Chapter 1 Qinghe Palace, Part One

July, 1182, morning.

Raindrops kept falling from the eaves.

The drops hit the ground, shattering and splashing—some scattered into the air, some landed on the brown corners of the wall.

Under the eaves, by the wall, two people were standing.

One was a young man, thin and no more than a teenager, his face flushed red, dressed in a faded blue Daoist robe.

His long black hair was tied up in a Daoist bun, held in place by a brown wooden crescent-shaped crown.

The edges of the wooden crown were still rough and unpolished.

Standing opposite him was a beautiful woman, wearing a veil, with bright eyes and fair skin.

She had a graceful figure, dressed in a plain white dress that reached only to mid-thigh, revealing her fair skin. On her feet were brown leather boots that reached up to her knees, and around her waist was a jade-green belt made of jade and leather.

"Brian Brooks, I might have to go to the capital soon. I probably won't be able to visit you as often in the future."

The woman's voice was gentle and clear, as pure as a mountain spring.

"Didn't you promise me you wouldn't go to accompany that Duma Lan anymore!?"

The young man gritted his teeth, forcing the words out from between them.

"I did promise you."

The woman nodded. "So the one I'm with now isn't Duma Lan."

She sighed softly and turned to look at the dense forest beyond the rain outside the eaves.

In the dark green and brown forest, the wind made the branches sway constantly.

The sound of rustling leaves and the patter of raindrops mixed together, indistinguishable from each other.

"In this world, if you don't want to be bullied, you have to find every way to climb up.

Don't you understand this by now?"

The woman spoke softly.

"I don't want to be like this either, but besides my looks, what else do I have to use as leverage?

At the very least, I'm luckier than other ordinary women. At least I still have hope of turning my life around!"

She opened a pouch at her lower back, took out a small bundle wrapped in pale yellow oiled paper, and handed it to the young man.

"Father and mother passed away early. In this world, it's just the two of us siblings relying on each other. Brian Brooks, this is what I've saved up over the years. Take it." She handed over the oiled paper bundle.

These past years, ever since she figured things out, the woman had sold everything she had to that person for a decent price, in exchange for her and her brother's safety and a life free from want.

Moreover, inside this paper bundle was something her brother had wanted for a long time.

Thinking of this, the woman unconsciously pressed her hand to the back of her thigh.

Even through the dress, she could feel waves of pain.

For that thing, she had given up her dignity and become someone else's plaything.

But it was worth it.

With this money, plus that item, it should be enough for her brother's living expenses for many years after she left. "Take it. Don't worry, I will definitely make sure we live..." Pa!

The young man slapped the oiled paper bundle hard.

The bundle was knocked away, rolling into the rain, tumbling a few times in the wet mud, scattering a pile of paper money and copper coins of various sizes.

"Who the hell wants your dirty money!"

The young man suddenly looked up and shouted, "You think if you don't say anything, others won't know?

You think money can buy a good life!?

You think no one knows about the things you do all day!?

Do you know what people say about you behind your back!?"

"You know nothing!

You think being played by others is fun and enjoyable, huh!?

You may not care about your reputation, but I do!"

"How did our parents teach us back then?

Have you forgotten everything?"

"I, Brian Bolton, from this day on, will no longer acknowledge you as my sister! Take your dirty money and get out of here!"

Pa!

He slapped the woman hard across the face.

He turned and left, soon disappearing into the depths of the forest in the rain.

The woman was stunned for a moment. Her right cheek was red and slowly swelling, but she didn't care. She hurried out from under the eaves, ran to the scattered bundle, and crouched down to pick up the paper money one by one from the ground.

She picked them up carefully, but unfortunately, the rain and mud, along with the bundle rolling on the ground, had ruined most of the older bills.

Those ruined and blurred ones could no longer be used and had to be discarded.

This meant that most of her previous efforts had gone to waste... As she picked up the money, drops of water suddenly fell on the back of her hand, but these drops didn't seem to be raindrops.

Tears blurred her vision, and her hands were covered in mud.

"It's not his fault. He's still young, doesn't understand, doesn't know the importance of money. In the future, in the future he'll..." She didn't finish, just wrapped the money and items back into the oiled paper bundle, squatted there in the rain, choking back sobs, muttering to herself, not knowing what she was saying.

*** Great Ling, February 1183.

Pingyu Road, Huaxin County, Qinghe Palace.

Cruciform red flowers swayed gently on the trees in the wind, and from the tip of a petal, a drop of dew slid down.