NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: After Three Years of Slavery
Chapter 1: After Three Years of Slavery
Jing Guo, the 28th day of the last lunar month.
It was a bitterly cold day.
Qiao Nian had just finished washing the last piece of clothing for the morning. Before she could dry her already purple and numb hands, she heard the matron of the laundry calling out to her, “Qiao Nian, quick, someone from the Marquis’s mansion is here to pick you up!”
She froze in place.
The Marquis’s mansion – two words so familiar yet strange.
She had been a young lady in the Marquis’s mansion for fifteen years, but three years ago, she was told she was a fake.
It was the midwife who had selfish intentions, swapping her own child with the real young lady of the Marquis’s family. On her deathbed, her conscience got the better of her, and she revealed the truth.
Qiao Nian clearly remembered how excited the Marquis and his wife were when they reunited with the real young lady, Lin Yuan, that day. They embraced each other, crying and laughing, while she stood aside, at a loss, not understanding how the parents she had called “Father” and “Mother” for fifteen years suddenly weren’t her parents anymore.
Perhaps seeing her disappointment, Marquis Lin promised her that she would still be the young lady of the Marquis’s mansion. He even made Lin Yuan call her “sister,” and Lady Lin also said they would still love her like their own daughter.
But on that day, when they saw Lin Yuan break the Princess’s crystal bowl with their own eyes, when they saw Lin Yuan’s maid push the blame onto her, when they saw her being scolded by the Princess, when they saw her being sent to this laundry as a servant, they just stood there protecting Lin Yuan, not saying a word from beginning to end.
She then knew she could never be their daughter again.
“Qiao Nian, what are you still dazed about? Don’t keep the young master waiting!” The matron’s urging brought Qiao Nian back to her senses.
She looked up towards the entrance of the laundry and saw a tall, straight figure standing outside. The winter sunlight, carrying a hint of paleness, seemed to cast a phosphorescent glow on him.
Looking at that familiar yet strange face, Qiao Nian’s heart, which hadn’t felt much for a long time, suddenly ached unexpectedly.
It was Lin Ye.
The brother she had called for fifteen years, who once traveled thousands of miles to the south to find a rare night pearl for her, and who also pushed her off a two-story building for Lin Yuan.
After three years apart, that feeling of grievance that had disappeared for three years suddenly surged out.
Qiao Nian took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing that feeling of grievance, her face remaining calm and undisturbed.
She walked towards Lin Ye, only kneeling to pay her respects when she got close. Her voice was faint, with a hint of detachment, “This servant pays respect to the young master.”
Before coming, Lin Ye had imagined the scene of their sibling reunion.
He thought that, given her original personality, she would either throw herself into his arms, crying and complaining about the hardships of these years. Or she would be full of hatred, not even willing to see him.
He never expected that she would walk up to him so calmly and kneel down.
This was the sister he had doted on for fifteen years!
Her willfulness, her arrogance, were all spoiled by him.
How could she now…
Lin Ye felt as if an invisible hand was violently tearing at his heart. His hands behind his back clenched tightly, his throat seemed to be gripped by a hand. He took a deep breath before speaking, “Grandmother misses you dearly. The Empress, considering her advanced age, has specially allowed you to leave this place.”
After saying this, Lin Ye felt his tone was too harsh. He frowned, then bent down to help Qiao Nian up, intentionally softening his voice, “Come home with brother!”
Qiao Nian’s lowered eyes suddenly trembled twice.
Come home with brother!
Heaven knows how long she had longed for these six short words.
When she first came to the laundry, she hoped day and night that Lin Ye would come to take her back.
But day after day, hope turned into disappointment, and by now she no longer had any illusions about returning to the Marquis’s mansion.
Unexpectedly, he came.
She stepped back, discreetly freeing herself from Lin Ye’s hand, and bowed, “This servant thanks the Empress for her grace, and thanks the old madam for her kindness.”
Her tone was sincere, and her attitude was very respectful, but the unfamiliarity and distance conveyed in every word made Lin Ye’s heart ache even more.
He withdrew his hand, his brow furrowed into a knot, his tone inexplicably tinged with some annoyance, “Father never stripped you of your status. Although you’ve been in the laundry for three years, your household registration is still with the Marquis’s mansion. You were never a servant.”
How could the delicate girl he had doted on since childhood possibly be a servant?
But hearing these words, Qiao Nian only felt it was ironic.
For three years, she had to get up before dawn every day to wash clothes, washing until sunset, washing until her hands were blistered.
The matron in charge of the laundry would beat or scold her at the slightest provocation. Her status here was even lower than the lowest servant.
Status? Household registration?
What use were they?
Seeing Qiao Nian not speaking, Lin Ye could only take a deep breath, suppressing that inexplicable anger, and said, “The mansion has everything, you don’t need to pack anything. Let’s go, don’t keep Grandmother waiting.”
With that, he turned and left first.
He hadn’t walked far when he looked back and saw Qiao Nian following neither too close nor too far, her gaze fixed on the path ahead, not even glancing at him. Thinking of how she used to cling to him and act coquettishly, the anger in his heart became impossible to suppress.
So much so that his pace unconsciously quickened.
Three years ago, after Lin Ye pushed Qiao Nian off the small building, her ankle had been injured, and naturally, she couldn’t keep up now. By the time they reached the palace gate, Lin Ye had already boarded the Marquis’s carriage.
The coachman was an old servant of the household and recognized Qiao Nian.
Seeing Qiao Nian approach, he bowed, “This old servant pays respects to the young miss.”
Qiao Nian returned the bow, then boarded the carriage, sitting next to the coachman.
The coachman was a bit surprised, “Young miss, aren’t you going to sit inside?”
Qiao Nian shook her head, “It wouldn’t be proper.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a foot suddenly extended from inside the carriage, kicking Qiao Nian to the ground.
Lin Ye lifted the carriage curtain, filled with anger, “From the moment I saw you, you’ve been giving me attitude. If you don’t want to return to the Marquis’s mansion, then go back to your laundry and continue being a servant!”
Qiao Nian’s brow furrowed tightly, her face pale with pain. She feared her ankle had been twisted again.
Then she heard Lin Ye coldly question, “Or is it that you feel wronged, and you’re deliberately giving me the cold shoulder? Lin Nian, you enjoyed fifteen years of fortune in place of Yuan’er, and now you’ve only suffered for three years in her stead. What do you have to feel wronged about?”
“Since you’re unwilling to ride in the carriage back to the mansion, then you can walk back. It’ll give you time to think about what your status really is, and whether you have the right to put on this act for me! It’ll also prevent you from having this half-dead look on your face when you see Grandmother, which would only bring bad luck!”
After Lin Ye finished speaking, he abruptly dropped the carriage curtain and coldly barked at the coachman, “Back to the mansion!”
The coachman dared not disobey, but cast a worried glance at Qiao Nian before driving away.
Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Qiao Nian didn’t feel much emotion. After all, she had already been abandoned by those she loved most dearly three years ago.
Taking a deep breath, she struggled to her feet and limped towards the direction of the Marquis’s mansion.
However, it wasn’t long before a carriage stopped in front of her.
A hand with distinct knuckles lifted the carriage curtain, revealing a pair of cold, distant eyes. “Miss Lin?”
Note:
Qiao Nian and Lin Nian is the same person don’t get confused. Thank you!