Depois de substituir a irmã mais velha na noite de núpcias, fui fortemente mimada pelo filho mais velho do marquês.

Early spring’s chill lingered in the air; the willow trees had yet to sprout new buds, and a thin layer of ice had formed on the pond in the Yun family’s rear garden, making the murkiness below even harder to discern. Long ago, someone had died in that pond, and now the servants avoided it whenever possible.

Beside the pond stood a small, dilapidated courtyard. Wild grass grew unchecked at the entrance, now reduced to heaps of withered stalks strewn in the corners.

Hong Ying, a servant girl, carried a tray and carefully pushed open the courtyard door. The wooden boards groaned under the strain, letting out a pitiable creak.

“Miss, here’s today’s medicine.”

She entered the room, sniffled her reddened nose, and gently set the tray down on a cracked table. The surface trembled at her touch, shedding wood shavings that floated down onto a pair of slender, delicate hands reaching out for the medicine.

Tracing those hands upward, one saw a young woman seated by the table, her beauty indescribable—a rosebud mouth, a delicate nose, skin like flawless jade. Even in plain attire, her breathtaking face could not be hidden.

Hong Ying watched as her mistress calmly drank the bowl of dark, bitter decoction. Her eyes rimmed red with tears. “The Madam and the eldest Miss will surely be struck by lightning for doing such heartless things!”

“Today you’re to go to the Marquis’s estate, yet they keep you locked here and offer not the slightest comfort. In this freezing weather, I’m not even allowed to fetch some coal for you. They’re deliberately to