Yet in My Heart - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I am very delicate.

Literally.

Everyone in Shangjing knows the Song Family has a sickly beauty who sways like a willow in the wind and starts panting after just a few steps.

Three steps, and I cough blood. Five steps, and I faint.

Rumor has it I was born with this illness. In other words, I am the very picture of a fragile beauty.

Even my name sounds light as a feather.

Song Roujia.

“Roujia.”

Lian Sheng, the eldest son of the Lian Family, called to me gently.

I covered my face and returned the greeting.

This was my fiancé.

In less than ten days, we would be formally betrothed.

“Is your health still all right, Roujia?”

Weakly, I said, “Well enough.”

“Good.”

He looked hesitant, as if there were something he could not bring himself to say.

After he left, I happened to overhear a few whispers.

The gist of it was that my fiancé, Lian Sheng, had found his true beloved a few days ago.

But that beloved…

was not me.

Chapter 2

After I returned home, Mother looked at me with deep worry.

I coughed twice and said sweetly, “Mother.”

“Make your voice a little softer. You’re not quite convincing.”

I tightened my throat.

“Mother…”

Only then did Mother let me off.

Supported by my personal maid, I slowly and leisurely made my way back to my room.

The moment Lan Xiang shut the door and turned around, she saw me swinging my fists and letting out two sharp, martial shouts.

She was so frightened she lunged forward and covered my mouth.

I flailed wildly.

I had been holding it in for far too long.

“Miss, endure it a little longer! Just a little longer!”

Back on Chang’an Street, those words had clearly been meant for me to hear. I had been so furious smoke could have poured from every orifice.

But outwardly, I had only reddened my eyes, let out a little sob, and come home.

This Lian Sheng was truly dishonest.

I slapped my palm down on the dressing table.

A moment later, with a crack, the dressing table split cleanly in two.

I sneered inwardly.

If he dared to be dishonest before the wedding, would he not try to ascend to heaven after it?

Mother knocked on my door.

She had clearly heard the commotion and called me to her room.

I answered in a gentle voice.

When the servants in the residence saw me wrapped in a heavy cloak, my face pale, my lowered lashes trembling faintly, they all felt sorry for me.

Who could have imagined that the only daughter left in the loyal and valiant General’s Mansion would be so pitiful?

Chapter 3

The marriage between the Song Family and the Lian Family had been arranged long ago.

Back then, Father and my brothers had not yet died in battle, and the Lian Family went out of their way to curry favor with us.

Father held me in his arms and asked whether I liked Lian Sheng.

I had always liked fair, clean-looking people.

Naturally, I said I liked this handsome young gentleman with his flushed cheeks.

But after the marriage was settled, Father and my brothers died at the border. His Majesty, mindful of their service, forbade anyone from trampling on the General’s Mansion.

Mother straightened her back and held me as we saw off Father and my brothers’ coffins.

Only one family could not smile.

The Lian Family.

The Lian Family had a hundred years of history and a household full of scholars.

In the future, they were all meant to pass the imperial examinations and become officials.

But now, the General’s Mansion was nothing more than an empty shell. How could it help Lian Sheng in his official career?

The Matriarch of the Lian Family was extremely dissatisfied.

And yet she could not show it on her face.

If you asked the people of Shangjing, I was the descendant of men who had rendered great service and ought to be treated kindly.

If the Lian Family broke off the engagement now, would they still want the spotless reputation they had maintained for a century?

People would curse them behind their backs.

And so, the marriage was dragged out.