chapter 1

“You wretched girl! How could I have sired a daughter like you? You’ll be the death of me!” Along with the harsh reprimand, a violent slap landed squarely on Zhao Keran’s face.

“Father, I didn’t… I didn’t do anything!” Zhao Keran knelt on the ground, weeping as she tried to defend herself. “I don’t know what happened or why it turned out like this.”

“You… you shameless woman! Do you even deserve to be called my daughter?” Zhao Song—the Grand Preceptor of the Daili Dynasty and Zhao Keran’s father—shouted in a fit of rage. “You are set to marry the Heir of the Marquis of Zhongyi next month! Yet, to think you would commit adultery with another man now! Where does that leave the honor of the Grand Preceptor’s Manor? If your grandfather finds out, any hope of me inheriting the peerage will be utterly destroyed!”

“I… I…” Zhao Keran had no idea how to prove her innocence.

She remembered clearly that at noon, her younger sister had come to her Chunhui Garden to chat. After having some tea and cakes, she began to feel exhausted. Seeing her pale complexion, her sister took her leave, and Keran decided to take a nap to recover her strength. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, she woke up to find a strange man sleeping in her bed. At that exact moment, her father and mother burst in with her sister and witnessed the scene. Now, she felt as if she had a hundred mouths yet no way to explain herself.

Wait, my sister!

A flash of realization hit Zhao Keran, and she hurriedly turned to her sister for help. “Ke’ren, Ke’ren! I was just chatting with you at noon! Quickly, tell Father!”

“Well… Sister, we were indeed together at noon,” Zhao Ke’ren replied, looking deeply conflicted. “But your face looked unwell, and didn’t you say you wanted to rest? I left quite early…”

“You wretched girl, still trying to quibble?” Zhao Song slapped Zhao Keran again. “You’ve done these scandalous, filthy things yourself, and now you want to drag Ke’ren down with you?”

“I didn’t, Father, I didn’t.” Zhao Keran looked around desperately before crawling to her mother, Qin Xianghe. She grabbed the hem of her mother’s robe, seeking a lifeline. “Mother, you must believe me. Please, tell Father I am innocent!”

Qin Xianghe kicked Zhao Keran away and brushed off her skirt as if flicking away something filthy. “You have the nerve to call me Mother? I have no such daughter. Zhao Keran, you’ve never been as capable as Ke’ren since you were a child, but I never demanded you achieve greatness or make me proud. But look at you now—committing such a low, depraved act! You are ruining the reputation of this manor; are you trying to kill me with anger?”

Qin Xianghe’s words were like a sharp blade, stabbing deep into Zhao Keran’s heart.

Though she and Ke’ren were twins born on the very same day, they shared nothing in common. She had inherited none of her parents’ good looks; she was merely a “plain beauty” at best. However, Zhao Ke’ren’s features mirrored their parents’—exquisite, striking, and breathtaking. She was one of the capital’s “Four Great Beauties.” Furthermore, while Keran was unremarkable, her sister was a renowned prodigy, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Since childhood, Ke’ren had been their parents’ pride, while Keran was always the neglected one. But she never imagined that in her parents’ eyes, she was such a contemptible person.

“Father, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet. What if Sister has been wronged?”

Zhao Ke’ren’s words were like a ray of light piercing through the darkness of Zhao Keran’s heart. She looked at her sister with gratitude, completely forgetting how Ke’ren had just thrown her under the bus.

That’s right! Even if my parents ignore me, Ke’ren and I share the same womb. We’ve always been close. In this moment, only my sister is willing to speak up for me.

“Ke’ren, I know you are kind-hearted and share a bond with your elder sister,” Zhao Song replied, his brow furrowing but his tone softening for Ke’ren. “But the evidence is irrefutable. Do not plead for her anymore; she isn’t worth it.”

“Father, we must at least investigate,” Zhao Ke’ren said, appearing perfectly impartial. “If Sister is framed, then we shouldn’t blame her. But if the investigation proves it’s true… then Sister will have nothing left to say.”