Chapter Forty-Four: Seizing the Opportunity to Enter the Inner Chamber

Dawn was just breaking.

Dani, the eldest daughter of the Qian family, who had spent the entire night sewing without a wink of sleep, rubbed her eyes. Supporting the entire Qian family entirely by her own embroidery work, she was utterly exhausted from stitching endlessly day and night.

Suddenly, her bedroom door was violently pushed open by her mother, Mrs. Xu.

"Stop sewing, and come with me right now!" With those words, Mrs. Xu snatched the embroidery from her daughter's hands, grabbed her, and dragged her outside as if her life depended on it.

With a thud, Dani collapsed and fell heavily to her knees. Her body, stiff and numb from maintaining the exact same posture all night without rest, refused to obey her commands when yanked so forcefully by Mrs. Xu.

"What are you dawdling for? There's no time left!" Qian Kun urged impatiently from outside the house.

"Mother, where are you dragging me in such a rush? The work in my hands has to be finished by the day after tomorrow. If we miss the deadline, we won't be able to afford the compensation!"

Mrs. Xu was in no state to care about any of that now. She hauled Dani along, dragging her outside completely unconcerned with her daughter's newly injured body.

Qian Kun, unable to wait any longer, strode inside. Seeing the situation, he hoisted Dani up and threw her onto a handcart that had already been prepared in advance.

"Father, Mother, it hurts..." she wailed, tears streaming down her face from the pain.

Yet the parents before her completely ignored her, acting as if they were deaf to her cries, single-mindedly intent on hauling her away as quickly as possible.

The couple pushed the handcart—which originally carried the eldest daughter who supported the entire household—hurrying all the way until they reached the Marquis's Mansion.

"Lord Marquis, I have brought you the eldest young lady." Qian Kun's hands trembled incessantly, terrified that the Marquis of Chu might go back on his word.

Eldest young lady? Dani turned her head, looking at her father in bewilderment.

"Father, who is the eldest young lady?"

Qian Kun hurriedly waved his hands at her. "Eldest Young Lady, please do not call this lowly wretch your father anymore. Lord Marquis and the Madam are your true biological parents."

"Indeed. Back then, because the Marquis's Lady and I gave birth at the exact same time under unusual circumstances, the eldest young lady was mistakenly switched and brought home by us to raise. Now is the time for everyone to return to where they rightfully belong," Mrs. Xu explained to her.

Dani stood frozen in shock. Before she could even process this, she suddenly heard a piercing, tearful cry.

"Father, Mother, you've finally come to pick me up!" Chu Mengyun rushed over impatiently, clutching two bundles, and threw herself into Mrs. Xu's arms, weeping uncontrollably.

The Marquis of Chu looked at the daughter he had raised with his own hands for sixteen years, who was now calling someone else father and mother, feeling a sharp pang of anguish in his heart.

However, upon seeing that she and Mrs. Xu looked as though they had been cast from the very same mold, he averted his gaze and gave a wave of his hand, signaling that they were free to leave.

The Marquis's Lady, Madam Liu, wiped away her tears with a handkerchief and pointed at Dani, saying, "My lord, quickly give her a name."

The Marquis looked at Dani, who was still kneeling in a daze, and casually remarked, "Let's call her Chu Xi."

Madam Liu nodded. "Someone come, help the eldest young lady change her clothes. Do not miss the auspicious hour."

Watching her biological parents walk away without even looking back, taking another girl with them, Dani finally felt the chilling reality that this was not a dream.

Before she even had a chance to open her mouth to speak, she was hoisted away by five or six maids and matrons.

Just like that, without allowing her a chance to ask for the reason, a set of blindingly bright crimson wedding robes was forced onto her body.

Day had fully broken.

Clad in wedding robes of a piercing, glaring red, Chu Xi sat alone beside the dying Duke of Zhenguo.

Everything before her eyes felt as surreal as a dream to someone who, just last night, had been frantically working through the night at the Qian family's house to scrape together a living.

"Madam, we should prepare ourselves," said the sole remaining servant in the Duke's estate, his voice choked with tears.

Chu Xi was momentarily stunned. She looked at the servant, Wang Mu, and asked, "Madam? Me?" She had never possessed a real name; the Qian family had always refused to give her one, simply calling her Dani.

That was right. Until last night, she had been Dani. Yet within the span of a single morning, she had become the eldest young lady of the Marquis's Mansion, named Chu Xi, and was now married to the Duke of Zhenguo.

Wang Mu naturally knew that she was also a person of tragic fate, but with matters having reached this point, they could only focus on handling the immediate crisis.

"Madam, it looks like the Duke is not going to last much longer. We must prepare for his funeral arrangements."

Chu Xi froze for a moment upon hearing this, then turned her head to look at the Duke of Zhenguo, who lay on the bed gasping for heavy, struggling breaths.

Yet, she felt as though she had only just married him, without even having formally bowed in ceremony—how could she already be preparing for his funeral?

At this thought, Chu Xi's tears broke through her restraint and rolled down her cheeks.

Seeing her state, Wang Mu could only sigh. It wasn't just the Duke; lying outside was also a critically ill maidservant sent along as part of her dowry.

Chu Xi gradually stopped crying.

She sighed sorrowfully, "Now, apart from this cavernous empty mansion, the Duke's estate has been stripped clean by confiscation. The Marquis's Mansion refused to give me any dowry, and apart from the critically ill dowry maid forced upon us by the palace, I have nothing left. With what am I supposed to prepare for his funeral?"

Wang Mu let out a bitter sigh. "The Emperor forbade the Madam from bringing any dowry when marrying in precisely to force you to be buried alongside him. Confiscating the estate while sparing the title of nobility is simply meant to let the common people of Pingguo watch how the Duke of Zhenguo dies of shame and indignation."

From Dani to Chu Xi in a mere two hours, she forced herself to accept reality with a cool head.

With that thought, Chu Xi stood up and declared decisively, "Right now, only these wedding robes can be pawned."

Wang Mu paused, his fists tightening. "But apart from these wedding robes, Madam, you won't have a single change of clothes left, and the weather is turning colder."

Chu Xi smiled bleakly. "Gathering silver is to prepare for the Duke's funeral. How could I possibly continue to wear this shade of red?"

With those words, she turned away to change out of the wedding robes, returning shortly after to place them in Wang Mu's hands.

"Take these to be pawned. If possible, set aside a portion of the silver to fetch a physician for the maid outside."