A person's luck in life was probably allotted at a clearly marked price.
Chu Zhaohua felt as though she had used up all her luck in the first half of her life, leaving her unable to steal many peaceful days in the second.
She had intended to spend the rest of her life in the company of the Bodhisattva, never imagining that trouble could still come knocking even after she became a nun without shaving her head.
First, not long after arriving in Jiangnan, she discovered she was pregnant. Yet that vile spawn was stubborn as a bone-she failed to kill him even with such a heavy dose of abortion medicine, and only damaged her own health further.
Later, perhaps the innate glow of maternal love during pregnancy swayed her emotions. It was as though some force kept stopping her; every time she tried to act, she stayed her hand at the last moment.
In the end, she simply gave birth to the child and had someone dump him in the palace.
Her dear nephew had killed the vile spawn's father, so he could serve as his father for a few years. Whether the boy lived well or poorly in the future, whether he lived or died, would have nothing to do with her.
The Flourishing Kingdom probably believed that she, the Grand Princess, had suffered too many grievances when she was married off to Jialan for a political alliance. Surely she harbored deep resentment toward the imperial family, which was why she had never returned to the Capital.
And so, shortly after spring began the following year, the Flourishing Kingdom's Marquis Wuyang came looking for her.
He wanted to produce something called phantom incense in the Yu Kingdom. He dressed it up as a way to make money