My husband, newly appointed as a Grand Scholar of the Hanlin Academy, was raising a toast with his guests on t…
My husband, newly appointed as a Grand Scholar of the Hanlin Academy, was raising a toast with his guests on the day I died in childbirth, taking our unborn child with me. It was all because a princess had set her sights on him. To climb the ladder and win her favor, he colluded with her to clear away any obstacles, and I was the greatest one.
They bribed the midwife to poison me. My poor parents, still kept in the dark, trusted him wholeheartedly. He even went so far as to strip my family of its power to better serve the princess's ambitions, leading to my parents' tragic deaths.
As a drifting soul, I witnessed it all. Only after my death did he stand before my grave and confess. The promises, the affection... all lies.
I am Shen Chuchu, the cherished daughter of the Chancellor's household. And my husband Qi Anxu was once a penniless palace graduate, a nobody. If not for my parents' full support, how could he ever have become the youngest Grand Scholar?
In the past, he had offended the Emperor during the Scholar's Banquet and was relegated to obscurity. I met him by chance at a tea party and was enchanted by his talents. We frequently met at the Jude Teahouse since then. Though he was poor, he never let me spend a coin, always saying, "How could a noble lady be made to pay?" We composed poetry and traded verses, our feelings for each other grew thicker.
One day, an assassin suddenly showed up. He, a frail scholar, shielded me with his own body. In that moment, I swore to marry him, no matter how my parents objected. Seeing my determination, they compromised, and even provided a generous dowry. After our marriage, I gave him everything, helping him rise from a lowly clerk all the way to the pinnacle of the Academy.
But who would have thought, the so-called heroic was staged, the poems ghostwritten, the money borrowed on credit. After our marriage, it was my dowry that filled the endless holes he left behind. Everything I sacrificed, everything I endured, was nothing but a cruel joke.
In this life, I have been reborn. I went to the teahouse early on the day we were to meet, and overheard him laughing with another: "She's just a dog. I'll make her fall for me, cook and clean for me every single day. You really think I'd ever really care for her? I'm only after her family's power."
Thank the heavens I had not yet confronted my father. Now, my heart is crystal clear. In this life, I swear to find justice for myself and for my parents.
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