The lives of women in Great Qian may be noble or humble, but generally speaking, they’re all much the same—at home, listen to your parents; after marriage, listen to your husband; in old age, listen to your son.

I had long expected my life would probably be like this too, but I never expected that my birth mother would never feel sorry for me. Compared to my elder brother, in her eyes, I was just a money-losing burden—better to send me away quickly while I could still be exchanged for some benefit.

She didn’t care what I thought, didn’t even care whether I would die in Prince Yong’s manor.

Sitting in the bridal chamber, I felt the mortal world was truly terrible. I even gripped a sharp hairpin, thinking I might as well drag that old man Prince Yong to die with me.

Unexpectedly, Liu Ruyi came and saved me.

Or rather, this person who looked exactly like Liu Ruyi descended from heaven like a deity and took me away from my nightmare.

Ruyi probably doesn’t know that I’m much more perceptive than she thinks. After all, I’ve been managing household affairs since childhood—what I’m best at isn’t accounting, but observing others. Within half a month of being saved by her, I knew she was no longer the same Liu Ruyi as before.

She no longer felt even the slightest concern for my brother, her behavior was no longer as indecisive as before, and she even looked at others with the eyes of a queen who looked down upon the world.

Of course, she herself thought she was a kind and amiable ordinary person, so I could only play along.

Ruyi gave me a great many things—not just the dividends from those two shops, but also a brand new life. Before meeting her, I didn’t know how to survive a life where I couldn’t marry. After meeting her, I learned that before being a good woman, I had to love myself first.

I earned enough money, bought a large mansion, and had different handsome young men accompanying me every day—of course, this last point isn’t something to boast about, and I didn’t do it intentionally. I simply never met the right person.

Zhao Yanning often says the innkeeper corrupted me, but I think it’s quite the opposite.

Most women in this world live under others’ eyes and tongues—how many can disregard worldly conventions and do whatever they want? I was fortunate to have Ruyi’s protection. In Lin’an City, no one could do anything to me, so I could be so carefree.

There are many more unfortunate girls—I wonder what their fates will be.

In the seventh year of the Great Qian’s Changle era, Emperor Qian’an finally died of illness. The Crown Prince ascended the throne, beginning a golden age that lasted sixty years. During this time, Ruyi never left Lin’an. She stayed at Immortal Meeting Restaurant, being a beautiful innkeeper who never aged.

She couldn’t perceive the passage of time. By the time she realized we had grown old, it was too late to add wrinkles to her face.

She was very flustered then, holding a bronze mirror and standing in the main hall, facing our gazes, not knowing how to explain.

However, whether it was I, Fuman, or Zhaoying who rarely came to the restaurant, none of us felt surprised. Everyone looked at her eyes darting about in panic, and finally burst out laughing.

Seeing us laugh, she understood, though her eyes were still full of shock: “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Innkeeper, have you heard that people in Great Xia love raising wolves?” Zhao Yanning said. “They raise wolves from cubs to waist-high, completely unafraid of being eaten.”

With this analogy, Ruyi understood. Her eyes reddened a bit, but she didn’t cry. She just held our hands and slowly, earnestly looked at each of us in turn, as if wanting to remember what we looked like.

I was already very old, and almost all my teeth had fallen out. She sat by my bedside and asked softly: “Are you afraid of death?”

“Not afraid.” I sighed. “I just can’t bear to leave you.”

This girl lived like an unfailing moon, never yielding with words, but always showing mercy with her hands. Sometimes I even felt she was more like a deity than Shen Qiyuan.

Oh, right, Master Shen actually couldn’t hide from us either. After all, if Ruyi wasn’t mortal, could he be? Great Qian experienced many major events in those sixty years, but in times of crisis, as long as he appeared, everything would calm down.

There were already rumors that he was a reincarnated heavenly god. I suspected he was indeed a heavenly god—that’s not excessive, is it?

Master Shen was a just deity who never showed favoritism to anyone, but Ruyi was different. Ruyi was a living person with an incredibly soft heart.

When I was about to die, she reached out and touched my forehead.

“Tinglan.” Ruyi smiled and said, “If you can’t bear to leave, then don’t go.”

At the time, I didn’t know what her seemingly casual words represented, but since she told me not to go, I nodded without thinking.

Both Fuman and I had sworn that since she gave us our lives, as long as she spoke, we would never leave her for the rest of our lives.

But a strange light flashed before my eyes—where would I be taken?