Changing Marriages - chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was the same in my previous life. The Legal Mother placed the two family tokens in front of my Eldest Sister and me, letting us choose.

But I knew I never truly had a choice.

My Eldest Sister took the jade pendant and tossed the Sachet to me.

She married into the General’s Mansion with a ten-mile red wedding procession, while I was carried in a small sedan to marry Xie Yi’an.

Our destinies were supposed to match our birth: she was meant to be the exalted lady with an Imperial Mandate, while I was the insignificant wife of a minor official.

Who could have foreseen that on the very day my Eldest Sister married into the General’s Mansion, Huo Yao received an urgent military order to go to war alongside his father and brothers, and all the men of the Huo Family died on the battlefield.

Three months after her wedding, my Eldest Sister became a widow.

She wept and wailed for days, threatening to take her own life if she could not return home. The Legal Mother, distressed, comforted her, promising that as long as she observed mourning for Huo Yao for three years, the Legal Mother would find a way to bring her home.

But even I knew that was impossible.

The Huo Family was known for their loyalty and sacrifice. If my father dared to let my Eldest Sister return home, wouldn’t his colleagues scold him behind his back?

What’s more, my elder brother had just entered court as an official last year-it was a crucial time for him.

No matter how much he loved my Eldest Sister, he could never put her before his own son.

My Eldest Sister reluctantly stayed at the General’s Mansion for another two years, and during that time, she attempted suicide countless times.

The last time, the Old Madam of the General’s Mansion sent for my father and the Legal Mother, pointed at my Eldest Sister, and said:

“Take Guiyu home. She is still young-why let her waste her best years here?”

My father was so frightened he knelt and begged forgiveness, because the Old Madam was not only the lady of the General’s Mansion, but also the Emperor’s paternal aunt, Princess Zhaohua.

Back in their room, my father immediately slapped my Eldest Sister across the face and said viciously:

“Zheng Guiyu, even if you die, you can only die in the General’s Mansion!”

My Eldest Sister was unwilling to accept this.

Especially after she heard from my father that my husband, Xie Yi’an, had been appointed as an Imperial Academy Doctor, whose prospects were boundless.

She wanted to see me.

The Legal Mother came to invite me personally to comfort her, and I had no choice but to go. When I entered the General’s Mansion, I first met the Old Madam. She held my hand and sighed:

“Do your best to comfort your sister. I wish to let her return home, but your father…”

The Old Madam patted my hand and said tactfully:

“Your father is overly cautious.”

As I walked toward my Eldest Sister’s courtyard, I wondered: with the Old Madam being so high-ranking, gentle, and kind, what could my Eldest Sister possibly be dissatisfied with?

If only the elders of the Xie Family were so easy to get along with, I would laugh even in my dreams.

But I never imagined that my Eldest Sister, obsessively recalling the day we chose our marriages, had already lost her mind.

Clearly, she was the legitimate daughter.

Clearly, she should have been noble and honored, granted an Imperial Mandate!

In her resentment, my Eldest Sister killed me with a Golden Hairpin, then took her own life.

So when she realized she had been reborn, she could not wait to seize the marriage with the Xie Family.

Now, things are different. There’s no need to dream-my days of comfort and privilege are finally here.