything would depend on tomorrow.