Chapter 1 — Rebirth Does Not Accept Death

I have been without self all my life, so I took my second son Giang Hoai Du and raised him under my pillow. For his sake, I took the trouble to find the best master, taught him to be both talented in literature and martial arts, and let him take over the entire Marquis palace with dignity. For his sake, I chose the most prestigious woman in the capital, so that his wife and his wife would be in harmony and have children and grandchildren together. But later, my body, which had always been healthy, suddenly fell ill and was bedridden, suffering countless torments and pain for several years. Before his death, Giang Hoai Du sat next to my hospital bed, his voice cold:

“Mother, my whole life I have been manipulated by you in the palm of your hand, do you know how much I hate you?”

"Even when it comes to getting married, I can't do as I wish, I can't marry the woman I secretly love."

"I have suffered enough. Over the years, I have sent people to poison your food every day. The little torment you have endured these past few years is the retribution you deserve."

I widened my eyes, not daring to believe my ears. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of choosing the child in the past. Before I could speak, Giang Hoai Du reached out and pointed straight at me:

“I don't want her as my mother.”

1

With just that one sentence, I immediately knew that Giang Hoai Du was just like me, both reincarnated. The normally quiet hall suddenly became noisy. My husband - Giang Uyen frowned tightly. Giang Hoai Du was smart and handsome from a young age, standing among a dozen concubines could be considered extremely outstanding. Giang Uyen originally had three parts of his dignity, but as soon as these words were uttered, those three parts of his dignity instantly disappeared into thin air.

“Since when is it your turn to be picky? Who do you think you are?”

Giang Uyen's cold tone made Giang Hoai Du immediately wake up. At this time, he was only six years old, just a small, unnoticed servant, not at all the high-ranking Marquis of Tinh An in his previous life. He pursed his lips slightly, knowing he had said something wrong, and quickly tried to find a way to say it back:

"Father calm down. The child only feels that... the young lady is still there. If he leaves the young lady to serve his mother, he will be guilty of being unfilial."

In my heart, I laughed coldly. In his previous life, on the surface he was respectful to me, but behind his back he often complained to others. He said I was not his mother after all, I only knew how to be harsh, and never truly considered him my own. His mouth complains like that, but on the other hand, he has squandered all the benefits of his son's status without leaving anything behind. Giang Uyen frowned and was about to reprimand her, but I nonchalantly interrupted:

“This child is filial.”

Jiang Hoai Du's face darkened, as if afraid that I would come up with the idea of adopting him, so he quickly spoke:

“I pray that mother will fulfill this child's filial heart.”

I didn't even glance at him, just gently used the lid to wipe off the tea foam and said in a bland voice:

"There are so many children in the palace, I wouldn't have aimed at you. There's no need for you to hold on to such vain worries."

2

In the hall, a few soft chuckles rang out. Giang Hoai Du was stunned, his body stiffened for a moment. My Second-room sister-in-law used her handkerchief to cover her mouth and smiled:

“On a normal day, seeing the Eighth Young Master stay silent, I didn't expect it In my heart, I consider myself to be such a precious thing. People who don't know will think there is someone living or dying who wants to take care of you."

A few sporadic bursts of laughter rang out, like invisible slaps hitting Giang Hoai Du straight in the face. In his previous life, since he was raised under my pillow, everything went very smoothly for him. These frankly humiliating scenes were truly strange to him. Suddenly he clenched his hands, his face turned pale, and he didn't know how to react. I glanced at him indifferently, not paying any more attention. His eyes glanced at the other maids in the hall, and there was some hesitation in his heart. In his previous life, the reason he chose Giang Hoai Du was because in the cold March weather, he was only wearing a thin double shirt, standing trembling in the middle of the hall. The little lady that he had thought about all his life, in fact, did not take good care of him at all. At that time, I saw him at a pitiful young age, opening his mouth to call "mother" sweetly, so I raised my hand to designate him and chose him. Looking back now, whether he is pitiful or not has nothing to do with me. Whether we are close or not is not based solely on the tip of our tongue. His eyes slowly moved, finally stopping at Old Ngu, who was standing last. In my previous life, I didn't take care of Lao Ngu much. But for a few years I was seriously ill, and out of all my concubines, only this child who had always lived outside the hospital came to visit me regularly. At that time, I was so sick and confused that I wondered why he was so filial. He smiled and replied: "My little lady left early, there are many servants in the palace. You are the most ordinary child, even your own nanny doesn't care about you."

“At the age of nine, it was a cold winter. The nanny hugged her biological child and slept soundly in the child's room, but then forced the child to sleep in the servants' room, not even having a proper blanket."

“I had no one to turn to, nor did I know who to call. I almost froze to death in that cold subhuman room. Luckily, my mother came to the hospital to visit me and discovered what had happened."

"I still remember, at that time you got angry, immediately sold that nanny, and replaced all the slaves in my yard."

“For the next few years, even though I was not raised under your pillow, I still received your protection. Even though I haven't accomplished anything in the past few years, I've never had to suffer again."

“Mother,” he said softly while massaging my already paralyzed legs, “thanks to you, I have been able to live until today.”

Listening to those words, I don't know what my feelings are. The person I devoted all my heart and soul to raising and nurturing hates me to the bone, on the contrary, this child has engraved in his heart a few actions according to my duty for all these years. Furthermore, when I was still healthy and had power and benefits to rely on, he never came to bother me. When I was sick, no one paid attention, he often came to visit... Seeing that I was slow to make a decision, Giang Hoai Du slightly raised his eyebrows, walked out and said:

“Mother, actually it's not that I don't want to nurse under your pillow. As long as you don't force me to do things I don't like, I will still..."

"Can brother," I waved towards Lao Ngu who was standing quietly at the back, "come here."