"An abandoned bastard of the general, still thinking of returning to the capital? What a foolish delusion!"
In the dim woodshed.
The little girl was forced to tilt her head back, her messy, straw-like hair sticking to her swollen face from the slap. Her large, vacant eyes held fear.
Her trembling hand instinctively covered her chest, a mournful and panicked cry escaping her: "This is Mother's keepsake... you can't..."
The servant raised his hand and struck the girl across the face.
Su Yunmo was knocked to the ground, her tender skin abraded, drawing blood. Tiny wounds seeped crimson droplets, and the glazed lock rolled onto the floor.
Her face deathly pale, she ignored the pain and reached out towards Lai Xi, "Please, don't, this is Mother's... Ah~"
Her hand was brutally crushed underfoot.
Lai Xi picked up the glazed lock, "If it weren't for your shameless mother setting a trap and spending a night with the general, how would you, this little slut, be able to speak here!"
The servant let out a scoff and kicked the small figure on the ground into a corner.
Lai Xi: "Dispose of her cleanly."
Su Yunmo struggled to crawl forward but was dragged back by her ankle.
The servant grabbed her by the neck and dangled her in mid-air.
"Please, let me go, Mother, Mother save Mo'er... save..."
Su Yunmo grunted, her breath suppressed. She opened her mouth in agony, only managing a gurgling sound.
Her eyeballs rolled upwards, unable to comprehend why these people were treating her this way.
She just wanted to survive.
A moment later, the limp body of the little girl was thrown to the ground, her hollow eyes still fixed in the direction of the door.
The woodshed door was closed.
Lai Xi walked out of the woodshed, holding the glazed lock, her face filled with joy.
It hadn't been in vain to raise this little bastard for three years. Now that the general's mansion was sending someone to claim her, it was time for her to repay the favor of being raised.
As long as she had the glazed lock, Qingqing could replace this little bastard and become the general's young lady, enjoying wealth and status for a lifetime!
Suddenly, a deafening thunderclap roared.
The sky, which had been clear moments ago, was now suddenly filled with thunder. The entire sky was shrouded in darkness.
Within the thunderclouds, a vast expanse of firelight flashed, like bloodstains.
Lai Xi was startled, cursing the heavens for being blind, for raining on her daughter's auspicious day. She quickened her pace towards the front courtyard.
No one noticed the streak of firelight in the sky that converged into a thin line and fell into the woodshed.
Inside the house.
Su Yunmo opened her eyes, a faint glow flashing in their depths.
Hadn't she died in a fire? How was she here?
Unfamiliar memories flooded her mind.
Su Yunmo, the child born to the general's concubine.
Her mother's family had fallen, and to climb higher, she had drugged the general and conceived a child with him. She had intended to soar to the heavens but was instead abandoned in a remote courtyard to fend for herself.
The child lost her mother at the age of two and had endured abuse and oppression for the past three years. Now, the general's mansion had sent someone to fetch her, only for her to be brutally killed.
This background was tragic enough.
She, the legitimate daughter of a marquis, had overnight become an abandoned little servant girl. The difference was extraordinary.
However, since she had been reborn, it meant the glazed lock had blocked her path to death.
Su Yunmo reached into her embrace, then frowned fiercely.
The glazed lock was gone!
"Brat, you're quite resilient, to not even die from this." The servant approached, dragging a sack.
Su Yunmo glanced at him and walked towards the exit. She vaguely remembered that the plump woman had gone to the front courtyard.
"Little slut, you stop right..."
Su Yunmo snapped her fingers.
*Bang!*
Something fell from the sky, smashing down. A scream erupted from inside the house, followed by silence.
Su Yunmo pushed the door open. The sky, which had been overcast, had now cleared completely, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
She placed her hand over her chest.
"Don't worry, since I've taken your body, I will fulfill your wish. What belongs to you, no one will take away!"
Front courtyard.
A Cai stood under the corridor, surveying the girl standing in the center of the courtyard.
Five-year-old Lai Qingqing, dressed in a blue long skirt, stood proudly in the courtyard, like a peacock waiting to be chosen.
Lai Xi, holding the glazed lock, scurried to the corridor with a bowed back, presenting the lock with both hands: "This is the token left by her mother. Please, miss, examine it."
A Cai fiddled with the glazed lock, its warm touch confirming it was genuine: "The item is correct."
It seemed this girl was indeed the general's child.
"The item is correct, but the person might not be."
A tender yet firm voice called out. A small, thin figure walked from a distance.
Her disheveled hair framed her forehead, and her large, sunken eyes held a cold pride that did not belong to her age.
Her dark pupils seemed to carry a lingering ferocity.
She walked towards everyone, her bare feet leaving bloody footprints with each step forward.
Lai Xi saw the figure and was shocked and flustered.
This girl wasn't dead? How was that possible!
"Presumptuous! How dare you offend our esteemed guest! You have no manners at all! Quickly, someone drag her away!"
Two or three servants moved towards Su Yunmo.
Su Yunmo narrowed her eyes sharply, and the killing intent she exuded suddenly made them all tremble. The chill emanating from her core made it impossible for them to approach.
Lai Xi cursed them as useless.
Su Yunmo walked through the crowd as if they were not there, reaching the center of the courtyard. She looked up at A Cai, her gaze falling on the item in her hand: "Give me back the glazed lock."
This was her protective charm; she couldn't let anyone else have it.
A Cai's gaze swept over the two children in the courtyard, finally settling on Su Yunmo, who looked like a colorful magpie: "You say it's yours, what proof do you have?"
Su Yunmo lowered her gaze.
When this body's original owner was two years old, that woman had passed away. Apart from the glazed lock, there was no other evidence to prove her identity.
"You are here to identify the person. Proving my identity is your responsibility."
Her words shocked everyone.
Although A Cai was a servant, she was the personal maid of the general's wife and managed all affairs of the general's mansion.
She herself was from a military family, but because her family had died on the battlefield, she was raised in the Zhou family. The Emperor himself had bestowed upon her the title of "Loyal Pearl," and even high-ranking officials in the capital had to show her respect.
Su Yunmo dared to speak to her in such a tone, showing utter disregard for her own life.
Lai Xi's palms began to sweat. She bowed and scraped to A Cai, "Miss, please don't be angry. This girl is foolish. Please don't hold it against her."
The words of a fool couldn't be trusted, so Su Yunmo's claim that the glazed lock was hers was also madness and shouldn't be believed.
Lai Qingqing, having been instructed on how to handle such a situation, pointed at Su Yunmo and scolded, "You don't even know, yet you dare to impersonate? How shameless!"
She then turned to A Cai, "Sister, you don't need to ask her, ask me. I know Mother's name is Wu Qian, she is the third daughter of the Wu family, and my father is the general."
Lai Xi thought her daughter was truly clever, but she didn't notice A Cai's expression gradually turning cold.
Lord Wu had been executed for corruption. Wu Qian was the daughter of a criminal, and after narrowly escaping death, she had been abandoned here to fend for herself, never daring to reveal her real name.
Su Yunmo: "Although I cannot prove it, someone can. They, mother and daughter, wanted to impersonate me and sent people to kill me. The person is still in the woodshed."
A Cai's eyes flickered. She gave a signal to the guards, who immediately went to the woodshed. After a short while, they returned, their faces showing a complex expression.
"There is indeed someone in the woodshed."
Lai Xi's heart leaped. She cursed the idiot for being useless, still standing there instead of running.
A Cai: "Why didn't you bring the person?"
The guard glanced at Su Yunmo and said with a slight tremor, "They are dead. Three ribs were broken, and they were crushed to death by a roof beam."