Chapter 1 — Her Road Is Still Long

The moment the medicinal properties kicked in, I woke up. The maid held my arms tightly, desperately pulling me towards the other door. Through the crack in the door, dim yellow candlelight shone. Tham Thanh Tu was waiting for me inside. Exactly like my previous life... Just step through that threshold, I will become the second lady of the Tham residence, using twenty years of my life to pay for a mistake that was not caused by me. I used all my last strength, broke free from the maid's hand, turned around and ran towards Lien Tri in the yard. Amid everyone's screams, I jumped down. When cold water entered my ears, I heard someone calling my name. It wasn't Tham Thanh Tu, but a voice I had never heard of in my previous life. The moment the medicinal properties kicked in, I woke up. The dry heat in his body continuously flowed out from his bones, his limbs felt limp as if his bones and tendons had been stripped clean. The two maids, one left and one right, held my arm tightly and pulled me forward, their nails piercing through the thin layer of clothing, digging into my skin with sharp pain. I raised my head and saw that door. Dark red lipstick, cold brass lock, pale yellow candlelight flickers through the crack in the door. This door, I recognize it. Behind the door is Tham Thanh Tu. Just like in my previous life... Just step through this threshold and I will be pressed onto his bed. The next morning, he will look at me coldly with those beautiful eyes and say:

“I will marry you, but I will not let you live a pleasant life.”

He did it. Twenty years. During those twenty years, I explained, cried, knelt down and begged, begging him to believe that the medicine was not given by me. But he didn't believe it. His concubine stepped on my head, and my child called me "that shameless woman". After my maternal grandmother passed away, my status was not even that of a servant in the palace. Before I died, I lay on a cold bed, covered with a tattered cotton blanket, and no one even gave me a cup of hot water. I no longer remember clearly how I died. But I remember very clearly the day he married me, after all the guests had dispersed and the wedding candles in the wedding room were only half burned, he stood in the doorway and said to me:

"An orphan like you, spending so much time and effort, is only greedy for the glory and wealth of the Tham family."

The maid's hand tightened a little more, pushing me towards the door.

“Miss Bieu, you're not feeling well, go inside and rest for a while and you'll be fine.”

In her previous life, she was also the one who took the medicine. On the outside, he smiles and talks obediently and is adorable, but in his hands, he is extremely cruel. My fingers clenched tightly into my palms, broken nails digging deep into my skin. Pain makes our mind alert for a brief moment. I used all my last strength, suddenly yanked the maid's right hand away, and turned around unsteadily.

“Your Majesty...”

I don't run anymore. I can't run out of the Shen mansion. But we can still choose. In the yard there is a small lotus pond, the water surface floats with a few sleeping leaves. The broken moonlight fell on the surface of the lake, sparkling silver. In a previous life, this lotus pond was later covered up, because the main room criticized it for breeding too many mosquitoes. I rushed straight towards that area of silver light. When the cold water entered my ears, I heard the maid's shrill scream I see someone calling my name. It was not Tham Thanh Tu, but a voice that I had never heard in my previous life. Water kept pouring into my nose and mouth, cold and fishy. I opened my lips and exhaled my last breath. The body slowly sank. In my previous life, I also soaked in water for a long time. After the wedding night, the maid poured hot water into the bathtub, I just sat there like that, until the water turned cold but still refused to get out. Chu Uyen Nhu stood behind the screen, saying sarcastic words:

"The young lady is really in the mood. The wedding night was not on the bed, but instead sat in the bathtub."

At that time, I was not dead yet. This time, it should be okay. Darkness poured in from all directions, enveloping me. I opened my eyes at the bottom of the water and saw the rhizomes of lotus leaves floating lazily in the dark water, like the hair of a dead person. Drowning is just a matter of a moment.