Chapter One: A Year After the Abuse and Humiliation

Inside a windowless darkroom where it was pitch-black twenty-four hours a day, Yu Shengsheng huddled in a corner, her clothes in tatters.

In this corner, the terrifying noises from outside were slightly quieter than elsewhere—a detail she had discovered after nearly three hundred days and nights of trial and error.

With a creak, a sliver of sunlight cut through the darkness like the blade of a knife.

She instinctively went to raise her arm to shield her eyes, but lowered it halfway up. Shifting from a huddle to a kneel, she straightened her back, folded her hands, and pressed her forehead against the back of them.

Through the knife-like sunlight, the hem of a high-ranking palace maid's magnificent skirt swept past, her footsteps brimming with arrogance. Her voice was cold and contemptuous, ringing like a flicked blade.

"Raise your head."

Yu Shengsheng looked up. Her pale face was flawless as jade, its stunning beauty undiminished.

A flash of disgust crossed the maid's eyes as she pinched Yu Shengsheng's chin. "Yu Shengsheng, though you are the daughter of the General's Household, you grew up in the countryside. Your lowborn nature is already ingrained. It is your blessing that Her Majesty the Empress was willing to expend the effort to teach you proper etiquette."

"Once you leave this villa and return to the General's Household today, remember to behave yourself. Do not let others say this year of instruction was in vain. It does not matter if you disgrace yourself, but Her Majesty's reputation cannot tolerate even the slightest blemish."

"Do you understand?"

Yu Shengsheng parted her pale lips slightly. "I understand."

The maid tightened her grip. "Say it again."

"Replying to Officer Song, this servant understands."

The maid sneered and flung her hand back. "Someone, drag her out and scrub her clean!"

Several stout, broad-shouldered older maids burst in and dragged Yu Shengsheng out of the darkroom.

Half an hour later, Yu Shengsheng was escorted out of the villa's gates by several palace maids and older matrons. The sunlight stung her eyes painfully.

Forcing back her tears, she looked at Madam Su, who was walking toward her.

Her biological mother.

She had lived like a wild weed in the countryside, beaten and abused by her adoptive parents at the slightest whim. She had struggled to survive until she was thirteen, only to be told by the General's Household three years ago that she was actually their trueborn young mistress. Years ago, a matron serving the General's wife had harbored resentment over a punishment. She had swapped the baby with a female infant bought off the street, sending Yu Shengsheng to the family's rural ancestral home to be raised in misery.

Meanwhile, the girl who had swapped lives with her—the false young mistress, Su Zhiyi—had been raised as the precious pearl of the household. She had even accompanied her biological father, the Great General Su, into battle as a brave vanguard. Praised by the Emperor as a worthy daughter of a military household, she had already been bestowed the title of Commandery Princess Rongyang.

With the imperial decree issued by the Emperor himself and the investiture ceremony presided over by the Empress, there was no way to change it.

Thus, Yu Shengsheng, the true legitimate daughter of the General's Household, could only be declared to the public as Madam Su's niece, living as the household's cousin-miss.

Even so, Yu Shengsheng had been overjoyed. She had biological parents and two older brothers; it was the first time in thirteen years she had ever seen her own flesh and blood.

She did everything she could to be obedient and sensible. In the two years after returning, she exerted all her effort to fit into this family and make up for the lost years.

Her mother, her two brothers, and even Commandery Princess Rongyang had all treated her well, save for denying her her rightful status. It had made her believe she had truly become a member of the family.

But during the spring hunt a year ago, a stray arrow startled Su Zhiyi's horse, causing her to fall and break her leg. While Su Zhiyi lay unconscious, her female bodyguard had snatched an arrow from Yu Shengsheng's quiver without a word, claiming it was this very arrow that had startled the horse after failing to hit its target.

Thus, even though she had not even had the chance to shoot a single arrow, and despite her pleas and explanations, the Su family remained silent. With no need for evidence, she was deemed the culprit who harmed Su Zhiyi on the spot. Her eldest brother personally broke her right hand—the hand she used to draw bows and treat wounds—so that she could "share the pain."

Her second brother personally whipped her, drawing blood with every lash, to ensure she would never forget this mistake.

And her mother... when the Empress offered to personally teach her daughter proper etiquette, her mother knelt and bowed deeply in gratitude.

That day, covered in wounds and before she could even return to the Su estate, she was taken directly from the hunting grounds and locked away in the Empress's villa outside the city. For a whole year.

For an entire year, as her broken bones misaligned and fused back together, and as the bloody gashes on her back scabbed and scarred... not a single member of the Su family, her own blood relatives, had come to see her.

Over three hundred days and nights of "learning etiquette" had long made her realize that she was still just Yu Shengsheng—a girl with no parents and no brothers.

"Shengsheng!" Madam Su stepped forward with tears in her eyes and took her hand. "Mother has come to take you home. Come, get into the carriage with me."

Her injured arm was grabbed with force. The pain was unbearable. Frowning, she pulled her hand back and let it hang limply by her side.

The pain in her hand was nothing compared to the agony twisting her heart.

How could it not hurt? This was, after all, the mother she had yearned for during those thirteen years, the mother she had loved with all her heart and warmth.

But she no longer had the strength to love, just like this hand—even if she wanted to embrace, she could not raise it.

She lowered her cold eyes, her dark lashes hiding the chill in her gaze, as she took two steps back and bowed respectfully.

"I dare not trouble you, Aunt. I shall walk back."

Madam Su froze. To have the best of both worlds, they had told the public that Yu Shengsheng was a cousin, and had instructed her to call Madam Su "Aunt" in front of outsiders.

But right now, there were no outsiders.

Madam Su's tears flowed even faster. "Shengsheng, are you... still blaming Mother?"

The matron supporting Madam Su said in a low voice, "Miss, please do not throw a tantrum and blame Madam. She woke before dawn and sent her maids to queue for the candied fruits you love; they are right there in the carriage. Madam has been crying all the way here, and her eyes really cannot take the wind."

Madam Su sobbed uncontrollably. "Shengsheng, look up at Mother, just once..."

Yu Shengsheng could not look up. Having been locked in a pitch-black room with not a shred of light, the sudden exposure to the sun made her eyes sting intolerably.

And she did not want to shed tears in front of the Su family, no matter the reason.

Standing in the bright light, her heart felt like a black hole, battered and broken. The eagerness she had felt upon returning home, the devotion she had poured out to her relatives over those two years—all of it now slipped through the void, leaving only darkness and a cold draft.

"I shall walk," Yu Shengsheng repeated quietly, turning to walk ahead on her own.

"Shengsheng..." Madam Su called out in a trembling voice, but she could not stop her.

Every step Yu Shengsheng took was agonizing, her legs trembling beneath her skirt.

Her shoes were made of Shu brocade, inlaid with eastern pearls, with thick, hollowed-out soles—exquisite in design.

Only she knew that several fine needles had been placed inside the shoes, their sharp tips pointing upward, piercing her flesh with every step she took.

They caused her excruciating pain with every step, yet prevented her from bleeding too heavily.

Before leaving the palace grounds, Officer Song had told her with a smile, "A year ago, you were dragged here. This time, you shall walk back. Count your steps carefully so you can report the number to Her Majesty later."

So, she had to walk back.

As she walked ahead, Madam Su was helped into the carriage by her matron, following slowly behind and weeping the entire way.

Yu Shengsheng struggled with every step. Dressed in splendid attire, she drew the gazes of passersby. Soon, someone recognized her as the vicious cousin-miss who had tried to shoot Commandery Princess Rongyang at the hunting grounds, causing her to fall and get injured.

The pointing and whispering of the onlookers drew the attention of a carriage parked nearby.

The carriage was crafted from ebony wood, worth its weight in gold. It was secured with bronze rivets and draped in black curtains, appearing steady and mysterious.

Only a corner of the curtain was lifted, revealing a glimpse of a splendid red sleeve.

"What is happening?" a voice asked, low, cold, and clear.

"Replying to the Commander," a man in black outside the carriage window bowed. "It is the cousin-miss of the Great General's Household returning home."

"Oh," the voice trailed off, laced with mockery and indifference. "The scapegoat from the hunting grounds."