Lakeside

Half awake and half dreaming, Li Wei caught the cool, crisp scent of lily of the valley, like morning dew.

Then, sensation gradually returned to her body.

It felt as though sunlight was spilling over her, warm and comfortable.

She slowly opened her eyes, propped herself up, and looked around.

A carved wooden canopy bed, velvet curtains, all manner of refined and elegant furnishings, a cashmere carpet covered in intricate patterns...

If she had to rate it, there were only two words... high-end.

"So, we're here?" Li Wei muttered softly, feeling like it was all a little unreal.

She slid out of bed, tugged at her ivory silk nightgown, and padded barefoot to the open window, craning her head out curiously.

In an instant, a mirror-like lake filled her vision. Morning mist drifted over its surface like a fine veil.

A few wild ducks flapped their wings, their feet stirring up tiny ripples.

Farther away, on the opposite shore, a tower stood tall amid lush woods and scattered red-roofed houses.

From a distance, it looked like a Constable oil painting.

It gave Li Wei a sense of "teeming vitality, of all things bursting forth in fierce competition."

Wait, why did my heartfelt appreciation of beautiful scenery come with a Fenghua accent?

Click~

The sound of the bedroom door opening came from behind her.

Li Wei spun around sharply, every muscle in her body tensing.

But what she saw was a face five or six parts similar to her own.

Only, this face lacked the youth and vitality a young girl ought to have. Her complexion was sallow, her eye sockets sunken, and dark circles smudged beneath her eyes, as though she had not slept well in a long time.

Those hollow eyes stared fixedly at Li Wei, making her skin crawl and instinctively putting her on guard.

At last, the girl spoke, her voice icy. "Get dressed. Come downstairs."

With that, she turned and left. The dark gray house dress she wore made her back look dry and thin.

Her knees and ankles in particular looked especially prominent because her calves were so skinny, making her look rather awkward.

Was she Jiang Xue? What had happened to her?

Before Li Wei could think any further, two British women dressed as maids entered, each holding a tray with clothes and toiletries on it.

The two women glanced at Li Wei without saying a word, set down their things, and left. They were cold as ice.

Oh, for crying out loud, what an attitude...

Half an hour later, Li Wei and Jiang Xue sat facing each other in wicker chairs beside the lawn in the courtyard.

They wore identical dark gray house dresses, had identical aging hairstyles, and held identical expressionless faces.

A middle-aged butler with a blank expression stood nearby. Judging by his looks, he was Chinese. His face was stern, and he did not seem easy to talk to.

The British maids had vanished without a trace, and the enormous estate was utterly quiet.

Finally, Jiang Xue was the first to crack. Her voice carried a faint air of death. "You don't need to imitate me. Just learn the etiquette. My mother told me to tell you about the family, but I'm not in the mood right now. We'll talk tonight."

After saying that, she pointed at the butler beside her. "He belongs to the Gu Family. What you need to learn and what you need to know, he'll teach you."

A one-and-a-half-meter-tall captain flashed through Li Wei's mind. She put on much the same expression, looking even more dead inside than Jiang Xue. "No need for this, no mood for that... you're so damn cool..."

"...Don't imitate the way I talk..." Jiang Xue's mouth twitched slightly.

Li Wei rolled her eyes like a dead fish. "...Don't flatter yourself..."

"You!" Jiang Xue stamped her foot in anger, finally showing a little life.

She took two deep breaths, then sat back down. "Take your things!"

As she spoke, she dragged up an oversized handbag from beside her feet, one that looked extremely expensive.

The bag landed with a thud on the stone-carved tea table between them.

"These are the things you'll need to prove your identity when you return to the country!" she said irritably.

Li Wei craned her neck, wanting to open it and take a look, but felt that it would not be appropriate.

At that moment, however, the butler spoke. "Miss Jiang, according to the agreement, you must clearly explain the origins and uses of these items to our Young Madam."

"Young Madam?" Jiang Xue's face was full of mockery. "Her? She's nothing but a sacrificial pawn!"

She looked utterly unwilling and wanted to leave.

But under the pressure of the butler's piercing gaze, Jiang Xue yielded.

Irritably, she reached into the orange handbag. The first thing she took out was an ordinary-looking women's belt.

The belt was about three fingers wide, and its buckle consisted of two gold rings side by side, each a little larger than a one-yuan coin.

Can't find it by searching the book title? Try searching for the author instead—it may have simply been renamed!

It wasn't particularly pretty, but it had an indescribable feel to it.

Jiang Xue glanced at Li Wei. Seeing her blank expression, a mocking curve tugged at her lips.

"This is the standard-issue soft sword for the Jiang Family. Each one costs over ten million," Jiang Xue said.

"A sword? Ten million?" Li Wei was stunned, her face full of question marks.

Holy shit, they were going this big right from the start?

Jiang Xue found Li Wei's reaction highly satisfying. Look at that uncultured expression—trash was trash!

Ever since she had seen Li Wei, she had wanted nothing more than to tear her face apart.

Why?!

Why could a piece of trash like her marry Gu Jinzhi and become the Young Madam of the Gu Family?

Why did she have to give her identity to her?

Why was she... so much prettier than herself!?

She was the one who had been engaged to Gu Jinzhi! Even if she no longer wanted him, he was still hers. It wasn't some piece of trash's turn to pick him up!

Even if Li Wei was only a sacrificial pawn! Even if the entire marriage was fake! Jiang Xue still couldn't accept it!

Unfortunately, she didn't dare truly do anything to Li Wei...

Right now, she was little different from a prisoner.

The butler beside her was a sixth-rank expert Liang Qiushi had sent to keep watch over her.

Now, she could only use these petty tricks to strike at Li Wei's self-esteem.

Better make her see clearly what she was, obediently go die in Gu Jinzhi's place, and not entertain any crooked thoughts.

"Oh wow, this thing can tighten itself?"

Li Wei slipped the "belt" around the outside of her long dress. Once she fastened the clasp and gave it a gentle tug, some small mechanism beneath the two rings seemed to move, outlining her slender waist, so fine it could be held in one hand.

"Pretty comfortable. Not too loose, not too tight—just right."

Li Wei twisted left and right, her bearing too dreadful to look at.

Then she bent over and reached for the tops of her feet.

That pose made her look exactly like she was doing radio calisthenics...

After trying a few times, Li Wei looked up and asked Jiang Xue, "Hey, Miss Jiang, is the sword inside the belt?"

"Mhm..." Jiang Xue's mouth twitched.

"Then..." Li Wei asked curiously, "if I bend over too hard, will the sword slice through the belt and shave off my belly fat while it's at it?"

Jiang Xue looked at Li Wei's slender waist and squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth. "N-No. It looks like leather, but it's actually high-strength memory alloy."

"I see!" Li Wei understood. She began fiddling with the belt buckle again. "How do you draw the sword? Is it on this ring? If a man uses it, and his hand shakes while drawing the sword, would it... slash, and cut it off?"

After saying that, Li Wei gave the butler's crotch a mischievous glance.

The middle-aged butler, who had kept a straight face the entire time, abruptly took half a step back. His legs clamped tightly together, and even his face stiffened.

Jiang Xue: "..."

After a long silence, Jiang Xue finally raised her head to look at the sky and said weakly, "There's a hidden catch beneath the ring on the right. Press it."

Li Wei quickly reached over and felt around, then lightly pressed the spot.

A soft click sounded.

The gold ring on the right sprang out and instantly "grew longer," becoming a rod roughly fifteen centimeters long.

Looking more closely, the gold ring had split down the middle into two semicylindrical halves, with a densely coiled metal mesh connecting them. She gripped it, and it actually felt pretty good in the hand.

"Holy shit, that's amazing!" Li Wei pressed her palm against the top and pushed down hard. The gold ring closed again, and the rod retracted, as if it had never appeared.

Click! She pressed the hidden catch again, and the "sword hilt" popped out once more.

Click! Closed.

Click! Popped out.

That feeling, that position...

Li Wei gripped the "sword hilt" with one hand, planted the other on her waist, stood with her legs apart, and gazed at the distant lake in a contemplative pose.

Remembering the former glory of her little brother from her past life, she felt inexplicably wistful.

"Fun, isn't it?" Jiang Xue suddenly asked.

"Fun!" Li Wei answered without even thinking.

"Never played with one before, have you?" Jiang Xue asked again.

Li Wei: "..."

At the request of our many readers, we now offer an ad-free VIP membership feature.

Click to view