The wedding date was set and the horoscope of the bride and groom had already been exchanged. Ding Mujie was convinced that he would spend the rest of his life with Lin Wan, but three days later, his mother unexpectedly called him over, her face full of worry. She said, “Son, I had someone check your and Lin Wan’s birth charts. You are ‘fire of the sword’, and she is ‘water of the heavens’. The two of you are incompatible, like fire and water, clashing by fate. If you insist on being together, there will be endless chaos in the future.”

“That’s impossible!” Ding Mujie instinctively denied it.

His younger sister, Ding Xiang, immediately chimed in, “Mother, which charlatan told you that? How could it be true? Brother and Sister Lin Wan are a perfect match, both in looks and talent. Everyone says so!”

Madam Ding knocked Ding Xiang on the forehead and scolded, “What charlatan? Don’t speak nonsense! I went to the esteemed nun, Master Jing Xu, to match the birth charts. How could she be wrong?” Master Jing Xu was a well-known female cleric in the Great Wei Dynasty, highly proficient in metaphysics. The rich families in the capital sought her advice and her readings were almost always accurate. If not for the Lin family’s connections, Madam Ding wouldn’t have had the chance to meet her.

Upon hearing that Master Jing Xu had done the reading, Ding Xiang immediately fell silent, casting a cautious, sympathetic glance at her brother.

Ding Mujie, however, suddenly recalled something from his past life. Master Jing Xu had once taken Lin Wan as her disciple and helped her secure her position in Prince Kang’s household. Without Master Jing Xu’s support, Lin Wan wouldn’t have survived after the Lin family’s downfall. How Lin Wan had won over Master Jing Xu’s favor and when it had happened, Ding Mujie had no idea. He only knew that Master Jing Xu had treated her like a daughter.

Now that this birth chart issue had come from Master Jing Xu, Ding Mujie couldn’t help but overthink it, though he scolded himself for being too suspicious.

He spoke gently, “Mother, why don’t you find a few more people to match the charts? What if Master Jing Xu had miscalculated?”

Madam Ding shook her head and said, “Master Jing Xu mentioned that if I don’t believe her, I can place your birth charts under the kitchen deity’s statue to test divine will. If, within three days, there are signs like family members or animals behaving erratically or dishes shattering, it will be a sure sign that your birth charts clash.”

Placing the birth charts under the deity’s statue was an old custom and Ding Mujie had no reason to object, so he nodded. “Very well, let’s test divine will then.” After bidding his mother farewell, he immediately called for the household servants and repeatedly instructed them to be careful and not act recklessly. He believed that as long as nothing unusual happened, his mother would no longer interfere with his marriage to Lin Wan.

Currently, he held no official position, merely waiting to pass the imperial exam to enter government service. Lin Wan, on the other hand, was the daughter of a general’s family. If not for the betrothal arranged during the height of the Ding family’s power, he might not have had the chance to marry her. To put it bluntly, even if their birth charts did clash, considering the Lin family’s influence, at worst his mother might feel uncomfortable but wouldn’t call off the marriage.

Ding Mujie believed everything was under control and wasn’t worried at all. However, what troubled him was that during those three days, strange things began happening in the Ding household. First, the cats and dogs became unusually agitated, barking and biting people for no reason. Then, all the fish in the pond died overnight, floating belly-up.

Madam Ding was terrified. Her nerves were frayed and she became even more convinced of Master Jing Xu’s words. If Lin Wan hadn’t been the daughter of a general, someone not to be offended, Madam Ding would have immediately called off the engagement after those three days. Yet, after much consideration, she decided that her son’s future was more important and kept the clashing of the birth charts a secret.

The Lin family also sought a birth chart reading, but General Lin had a great reputation. He found a retired official from the Imperial Observatory to do the reading instead of going to a temple. The result was naturally favorable and they even received the verdict of an excellent combination.

———pr


The ordeal over the incompatible birth charts had given Ding Mujie quite a scare. Madam Ding, feeling uneasy, had delayed sending the official bridal gifts to the Lin family’s residence for a long time.

One day, Ding Mujie heard that Princess^[1]princess of the third rank Mingzhu was hosting a flower-viewing banquet at her estate in the suburbs, inviting many noblewomen and young talents from the capital. He finally set his books aside and took the opportunity to attend the banquet, knowing that Lin Wan would surely be among the invitees. If he attended, he might catch a glimpse of her. In their past life, the two had been separated by fate, both dying with regrets. This time, he was determined to stay with her.

Lin Dan had also received an invitation. Though she didn’t want to go, her wound had long since healed, and Madam Lin, fearing Lin Dan would grow too reclusive at home, insisted she attend.

Princess Mingzhu had never liked Lin Dan, thinking her vulgar and uncultured, but due to the Lin family’s power, she had no choice but to maintain a superficial relationship with her. Whenever the two met, they would clash, exchanging harsh words or sometimes even resorting to physical fights. However, this time Lin Dan remained unusually quiet, sitting by herself while eating pastries. She ignored the princess’s attempts to provoke her.

Princess Mingzhu pulled out a whip and boasted, “This was a gift from the emperor, one he used in his younger years. It works really well.”

“Oh, so this was once the emperor’s!” Several young ladies who had been admiring the whip immediately withdrew their hands, exclaiming, “No wonder the handle is inlaid with so many rubies, and the tassels at the end are so smooth. Craftsmen outside the palace couldn’t possibly make something so exquisite.”

Lin Wan let out a surprised “Oh” and said bluntly, “My sister also received a whip as an imperial gift and it’s even better than that one.”

The moment Princess Mingzhu heard that, she flared up and aggressively demanded, “My whip is one of a kind in the entire world. How could Lin Dan’s possibly be better than mine? I don’t believe it. Why don’t you bring it out for me to see?”

Lin Dan responded leisurely, “What does my whip have to do with you? And why should I show it to you?” It took over an hour to travel back and forth from the Lin family’s residence to this estate in the suburb. Who would bother fetching it for her?

Princess Mingzhu waved her whip and stepped forward. “Are you going to bring it out or not? If you don’t, it proves you’re lying!”

Lin Dan took a few steps back to avoid being hit by the whip’s tail, but unexpectedly, Lin Wan rushed over, panicking, “Please don’t hit my sister! She’s only just recovered from her leg injury……”

“When did I ever hit her?” Princess Mingzhu instinctively pushed Lin Wan away but didn’t expect Lin Wan to stagger backward, falling straight into the lake.

Lin Wan couldn’t swim. She raised her hands and began shouting for help, the more she struggled, the farther she drifted toward the center of the lake.

To add excitement to the banquet, Princess Mingzhu had arranged for the male and female guests to be seated on opposite sides of the lake, so they could gaze at each other across the shimmering water, which was meant to be amusing. As a result, the male guests immediately noticed the commotion and began looking over.

Lin Dan quickly removed her heavy outer coat, preparing to jump into the lake to save her sister. However, she suddenly stopped. Narrowing her eyes at Lin Wan, her expression became unreadable. After a brief pause, she unexpectedly put her coat back on.

From the other side of the lake, a man sprinted over, not even pausing to remove his clothes before diving into the water and swimming toward Lin Wan. Moments later, another man arrived and swam even faster. The first man had already pulled Lin Wan into his arms and was about to drag her back to shore when the second man seized Lin Wan from him and said in a deep voice, “Thank you, Prince Kang, but Wan’er is my fiancée. I should be the one to carry her ashore, or it would damage her reputation.”

His reasoning was too sound to argue with, so Prince Kang had no choice but to release the woman and swim to shore alone.

Ding Mujie glanced at Prince Kang’s retreating figure, then at Lin Wan, who was pale in his arms, and finally swam toward the female guests’ side. Once they reached the shore, Lin Dan handed over her outer coat and instructed, “Her clothes are all sticking to her skin. To avoid any impropriety, cover her with this. I’ll go notify Mother. You should carry her to the carriage outside and wait. We’ll be out shortly.”

Ding Mujie hurriedly accepted the coat and wrapped Lin Wan tightly in it. As he left the lakeside, he overheard Princess Mingzhu questioning, “Lin Dan, why didn’t you jump in to save your sister just now? She protected you so fiercely, yet you stood on the shore watching the spectacle!”

Lin Dan’s tone was unusually calm as she replied, “How do you know she needed me to save her?”

Hearing that, Ding Mujie paused for a moment, then continued walking. Lin Wan seemed deeply frightened and too embarrassed to face anyone. She simply covered her face and hid in his arms, refusing to say a word. Ding Mujie carefully placed her in the carriage and then stood outside, softly comforting her. After a while, Lin Dan and Madam Lin hurried over. To prevent Lin Wan from catching a cold, they didn’t exchange many words with Ding Mujie. They thanked him and quickly departed.

Standing by the roadside, Ding Mujie watched their carriage disappear, his eyes dark and brooding. After a long while, he rolled up his sleeves and examined the deep bloody scratches Lin Wan had left on his forearm. In his past life, after falling into the water, Lin Wan had been rescued by Prince Kang. To preserve her reputation, she was forced to marry him as a concubine. Although the timing was different in this life, Ding Mujie had no intention of letting her suffer the same fate. However, he had not anticipated how fiercely she would resist when he tried to take her into his arms.

Her eyes had been wide open and she should have clearly recognized who was who. So why…… This thought had barely formed in Ding Mujie’s mind when he quickly suppressed it. Upon returning home, he urged his mother to go to the Lin family’s residence and finalize the marriage as soon as possible. Madam Ding reluctantly dragged it out for over a month before finally bringing gifts to the Lin family.

The wedding was set for the following spring, leaving eight or nine months for Ding Mujie to prepare. Even so, he couldn’t shake his unease and instructed his sister to visit the Lin family’s residence more frequently to look after Lin Wan.

Ding Xiang, who adored Lin Wan, eagerly agreed, but one day, she returned home sobbing, as if she had suffered a great injustice. Madam Ding, who had raised her children alone after her husband’s early death, couldn’t tolerate seeing them mistreated. She immediately grabbed her daughter and demanded, “Tell me, was it Lin Dan bullying you again?”

“No, not the eldest miss.” Ding Xiang hiccuped, feeling guilty. “It’s me. I made a terrible mistake!”

“What? What kind of trouble did you cause?” Madam Ding’s heart skipped a beat.

Ding Mujie, who had just entered through the door, said with a dark expression, “Don’t panic. Tell us slowly. If anything happens, Brother will help you sort it out.”

“Brother, I didn’t mean to! Today, I just wanted to take a look at the golden phoenix hairpin Old Madam Lin entrusted to Aunt Shi, but I used too much force and broke one of the phoenix’s wings. It was part of the old madam’s dowry and incredibly precious. When she found out, she was furious, and no matter how much I apologized, she wouldn’t forgive me. Brother, I really didn’t mean to! I never thought it would happen!”

Upon hearing that, Madam Ding was so angry that she repeatedly hit her daughter, blaming her for being careless. Meanwhile, Ding Mujie’s eyes darkened as he recalled an old memory.

In his previous life, after being abandoned by Prince Kang during her illness, Lin Wan was left to wither away in a remote estate. He secretly went to visit her and she reminisced about the past. Holding his hand, she sighed, “If only I hadn’t been so stubborn back then, trying to cover for my sister, I wouldn’t have ended up despised by Grandmother. Now I’m gravely ill yet unable to return home. If I had another chance, I’d tell Grandmother the truth— that it was my sister who broke the hairpin, not me. I miss Grandmother. I miss my parents. I want to go home……”

She had been so pitiful, so frail, and so desperate for her family’s affection that Ding Mujie’s dislike for Lin Dan had deepened even further. But now…… how could the broken hairpin be his sister’s fault this time?