Chapter 2

Su Jinyuan couldn’t help but tremble slightly. She knew that even if she found an excuse, leaving suddenly on her wedding day—no matter the reason—would be a betrayal of the Xiao family. The Xiao family, with its prestigious status, had many guests attend the weddings of its descendants. Her abrupt departure turned the Xiao family into a laughingstock, no matter how they tried to cover it up.

Su Jinyuan took a deep breath and said, “I know what I did that day was inappropriate. When I return to the capital, I will personally apologize to the Old Madam and the eldest son. But for now, I ask Young Master Xie to escort me.”

“Once I return to the Xiao family, they can punish me however they see fit.”

Xie Yunyan glanced at her face, which was painted in garish colors, and her fragile neck, which seemed like it could snap with a single touch. He smiled faintly and said, “Miss Su, what are you saying? You are Brother Xiao’s fiancée, not yet married into the family. The Xiao family isn’t a den of bandits; how could they resort to violence?”

His sword still dripped with blood, and the severed arm on the ground was fresh.

Su Jinyuan’s face was expressionless. “Young Master Xie is right. The Xiao family is the most reasonable household; how could they trouble a young woman like me?”

Xie Yunyan smiled. He occupied the space near the fire, stretching his legs and taking up almost all the room.

Even though Su Jinyuan was shivering from the cold, she longed for the warmth of the fire. But faced with Xie Yunyan’s malicious demeanor, she didn’t dare approach. Instead, she found a corner not far from the fire where she could barely absorb some warmth, hugging herself and trembling.

Xie Yunyan noticed her lips turning blue from the cold and her body shaking uncontrollably, yet she didn’t beg for mercy. He was momentarily surprised.

When he looked away, he sneered.

…

Su Jinyuan finally relaxed as she leaned against the corner.

The young man across from her stretched his legs leisurely, poking at the fire. His handsome face, illuminated by the flames, had a cold, pale glow. His narrow, alluring phoenix eyes radiated detachment. Without the earlier smile, his thin, pale red lips appeared indifferent. He flicked a spark from the fire and then pressed it down again, leaning back slightly with a casual air, like a spoiled heir on a countryside outing.

Who would have thought he would one day bathe the imperial city in blood? Who could have imagined he would become so cold and unyielding, burning the palace to the ground?

The Xiao family of the General’s Mansion was a household of military officials who were influential in court. The Su family was far inferior compared to the Xiao family’s prestige. By rights, someone of her status should never have had the chance to marry into the Xiao family. However, her father had once saved General Xiao’s life by risking his own. Her mother passed away early, her younger brother went missing in childhood, and she was the only child left in the household.

Before her father died, he entrusted her to General Xiao. Out of gratitude for her father’s sacrifice, General Xiao promised to betroth his eldest son, Xiao Yunxi, to her before her father took his last breath.

Xiao Yunxi was nine years older than her and should have married long ago, but she was too young to be of marriageable age. The Xiao family waited for her to come of age, while the younger sons had already married—only Xiao Yunxi’s marriage was delayed until now.

Everyone said that although she had lost her parents, she had the protection of the General’s Mansion. Once she married into the Xiao family, she would enjoy wealth and prosperity for a lifetime. Even her aunt envied this marriage day and night, thinking she had struck gold and wanted to take it for herself. But who could have known that the Xiao family would soon face complete annihilation, accused of treason and collusion with the enemy, their household confiscated and exterminated?

The young man before her was the only survivor of the Xiao family. His father had been a deputy general under General Xiao, who died in battle more than ten years ago. His pregnant wife, overwhelmed by grief, gave birth to a posthumous child and passed away. General Xiao took the boy into his home, named him Yunyan, and treated him as his own son.

After the Xiao family was executed, it was this very Xie Yunyan who carried the Xiao family’s legacy, carving a bloody path through the imperial city and burning the palace to ashes as a final tribute to the Xiao family.

“Achoo!” Su Jinyuan covered her mouth as she sneezed.

Xie Yunyan looked up and saw her face, pale from the cold, resembling a ghost. He suddenly withdrew his legs and said, “Come here.”

Su Jinyuan looked at him.

Xie Yunyan said lazily, “Brother Xiao asked me to bring you back. If you freeze to death here, he’ll blame me for not taking proper care of you.”

Seeing Su Jinyuan remain motionless, he raised an eyebrow.

“Are you waiting for me to help you?”

Su Jinyuan quickly shook her head. As she stood up, her legs went numb, nearly causing her to fall. She hurriedly grabbed a nearby pillar for support. Once she steadied herself, she met Xie Yunyan’s mocking gaze.

“My legs are numb,” Su Jinyuan explained awkwardly before moving closer to the fire.

Warmth enveloped her instantly. Even though her clothes were still damp, the heat from the fire gradually stopped her shivering. As she reached out to absorb the warmth, she wished she could shove her hands directly into the flames.

Xie Yunyan tossed a flatbread to her.

Su Jinyuan scrambled to catch it. When she looked up, the young man had already leaned back again. After a moment, she softly said, “Thank you.”

The flatbread was hard and dry, but to the starving Su Jinyuan, it was the most delicious thing in the world.

Since her return, she had killed the man who had attacked her and had been pursued relentlessly. For several days, she had survived only on wild fruits and grasses from the mountains. Suddenly eating rice and flour made her eyes well up with tears. She stuffed the flatbread into her mouth and chewed furiously, forcing it down her throat. Moments later, she choked, coughing violently, her face turning bright red.

Xie Yunyan quickly reached out, pulled her over, and slapped her back.

“Spit it out,” he said, gripping her jaw to help her expel the food.

But who would have thought that even as the girl’s face turned pale, her throat gurgled, and she forcefully forced that flatbread down again?

Xie Yunyan: “……”

His face was full of incredulity as he pinched her chin and looked at her blue, swollen cheeks. “Are you courting death? Even though you’re nearly choking, you still insist on swallowing it?!”

“Choking… choking to death… it’s better than starving to death…” Su Jinyuan’s throat felt as if it were shattered, and she began coughing wildly.

Xie Yunyan was at a loss for words in response to her remark. Releasing his grip on her, he furrowed his brows in a trace of anger and said, “Are you the reincarnation of a starving ghost?”

Gasping for breath, Su Jinyuan retorted, “Young Master Xie, if you had to gnaw on grass for days, you’d understand.”

Even ghosts can starve to death!

Although Xie Yunyan was known for his peculiar temperament, as a young master of the General’s Mansion, he had never been so starved as to chew on grass.

Watching Su Jinyuan wolf down the rest of the flatbread, he frowned. “What are you after?”

“Brother Xiao is gentle and commanding, and the Xiao family is no small name—how many people in the entire capital long to marry into the Xiao family? And yet you run away from the wedding to follow some nobody who can’t even keep you fed?”

Su Jinyuan’s eyes reddened as she listened to his words. Some nobody?

After her father died, she was taken in by her uncle’s family. Su Wanquan treated her indifferently, but her aunt, Madam Yu, looked upon her with disdain everywhere. Jealous of the excellent marriage she had secured, Madam Yu constantly schemed to snatch it away for her own daughter, Su Xinyue, so that her daughter could marry into the Xiao family. That is why she sought out Lu Zhuo.

Lu Zhuo was refined and cultured, humble by nature, handsome, and exceptionally eloquent. They had several “chance encounters,” during which Lu Zhuo played the heroic rescuer. Having grown up as someone who never experienced much kindness while living under the care of others, she fell for him wholeheartedly—so much so that she was willing to elope with him. But who would have known that this very escape would end up ruining her entire life?

After they arrived in Qu’an, Lu Zhuo treated her well on the surface, yet in secret, he was out looking for a “buyer” for her. He even staged outings with her so that the buyer could forcibly claim her purity in exchange for what he desired, and afterward, he presented himself as the savior.

Lu Zhuo never minded that she had lost her virtue—he treated her with gentle care and unchanging affection. In her utter despair, she came to view Lu Zhuo as the only lifeline that could save her from drowning.

In order to help him rise in life, she resorted to unscrupulous means.
To ensure he achieved his ambitions, she was willing to sacrifice everything, scheming to secure whatever he wanted for him.

Su Jinyuan, with her hands stained in fresh blood, became entangled in scheming and power struggles, so vicious and ruthless that even she felt she had lost her own identity. But in the end, she realized that it had all been a ruse, and that she had merely ended up living as a joke.