Chapter 1247

That household had two daughters, both ruined by Zhao Kang.

The wife Zhao Kang has now married is Li Shi, the daughter of Aunt Li next door to Tian Yulan.

Zhao Kang was a lecherous sort, dallying with women on one hand and gambling on the other.

That night, Li Shi suddenly developed a stomachache. After summoning a physician, the physician told her she was pregnant!

"Twins?" Li Shi was stunned.

The physician shook his head. "The pulse doesn't suggest it. It may have been a miscarriage."

Li Shi cried her eyes out.

Her maiden family had no means; if she gave birth to the child, she certainly couldn't raise it, so she could only give up the child and raise herself.

When Zhao Kang heard she was pregnant, for some reason he actually agreed to let Li Shi keep the child — but she had to raise it herself.

Li Shi was overjoyed.

Though she doted on her daughter, a daughter was after all a money-losing good; if she could keep the child in her belly, she'd come out ahead.

"I want egg custard, go make me egg custard right now!" Li Shi ordered a maidservant to the kitchen to cook egg custard.

The maidservant answered and ran quickly into the kitchen.

They hadn't expected that Zhao Kang had not rested in Tian Yulan's room that night, so the kitchen was empty, and no eggs had been cooked.

Li Shi grew anxious and shouted at the maidservant: "No egg custard? What, are you trying to starve me to death? I'll tell you, I won't live, I'd rather hang myself than get rid of this child!"

The maidservant panicked and looked pleadingly toward Tian Yulan.

"Second Sister, Sister-in-law's stomach hurts terribly. I'll go find Mother, you go cook her a bowl of egg custard." Tian Yulan rose and said.

She left in such a hurry that she didn't notice Zhao Kang behind her, staring at her.

After Tian Yulan walked out of the kitchen, Zhao Kang sauntered in and said to Li Shi: "Stop crying, I've already had the egg custard sent over."

Li Shi wiped her tears: "Fourth, thank you! I'll never forget this kindness in my whole life!"

Zhao Kang snorted, sat down at the table, and asked her: "How's Tian Tian? Have you been bullying her?"

Li Shi pouted: "How could I possibly bully her?"

Tian Yulan carried a bowl of hot porridge and set it beside Li Shi's bed: "Mother, drink it while it's hot."

Li Shi gratefully patted Tian Yulan's arm and said: "Yulan, you're a kind child. Whoever marries into our family in the future will have earned the good fortune of eight lifetimes."

Tian Yulan smiled faintly and said nothing.

Tian Jiao stood outside the door, quietly listening to them talk.

She lowered her eyes, turned silently and left.

Back in her room, she lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

She thought of the original host's childhood.

As a child, the original host was introverted and steady, showing nothing out of the ordinary — yet she was the sole exception.

She remembered clearly: the year the original host was ten, Zhao Kang took Tian Yulan back to the old house to visit Grandfather and Grandmother.

Grandmother disliked her and her brother, deliberately made things hard for them, even called her a disaster star who had killed her own mother, and told them to get out and never set foot in the Tian family again.

That winter the wind cut like a knife; Tian Tian hid under the covers, shivering.

The once-warm bed turned icy cold.

The original host caught a chill and lay sickly, not recovering for half a month.

Meanwhile Tian Yulan was flourishing.

The original host, disheartened, decided to move out of the Tian family and take her brother with her.

Before leaving, the original host went to burn incense for Grandfather and Grandmother, hoping they would clear up the misunderstanding and take her and her brother back.

In the end, Grandmother pushed the original host over, she cracked her head, fell into a coma for a year, and lost her memory when she woke.

She even forgot her own name; she only remembered Tian Jiao calling her Yulan.

Later she was sold to Tian Fugui's household as a child bride, and Tian Fugui and his wife had three more sons.

Because Tian Jiao was a mute and could not help her maiden family, Tian Fugui and his wife never treated her as a daughter.

Tian Jiao's life in the Tian household was very harsh.

The original host proposed splitting the family again and again, but each time was refused.

She never got the chance to split the family.

Her days in the Tian household were terrible — no one even cared whether she lived or died, as if she didn't exist, not worth caring about.

Her maiden family was even worse: because she was a mute, her father found her an eyesore, beat her mother viciously, and drove her mother out of the Tian household.

Her mother was forced to wander the streets.

Later, her mother fell ill and died.

She met Tian Fengshou again.

That evening, Tian Fengshou passed by a broken-down temple, saved her when she was at death's door, and brought her back to the Tian household.

Tian Yulan and Tian Fengshou grew up together as childhood sweethearts.

She liked Tian Fengshou, but Tian Fengshou's heart was set on another little sister — Tian Jiao.

Tian Yulan secretly loved Tian Fengshou.

She knew she wasn't worthy of Tian Fengshou, and understood his status, so she could only study hard, and after passing the provincial examination, return to the Tian family.

But she never got her wish.

Until a few years later, when Tian Yulan met Ximen Wudi in town.

Ximen Wudi was strikingly handsome, a provincial graduate too, with vast learning, much sought after by the sons of noble houses in Jingcheng.

Tian Yulan used the excuse of attending the provincial examination to meet Ximen Wudi.

Later, Ximen Wudi placed first in the imperial examination, and Tian Yulan was granted a marriage to him by imperial decree.

After the wedding, Tian Yulan and Ximen Wudi got along well, and gradually developed the affection of husband and wife.

Tian Yulan was overjoyed, but she also feared the censure of the elders of the Tian family. She hid it from everyone, quietly packed her luggage, and prepared to follow Ximen Wudi away from the Tian family to enjoy a life of ease at the Qin family.

1065 What the hell are you up to!

1065 What the hell are you up to!

She had just finished packing her bundle when she heard a maidservant come calling Tian Yulan to eat breakfast.

Tian Yulan immediately dropped the bundle and headed for the kitchen.

But no sooner had she entered the kitchen than she spotted her wet nurse Zhao Kang sitting on a stool with a sinister look.

Tian Yulan went pale with fright: "K-Kang-ge…"

Zhao Kang raised his eyes, his gaze dark and menacing: "You're going to elope with him?"

Tian Yulan gave a shudder: "N-no…"

"Heh." Zhao Kang suddenly laughed coldly. "You think your old man's an idiot!"

Tian Yulan lowered her head and said nothing.

She knew her wet nurse disliked her most of all.

If her wet nurse found out she planned to elope with Ximen Wudi, she would certainly not let her off!

"You've been acting strange lately," Zhao Kang said. "Last night you were sneaking around—who knows what the hell you were up to!"

His tone was chilling, as though he wanted to kill someone.

Tian Yulan was scared out of her wits: "No, Kang-ge, you're wronging me."

"Good," Zhao Kang narrowed his eyes. "You behave yourself for me! Don't think that just because you can leave with him, I really can't do anything about you! Let me tell you—if he dares marry you, I'll break his legs!"

Tian Yulan nodded stiffly: "Oh."

Seeing her so meek and weak-willed, Zhao Kang was instantly inflamed with rage.

"Get the hell out of here!" Zhao Kang pointed at the door and roared. "Don't ever show your face in front of me again!"

"Yes." Tian Yulan meekly retreated out of the kitchen.

Her heart was pounding.

Tian Yulan's gaze grew more and more venomous.

Zhao Kang's attitude toward Tian Yulan was vicious, and Tian Yulan's heart was filled with hatred, but she could not let it show.

She endured humiliation and lived on, climbing step by step to a high position.