A clap of thunder roared, and torrential rain poured down, like a frantic drumbeat on the ground.

Inside, a flickering candle flame swayed precariously in the night wind, the shadows on the floor stretching and clawing towards the corners, resembling malevolent ghosts emerging from the earth in the dark night.

Jiang Yingwan trembled, huddled in the corner, with nowhere left to retreat. Her beautiful eyes were filled with terrified tears, yet she received no pity.

“Princess, it’s time for you to go—”

The voice was sharp, laced with condescending mockery.

“No!” Jiang Yingwan saw the silken noose in his hand, shaking her head in desperate fear. Her hands clung tightly to the cold ground, the pain of her broken fingernails unnoticed as the terror of death consumed her.

She wept, pleading bitterly, “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean to impersonate the princess… Please let me go…”

“We’re only following orders,” the leading eunuch looked at her with a hint of pity before decisively gesturing to his subordinates to restrain her. “It’s just bad luck for you, miss.”

“Let me go!” Jiang Yingwan struggled violently, her legs kicking wildly, but her resistance was futile.

She was held down, unable to move, as the eunuch effortlessly placed the noose around her neck. The soft touch filled Jiang Yingwan with utter despair.

Recalling the past few months, she was filled with regret.

She shouldn’t have left home to search for her family after her parents’ death, shouldn’t have entered the capital, and shouldn’t have pawned the jade pendant. Even if her uncle and aunt had sold her to a widower as a second wife, the outcome wouldn’t have been worse than this…

The noose tightened instantly, the suffocating feeling made her gasp, but no sound escaped her lips. Her hands struggled to pull the noose from her neck.

Gradually, her hands lost their strength, falling limply to her sides. Her head lolled to the side.

Jiang Yingwan died with her eyes open, her dark pupils staring blankly into the void.

She was exceptionally beautiful, her features flawless. Her pale, stiff face possessed a strange, tragic beauty in the darkness, like a vengeful ghost about to rise.

The eunuch felt a chill, and after confirming Jiang Yingwan was dead, carefully loosened the noose.

“Such a pity…”

Such a beautiful woman, yet ultimately fated to have no connection with the imperial family.

————

Dawn broke.

Within the heavy silk curtains, a woman’s hair was disheveled, and she groaned in pain, her hands frantically tugging at her collar, her legs thrashing, kicking the silk quilt to the foot of the bed, leaving the bed in disarray.

The night-shift maid, awakened by the noise, cautiously approached the bed.

“Princess? Princess, wake up!” The maid dared not overstep her bounds, only calling her softly, trying to rouse her.

The overwhelming sensation of suffocation finally jolted Jiang Yingwan awake. She sat up abruptly, gasping for breath, drenched in sweat, her face as pale as if she had just emerged from an ice bath.

The desperate feeling of being strangled was so real. Jiang Yingwan reached for her neck in a daze; it was empty—no noose, yet she still felt breathless.

“Princess.” Seeing her awake, the maid breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Yingwan slowly turned her head, looking at her, then at the familiar palace, the opulent splendor surrounding her.

She was dead, wasn’t she? Why was she back here?

Jiang Yingwan pinched herself in disbelief, feeling the sharp pain.

It wasn’t a dream? Could it be…

She hadn’t died? Who saved her?

“Princess, did you have a nightmare?”

Hearing the maid’s address, Jiang Yingwan realized something was wrong. Her false identity as a princess had been exposed; her younger sister, Jiang Yinghan, was the true princess.

She grabbed the maid’s hand, asking urgently, “Did Yinghan save me? Where is she?”

In the palace, Jiang Yinghan was the only one who could have possibly saved her.

Although Yinghan had watched coldly as she was taken away that day, they had grown up together. Yinghan had once called her “Elder Sister” so sweetly. How could she have watched her die?

“Princess,” the maid looked at her in confusion, “This servant has never heard of such a person.”

Impossible.

Jiang Yingwan’s mind was in turmoil. She held onto the maid’s hand tightly, “Yinghan… she’s the real princess… I’m not…”

The maid’s face changed, “Princess, you mustn’t say such things.”

Why wouldn’t it be true?

Jiang Yingwan felt a splitting headache, struggling to get out of bed, her clothes disheveled, trying to leave, but the maid frantically stopped her.

“Princess!”

Jiang Yingwan only heard a jumble of voices, unable to comprehend anything. Only one thought filled her mind: to escape this painful place, to go home, to her parents.

“What is all this commotion? So noisy at this early hour?”

A richly dressed woman, accompanied by several maids, entered the room. She stood at the doorway, her beautiful eyes calmly scanning the struggling servant and mistress. When she saw Jiang Yingwan’s disheveled state, her brows furrowed.

“Quickly, help the princess back to bed to rest.”

Upon seeing her face, Jiang Yingwan’s face went pale, her blood draining from her face.

“Lady Wang Zhaoyi.”

The woman was Yinghan’s biological mother, Lady Wang Zhaoyi of the palace.

Jiang Yingwan was helped back onto the bed, staring blankly as Lady Wang Zhaoyi dismissed the maids, a gentle smile on her face as she approached.

“What happened, Wanwan?” The cold touch of her jeweled fingernail on Jiang Yingwan’s face made her shiver. “Were the maids neglecting you? If you’re feeling unwell, just tell your mother.”

The palace gossiped that Lady Wang Zhaoyi was kind and gentle, but unfortunately, unlucky. She had lost a daughter early on while living in the Prince’s residence and never conceived again.

When Jiang Yingwan was first brought back in her previous life, Lady Wang Zhaoyi had wept and lamented, showering her with affection. However, upon discovering that this hard-won princess was not favored by the Emperor, her attitude had gradually turned cold.