Proofreader: He Li (何丽)

"Ow!"

The burning hurt of her wounds was replaced by another kind of drilling pain. Yan Ling was in a coma, but a basin of cold salty water woke her up suddenly.

The hot damp wind went through the firewood room. Yan Ling looked at the two-color flying needle embroidered shoes in front of her, her eyes lit up with hope, "... save me, sister!"

That girl faintly backed a few steps, retiring the bloody hands of Yan Ling who wanted to take her skirt, and gently raised her bright red lips. "Aren't you silly? The wife of a criminal subject is an implicated criminal, so I myself cannot save you."

"Shuang'er, you..." The bloodstains in the corner of Yan Ling's mouth were not dry. She widened her eyes and stared at Yan Shuang. "Didn't he say that he would rescue me when it was done? A Yi said that when I finished this, I would be his princess..."

"Pow!"

Yan Shuang squatted down and looked at the swollen cheeks of Yan Ling, whose body was marked with whips and bloodstains. Yan Shuang smiled coldly, "If Brother Yi really cared about you, how could he let those people interrogate you like this?" The quite environment made Yan Shuang's sneering voice even more clear, "I am the one he adores. How could he marry you?"

"You talk nonsense!" Yan Ling retorted, gasping and trembling.

The hot room suddenly became frigid, and the pitapat of Shuang's shoes sounded as if they were stepping on Yan Ling's increasingly depressed heart.

"How could Brother Yi possibly marry you after you had become well-known among the nobles in the capital as the fiancée of the crown prince?" Yan Shuang leaned over and looked straight into her eyes and sneered, "Not to mention that you had relationship with the crown prince."

The words came like a bitter winter wind. Yan Ling looked pale and coughed like mad. She trembled and vehemently retorted, "You know I had never been ..."

"He won't believe you even if you are a virgin!" Yan Shuang interrupted her viciously, and Shuang's usually amiable face became fierce, "All the people in this plan did not want you to live!"

Yan Ling could not perceive the pain of her whole body, she suddenly choked a bit. Trembling, she looked up at Yan Shuang, "No! I don't believe it...You are joking with me... Right?"

"You are now a sacrifice. Who has the time to joke with you?" Yan Shuang laughed loudly when she saw Yan Ling lying on the ground with her back stooped, and her ragged clothes soaked by her blood.

"No..."

Tears rushed out of Ling's eyes, and her crescent-like nails cut hard into the ground, "We are sisters of a mother. How can you do this to me..."

"Oh, sister of a mother?" Yan Shuang bent down with a laugh to tears and the maid behind her gave her a handkerchief to wipe her tears. "An abandoned baby who was thrown in front of the prime minister's house. You wish to shed the same blood as me?"

"Impossible!" Yan Ling gasped and shook her head fiercely. She bit her lips until they bled.

Yan Shuang kicked Yan Ling so mercilessly that she rolled over several times. She lay on her back and was dying on the ground.

"How did our father treat you since the childhood? How did our mother treat you? How did the elders treat you? The two of us look so different, I don't need to make it clear."

The blazing sun was shining on the wound, and it seemed that Yan Ling could not feel the burning pain. Yan Ling curled up in the corner of the wall and cried weakly, "I thought it was because they preferred your personality..."

"You're just a sacrifice prepared by my mother for over a decade. Now you are worthless and it's time for you to die!"

"Puff!"

As soon as Yan Shuang finished her words, Yan Ling who crouched in the corner spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Although His Highness is a good crown prince. But I like Brother Yi. Daddy loves me so much, of course he will help Brother Yi to become the new crown prince!"

The splendid sunshine was reflecting the beautiful face of Yan Shuang. Yet Yan Ling suddenly thought of the word "Asura". "You clearly told me that the crown prince was violent and unruly, and that he would only harm the people when he came to power in the future!"

"If I didn't say that, would you obediently help Brother Yi?" Yan Shuang looked at her provocatively. She raised his eyebrows and took out a piece of paper, "The crown prince asked me to bring the poems that he had reviewed for you before he went into the palace with soldiers. Maybe he had a prevision that he would not come back."

"You are despicable! Ah..."

With all her strength, Yan Ling roared loudly and coughed up a large pool of black blood. In a trance, the smiling man wearing a jade crown belt appeared in front of her and said, "I admired you when I first saw your poems." She felt a sudden pain in her chest and closed her eyes.

***

Bird song sweeps by with the cool morning breeze, and the girl on the bed trembles violently and opens her eyes slowly.

Am I still alive?

Sitting up and looking around the familiar and somewhat strange room, Yan Ling swallows heavily and implausibly. It is the yard that she has lived before her getting married. Is she dreaming?

"You woke up, my Lady?" A voice comes in with the door opening, and a maidservant in pink walks into the door carrying a basin.

"Qing'er..."

After dressing up, Yan Ling sits in front of the bronze mirror.

Looking at the innocent little face in the mirror, Yan Ling suddenly bursts into tears with thousands of thoughts.

"What's the matter, my Lady?"

"Some blusher went into my eyes," she said, staring at herself in the mirror with a steady smile, "Has Shuang'er asked me to have breakfast in her Qiongxin Yard?"

Qing'er is stunned and felt a little flustered, "I'm just going to tell you this, my Lady... How do you know it?"

Not only do I know this, but also I know that from now on, I will never be the coward Yan Ling as I was in my previous life! Taking a deep breath, Yan Ling gets up and goes to Qiongxin Yard.

Yan Shuang has been waiting at the door. She immediately takes Ling's hand and smiles happily when she sees Ling. "Sister, you're here at last. I've made you your favorite lotus seed soup. Have a taste!"

Walking along her path, Yan Ling looks at the hand that Shuang is holding, and a feel of disgust quickly flashes across her eyes. "Good ~"

After the speaking and laughing during breakfast, Yan Shuang mysteriously pulls Yan Ling into the inner room. "Sister, do you know Liang Yi?"

Quickly lowering her glittering eyes, Yan Ling smiles and raises her head after taking breath, "You know that I don't get much news since I live in my boudoir for a long time. What's the matter?"

The pear branched with buds in a vase on the table are fragrant. Shuang let go Ling's hands and looks out of the window longingly.

"He is a handsome guy with such outstanding appearance and temperament. I don't know how many girls are attracted by him!" She turns and takes Ling's hand, "You must think he is cute when you see him!"

It is me who Brother Yi admires. How can he marry you?

...

Words Shuang once said stirs Ling's mind. She raises her head and askes Yan Shuang half in jest and half in earnest, "Do you love him?"

"I..."

Yan Shuang blinks her eyes cunningly, and then she regains her usual clever and obedient appearance quickly, "… Of course, only you deserve such a distinguished person, sister."

Clever? Obedient? Clearly Shuang said this in a gnash of teeth.

"Really?" asked Yan Ling.

"Um! By the way, sister, I gave our mother the invitation card. You just need to remember that it is noon when the banquet is held," said Yan Shuang.

"The sun must be very strong then."

The yellow sunlight sprinkles a layer of gold through the window paper. Yan Ling nods with a smile as she looks at the glittering eyes of Yan Shuang.