Chapter 1: Changing Husbands to Seek Survival

At the onset of the Dog Hour, the marquisate of Luyang was ablaze with lanterns and festooned with banners. At the bustling main gate, the servants had just lit a string of a thousand firecrackers, their explosions crackling into the night.

But in the bridal chamber at the rear of the estate, all was silent.

With a sudden crash, Bai Huan hurled the pearl-inlaid lattice fan to the ground and sprang to her feet, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the harsh glare of firelight outside. The despair of her death had yet to dissipate; her clenched fists trembled uncontrollably.

She could not fathom why, after dying, she had returned to the very moment of the wedding ceremony.

All the calamities that followed had their origin tonight.

Deceit, forced marriage, exchanged grooms, the theft of wealth, the demotion from wife to concubine, and finally, the annihilation of her entire family!

“They have gone too far! How dare they secretly switch the groom on the wedding night? The Bai family is not one to be trifled with! We must confront them and demand justice!”

The maid, Chenxiang, was so incensed that she flung the door open, intent on storming out.

“Stop,” Bai Huan commanded, seizing her and forcing herself to keep her emotions in check, not wanting Chenxiang to sense anything amiss.

“Chenxiang, go and fetch Fourth Young Master Gu here.”

Chenxiang stamped her foot in protest. “Miss, what do you want with that good-for-nothing brat who hasn’t even grown hair yet! Our rightful groom should be the legitimate eldest son, Gu Dalang. If you ask me, we shouldn’t have bowed at the ceremony at all but fought our way out instead. If the Gu family has no shame, we needn’t spare them any face! At worst, we take the dowry and return to the Bai household—Master and Madam will surely stand up for you.”

A sharp pain lanced through Bai Huan’s heart.

Yes, if her parents were still alive, they would surely protect her.

But now, dusk had already fallen; the Dog Hour had just begun.

She had but two hours to carve out a sliver of hope for the Bai family.

“Do as I say, quickly!” Bai Huan’s tone carried a chill it never had before.

Startled by the bloodshot ferocity in Bai Huan’s gaze, Chenxiang hurried to placate her, “Alright, don’t worry—I’ll drag Fourth Young Master Gu here if I must.”

She turned to Doukou, the round-faced maid, and whispered, “Whatever happens, don’t let anything happen to Miss.”

Doukou nodded fervently, tears streaming down her cheeks, her wide eyes fixed anxiously on Bai Huan, terrified she might do something reckless.

Soon, Chenxiang’s flustered, angry voice echoed back.

“Fourth Young Master Gu, get a move on!”

A languid, drunken drawl, interspersed with hiccups, replied, “Oh, what’s the rush? It’s not as if I want to marry my sister-in-law. I have a sweetheart at the Qinhuai Pavilion, the top songstress at the Skylark House… ah!”

The beaded curtain rattled, and a hand clad in wide crimson sleeves shot out, grabbing Fourth Young Master Gu’s arm and yanking him inside with force.

Caught off guard, the drunken Gu Yuanhuai was struck in the face by the beaded curtain and stumbled, howling, face-first onto the red embroidered bridal quilt.

Bai Huan spoke rapidly, “Stand guard outside.”

Chenxiang seized Doukou and slipped out, closing the door behind them. Their faces were set with resolve as they took up their post.

As long as their mistress was willing to consummate the marriage, even if the groom was a turtle, they would accept it.

Flailing on the bed, Gu Yuanhuai finally turned over, only to be startled sober by the sight of a stunningly beautiful face. He tumbled back onto the bed, the shock sobering him up considerably.

Before he could speak, his cheek was seized and twisted sharply, making him bare his teeth in pain.

“Ow, ow, that hurts!”

The last vestiges of his drunkenness were banished by the pain, and as clarity returned, he saw the young woman gripping a golden hairpin, the sharp tip pressed against her own throat, dimpling the jade-white skin. Any closer and it would draw blood.

Heavens above!

A new bride, hanging herself on her wedding night—both the Gu and Bai families would skin him alive.

Famed for his glib tongue, Gu Yuanhuai stammered, “S-sister-in-law, don’t do anything rash! I—I’ll help you fight your way out. If you make a scene, those people, for the sake of appearances, will surely let you be with my elder brother again.”

Bai Huan’s eyes glinted with icy derision. “If I make a scene, they’ll seize upon my so-called deep love, force me to become a willing concubine, so the Gu family can pocket my dowry, feast on the flesh and blood of my kin, and grind me into the dirt while they wish him and the Princess of Huai’an a blissful union, isn’t that so?”

“Ah? H-how did you know?” Gu Yuanhuai blurted out, then quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, shaking his head. “No, no, don’t listen to idle gossip. My brother truly cherishes you.”

Cherishes her? How amusing.

Bai Huan let out a cold laugh.

“You’re utterly spineless, standing by as your mother was beaten to death, handing over her dowry without protest, turning a blind eye to your maternal family’s grievances, and now you’re marrying the woman your brother cast aside as a stand-in. If you have a shred of manhood, take a white silk scarf and hang yourself. Living only disgraces your mother’s memory!”

Some useless men need a sharp prod.

Gu Yuanhuai’s pupils dilated in outrage, his handsome face darkening.

He might be a coward, but to insult his mother was crossing a line.

Gu Yuanhuai glared. “Bai Huan, I call you sister-in-law out of respect, but don’t go too far! How much do you really know of the filth in this household? What right have you to judge me?”

“Pah, who is your sister-in-law? I’m your lawful wife—wed before the ancestors.”

The conversation twisted so fast, Gu Yuanhuai’s mind reeled. “Huh? You—you used to call me a pile of dog dung and cow manure! You’re the most prized beauty in Chang’an. You… you… could at least put up a fight.”

Bai Huan’s lips curled in self-mockery.

“A lowly flower planted in noble dung—if it’s sturdy enough and well-fertilized, it’ll bloom all the more profusely.”

Gu Yuanhuai was speechless.

Thank you for the compliment, I suppose!

With a deep sigh, Bai Huan slid the hairpin back into her bun and sat, catching her breath, before upending the teapot and drinking straight from the spout. Her tone shifted, now low and commanding.

“Gu Yuanhuai, I propose an alliance. Each of us will pursue our own vendetta. Will you join me?”

“An a-alliance?” Gu Yuanhuai pinched his own cheek, wincing at the pain, now fully sober.

He snuck a look at the woman who had been his would-be sister-in-law for five years.

Clad in resplendent red, she stood delicate and graceful, her willow-shaped brows sweeping over mist-laden eyes that shimmered with unshed tears.

This was indeed the woman he remembered.

Had she been possessed by some vengeful spirit just now?

Anxious, Gu Yuanhuai tried to dissuade her. “Truly, I overheard them—if you can’t let go of your feelings for my brother and make a scene, he’ll use your status as a merchant’s daughter to declare you unworthy of the marquis’ lady, and offer you a place as…”

He stopped abruptly.

Wait—she’d just said as much herself.

Bai Huan’s eyes brimmed with scorn.

Yes, she had once been heartbroken and unwilling to accept the truth, refusing to believe Gu Yuanzhou’s cruelty. She had confronted him, only for him to hold her back, coaxing her with declarations of his newly granted noble title, claiming that the honor and disgrace of the marquisate now rested on his shoulders. He insisted his parents had switched the bride behind his back, that he was tormented by love and duty alike.

How convenient.

Under the laws of Tiansheng, filial impiety was a grave crime, punishable by flogging or exile.

Gu Yuanzhou swore he treasured her, that he couldn’t bear to see her slighted as a concubine, and so, with a heavy heart, allowed her to marry his younger brother as a proper wife. This way, they could see one another daily and assuage their longing.

After all, once they were family, everything would be negotiable behind closed doors.

What shameless drivel!

Gu Yuanzhou had simply taken advantage of her affection.

She had known the Gu family was treacherous, yet had let herself be swayed by his tender words, weeping and declaring herself willing to be a concubine, saying she cared nothing for status, only for a lifetime together.

She wondered now, on that face she had never truly seen, whether there had been a look of triumph?

At the stroke of the Dog Hour, word came from the Bai household: her father, accused and punished for causing the imperial concubine’s fainting spell, had been released from prison, but was battered to the brink of death.

She had wept and pleaded to return home to see him, but Lady Gu and Gu Yuanzhou refused, saying it was inauspicious for a bride to return to her family on her wedding night, and that the reputation of the marquisate must be preserved.

They promised to send palace physicians, urging her to be patient.

She had been foolish enough to believe the Gu family had rescued her father, and was even grateful.

Seeing her expression, Gu Yuanhuai’s eyes shifted as he leaned in, scrutinizing her.

“You know everything?”

“Yes.”

Bai Huan didn’t care exactly what he meant by “everything.” The only thing that mattered was getting out of the Gu estate—there might yet be hope for the Bai family.

At this moment, only Gu Yuanhuai could help her.

At the beginning of the Rat Hour, the Luyang marquisate was raided by the Golden Guard, who uncovered the Bai family’s secret formula for supplying incense to the military.

Astonishingly, that was precisely what the Golden Guard had come for.

To clear their own name, the marquisate sent Gu Yuanzhou leading the Golden Guard to search the Bai estate, where they found falsified account books.

The evidence was irrefutable; the Gu family was exonerated, while the Bai family was convicted of falsifying military supplies and deceiving the emperor—a capital crime.

Adding in her father’s earlier offense of causing the imperial concubine’s collapse, the Bai family faced two major charges.

Save for Bai Huan, who was married out and thus spared, every member of the Bai clan—from the eldest to the youngest—was executed, not one left alive.

Afterward, rumors spread through the city: the Bai family’s heirloom and the secret manual “Twelve Scents of Heaven” had vanished without a trace.

From the world of “Ashes of Fragrance,” welcome to a realm where the heroine carves her path in blood and fire.