In this world, women have few paths to take—nothing more than obeying father at home, husband after marriage, and son after the husband’s death.

Zhu Weixi had lived for over twenty years. Geng Songsheng was already a stain she could never wash away in this lifetime.

Now she was being saddled with another one, and with her own biological father no less…

This wasn’t just excessive.

This was clearly pushing her toward a dead end.

Zhu Weixi was furious to the extreme. Her whole person trembled uncontrollably like a falling leaf in the autumn wind.

She was already beautiful, with a slender and delicate figure. Even though she’d become a wife and borne children, her face and body were still thin.

A thin woman with pride, being cornered like this by a few words—watching her made everyone feel unspeakable heartache.

Yan Sanhe suddenly stood up, walked before Zhu Weixi, and reached out to touch her forehead between the eyebrows.

A cool sensation spread from between her brows to all the meridians, then to her three souls and seven spirits.

Looking at Yan Sanhe’s calm and composed face, Zhu Weixi suddenly felt she wasn’t struggling alone in the mud.

She had someone at her back.

Miraculously, Zhu Weixi stopped trembling.

Yan Sanhe placed her hand on Zhu Weixi’s shoulder and patted it twice gently.

But Zhu Weixi suddenly stood up and walked step by step toward Zhu Weijin. Her eyes blazed with knife-sharp fierce momentum.

“Zhu Weijin, don’t live like a rat in a hole. Just because your own thoughts are filthy doesn’t mean others aren’t clean. Go out and get more sun, supplement your yang energy. With more yang energy, you’ll seem more human.”

Zhu Weijin slowly rose, and after meeting Zhu Weixi’s gaze at eye level, raised one corner of her mouth and laughed softly.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing at you, Eldest Sister… for being so foolish!”

Pity appeared in Zhu Weijin’s eyes.

“What filthy thoughts does a rat have? They just want to steal some food. People’s filthy thoughts—now there are plenty of those.”

Zhu Weixi’s right eyelid twitched twice for no reason.

“Zhu Weijin, make yourself clear. Who has filthy thoughts?”

“Do you remember Geng Songsheng, Eldest Sister’s former sweetheart?”

Zhu Weixi’s hand clutching the handkerchief trembled, and a bad premonition suddenly arose in her heart. Before this premonition could take form, Zhu Weijin spoke.

“Eldest Sister, have you never wondered why Geng Songsheng cheated?”

“What are you saying?”

Zhu Weixi’s voice suddenly turned shrill. “What are you saying?”

Zhu Weijin smiled, reached out her hand, and lightly touched Zhu Weixi’s chest with her fingertip. “I’m saying you’re foolish, Eldest Sister!”

Zhu Weixi jerked backward half a step. An icy hand pressed against her back.

“Sister-in-law, sit down first.”

Zhu Weixi turned her head. Tears suddenly filled her eyes. Yan Sanhe blinked gently. “Don’t panic.”

Right.

I can’t panic. I need to hear what she has to say.

Zhu Weixi lowered her head, wiped away tears, and stumbled back to sit in the grand armchair.

Yan Sanhe then stepped forward, looking at Zhu Weijin. “Tell us—what’s the story with Geng Songsheng?”

“My words…”

Zhu Weijin laughed disdainfully. “Some people won’t believe them.”

Yan Sanhe: “I’ll believe whatever you say.”

“Even if it’s unbelievable?”

“Even if it’s unbelievable!”

Zhu Weijin closed her eyes. When she opened them again, those eyes full of malevolence had softened.

“I’ll speak!”

She first heard the name Geng Songsheng from Mother’s mouth.

Mother praised him as rare both in heaven and earth—truly the Literary Star descended to earth.

She didn’t know what the Literary Star looked like, but she’d seen scholarly men. Geng Songsheng looked nothing like a scholar.

But when Zhu Weijin first saw him, she knew he was no ordinary person.

He was tall and large, looking at first glance like a crude military man, but on closer inspection, one could see something distinctive.

Though the Zhu family’s fortune-telling and feng shui skills were passed from male to male, not to females, having heard so much, she knew a thing or two.

Especially about physiognomy.

Geng Songsheng’s physiognomy was excellent—square face, broad forehead, full earlobes, a pair of bright, piercing eyes. At a glance, he was extremely intelligent and blessed with great fortune.

Mother liked Geng Songsheng very much.

She liked him not only because he was good at studies, but also because he was from Grandmother’s maternal family.

Mother had married from Luoyang Prefecture to the capital—a distant marriage. She could only return to her natal family once every few years. Whenever anything or anyone was connected to the Mao family, she paid special attention.

Zhu Weijin had observed carefully.

In her heart, Mother actually very much wanted to connect Geng Songsheng to the Zhu family. She was just afraid Father would look down on him because of his somewhat eccentric behavior, so she never made it explicit, waiting for him to pass the examinations first.

“You mean…”

Yan Sanhe, hearing this, had to clarify. “The mistress wanted to bring Zhu Weixi and Geng Songsheng together?”

“Yes!”

Zhu Weijin glanced at Zhu Weixi and sneered. “She did it almost imperceptibly, but unfortunately couldn’t escape my eyes.”

The Geng family was a centuries-old prominent clan with extensive holdings. Their descendants had long since scattered to various places.

Geng Songsheng also had more than just the Zhu family as relatives in the capital.

Every rest day, Mother would eagerly send someone to fetch him. If Geng Songsheng didn’t come, Mother would personally make the trip.

Geng Songsheng was an outside male. By rights, after bringing him to the mansion, Mother should have invited him for a meal, asked about his circumstances, offered some advice—that would have been proper etiquette.

But Mother insisted on keeping him until after dinner every single time.

The Zhu family had no outsiders. Dinner was eaten at one table without avoiding men and women—this created opportunities for Eldest Sister and Geng Songsheng to meet.

In the first few months, Zhu Weijin hadn’t yet understood Mother’s deeper intentions, thinking she was just hospitable.

Until one time, Geng Songsheng mentioned an amusing incident at the Imperial Academy. Zhu Weixi asked a curious question, and the two began chatting casually.

At that moment, Father glanced coldly at Geng Songsheng, lowered his head to drink soup, and as the spoon reached his lips, anger flashed across the corners of his mouth.

Like lightning striking into Zhu Weijin’s mind—she instantly understood.

This discovery made her especially interested in family dinners when Geng Songsheng was present.

What appeared to be a lively dinner, what seemed like a loving couple, were actually each harboring their own thoughts.

Father detested Geng Songsheng but never showed it on his face, and remained obedient to Mother as always.

Mother wanted to cultivate feelings between Zhu Weixi and Geng Songsheng, but feared being too obvious and having Father notice. The usually superior woman became especially gentle and virtuous on this day.

And Zhu Weixi?

At first she was oblivious, her thoughts not going in that direction at all. But she couldn’t withstand Mother bringing the topic around to Geng Songsheng again and again, intentionally or not.

Gradually, she would glance at Geng Songsheng once or twice.

When her gaze fell on Geng Songsheng, Father’s gaze would fall on her, with momentary hidden pain flashing between his brows.

“Miss Yan.”

Zhu Weijin suddenly asked, “Do you understand the game of Go?”

“I understand a little.”

“Two players in a match—one holds black stones, one holds white. No one speaks aloud, emotions all calm and controlled. Both are imperceptibly calculating how to invade the other’s territory.”

Yan Sanhe’s heart skipped a beat. Before she could think it through, Zhu Weijin smiled lightly and continued:

“Don’t you think my father and mother are like two people playing chess, and Eldest Sister is the game piece in their hands?”