Unparalleled Beauty

That day, her mother dressed her in a little servant girl’s clothes and braided her hair. The cries and pleas of the servants filled her ears, along with the sound of metal tearing through flesh and joints. Her mother gathered her into her arms and hugged her tightly, then hung a jade pendant around Li Yunni’s neck. She called over Madam Meng, the wet nurse who had always cared for Li Yunni, and pushed the child into her arms. Then she opened the secret passage inside the room and sent Madam Meng in before closing the entrance...