A Malicious Request

The garden was originally a place of hard labor, and no child had ever been sent there before. Why was I sent there when I was only seven years old?

In my past life, when my father asked me to take the blame, it was the first time he had ever smiled at my mother and me.

I thought that as long as I obeyed him, he would treat my mother well.

Until my mother was beaten to death by the First Madam's orders, and he merely held the First Madam's hand, saying, "Don't let it affect your health. It is not worth it."

The woman who had borne his children, washed his clothes, cooked his meals, and cared for him for half his life, ultimately received only a single phrase: "Not worth it."

My mother and me were nothing but a joke.

The integrity and loyalty he always paraded were merely a facade to cover up the First Madam's abuse of my mother and me.

I hugged my mother tightly. "I will never leave you again."

The next day, Xu Mu came to find me.

Xu Mu and I were childhood sweethearts, betrothed since youth. I had cared for his widowed mother for ten years, yet he had heartlessly chopped me into a human stump.

"What is it?" I looked at him coldly, the veins on the back of my hand bulging. I wanted to kill this man.

"Ah Cheng," Xu Mu stepped forward to embrace me, but I dodged.

"What is it?" I asked again, losing patience.

"Ah Cheng, I want to ask you for a favor. You know that the Eldest Miss has been kind to me. My ability to work in the front courtyard is all thanks to her recommendation."

"So what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"So I want to ask you to help the Eldest Miss a little. The imperial prison is harsh, and the Eldest Miss is frail. I want to ask you to take her place for a short while, just to give her some time to eat and change her clothes."

"If the Eldest Miss was kind to you, then you should go repay her. What does it have to do with me?" I folded my arms and sneered.

"Ah Cheng, why have you become like this?" Xu Mu said anxiously. "We are betrothed, we are one entity, and besides..."

"Besides what?" I stepped closer to him, chuckling softly. "Besides, she and I look very similar. If you secretly swap us, leaving me in the prison would be an easy matter, wouldn't it?"

I reached up and parted my thick, heavy bangs, which almost covered my eyes. I had wanted to tie them up several times, but both my father and Xu Mu had refused. Only later did I learn they were afraid others would discover that this face resembled Su Yueying's.

Xu Mu's eyes widened, his lips trembling. It took him a long time to stammer, "You... you know..."

"Know what?" My smile grew wider. "Know that you and my father want to swap us, or know that Su Yueying..."