Su Yuanyuan had a nightmare.
She dreamed that she was back in the familiar Pingyang Marquis Mansion.
In the dream, she saw her past self sitting in front of the dressing table, comparing the delicate and gorgeous jewelry on her hair bun. Beside her, Hong Zhu, the maid she trusted most, whispered to her:
"Miss, this servant heard that the Empress Dowager will choose princesses for several princes at the birthday banquet tonight. The eldest miss often goes to the Prince Jin's Mansion to treat the Prince Jin's legs. Will she...?"
Su Yuanyuan saw the unwillingness on her past self's face. With red eyes, she gritted her teeth and said:
"I will never allow her to take Brother Zisheng away! I'm the one who has accompanied Brother Zisheng for the longest time. What right does she have!"
Su Yuanyuan remembered that in the past, after learning this news, she was only filled with anger and didn't notice Hong Zhu beside her. But now, in the dream, she could see the expression on Hong Zhu's face clearly.
Hong Zhu was smiling.
She even leaned close to her ear and said, "Miss, this servant has an idea that can make the Prince Jin dislike the eldest miss. I wonder if you would like to hear what Hong Zhu has to say?"
Su Yuanyuan's hair stood on end. She rushed towards her past self, trying to cover her ears, crying silently, "No, don't listen to her! This is a trap! It was prepared by Su Qingyu for you! Hong Zhu has already been bought by Su Qingyu. Her heart is no longer with you!"
But this was a dream. She couldn't touch anything real. Her past self was deceived by Hong Zhu and let her tell the idea.
Hong Zhu tried her best to instigate her to put some "crotons powder" into Su Qingyu's tea at the birthday banquet, so that Su Qingyu would be unable to hold it in and make a fool of herself in front of everyone.
At that time, because of Su Qingyu, she had already lost the love and trust of her parents. She didn't want to lose her cousin, whom she had admired since childhood and wanted to marry. So she accepted Hong Zhu's suggestion.
In the past, Su Yuanyuan wracked her brains but couldn't figure out why she was inexplicably in the same room with Lu Chuan in Qingyi Garden.
Now, when she watched all this with "Su Yuanyuan's" eyes, she finally knew that on that day in Qingyi Garden, Hong Zhu took advantage of her inattention and put the "crotons powder", which was originally prepared for Su Qingyu, into her tea.
If it had really been "crotons powder", it would have been okay. However, it was a filthy thing used in brothels to arouse passion.
After she was tricked, Hong Zhu took the dazed her into that room to rest. And Su Qingyu led the drunk Grand Scholar Lu Chuan into the room.
Then Hong Zhu deliberately showed a flaw at the banquet, arousing everyone's suspicion. Madam Qin rushed in angrily with the Empress Dowager and the Queen and kicked open the door. Seeing her sleeping with Lu Chuan, Madam Qin immediately rushed up and slapped her, scolding her as a shameless seductress.
She explained again and again that this was a deliberate frame - up, but no one believed her.
Only because Xiao Zisheng, the Prince Jin, the one she had placed at the top of her heart, came forward to testify for Su Qingyu, proving that Su Qingyu was treating his legs when the incident happened.
And Hong Zhu, the maid she had trusted most, confessed in front of everyone that everything was at her instigation, saying that she had originally wanted to harm Su Qingyu but ended up suffering the consequences herself.
The Empress Dowager was furious. Leaving behind the eight words "immoral and lacking in female virtue", she flung her sleeves and left.
After being sent back to the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, her past self knelt in front of her parents full of unwillingness, trying to prove her innocence. But it was useless. Su Qingyu had already planned everything.
Sure enough, Madam Tong's maid found the remaining half - pack of powder in her room. Her mother, who was extremely disappointed in her, slapped her hard and threatened to sever the mother - daughter relationship with her.
Her biological father, the Marquis of Pingyang, even forced her with a sword to be Lu Chuan's concubine to quell the rumors in Shengjing.
The bright sword was placed across her neck. Su Yuanyuan saw her past self as pale as death. She reached out and grabbed the sword handle. Blood flowed from her palm. She stubbornly raised her proud head and replied word by word:
Then let it be as my parents wish.
At that time, there was still a glimmer of hope in her heart. Her elder brother, Su Zeqian, was on a public errand outside Shengjing. Her elder brother had always loved her so much. If he knew that she was in such a situation, he would surely stand up for her.
But she waited and waited. What she waited for was her elder brother kicking open the gate of the Lu Mansion with the imperial edict for the Marquis Mansion's confiscation and exile, and a cold sentence, "There is only one legitimate daughter in the Marquis Mansion, and I only have one younger sister." What was even more excessive was that he even ordered her body to be thrown into the mass grave!
After making that decision, on his way back to the Marquis Mansion, he stopped the carriage and went to Zhencan Tower to buy freshly baked osmanthus lotus seed cakes, only because he remembered that this was Su Qingyu's favorite pastry.
At night, her parents and elder brother were sitting happily at the table, eating the delicious dishes cooked by Su Qingyu herself. No one remembered that she was dead, and no one shed a single tear for her.
Her body was devoured by wild dogs in the mass grave.
This was nothing less than a purgatory on earth.
Su Yuanyuan didn't want to watch herself being eaten by wild dogs anymore. She tried to break free from the dream and return to reality. Maybe God heard her prayer. Suddenly, an arrow came from afar, piercing the head of the wild dog that was about to bite off her neck and scaring away the wild dogs around her body!
"Ah!"
Su Yuanyuan suddenly opened her eyes and finally woke up from that extremely painful dream.
The blood - stained fangs of the wild dogs lingered in front of her eyes. Her heart was beating rapidly and violently. Her clothes were completely soaked with cold sweat.
But the next moment, she fell into a warm and reliable embrace. A big hand gently patted her on the back. A gentle voice sounded in her ear:
"Yuanbao, don't be afraid. Mother is here. Mother knows martial arts and has already driven those vicious dogs away. Don't be afraid."
The word "mother" stabbed Su Yuanyuan. She tried to break free from the other person's embrace. Looking up and seeing the gentle and beautiful face of Madam Mo, a Jiangnan woman, she suddenly came to her senses. She was alive again and had become the silly young miss of the Yongguo Duke's Mansion. This was her new mother.
A mother who was very kind to her, would stand up for her, and scold Su Qingyu.
Su Yuanyuan buried her head in Madam Mo's arms and grabbed her lapel, saying again and again, "Mother, mother, those dogs were biting me. I was in so much pain, so much pain..."
These cries of "mother" seemed to hide endless grievances. Stroking the little head of her daughter in her arms, Madam Mo also felt her nose getting sour.
What on earth did her Yuanbao dream about to be so frightened? It seemed that it was really necessary to go to the temple to pray.
Madam Mo grabbed Su Yuanyuan's soft little hand and kissed it, saying softly, "Does Yuanbao still feel pain now?"
Her kiss was the best soothing agent for Su Yuanyuan. Su Yuanyuan raised her wet face from crying and sobbed, "It doesn't hurt anymore."
At this time, the maid came over with a bowl of calming soup.
Madam Mo stroked Su Yuanyuan's hair and coaxed, "Yuanbao, be good. Drink this bowl of calming soup, and we won't dream about those vicious dogs anymore. Okay?"
Su Yuanyuan took the medicine bowl from Madam Mo's hand, tilted her head and drank it all in one gulp. Then she shrank into Madam Mo's arms and hugged her waist tightly, saying, "Mother... don't abandon Yuanbao..."
Madam Mo's tone was full of doting on her daughter:
"Silly Yuanbao, how could mother abandon Yuanbao? No matter what Yuanbao becomes, you are always mother's beloved daughter, the apple of mother's eye."
Su Yuanyuan couldn't help but act coquettishly, "The medicine is bitter."
"Mother will sing a little tune for Yuanbao, okay?" Madam Mo said. Su Yuanyuan nodded.
After the mother and daughter lay down, she gently patted Su Yuanyuan in her arms and hummed a little tune from the northern desert, coaxing her daughter to sleep.
Maybe the bowl of calming soup took effect. Listening to the tune from the northern desert, Su Yuanyuan gradually felt sleepy again.
But before falling asleep, she couldn't help but think of the sudden arrow in the dream just now.
Was this arrow that shot the wild dog real, or was it just a figment of her imagination because she was too sad?