The Reborn Wife : His love and Her Revenge

CHAPTER 1 — THE WIFE WHO DIED BETRAYED Shengjing Imperial Capital — Three Years LaterSnow fell over the Duke of Xuan’s residence.Shen Yuelan stood beneath the corridor roof, clutching a letter so tightly that its edges cut into her palm.The handwriting belonged to her husband, Xiao Jingheng.Meet me at Plum Blossom Palace tonight. There are things I can no longer hide from you.Below the message was a second line, written in a different hand.He has always loved me. You were merely the wife his family chose for him.Gu Qingrou stood a few steps away, dressed in pale pink silk. Her eyes were red, but her expression remained gentle.“Yuelan, please don't misunderstand him.”Yuelan raised her head.“Then explain this letter.”Qingrou lowered her gaze.“Jingheng has been under tremendous pressure because of the military investigation. He asked me to keep certain matters secret. I thought you knew.”“Knew what?”“That he has been protecting me.”The words struck harder than Yuelan expected.For three years, she had defended her marriage against whispers. She had endured Jingheng's absences, his unexplained journeys, and the locked documents he refused to discuss.Whenever she questioned him, he would say the same thing.Trust me. I will explain when the time is right.She had trusted him.Now she wondered whether that trust had merely made her a fool.“Does he love you?” Yuelan asked.Qingrou's eyes filled with tears.“I never wanted to hurt you. But feelings cannot be commanded.”It was a beautiful answer.A carefully prepared answer.Yet Yuelan was too devastated to recognize the difference.She turned away without another word.That evening, she went to Plum Blossom Palace alone.The palace garden was deserted. Snow covered the stone paths, and the plum trees stood like pale ghosts beneath the moonlight.A figure approached from the shadows.Before Yuelan could speak, pain exploded in her back.She staggered, reaching for the tree beside her.“Why?”The assassin did not answer.Yuelan fell into the snow, her blood spreading beneath her body.Her final thoughts were not of revenge.They were of Xiao Jingheng.If you never loved me, why did you let me spend my life believing that you did?Her vision darkened.Far away, footsteps thundered through the garden.“Yuelan!”Jingheng dropped to his knees beside her.His hands trembled as he gathered her into his arms. Blood stained his white sleeves, but he seemed not to notice.“Open your eyes. Look at me!”Yuelan's lips moved, but no sound emerged.“Who did this to you?” His voice broke. “Tell me, and I will tear this empire apart to find them.”She looked at him one final time.Then her eyes closed.“No…”Jingheng pressed his forehead against hers.“No, Yuelan. You cannot leave me.”But the woman he loved was already gone.For a long time, he remained kneeling in the snow, holding her lifeless body.Only after his guards arrived did he notice a second letter lying near the garden steps.It bore Qingrou's seal.Inside were records of payments made to servants of the Duke's residence, along with a copy of the letter Yuelan had received.Jingheng's expression changed.He read the documents once.Then again.The original military correspondence he had entrusted to Qingrou was also among them. Someone had altered its contents, removed crucial pages, and used his name to arrange secret meetings he had never attended.He finally understood.The woman he had tried to protect had been manipulating them both.But his realization came too late.Jingheng looked down at Yuelan.“I never betrayed you,” he whispered. “Not once.”Snow gathered on her hair.“I loved you from the moment I first saw you.”She could no longer hear him.And Jingheng would spend the rest of his life regretting every truth he had kept from her.