Gu Zhaoxue died on a snowy night outside the Xie family ancestral hall. Only then did she understand that all her life, she had been a pawn the Gu family traded for a brighter future and a piece the Xie family used to test the winds.
When she opened her eyes again, she was back on the eve of her wedding.
This time, she would still marry into the Xie household in another woman’s place, still step through the vermilion gates that devoured people whole, but she would never again be a pushover for others to manipulate.
From her dowry being tampered with and servants testing her, to the main branch bearing down on her and old accounts coming to light, she planned every step carefully. First, she would secure her footing in the inner household, then make those from her past pay.
Everyone thought she was just a lowborn Gu daughter pushed forward to take the blow, incapable of making waves.
It was only later that the people of the Xie household realized that their quietest new bride was the most deeply concealed blade of all.
And the Xie family’s second young master, who had distrusted her from the start and watched her with cold indifference, gradually lost his composure through their repeated tests and the times they stood side by side.
