In the prime minister’s residence, a gloomy manor as oppressive as a prison, Su Yao, the eldest legitimate daughter, had long been shackled by fate until she could barely breathe.
Lüqi, her personal maid, had cried until her eyes were swollen and red like peaches. Trembling, she held out an old-fashioned black porcelain bottle to Su Yao, her voice filled with sorrow. “Miss, this is the ‘Butterfly Dream Gu’ the witch doctor gave us. Take it, and you’ll be able to escape this nightmarish life as the prime minister’s eldest legitimate daughter. You can leave your old name behind and be free.”
Su Yao stared blankly at the bottle. It gleamed eerily in the dim light, like a magic box holding her life and death. “This medicine can make me appear gravely ill, as if I were dead, for seven days. But the process is worse than death itself. If anything goes wrong, I may never wake up…” Lüqi wept uncontrollably, asking almost pleadingly, “Miss, are you really sure?”
Su Yao’s expression was so calm it was frightening, like a lake with no trace of life or movement. She slowly poured out the pill and swallowed it dry without the slightest hesitation. Its bitterness spread through her mouth, but how could that bitterness compare to the abyss of pain in her heart? She raised a hand, slow and weak, and gently wiped away Lüqi’s tears
It's the only romance novel I've read in one sitting recently. It's so good.