A Beautiful Duchess with a Dark Heart – Chapter 3

Chapter 3: He Slipped Away First

In her previous life, it was her fifteenth birthday.

The family was busy preparing for her eldest brother’s wedding, and no one remembered her coming-of-age ceremony.

Maybe they remembered, but they just didn’t want to acknowledge it?!

But at that time, she, like a fool, didn’t understand any of this?

She waited anxiously for that day, only to find that it was no different from any other day.

What she cared about most was her father. She hoped he would remember this day, even if he couldn’t come back, he would send her a letter, buy her a hairpin…

Her mother died in childbirth when she was born. Therefore, since she was a child, she has carried the reputation of bringing misfortune to her relatives.

A few days after her mother died, her father remarried. Afraid of others gossiping, he directly took his newlywed wife to his new post…

She overheard this while visiting someone else’s house.

At that time, she was so angry when she heard others say this!

She believed that her father was working hard for the future of the Wen family. And that she was born with a strong fate that would bring misfortune to her relatives. Therefore, it was only right that her father didn’t get close to her.

But coming-of-age was different. She had been looking forward to this day…

In the evening, she actually received a gift!

She will never forget that moment, oh, her heart almost jumped out of her chest with joy…

She opened it and saw a set of exquisite red coral hairpins.

But when she saw who sent the hairpins… it was actually Fifth Cousin Song!?

She was extremely disappointed and heartbroken, sitting in her room crying her heart out until her face was swollen, her eyes were swollen, she felt dizzy and fell down the stairs, hitting the back of her head and bleeding.

Hong Dou was terrified and ran to find her grandmother and Second Aunt Wu, but she happened to run into Second Uncle Wen Feng, who had just returned home after playing outside for two days.

Hong Dou was born with exceptional beauty, but it was just that she and her servant were usually neglected and didn’t appear in front of people, so no one noticed.

When Wen Feng saw Hong Dou, he was dumbfounded and insisted on taking her away!

She cried and tried to stop him, Hong Dou cried and struggled.

But it was all in vain…

She watched helplessly as Hong Dou was dragged away by him.

Wen Feng was handsome, romantic, and unrestrained, he could sing and play music, he was a master at flirting, but his character was not good.

There were countless women, both inside and outside the family, who he had his hands on!

When he was flirting, he was full of passion and generous. When he was tired of the novelty, he would let go without looking back, without any regard for their feelings.

He had flirted with many women, but not many were actually kept by his side. This time, for some unknown reason, he actually favored Hong Dou and wanted to elevate her to be his concubine.

Second Aunt Wu came from a high-ranking family and brought a large dowry, but her appearance was extremely ordinary. When she was still unmarried, she was smitten with Second Uncle and happily married him.

She was always obedient to Second Uncle and never disobeyed him.

When Second Uncle wanted to take Hong Dou as his concubine, Wu Shi didn’t say a word and immediately allocated a decent courtyard and started preparing for the concubine ceremony.

Fourth Mistress Liu… was a distant relative of grandmother. She had grown up by grandmother’s side… and had long admired Second Uncle. But she was an orphan, with no one to rely on, so she could only listen to her grandmother’s arrangement and married the illegitimate Fourth Uncle.

She had long been having an affair with Second Uncle, and in order to make things easier, she sent Fourth Uncle to a post outside the city.

Usually, Liu Shi was jealous and hateful towards Wu Shi, but there was nothing she could do about it, and she had to treat her with a smile! She didn’t know how much she was holding back in her heart. So, when she learned that Second Uncle wanted to take Hong Dou as his concubine, her hatred grew so great that she couldn’t control it.

If she couldn’t deal with Wu Shi, could she not deal with a servant girl?

In her previous life, it was today… Liu Shi used her own name to lure Hong Dou to a secluded place, poured oil on her, and set her on fire.

Poor Hong Dou…

Wen Yu’s tears flowed out. She had loved beauty since childhood.

That burning…

Her hair was gone, her face was burned, and one eye was blind.

Her hands and arms were burned black and spasmed together.

Her painful howls would often echo in her ears in the years to come!

She ran to beg her grandmother, begging her grandmother to save Hong Dou! She knelt on the ground, her forehead bleeding…

But her grandmother didn’t care.

She ran to beg Second Uncle, even losing her shoes in the process, but when Second Uncle saw Hong Dou burned like that, he frowned and turned away.

She took out everything she had, but she couldn’t go out and couldn’t get a doctor.

In the end, it was Cousin Song Shang who came.

It was he who hired the best doctor and used the best medicine.

But Hong Dou… was too badly injured.

Her body emitted a foul odor, oozing with dirty yellow pus, and she was in excruciating pain…

When she was conscious, she would ask her to bring her a mirror. But how could she let her see that inhuman, ghostly appearance?

✿✿✿

She died after two days.

The Hong Dou who grew up with her, whose heart and eyes were full of her.

Died so tragically.

It was also from this incident that her originally ignored and neglected life accelerated its tragic pace…

✿✿✿

Wu Shi looked at the black water on the ground, and the servants on the side with their eyes flickering, both excited and afraid.

She remained silent with a sullen face.

She basically understood the whole story.

The key was how to solve it?

A maid came over and whispered a few words to her.

She nodded and gave a few soft instructions. Lock up those who should be locked up, and tomorrow she would use both soft and hard tactics.

Her son’s wedding was in a few days, it was not advisable to make a big fuss.

And these guards, their mouths had to be sealed with a lot of money.

She was very familiar with handling family matters, she resolved these things concisely and went to Old Madam’s courtyard.

Just now, she had someone cleverly wake up Old Madam. Now, let’s see how she would deal with that bitch?!

✿✿✿

In the back hall, Old Madam was indeed woken up, her head was spinning at first.

At this moment, she had come to her senses and was sitting in the main hall, wrapped in her clothes.

Her gray hair was simply tied up behind her head, her face as cold as water.

Wen Feng, who was naked just now, had already put on his clothes and was sitting in front of Old Madam. He was puzzled as to how Old Madam found out about this incident and called him over.

“What is this mess you’ve made?!” Old Madam asked through gritted teeth, trembling with anger.

Wen Feng shook his head nonchalantly, not speaking, but a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

This was really awkward…

But he wasn’t afraid!

Old Madam Wen was even more furious when she saw this. “Your eldest brother’s wedding is just around the corner! What on earth are you trying to do… huh?!”

“It wasn’t my son who set the fire, what’s the use of scolding me?” Wen Feng diverted the topic.

“Who is that woman?!” Old Madam asked.

Wen Feng didn’t speak, looking outside. The sky was still dark, everything that happened just now felt like a dream.

“Are you going to tell me or not?!” Old Madam slapped the table.

“Mother!” Wu Shi walked in, her eyes lowered, and said, “Mother, father, the fire has been extinguished, it didn’t spread outside, but one main room’s eaves collapsed. I’ve had them settle down first, and I’ll have it cleaned up tomorrow morning!”

Old Madam Wen was extremely annoyed, her tone unpleasant: “That’s all easy to handle! How many people were there to put out the fire?”

“Including the ones in the courtyard and the guards, fifteen.”

Old Madam was even more annoyed when she heard this. The servants in the family were easy to deal with.

But the guards… they were not just servants, there were also those hired from outside. These people could not be dealt with casually!

“Find a way to keep their mouths shut!”

“I know, mother!”

“Who is that woman, tell me!” Old Madam pointed at Wu Shi.

“Mother, it was dark, I didn’t see her clearly!” Wu Shi refused to say.

“Are you going to tell me or not!?” Old Madam turned to her son, “Do I have to find someone to ask before you feel at ease?!”

She knew Wu Shi always regarded her son as her everything. She wouldn’t say a single bad word about him!

“You can ask if you want! If something happens, instead of covering it up, you keep stirring things up, what’s the point?!” Wen Feng still looked unconvinced!

Old Madam was almost exasperated, “How old are you? What you do outside, I can’t control! But just in this family, how many women have you messed with? Isn’t that enough for you? I’ve talked to you so many times, but you wouldn’t listen! Now it’s good… you…”

“Alright, mother! I’m tired, I’m going back to sleep! I have things to do tomorrow!” He knew this incident was different from the others in the past, if his mother knew, it would never end…

Thinking about that scene… how awkward!

He’d better slip away first!

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