C3 Chapter 3

“Ah...” A sharp stab of pain shot through her head, like a blade driving straight into her skull. Chu Jiuge swayed, clutching her head with a cry, nearly collapsing to the ground.

I’m going to marry the North Duke. I’m going to be the North Consort. I’m going to make the Crown Prince regret it!

The words suddenly rose in Chu Jiuge’s mind, branded there so deeply they refused to fade.

This was the original owner’s obsession, the deepest fixation she had before death. And just now...

For that brief instant, Chu Jiuge had clearly felt her consciousness slipping into chaos again.

Was this a warning? If she wanted to stay alive, did she have to follow the original owner’s will and marry the North Duke?

“Damn it!” Chu Jiuge cursed under her breath. She clenched her fists hard, forcing herself to steady her footing, then turned and headed back into the city.

As for the bundle of gold and silver hidden at her feet?

Chu Jiuge didn’t even spare it a glance...

As a legendary physician trusted by patients’ families and highly valued by the hospital, Chu Jiuge had never lacked money, and she had never cared much about it.

The few cheap valuables in that bundle meant nothing to her.

“W-What’s going on here?” The onlookers stared blankly as they watched Chu Jiuge first head out of the city, then turn around and walk back in.

Wasn’t Great Miss Chu supposed to be eloping?

“Move!” Forced to return to the city, forced to marry, Chu Jiuge was in an awful mood, and her tone was no better.

Most of the people gathered here this early in the morning were ordinary townsfolk on their way into the city. At Chu Jiuge’s sharp command, their bodies reacted faster than their minds. Instinctively, they stepped back and cleared a path for her.

With the crowd no longer blocking her view, the maid in pink was exposed once more before Chu Jiuge. “M-Miss...”

“Traitor.” Chu Jiuge looked at the pink-clad maid coldly. “I’ll remember you. We’ll see whether the person backing you up will care if you live or die.” When the maid thought Chu Jiuge was about to kill her, Chu Jiuge merely withdrew her gaze and walked past her...

“Mi-Miss... where are you going?” the maid in pink finally snapped out of it, but by then Chu Jiuge had already reached the city gate.

Seeing that, the maid in pink quickly snatched up the bundle from the ground and clutched it to her chest. She hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, and followed after her...

Miss had suddenly become terrifying. She desperately wanted to run, but if she did, and failed to carry out that person’s orders, she would definitely die.

She had to make a huge scene out of Miss eloping, make sure she could never marry the North Duke.

Whether it was because of the imposing air around Chu Jiuge or because they recognized who she was, the people waiting to enter the city stepped aside as soon as they saw her coming. Before long, Chu Jiuge had reached the front of the line.

But the moment she was about to pass through the gate, one of the guards stopped her. “Miss, your entry pass.”

“I...” Chu Jiuge had just started to explain who she was when a white horse came charging up, kicking up a cloud of dust before stopping right in front of her.

“Jing’an, come take a look. Isn’t this the Great Miss Chu you were talking about—the one who’s supposedly hopelessly devoted to you, refusing to marry the North Duke, insisting on eloping with you no matter what?”

The woman in red sat atop the white horse, a riding crop in one hand and the reins in the other. She looked down at Chu Jiuge with open contempt and disgust, as if she were staring at something filthy beneath her.

“My lady, could you slow down for once? Even on horseback I can barely keep up with you.” A richly dressed young man came galloping over. In no time, like the woman in red, he reined in his fine horse right in front of Chu Jiuge.

The horses’ hot breath forced Chu Jiuge to take a step back—and let her finally see the young man’s face clearly...