Lu Chonghua ran so urgently that the maid behind her couldn’t keep up. In a moment she crashed into Song Chuyi’s arms. Her two eyes, clean and clear as gemstones, stared at Song Chuyi, and in an instant tears came down, impossible to stop no matter what.

She had wholeheartedly believed that Zhangzhou was a place like paradise. There were mountains and seas there, a world she had never been to before. There were foreigners and prosperous ports. She thought her life would from then on be different from those noble young ladies born to sacrifice for their families, destined to marry suitable matches for the good of both surnames. In fact, ever since her father had abandoned the idea of marrying her to Zhou Weizhao to become Crown Princess, she thought her life had finally cleared the clouds to see the sun.

But worldly affairs were never as one wished. She had only seen the side of her father who obeyed her every word and granted her every request, but hadn’t seen his other side.

Her father allowing her to go to Zhangzhou was fundamentally not to let her relax, not to let her do what she wanted to do. He had only used her as a smokescreen, so he could trade with Fan Shikun and the others without arousing the slightest suspicion.

He knew full well she was close with Song Chuyi, and knew even better that the Guo family had intimate relations with Earl Changning’s household, so he used her as a cover. On the surface he fulfilled her wishes, but in secret he exploited her.

That day in Huizhou, when she discovered Steward Lu speaking with Fan Shikun’s family servant, she only felt all the blood in her body instantly turn cold. She simply couldn’t believe it.

But though she was sad, though she was in pain, she was definitely not someone who couldn’t withstand hardship. She suppressed the myriad thoughts in her heart and secretly sent a letter to notify Zhou Weizhao, far away in the capital, desperately afraid that Zhou Weizhao would truly be framed by the traitor her father had arranged. But those letters all sank like stones in the sea, without any news.

Only the one she’d sent under the pretext of giving it to her old friend, Second Master Ye, because it was sent early—sent out before the traitor in the capital noticed her abnormality and sent word back—was therefore not intercepted. Fortunately, because it was sent early, it allowed her to recover her life.

Her face bore the relief of surviving a disaster and irrepressible grievance. Seeing Song Chuyi extend her hand, she suddenly dove into her embrace, holding her and beginning to sob.

All these days she hadn’t cried. Thinking of how her father had without the slightest mercy let Steward Lu and Fan Shikun disguise themselves as sea bandits to kill her, thinking of how her mother, though reluctant, still indulged her father’s weakness, her heart ached so much it felt like all her internal organs were twisted together. But even with this pain, she still hadn’t cried. Tears were the most useless thing. If she couldn’t survive and return to the capital, even if she cried herself blind, it would be in vain.

Only at this moment, seeing Song Chuyi—whether it was because the journey had been filled with terror and exhaustion to the extreme, or because she felt such relief—she finally felt the grievance in her heart and held Song Chuyi, crying without stopping.

“I…” She cried thoroughly and freely, finally stemming her tears and sobs. Burying her head on Song Chuyi’s shoulder, she drew a breath. Tears fell on the back of her hand with a splat. After stopping for a long while, she finally said: “I almost died…”

Outside the door, Ye Jingchuan stood with pressed lips and an expressionless face, but in his ears he continuously heard the fine sobbing sounds from inside. The expression on his face grew even more cold and detached. As his father and brothers had said, as Song Chuyi and Song Jue had said, in this world there were plenty of conscienceless people without hearts or livers—for instance, Uncle Lu. His daughter was perhaps nothing at all in his heart.

Lu Chonghua didn’t cry for too long. A moment later she stopped these self-pitying complaints on her own, and with a bitter smile unfurled what could barely count as a smile toward Song Chuyi: “At first I thought my father wanting to marry me to my cousin was just because profit had clouded his judgment. But I never imagined that while profit was indeed for profit, what he sought was entirely different.”

She lowered her head, her eyes carrying undisguised contempt and confusion, clutching Song Chuyi’s hand and unwilling to let go: “I was presumptuous, thinking he merely wanted the Lu family to produce two empresses. I’ve always misunderstood his ambition.”

As the two of them spoke, Qing Ying wasn’t asked to leave. After all, she possessed martial arts skills and was absolutely reliable, so there was no need to avoid her. At this moment, hearing Miss Lu speak this way, her brows furrowed together in confusion, not understanding at all what she meant.

Song Chuyi herself had guessed a rough outline. Though her heart had been prepared early on, knowing that whoever betrayed Zhou Weizhao must be someone close, when she heard Lu Chonghua speak Uncle Lu’s name, she still couldn’t help but freeze in place.

After a long while, she finally came back to her senses. Looking at Lu Chonghua with reddened eyes, as if doubting she had heard incorrectly, she asked again: “Is it Uncle?”

When a woman marries she follows her husband. Zhou Weizhao’s uncle was naturally also Song Chuyi’s uncle.

Song Chuyi had considered many people. Every person around Zhou Weizhao was a suspect in her heart. But in her mind, even if these people were suspicious, it was because they had been bought off by Han Zhengqing with ulterior motives. She had never thought toward the Lu family—back when Zhou Weizhao was five years old and nearly lost his life, looking as if he couldn’t survive at all, it was Old Master Lu who thought of a solution. With a thousand difficulties and ten thousand hardships, he moved Zhang Tianshi. Even arriving at Longhu Mountain wasn’t peaceful. Song Chuyi had heard Qing Zhuo mention countless times how Zhou Weizhao encountered tigers and wolves on Longhu Mountain and nearly lost his life. If not for this group of Lu family people following by his side, he would have died who knows how many times already.

Moreover, the Lu family was the maternal family of Empress Lu and Crown Princess Lu, Zhou Weizhao’s maternal clan. If Zhou Weizhao was unlucky, there would only be harm for them, never any benefit. Unless they had lost their minds, they wouldn’t hope for Zhou Weizhao’s misfortune.

Therefore, even knowing that in the previous life Lu Chonghua’s marriage to Han Zhi was suspicious, that the Lu family’s prosperity was unreasonable, her gaze still only circled among the Lu family’s collateral branches and servants. Song Jue’s side also hadn’t sent back any news. She had never imagined it would be Uncle Lu.

She lowered her head. The twisted silk three-ring white jade bracelet on her wrist emitted a faint luster. Though it looked lustrous, pressed against her skin it only felt ice-cold and bone-piercing.

Indeed, the heart was separated from the belly by skin. The most difficult thing in the world to fathom was probably the human heart.

Initially, seeing Uncle Lu’s determined manner that he absolutely must marry Lu Chonghua to Zhou Weizhao, she had thought it was because Uncle Lu wanted to strengthen kinship ties. Now it seemed he was thinking of adding another chess piece by Zhou Weizhao’s side, wasn’t he?

Where was Lu Chonghua a daughter in his eyes? She was merely a chess piece whose status was higher than ordinary people and couldn’t be more suitable.

The room quieted for a moment. Lu Chonghua looked at Song Chuyi’s inscrutable expression and lowered her voice to begin speaking of matters in Zhangzhou.

Originally she had wanted to travel everywhere. She had discussed with Cui Huaying about wanting to establish a girls’ school where they could teach girls to read. Therefore, after staying in Zhangzhou only a short while she grew bored and wanted to go wander farther places. She just happened to hear that Madam Qin was in Guangdong, and was even more eager to go there out of admiration.

But Steward Lu used every possible means to dissuade her. She didn’t take it to heart, merely thinking Steward Lu was afraid she would run around everywhere and cause trouble. Who knew that Steward Lu would then instigate her to go to Huizhou instead, saying that Huizhou was just at an interesting time.

She followed along and went, and then something happened.