Huo Yuqing

Fifty li northwest of Star Luo City stood a sprawling estate covering roughly three thousand mu.

Its red walls were solemn, its golden tiles magnificent. From afar, it glittered with jeweled splendor, dazzling the eye.

It was said that this had once been a secondary residence of the White Tiger Dai Clan, the former imperial family of the Star Luo Empire.

Thousands of years ago, when the Star Luo Empire faced a crisis that threatened its very existence, the White Tiger Dai Clan, depleted of talent, stepped down to preserve the empire's integrity and handed the throne to the Star Crown Xu Clan.

Grateful for this, the new emperor bestowed upon the Dai Clan the title of hereditary Grand Duke, granting them wealth and honor for generations.

The current White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, had married the beloved youngest daughter of the current Star Luo Emperor. With great armies under his command and the border under his protection, his influence was unmatched.

And upon the grand gateway, five zhang tall, were three conspicuous words: Duke's Mansion.

Yet no matter how exalted its master's status, nor how splendid the estate appeared... there was no shortage of shameful, hidden filth within this magnificent residence.

At this moment, dawn had only just begun to break when a frail figure slipped out through a small gate on the north side of the Duke's Mansion.

She was a girl of eleven or twelve.

She was at the age when children shot up in height, so she was not especially short. But perhaps because she had not received enough nourishment, she was painfully thin. Even the slight protrusion of her throat could be seen along her slender, pale neck. The contours of bone were nearly visible at her wrists, while a frightening ring of bruises circled her left wrist.

She wore faded blue cloth garments, washed so often they had turned pale. The elbows had been carefully patched with fine, dense stitching, and a small bundle was slung across her back.

Her slightly coarse black hair was tied in a low ponytail, its ends even somewhat dry and yellowed. Her little face had not yet fully matured, but her delicate features already hinted at future beauty.

Most beautiful of all were her eyes—those deep blue pupils, half-veiled by curled lashes, seemed to conceal the stars themselves.

Yet her sickly pale complexion and her bloodless, dry, peeling lips greatly diminished her appearance.

The little girl looked flustered and uneasy, turning back with every step as though some man-eating monster lurked within the Duke's Mansion behind her, ready at any moment to pounce, tear her apart, and devour her.

She followed a narrow path up a small hill beside the Duke's Mansion, finally stopping in a clearing among the trees.

"Mother, I came to see you," the girl said softly.

There stood a small, low grave.

It was a little mound of earth, ringed with carefully selected stones that were at least somewhat pleasing to the eye. A roughly carved wooden gravestone stood before it, bearing the words: "Grave of Mother Huo Yun'er."

Below it were three characters—Huo Yuqing.

That was the little girl's name.

Her mother, Huo Yun'er, had been the White Tiger Duke's personal maid since childhood, having grown up alongside him. Her father was none other than the White Tiger Duke himself.

By all rights, she should have been called Dai Yuqing, an illegitimate young lady of the Duke's Mansion... but the White Tiger Duke had forgotten about mother and daughter for years, and in the end, he had not even granted Huo Yun'er a proper status.

Huo Yun'er had shared a trace of what could be considered childhood affection with Dai Hao, unlike the concubines he had casually taken in later. Among the women in the White Tiger Duke's inner residence, it was the Duchess who hated Huo Yun'er the most.

For the past ten years, the border had been tense, and the White Tiger Duke had remained stationed at the frontier. The Duchess had poured all her hatred for her husband's infidelity onto Huo Yun'er.

If she had not needed to consider the Duke's Mansion's reputation, the Duchess would likely have paid out of pocket to send Huo Yun'er and her daughter to a brothel.

Cutting off their basic necessities was commonplace, and hinting to the servants that they should torment Huo Yun'er and her daughter was an everyday occurrence.

The final straw came from the Duke's Mansion's second young master, Dai Huabin. He had ordered his men to beat the mother and daughter in the woodshed. Huo Yun'er had been severely injured while protecting her daughter.

Already in poor health, she struggled on for a week in that woodshed, lacking medicine and care, before finally passing away and leaving her helpless daughter alone in the world.

On the day her mother died, the girl abandoned the surname Dai and took her mother's surname, Huo.

Huo Yuqing carefully picked up the dead leaves around the grave, then pulled out every newly sprouted weed before leaning against the gravestone and sitting down.

Under the iron-gray light of dawn, the morning mist had yet to disperse. The ground was wet and cold as ice. Yet she only curled up slightly, clutching her small bundle tightly, with no intention of standing.

"Mother, I'm leaving the Duke's Mansion." Only after a long while did she speak again, pouring out her heart. "I know that before you left, you said the world outside the Duke's Mansion was very dangerous for a little girl with no one to rely on. No matter what, I was supposed to stay in the mansion until I grew up. But... but I..."

Her soft, quiet voice began to tremble, as though something were preventing her from saying the words.

"...I killed someone." Only after gathering her courage did she manage to utter those four words.

Like a frightened bird trying to hide beneath its mother's wings, the girl curled into herself, lowered her head, and leaned against the gravestone. Deep unease and fear filled her dark blue eyes.

"A servant who had only recently entered the mansion... I heard Granny Zhang say he was related somehow to a steward by the Duchess's side. He wasn't a good person either... Granny Zhang told me to stay away from him..."

She rambled on, speaking softly and quickly, her voice trembling as though she feared someone might hear clearly. "But he came looking for me... After I finished washing the clothes, I brought them to Granny Zhang. She gave me a Copper Soul Coin and a steamed bun... When I went back to the courtyard... he was standing there."

"His smile was strange... I was so scared. I didn't know what he wanted to do, and then he grabbed my hand." Huo Yuqing's slender fingers curled uneasily. Then she tugged at her sleeve, concealing the bruises around her wrist. "He pulled my hair. I couldn't break free... I didn't know what he was going to do... It was terrifying."

"I always carried the White Tiger Dagger... the one you gave me, Mother. I... I cut him apart." By then, her voice was trembling so badly it barely sounded like her own. As she recalled what had happened the night before, it felt as though warm blood were splashing across her face.

"I don't know what happened... the dagger gave off white light, and then he just broke apart like that." She began sobbing as though she were collapsing. "It was so scary. There was blood everywhere, blood everywhere..."

The girl choked on her sobs for a long while, then roughly rubbed the tears from her face with her sleeve.

"Mother, Mother, don't worry." Her voice was hoarse. "I'm just crying a little. I won't be afraid. Don't worry about me. I understand. If that person had taken me away, I would have encountered the terrible things you told me about. I won't regret killing him. Don't worry about me."

The girl repeated herself incoherently, telling her mother in the other world not to worry, while seeming to comfort herself as well.

At last, the panic and unease on her face were wiped away along with her tears. Only determination remained in her dark blue eyes.

The sun rose higher, and the sky was no longer as gloomy as before. Pale golden sunlight spilled across the ground, while dappled shadows swayed gently among the trees.

A pale gray swift, slightly larger than an ordinary swallow, landed on a branch.

"That person probably thought I was the daughter of some other servant and figured he could bully me however he wanted," Huo Yuqing said in a slightly hoarse voice. "Though my situation may have been even worse."

"I threw him into the well beside the woodshed," the girl said softly. "He wasn't much heavier than two basins of wet clothes."

Huo Lolita!

Woohoo! Perfect wife!