The cold wind howled, and the outside was a vast expanse of white, casting a faint light into the room. There was no heated kang or charcoal brazier in the room, not even a candle. It was bone-chillingly cold.
On the couch lay a thin silk quilt. A woman sat beside it. She didn't even have a cloak, and seemed oblivious to pulling the quilt over herself. The wind rattled the window frames and occasionally flapped the woman's clothes.
The woman's gaze was vacant. If it weren't for the occasional blink, one would suspect she had already lost her breath.
The door creaked open. An old woman quickly lit a candle, and someone else carried in a charcoal brazier filled with plenty of silver charcoal. Soon, the warmth of the charcoal fire filled the room.
But the woman seemed insensible. She still sat on the couch, motionless.
Following the old woman into the room was a coquettish woman. She slowly walked up to the couch, stared at the woman on it for a while, and let out a laugh.
This laugh echoed in the shabby room, making it seem even more eerie.
The woman on the couch looked up at her. The hatred in her eyes was almost like a sharp knife, ready to pierce the coquettish woman's chest.
The coquettish woman laughed even more merrily. She bent down slightly to meet the woman's gaze: "Shi Ning'an, so you've come to this day!"
Shi Ning'an was the woman on the couch, overwhelmed by despair. Her voice was hoarse: "Shi Qingmei, you've taken my family and my husband. Now, what else do you want?"
Shi Qingmei burst into laughter. She reached out and pinched Shi Ning'an's chin, pressing her onto the couch, and said viciously, "I want to skin you, draw your tendons, and drink your blood... Shi Ning'an, from the moment you returned to the capital, I've hated you to the core. You've occupied Honglang for ten years. I've hated you for ten years!"
Shi Ning'an seemed oblivious to the pain. A look of contempt flashed in her eyes: "Now, you're already Lady Wei."
Shi Qingmei let go of her hand: "Yes, you're right. I'm already Lady Wei. Everything that belongs to me will not be lost. The eldest daughter of the Shi family and the wife of the Wei family, all these are mine. And you, Shi Ning'an, just like those from the Rong family, will be scorned for generations to come!"
She clapped her hands, and someone brought a box over and opened it in front of Shi Ning'an.
Inside the box was the head of a young child. Even though the child's eyes were closed, one could still tell what inhumane torture he had suffered before his death.
Shi Ning'an's eyes widened. She suddenly slumped off the couch. She crawled over to the box, wanting to reach out and stroke the child's hair, but her trembling hand withdrew just before it touched.
She looked up, glaring at Shi Qingmei hatefully: "Shi Qingmei, you'll die a terrible death!"
Shi Qingmei didn't care about her abuse at all. Perhaps the stench of blood from the box bothered her, so she took out a handkerchief and covered her nose: "Shi Ning'an, do you think you could deceive Honglang? Passing off the scourge of the Rong family as the child of the Wei family, hahaha! This child was the legitimate eldest son of the Wei family for two years, but Shi Ning'an, do you know that before you married into the Wei family, Father asked my mother to put a barrenness drug in your medicine. You'll never be able to have a child in your life."
Shi Ning'an sat on the ground in a daze. Three years ago, when the Rong family committed a crime, in order to preserve the bloodline of the Rong family, she pretended to be pregnant and took the child born to her eldest cousin's wife to raise as her own. She thought she had pulled off the deception, but she didn't expect that the Wei and Shi families had long been on guard.
Half a month ago, the Rong family was ransacked and executed. Feeling uneasy, she used the pretext of being unwell and took her two - year - old Zhi'er to hide in the suburbs.
What she didn't expect even more was that from the moment she returned to the capital, it was already destined that she would never be able to have her own child in her life.
She looked up and said hoarsely, "He's just a young child who doesn't know anything... Shi Qingmei, how cruel you are! Shi Qingmei, you and Wei Hongmiao are heartless. The Shi and Wei families owe their current status to the Rong family. You... Shi Qingmei, even if I become a ghost, I won't let you go!"
Shi Qingmei kicked her to the ground. Seeing the blood gushing out of her mouth, Shi Qingmei laughed with satisfaction: "You want to become a ghost? It's not that easy, Shi Ning'an. I'll torture you slowly and make you wish you were dead!"
She stood up and walked out. The old women immediately carried all the charcoal braziers out of the room and followed her.
Shi Qingmei stopped at the door and looked back: "I forgot to tell you, Shi Ning'an, your good cousin Rong Sui was beheaded in the street by Honglang when he escaped from prison. And Honglang also said that since you have the blood of the Rong family in you, the Wei family won't tolerate you. Of course, in the Wei family's genealogy, the Lady Wei has always been a daughter of the Shi family, and this will never change. And the legitimate eldest son of the Wei family hasn't changed either. His name has just been changed from Wei Zhi to Wei Ao. I'm the Lady Wei, and my son is the legitimate eldest son of the Wei family. As for you, from today on, you'll be like a passing cloud. There won't even be a trace of you in the Wei family's genealogy. Hahaha!"
Shi Ning'an seemed not to hear. After they all left, she reached out and picked up the child's head from the box and held it in her arms. She took out the silver hairpin hidden on the couch and stabbed it into her own neck.
"Zhi'er, if there's an afterlife, let's be a real mother and son..."
...
When Shi Ning'an opened her eyes, she was still a bit dazed. Was she saved? Clearly, the silver hairpin had pierced her neck, and she had left herself no way out. But now, she didn't feel any pain at all.
Or was she already dead?
Shi Ning'an looked around. It was pitch - black all around, with only vague shadows of furniture that were hard to make out clearly. In the plays, when one ascended to heaven, it was as bright as day, but this place didn't seem like that.
Maybe she had gone to hell. Shi Ning'an took a deep breath. Hell it was. Looking back on her life, she thought she had been upright, but she wasn't without a guilty conscience. The Rong family was the thing that made her feel most guilty.
Even though she had always despised the treacherous Rong family.
If she could endure the eighteen levels of hell in exchange for the well - being of the Rong family in the next life, she would be willing.
Perhaps Shi Ning'an's movements were a bit too big. A vague figure came over and lit the candelabra on the table. Three candles illuminated the small bedroom.
Shi Ning'an exclaimed in surprise: "Lu'er?"
"Hey!" Lu'er came over nimbly, reached out to help Shi Ning'an up, took out the sweat towel on her back, and stuffed a new one in. "Miss had a nightmare again?"
Shi Ning'an was still in a daze. Lu'er was her personal maid since childhood. After she married Wei Hongmiao, Lu'er was given to one of Wei Hongmiao's attendants and later died of a sudden and serious illness.
It was only before her death that she realized Lu'er's death was no accident. It was Wei Hongmiao who wanted to get rid of the loyal people around her and deliberately had her killed.
Why was Lu'er here? And Lu'er clearly looked like a young girl.
Shi Ning'an subconsciously reached out to touch her own neck. It was smooth and moist, without a single trace of injury. She raised her hand and looked at it carefully. There were thin calluses on the hands of the young girl, clearly the calluses left from weaving and embroidering with her great - aunt in Nanling. Later, when she came to the capital and lived a pampered life, paying particular attention to her appearance, the calluses on her hands had all disappeared, and her hands should have been tender.
Lu'er poured some water and fed it to her, complaining, "Miss has been ill for several days, but Mama Zhang is still urging Miss to set off. If we keep delaying and something serious happens, what shall we do?"
Shi Ning'an was in a daze. Mama Zhang? Setting off?
Lu'er helped Shi Ning'an lie down again and then went to fetch a quilt to make a bed on the floor: "Miss, don't blame me for being talkative. You're the master, and Mama Zhang is a servant. But why does she always make the decisions? She doesn't listen to your opinion at all. She clearly wants to control you, Miss. Don't be deceived by her false kindness."
Shi Ning'an vaguely remembered that Lu'er had said such things. But at that time, she only thought Lu'er was annoyed by Mama Zhang's nagging and didn't pay much attention.
Lu'er added, "There should be a distinction between the superior and the inferior. Which servant in the Zeng family would dare to disrespect the master? How come a noble family like the Shi family doesn't understand this principle?"
Perhaps afraid that the young lady would be unhappy, Lu'er finally stopped talking and got under the quilt to sleep.
Shi Ning'an couldn't fall asleep for a long time. What was going on? Had she returned to the past? So, would everything happen all over again?
The Rong family hadn't been ransacked yet, and Rong Sui hadn't been killed on his way to escape.
There was still time for everything.
Shi Ning'an remained calm and forced herself to fall asleep. She didn't know exactly when she had been reborn, but since she had been reborn, she would know a lot of things in advance.
For example, the Rong family, the family she felt most ashamed of. The Rong family was still a high - ranking and powerful duke's mansion. It hadn't become the treacherous family that everyone in the court and among the common people wanted to devour and spit on.
She still had a chance.
As for Wei Hongmiao and Shi Qingmei, in her previous life, she had trusted them so much. One was her lover, and the other was her relative. It was these so - called lover and relative who had dealt her the most fatal blows. Now that she was on guard, she certainly wouldn't be so stupid as to continue believing such scumbags.
Early the next morning, Shi Ning'an felt refreshed, and even Lu'er was happy: "Oh, look, Miss's complexion is not as bad as those days ago."
Just then, Mama Zhang yawned and walked in. Hearing this, she snorted: "This servant said it wasn't a serious illness. There's no need to stop and rest. If we delay the journey, it won't be good."
So they were still on their way back to the capital. Shi Ning'an hadn't met her father, step - mother, or stepsister Shi Qingmei yet.
She remembered that in her previous life, she had also fallen seriously ill on this journey, but Mama Zhang had insisted on not stopping to call a doctor. Fortunately, the Zeng family was a family of medicine. Although Shi Ning'an hadn't learned much, she could still recuperate herself slowly.
However, due to the tiredness of the journey and the lack of a place to boil medicine, it had taken a lot of effort, and she had ultimately damaged her foundation. At that time, she had thought that her inability to conceive in ten years of marriage in her previous life was related to this illness. It was really stupid of her to think so.
Lu'er was angry but dared not show it. She just sulked and fetched a comb to comb Shi Ning'an's hair.
Mama Zhang muttered, "Hurry up. It's getting late. If we travel fast, we can return to the capital by noon."
Shi Ning'an put the hairpin she had been playing with on the dressing table and called out, "Mama Zhang."
Mama Zhang was stunned for a moment and asked, "What does the young lady want?"
Shi Ning'an waved her hand, signaling Lu'er to stop: "Mama Zhang is from the capital. She must be very familiar with the fashionable styles in the capital. Lu'er is clumsy and can't do the job well. Mama Zhang, please do the hair - combing and dressing for me."
Mama Zhang's eyes widened. Usually, a nanny beside a young lady of noble birth was responsible for education and didn't need to do such menial work. Hair - combing and dressing were always the tasks of personal maids. But now, the young lady in front of her was asking her to do the work of a maid?
Shi Ning'an looked at her calmly: "What? Did Mama Zhang come to serve me but is even unwilling to do this little thing?"