“Reporting to the Old Madam, the First Master’s family and the Gu Laoye will be arriving shortly.”

Everyone had been waiting for over an hour, and the good news finally came — spirits lifted all around.

Old Madam Ling’s face broke into a wide smile as she called out, “Quickly, have someone open the main gate.”

The Ling household ordinarily used only the side entrance. Today, with Ling Daye’s family returning and their distant relative Gu Laoye Lu An coming from afar, it was only natural to open the main gate to receive them.

Old Madam Ling walked to the main gate surrounded by her attendants. Ling Jingshu deliberately slowed her pace, falling to the back alongside Ling Xiao.

“A’Shu, you never liked these noisy gatherings — why don’t the two of us slip away quietly?” Ling Xiao leaned close to Ling Jingshu’s ear and whispered. “With so many people here, no one will notice two fewer. No one will pay attention.”

Warmth stirred in Ling Jingshu’s heart. Ling Xiao must have sensed her low mood, and that was why he was suggesting they sneak off.

Though no one would notice at this moment, a scolding would surely come afterward. More importantly — she didn’t want to keep hiding anymore.

“It’ll only be a little while. We can endure it,” Ling Jingshu whispered back. “There are so many people here, don’t wander off — stay by my side.”

Ling Xiao never refused Ling Jingshu’s decisions. He gave an obedient nod.

The two siblings stood arm in arm, pressed close together, a small world unto themselves.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the gate, eagerly awaiting Ling Daye’s family and their guest — no one spared a glance for the siblings. And even if they had, no one would have found it strange.

After Yao Shi’s passing and Li Shi’s arrival into the household, the siblings had grown ever closer, relying on each other completely. Ling Jingshu cared for Ling Xiao with meticulous attention, and Ling Xiao depended on her wholeheartedly. Their bond with Ling Wuye, their father, was far more distant by comparison.

Someone with sharp eyes suddenly called out, “They’re here, they’re here!”

The crowd stirred with excitement.

Several carriages drew to a stop before the gates of Ling Manor.

The first to step down was Ling Daye’s family.

Ling Daye, forty-five years old, had a square, distinguished face and wore a short beard — the very picture of a civil official’s bearing.

At his side stood a woman in her forties, dressed in fine robes, her makeup immaculate, her bearing exceptional. This was his wife, Sun Shi. Behind them came his eldest son Ling Ji, accompanied by his wife and children. And standing behind Sun Shi was a bright and lovely young woman — the First Branch’s legitimate daughter, Ling Jingxian.

“Your son has been unfilial, unable to return and visit Mother these past years,” Ling Daye said, striding forward to stand before Old Madam Ling and bowing deeply.

Old Madam Ling’s eyes immediately reddened. She stretched out trembling hands to lift him up. “You serve as an official in the capital and are busy with official duties every day — how could I blame you for that…”

Before she could finish, Ling Daye burst into tears.

A man of his age, crying like a child before his mother. Old Madam Ling felt both joy and heartache as she pulled her eldest son into her arms and wept with him.

Tears are contagious. Ling Siye and Ling Wuye’s eyes also turned red, and soon the whole crowd was dabbing at their eyes.

Ling Jingshu and Ling Xiao, standing at the back, lowered their heads and loosely covered their faces with their sleeves — doing just enough to keep up appearances.

Once Old Madam Ling and Ling Daye had calmed their emotions somewhat, another man’s voice rang out: “Mother-in-law and brother-in-law have been apart for years, and must feel boundless joy at this reunion. Shall we move inside first, and then take our time to reminisce?”

That voice — deep and resonant with the richness of a middle-aged man — bored straight into Ling Jingshu’s ears.

Even though Ling Jingshu had mentally prepared herself, upon hearing that voice she could not suppress the shudder that ran through her entire body.

She raised her head.

A familiar face came into view.

A man of thirty-two — sword-sharp brows and bright eyes, a short neat beard, handsome and refined, carrying himself with uncommon grace. Truly a striking figure of a man. Lu Hong had inherited most of his father’s good looks.

This man was the head of the Lu family, Ling Shi’s husband, and her father-in-law from her past life.

Lu An.

In that life, she and Lu Hong had been deeply drawn to each other, and their marriage had been full of warmth and affection. Within their first year of marriage she had fallen pregnant, and their son was born. Lu Hong had then taken first place in the provincial examinations, followed by the imperial examinations in the capital, where he placed first overall.

At that time, she had believed this life would be happy and fulfilled, with nothing left to regret.

But she had not foreseen that the true nightmare of her life would only begin from that very moment.

Lu Qian’s strange and unsettling feelings toward her had tormented her endlessly. Then came the devastating news of Lu Hong’s betrayal — a shock that broke her heart. Because of Lu Qian, Ling Shi, who had once been reasonably kind, began to look at her with increasingly dark and hostile eyes, making things difficult for her at every turn. The servants gossiped endlessly, and their gazes at her gradually filled with contempt. Whispers spread behind her back that she was an unfaithful woman who had seduced her own brother-in-law.

That bucket of filth, poured over her head without warning, left her unable to defend herself — she had wept in secret more times than she could count.

She knew in her heart that all of it was Ling Shi’s doing in the shadows. It was clearly Lu Qian who had harbored an obsessive infatuation with her, but Ling Shi — fearing the damage to Lu Qian’s reputation if word got out — had deliberately twisted the truth. Ling Shi had managed the household for years and had many loyal followers among the servants. Manipulating rumors was effortless for her.

Her days in the household became increasingly difficult and unbearable.

Ling Shi arranged a good match for Lu Qian, and when Lu Qian found out, he made a tremendous scene. Right before everyone, he threw a fit and demanded the engagement be called off, insisting over and over that he would marry her.

Ling Shi’s dignity was stripped bare, inside and out, and the truth she had so carefully concealed was fully exposed. In her rage, she ordered her men to lock her away. Then she had medicine slipped into her food.

When she finally woke from that heavy stupor, she was horrified to find herself unclothed and in a state of complete disarray — and the man lying beside her was none other than her father-in-law, Lu An.

Lu An was known for his indulgent tastes, having taken more than ten beautiful concubines, and kept many seductive singing girls and dancers in the household. In front of her, he had at least maintained the face of a father-in-law, wearing the mask of a respectable man. But who could have imagined that he would take advantage of her while she had been drugged and violate her…

She could not bear to go on living, and sought only death.

Ling Shi appeared before her with a vicious smile, holding her child. “Ling Jingshu, if you behave yourself, the child lives alongside you. If you take your own life, I will send your son to the underworld to accompany you.”

Looking at her son’s young, innocent face, she wept and pressed down the will to die in humiliation.

Ling Shi looked at her, eyes blazing with grief and hatred, and smiled coldly. “Ling Jingshu, I did not want it to come to this. Whatever else may be said, you are my blood niece. I arranged for you to marry into the Lu family as my daughter-in-law because I hoped you would be an asset to me. But you were useless — you failed to hold Lu Hong’s heart. He passed first in the imperial examinations, caught the eye of a princess, and now has a far grander future ahead of him. He simply no longer wants you.”

“Feeling heartbroken that Lu Hong no longer wants you is understandable. But you should never, never have gone and seduced my A’Qian. His reputation and his future cannot be ruined by you.”

These words, twisting everything on its head, were absurd beyond measure.

She instinctively fought back: “I never seduced A’Qian. From beginning to end, I never harbored a single inappropriate thought toward him — it was he who refused to leave me alone…”

“Silence!”

Ling Shi’s face twisted with fury as she cut her off. “He is still a child who doesn’t know his own heart. If you had not deliberately enticed him, he would never have gone astray. He would never have created such a scandal over calling off an engagement. With something like that getting out, how is he supposed to make a good match in the future? How is he supposed to hold his head up?”

“Now that you have been with your father-in-law, A’Qian — however unwilling — would never dare compete with his own father over a woman. Once he gives up this obsession, I will arrange another match for him.”

With that, Ling Shi laughed — a sound filled with near-manic triumph.

She listened to those words and felt a chill seep into every bone. She murmured in disbelief: “Just for this — you had someone drug me and my father-in-law? Have you gone completely mad?”

But Ling Shi’s laughter only grew wilder and more unhinged. “You think this was my idea alone? You think I had Lu An drugged? Ha… you are laughably naive.”

“You truly did not know — ever since you entered the Lu family, Lu An has harbored wicked intentions toward you, watching and waiting. If not for Lu Hong being in the way, he would have acted long ago. This plan, yes, I proposed it — and yes, it was I who had the drug slipped to you. As for him — he was only too eager. There was no need to drug him at all…”

In that moment, the world spun. Her entire existence collapsed in an instant.

Her face went blank. Her body turned to ice.

“From now on you will remain in this courtyard. As long as you behave and do as you are told, the child will come to no harm. But if you dare make any move against me, I will send the child to the underworld alongside you.”

With that, Ling Shi gave a cold laugh, flicked her sleeve, and left.

The days that followed were nothing short of a living hell.

Lu An had initially felt a flicker of guilt and shame, but he was so captivated by her beauty, and so inflamed by the forbidden thrill of the transgression, that he became strangely obsessed with her. He quickly lost interest in his previous favorites among the concubines. Even toward Ling Shi, he became noticeably more indulgent.

Within the inner household, no one was Ling Shi’s match any longer.

She spent her days drowning in tears, thinking of death countless times. But every time she thought of her young son, those thoughts were forcibly crushed. She gritted her teeth and endured.

There is no wall without cracks. The story of Lu An taking his son’s wife by force first spread slowly through the household, then gradually leaked beyond its walls. Yet in the mouths of others, the blame lay not with Lu An’s lecherous nature — the greater truth, as they told it, was that Lu Hong had abandoned his wife and child, leaving her alone and unsatisfied, so she had gone and seduced her own father-in-law…

Ling Shi hated her with every fiber of her being — and had destroyed not only her chastity, but her reputation entire.

She had nowhere to turn for help. Lu Hong had vanished without a word. Her own family remained coldly indifferent to her suffering, doing nothing. The maids around her had all been bought over by Ling Shi — even sending a message out was impossible.

She endured humiliation and survived in misery, and only in the final moments of her life did she finally wake to the truth and grieve for what she had not done.

Heaven took pity on her, and granted her rebirth. In this life, she would seek justice for her former self — and take her revenge.