C1 Chapter 1

“Thud!” A heavy blow slammed into her back, and Chu Jiuge realized she’d actually been knocked flat on the ground, unable to get up for what felt like forever...

Damn, they were really ruthless!

Wasn’t it just a marriage to the North Duke, the man whose eight previous fiancées had all died?

Chu Jiuge had already agreed to marry him, so what more did these people want? Was starving her for two days not enough? Did they have to beat her until she was crippled before they’d be satisfied?

Just as Chu Jiuge was about to start cursing, a young maid’s desperate cries rang in her ears. “Miss, Miss... you can’t do this. A woman who is properly betrothed becomes a wife, but if you run off with a man, you’ll only be his mistress. You’re the honored daughter of the Chu family—you can’t just leave with someone like this without a name or status.”

“Miss... tomorrow is your wedding day. If you run now, what will happen to the Chu family? Miss, you can’t be so selfish. The North Duke is not someone you can afford to provoke. If he finds out, he’ll kill all of us. Miss... I’m begging you. Before anyone notices, let’s hurry back.”

...

“Oh, hell...” It didn’t take a genius to figure out she’d been set up.

Chu Jiuge couldn’t help muttering a curse under her breath. Quietly catching her breath, she ignored the burning pain in her back and forced herself up from the ground.

As the officially recognized top miracle doctor in the country, Chu Jiuge knew that blow had been hard, but it hadn’t damaged her muscles or bones. At worst, her back would be bruised and swollen. Once she got past this wave of pain, she’d be fine.

“M-Miss... y-you’re... okay?” The maid in pink, who had been kneeling beside Chu Jiuge and wailing, widened her eyes the moment she saw Chu Jiuge stand up, staring at her in disbelief...

She forcibly changed the word “dead” on the tip of her tongue into “okay.”

Hadn’t her master said the Miss had been given the Poison Pill?

Why had the Miss come back to life once before—and now again?

Did that mean she had to strike her one more time?

“I’m not dead, and that surprises you?” Chu Jiuge had been awake in this world for three days now, but during those first three days, she’d been stuck in a half-conscious state, barely aware of anything around her.

For the past three days, it felt like her body and soul had been split apart. Her body was heavy and unresponsive, and her mind stayed foggy and sluggish.

She vaguely knew she had died. Chu Jiuge—the brilliant young medical prodigy once praised by her patients as the greatest goddess doctor in the land—was dead. Now she was the eldest daughter of the Chu family in East Forest.

“No, no, Miss, it’s enough that you’re all right. Miss, let’s go back. The Xiao family is a powerful, prestigious house. What the Xiao family’s Young Master said was just talk—he doesn’t really like you. He would never elope with you. Miss, let’s go back. Before the North Duke finds out you ran off with someone, let’s go back.” The maid in pink had gone pale with fear, but her mouth still ran fast. She even quietly crawled toward the wooden stick she had just dropped, trying to pick it up again, but unfortunately...

The current Chu Jiuge was no longer the same Chu Jiuge as before.

“Smack!” Chu Jiuge stomped on the pink-clad maid’s hand. “What? You want to hit me again?”

“No, no... Miss, you misunderstood me. I was picking up the stick to protect myself.” The maid was so scared she was babbling, not even knowing what she was saying. When she finally realized it, she immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, “Right, right, Miss, I was protecting myself. Let’s go back. You’re carrying so much silver and so many pieces of jewelry—what if someone robs you? Besides, this silver and jewelry belong to Second Master’s household. Taking them without asking is stealing. If word gets—”

“Bang...” Chu Jiuge drove a kick into the maid’s chest. “You deserve to die!”

Out here beyond the city, with only the two of them alone and defenseless, for this maid to start shouting about silver was practically asking to get them both killed.

“Ah... Miss!” The maid was knocked to the ground by Chu Jiuge’s blow and stared at her in horror. At last, she stopped spewing nonsense, but...

Too late!