C2 Chapter 2

Money turns heads.

At first, Chu Jiuge and her maid had been huddled in a corner, and among the people lined up to enter the city, no one had paid them any attention. But the moment the maid in pink shouted that they were carrying silver, a group of shady men from the back of the line immediately started closing in.

“What’s going on here? Which rich young lady is this? Carrying silver like that... what, you running off with somebody?” Greed flashed in their eyes, but with soldiers stationed not far from the city gate, none of them dared make a move.

After all, they weren’t hardened bandits. They didn’t have the nerve to risk everything, snatch the money, and run for it.

Seeing people gather around, the maid in pink fought through her fear, scrambling away from Chu Jiuge. She grabbed at the nearest onlookers and begged, “Please, help me! Go get the guards and take my young lady back home. My young lady is...”

“Say one more word and I’ll kill you.” Chu Jiuge’s face darkened. Out of habit, she reached for the ring on her hand that concealed silver needles, but her fingers found nothing.

Her left pinky was bare.

The realization made Chu Jiuge instantly furious. That ring had been passed down from her grandfather. It was the symbol of the Chu family, an heirloom handed down for centuries.

She also had no idea what she had been drugged with. Her head throbbed violently. Though she still had her memories, her mind remained foggy, as if everything before her were playing out in black and white. She could see it, hear it, but she couldn’t quite connect to any of it.

“Help! Help! Miss... please don’t kill me, don’t kill me!” When the maid in pink saw Chu Jiuge step forward, she shrieked and ducked into the crowd. Still, she kept shouting, “Miss, I’m begging you, let’s go back. If the North Duke finds out you ran off with someone, you’ll never be able to marry him, and the whole Chu family will be ruined too!”

“What? Elope?!”

“The North Duke? This is Miss Chu—the one who’s supposed to marry the North Duke?”

“She’s still alive? No, wait—she refuses to marry him and wants to run off with someone? Isn’t she afraid the North Duke will kill her?” The onlookers glanced at Chu Jiuge, then at the bundle at her feet, and instantly gave up any shady ideas they’d had.

This was the eldest daughter of the Chu family, the North Consort. No matter how bold they were, they wouldn’t dare lay a hand on the North Duke’s fiancée. Who knew whether he’d avenge her?

After all, the North Duke had once ridden alone into a bandits’ hideout and slaughtered every last one of them to avenge his seventh fiancée, who had been killed by those very bandits.

“Please, I’m begging you—help me get the authorities! Bring my young lady home! My young lady is trying to run away, and if she does, the entire Chu family will be doomed!” The maid in pink hid behind the crowd, too afraid to look at Chu Jiuge.

The Chu family?

At last, Chu Jiuge’s mind cleared. The world no longer looked like it was shrouded in fog, blurred and indistinct...

Hearing the maid’s words, Chu Jiuge laughed.

The Chu family would be doomed?

Yeah, right. The Chu family, which had used the original Chu Jiuge as a stepping stone to get close to the Crown Prince, would suffer just because she refused to marry the North Duke?

If that were really true, the original Chu Jiuge would never have resigned herself to marrying the North Duke at the risk of losing her life.

Thinking of the original owner’s hatred for the Chu family, Chu Jiuge didn’t hesitate for even a second. She turned and headed straight for the road out of the city.

She wasn’t the original Chu Jiuge. She didn’t believe all that husband-jinxing nonsense, but she still had no desire to marry the North Duke. She was used to being on her own. She didn’t want to get married, and she definitely didn’t want to carry the stigma of eloping before being married off to North County...

But the instant she turned around, something happened...