Time: The sixth year of the Yongzheng reign. Huan Bi wakes from a coma to find herself dressed in a bright red wedding gown, sitting in a bridal sedan on its way to the Prince Guo’s residence.
Memories of her past life return:
Memories of her previous life come rushing back like a tide. She remembers that elegant, otherworldly figure handing her a handkerchief behind a rockery in the imperial garden. From that moment on, her heart no longer belonged to her. The illegitimate daughter of Zhen Yuandao, she spent her whole life trapped between being “the Zhen family’s second young lady” and “a personal maid.” At last, she married into the prince’s household as the adopted daughter of the Niuhulu clan, only to discover that Yunli’s heart already bore the imprint of someone else: her elder sister, Zhen Huan.
She still remembers that rainy night. In his study, Yunli drunkenly called out “Huan’er” again and again, while she stroked her swollen belly and wept in silence. When she struck her head against the coffin and died, it was not only to follow Yunli in death, but also a grief-stricken farewell to a lifetime of longing for what she could never have.
“This time, I, Yuyin, will never again be anyone’s stand-in.” She gripped the embroidered mandarin ducks hidden in her sleeve, her nails digging deep into her palm.
