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 really weren’t holding back!

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? Starving her for two days wasn’t enough? Now they had to beat her until she was crippled before they’d be satisfied?

Just as Chu Jiuge was about to start cursing, a maid’s desperate sobbing rang in her ears. “Miss, Miss... you can’t do this. A woman who is properly betrothed becomes a wife; a woman who runs off with a man becomes nothing more than a mistress. You’re the daughter of the honorable 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 away 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, come on...” It didn’t take a genius to figure out she’d been set up.

Chu Jiuge muttered a curse under her breath, steadied herself, and ignored the burning pain across her back as she 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 caught her breath, she’d be fine.

“M-Miss... y-you’re... okay?” The pink-clad maid kneeling beside Chu Jiuge had been wailing moments ago, but when she saw Chu Jiuge stand up, her eyes went wide with disbelief...

She swallowed the word “dead” just before it left her mouth and changed it to “okay.”

Hadn’t her mistress said she’d fed the young lady a Poison Pill?

Why had the young lady 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 shocks you?” Although Chu Jiuge had awakened in this world three days ago, she had spent most of that time in a half-conscious state, barely aware of anything happening around her.

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

She vaguely knew she had died. Chu Jiuge—the brilliant young prodigy, unmatched in grace, praised by her patients as the finest female physician 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 great noble house. What the Xiao family’s Young Master said was just talk—he doesn’t really like you. He would never run away with you. Miss, let’s go back. Before the North Duke finds out you tried to elope with someone, let’s go back.” The maid in pink had gone pale with fear, but her mouth still worked fast. She even quietly crawled toward the wooden stick she had just thrown away, trying to pick it back up, but unfortunately...

The current Chu Jiuge was no longer the old Chu Jiuge.

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

“No, no... Miss, you misunderstood. I only picked up the stick to protect myself.” The maid was so frightened she blurted out whatever came to mind, not even knowing what she was saying. The moment she realized it, she immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, “Right, right, Miss, it was for self-defense. Let’s go back. You’re carrying so much silver and so many pieces of jewelry—what if someone robs you? Besides, that silver and jewelry belong to Second Master’s household. Taking them without asking is theft. If people find out—”

“Thud...” Chu Jiuge kicked the maid hard in the chest. “You deserve to die!”

Out here beyond the city, with only the two of them alone and defenseless, the maid was shouting about money at the top of her lungs. Wasn’t that the same as getting them killed?

“Ah... Miss...” The pink-clad maid was knocked to the ground by Chu Jiuge’s blow. She stared at Chu Jiuge in terror. At last, she stopped babbling nonsense, but...

Too late!