HLnovel I don't want the title "Chapter 1".
I don't want the title "Chapter 1".
Sheng Yunyang sat in front of the mirror and slowly moved her hand away from her eyes.
The mirror reflected a small face, one side fair and clean, but the other side had a fist-sized scar below her eye, almost taking up half of her face, as if it had been branded with a hot iron.
"Tch, ugly people always have something to say!" The maid behind her sneered while cracking melon seeds. "I say, Fourth Miss, with a face like yours, how dare you go and join in the fun at Third Miss's coming-of-age ceremony? Aren't you ashamed? You should know that His Highness the Third Prince is also coming to Third Miss's coming-of-age ceremony today!"
"Everyone in the capital knows that His Highness the Crown Prince has been deposed, and the Third Prince is about to become the Crown Prince. The Third Prince has taken a liking to our Third Miss, and from now on, our Third Miss will be the Crown Princess!"
Sheng Yunyang turned her head, stared at her coldly, and said stiffly, "Today is also my coming-of-age ceremony, why can't I go!"
"Hahaha," the maid seemed to be doubled over with laughter at her words: "Third Miss is a celestial being, the future Crown Princess. You, a toad, are you going to embarrass yourself?"
Sheng Yunyang stood up angrily and walked towards the maid.
The maidservant called out with a grin, "Everyone come and see! The toad is trying to hit someone!"
Sheng Yunyang rushed out the door, and just as she was about to grab the maid, several old women suddenly stormed into the courtyard, pinned Sheng Yunyang down, and ordered, "Take her away!"
Sheng Yunyang struggled, "What are you doing?"
The old woman raised her hand and slapped her across the face. "What are you doing? Fourth Miss, today is Third Miss's coming-of-age ceremony. On such an important day, you actually secretly ruined Third Miss's dress and hid a needle in it, injuring Third Miss. Who gave you the guts! You really are a stupid country bumpkin, always resorting to such underhanded tricks!"
“You’re talking nonsense, I didn’t!” Sheng Yunyang retorted.
The old woman snorted coldly, "Whether it's true or not, go tell the Duke and the Old Madam!"
Sheng Yunyang was dragged to the main hall. The old lady of the Sheng State Duke's mansion, Madam Li, sat at the head of the table, with the Duke himself beside her. Madam Lan, the Duchess of Sheng's wife, sat below them. The third daughter, Sheng Yunzhu, sat pale and frail beside Madam Lan. On the other side, a magnificent gown lay on a chair, embroidered with gold thread. Perhaps to match Sheng Yunzhu's name, it was adorned with lustrous pearls and rubies, shimmering brilliantly in the light.
In contrast, the lotus-root-colored dress that Sheng Yunyang was wearing was so plain that it didn't even have any patterns. It was only slightly better made of fabric than the dress worn by the maid. This was the dress she would be wearing for her coming-of-age ceremony today.
It's a pity that the extremely gorgeous dress had several cuts, and there were still faint traces of embroidery needles stuck in it.
Sheng Yunzhu collapsed into Madam Lan's arms, sobbing. "Mother, I know my sister hates me, but you sewed this dress for me yourself, and I really love it. I never imagined my sister would do such a thing. The Third Prince is coming to my coming-of-age ceremony today, what am I going to do? Waaah..."
Lan held her in her arms tenderly, gently comforting her, then looked at Sheng Yunyang with a headache, "Yunyang, how could you do such a thing? Why did you ruin your sister's dress?"
"Mother, it wasn't me..."
Sheng Yunyang was forced to kneel on the ground by two old women, but she still stubbornly raised her head and looked at the beautiful woman in front of her, explaining word by word, "I did not damage Sheng Yunzhu's dress, nor did I hide a needle in it."
"Who else could it be but you!" The old woman slapped Sheng Yunyang hard across the face, causing blood to seep from the corner of Sheng Yunyang's mouth and her fair cheek to swell up instantly.
Her face was only the size of a palm, one half of it was swollen and red from being beaten, while the other half had a horrifying scar the size of a fist. Her chin was pointed, and her cheeks were thin, making her large eyes appear even more striking and eerie.
Seeing her stubborn look, the old woman raised her hand and slapped her across the face twice more, spitting out, "You're unrepentant! I think you're just jealous of the Third Miss!"
"I didn't!" Sheng Yunyang shouted.
Madam Lan clutched her chest, seemingly unable to bear it, "Yun Yang..."
Suddenly, Sheng Yunzhu exclaimed in surprise.
"Third Miss, what's wrong!"
"Zhuzhu, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to Sheng Yunzhu, and they looked at her with concern.
Sheng Yunzhu seemed to be enduring the pain as she pulled open her sleeve, revealing her arm. Several beads of blood oozed from her arm, as if she had been pricked hard with a needle.
She hurriedly covered her arm as if to hide her feelings, "I'm fine, Mother, I... I believe my sister didn't mean it. She liked my dress and said she wanted to wear it for her coming-of-age ceremony. She asked me for it several times, but because Mother sewed it for me herself, I was reluctant to part with it, so I refused her. It was my fault. I shouldn't have refused. I'm the one who stole my sister's identity. I gave her everything she wanted. I can't blame my sister..."
Sheng Yunyang stared intently at her as she listened to her words, tears welling in her eyes as she tried to hold them back. But the emotions that had been building up for so long finally exploded. "Then give them back to me! Give me back my identity, my parents, my family! Get out!"
Enraged, Duke Sheng stood up and slapped Sheng Yunyang across the face, shouting, "Insolence!"
Sheng Yunyang coughed up blood, looked up at her imposing father, and said, "Father, am I wrong? I am your biological daughter, what is she? Tell me! Tell me! What is Sheng Yunzhu!"
Sheng Yunzhu, the third daughter of the Duke of Sheng's mansion, was not actually of the Duke's bloodline. Fifteen years ago, during the turmoil in the capital, Lady Lan, the wife of the Duke of Sheng's mansion, went into premature labor outside the city. In the chaos, she entrusted her newborn daughter to a wet nurse, who then took her away to avoid disaster. It wasn't until three years later that the Duke of Sheng's family found the wet nurse's hometown and brought the third daughter back, unaware that they had taken the wrong child.
The wet nurse wanted her granddaughter to enjoy wealth and luxury, so she deliberately switched two girls of similar age. The whole family followed Sheng Yunzhu to the capital to enjoy a life of luxury, while the real daughter of the Duke of Sheng's mansion had her face disfigured and was abandoned in the countryside.
It wasn't until ten years later, when the wet nurse's son got drunk and revealed the truth, that the real story came to light. The Duke of Sheng's mansion hurriedly sent people to the countryside to bring their daughter back. However, they couldn't bear to part with their original third daughter, Sheng Yunzhu, whom they had raised for over ten years. So they came up with a compromise: they would announce to the outside world that the two were twins. Thus, Sheng Yunzhu remained the third daughter, while the one they brought back was named Sheng Yunyang and became the fourth daughter.
Sheng Yunzhu's voice choked with sobs: "Father, Mother, since my sister still can't accept me, please forgive my filial impiety, Father, Mother, and Grandmother. I'll leave!"
As she spoke, she struggled to get up, but Madam Lan held her back with heartache.
Old Madam Li pounded her cane and said angrily, "Why are you leaving? If anyone should leave, it should be this wild girl! She's an ungrateful thing! I should never have brought her back from the countryside. What good could someone raised in such a filthy place be? Ever since she came back to the Duke's mansion, she's been competing with you in everything, trying to outdo you. If she can't have something, she'll destroy it, causing chaos in the Duke's mansion! And since she came, Yao-ge'er has died in battle, and Yi-er has left home and hasn't returned yet. I think she's a nemesis, a scourge!"
Not long after Sheng Yunyang returned to her residence, Sheng Junyao, the heir of the Sheng State Duke's Mansion, died on the battlefield. Not long after, the second young master, Sheng Junyi, also left the capital and disappeared without a trace, never to return.
In the past, everyone praised the Duke of Shengguo's mansion for having two outstanding talents who excelled in both literature and martial arts. Now, one is dead and the other has disappeared, leaving only a twelve or thirteen-year-old child.
Madam Li's words brought tears to Madam Lan's eyes again, and she almost fainted.
She leaned against the nanny's chest and said weakly to Sheng Yunyang, "Yunyang, whatever you want, your mother has never shortchanged you. It's just a dress. If you want it, just tell your mother. How could you do such a thing and say such a thing? Yunzhu is your sister. Why do you sisters have to make such a fuss? Fine, apologize to Zhuzhu and this matter will be over."
"I said it wasn't me, why should I apologize!" Sheng Yunyang shouted, her eyes red.
"Fine, still dare to be stubborn! Guards, hold her down and give her the family discipline! Beat her until she admits her mistake!" Old Madam Li shouted.
Sheng Yunzhu raised her eyes and gave the old woman a wink.
The old woman immediately took the torn dress and said, "Since Fourth Miss wants this dress so much and refuses to admit her mistake, then she shall wear this dress and receive the family punishment!"
Sheng Yunyang looked up and glanced at everyone in the hall: her grandmother, Madam Li, her father, Duke Sheng, her mother, Madam Lan... all of whom were her closest relatives.
Madam Lan seemed reluctant and turned her face away.
Two old women held Sheng Yunyang down and forcibly put the dress, which was full of needles, on her. They then pressed her down on a bench and swung a thick rattan cane heavily onto her back.
One, two... ten.
Thirty strokes.
Sheng Yunyang coughed up two more mouthfuls of blood.
Madam Lan said with heartache, "Yunyang, we're all family. Just admit your mistake, okay?"
Sheng Yunyang laughed, but it looked more like a grimace. "Family? What kind of family am I? The maids and servants in this house can all scold and beat me. If it were Sheng Yunzhu, would you be willing to do that?"
“I was wrong. I was wrong to be your daughter and to have the delusion that you could be my family.”
"You ungrateful thing! Everything you eat, wear, and use belongs to the Duke's mansion. What, you think you're being wronged by returning to the Duke's mansion? In that case, throw her out! Even if she dies outside, never set foot in the Duke's mansion again!" Old Madam Li shouted.
The old woman pulled her off the stool and threw her to the ground. "Fourth Miss, you can leave, but since you're so stubborn, don't take anything from the Duke's mansion!"
Sheng Yunyang struggled to get up from the ground, and after three or four attempts, she finally stood up unsteadily.
With her hands, already stained with blood, she slowly removed her outer garment.
The blood had long since stained her inner garments, and the needles stuck in her body were covered in blood droplets, shimmering red.
She removed the hairpin from her hair, then took off her shoes, leaving her bare feet, and slowly asked,
"Is it okay?"
"Wait! Fourth Miss, the Duke's Mansion is not a place you can come and go as you please. You can't let the matter of you hiding needles in your dress and injuring the Third Miss go like this. If you want to leave, you'll have to go through the needles first!" The old woman scattered a handful of sharp needles in front of Sheng Yunyang.
"Yunyang, I beg you, just admit your mistake..." Madam Lan was almost crying herself to death.
Sheng Yunyang slowly raised her foot and stepped on the needle tip. The needle pierced her foot, and blood instantly flowed onto the ground.
Sheng Yunyang took one step forward, then another.
"I don't want the name Sheng Yunyang anymore."
"Yunyang, Yunyang..."
As if realizing something, Madam Lan struggled to get up and stop her, "Yunyang, you can't treat your mother like this..."
Sheng Yunyang's slender figure paused slightly before she slowly turned her face around.
The bloodshot in his eyes reflected the tears that wouldn't fall, making them look as if they were filled with blood.
She slowly curled the corners of her lips into a smile, and raised her arm, revealing that the sleeve of her inner garment was a bit too short.
"Mother, the person I hate the most is you."
“Since I came to this house, I have hardly had a hot meal. The food delivered to my courtyard every day is either swill or leftovers. The maid put sand in my food to tease me. I smashed the bowl and went to tell you. As a result, Sheng Yunzhu said that I was picky and took my anger out on the maid because the food was not to my liking. She said that the maid secretly subsidized the kitchen every day to satisfy me. You believed her and gave her extra money out of pity, telling me not to be too picky.”
"You said servants are people too, how can I take my anger out on them?"
"The fabrics sent to my courtyard were plundered layer by layer, leaving only the old-fashioned colors and no one to cut them. They were all taken away by the maids and sold off. My monthly allowance has never reached my hands. I have no new clothes to wear, and you sigh and complain, thinking that I am deliberately trying to embarrass you."
“I have been at your residence for a long time and I don’t even have a proper undergarment. It was my second aunt who saw me when she was still there and secretly made a few sets for me and sent them over.”
“After my elder brother passed away, you fell ill. You also began to believe the rumors that I was your nemesis. You then avoided me and rarely saw me anymore. Sheng Yunzhu told you every day what I had fought with her for and what I had stolen from her. You cried and said it was because I grew up in the countryside and was inevitably a little naive.”
“Mother, they say you used to be the most beautiful woman in the capital. You must be very disappointed to have an ugly daughter like me. But you don’t have to be disappointed anymore.”
"Just pretend you never gave birth to me, just pretend... you gave birth to Sheng Yunzhu."