Medical Princess

Qin Wanru watched the nightmare unfold in front of her like an onlooker to a tragic play. It was a strange dream. She watched her own horrible death. They dragged her down into a nightmarish abyss, slowly tortured to death, then cut in half at her waist. She looked down at her body, stiff and twisted, laying in puddle of blood at the foot of the golden gates.

In all of history, the Kingdom of Dongcang had never had a woman put to death in such a horrible way. She could hear the crowd still mocking her, the scoffing she knew all too well.

It felt so real. She could taste blood in her mouth, feel the hopelessness...

"Miss, wake up. Are you having a nightmare again?"

The voice beside her tore through the scene. Sun flooded through the ninety-nine golden gates that framed the path behind her corpse, burning the horrible scene to nothing. Qin Wanru opened her eyes in surprise. Her fists were clenched tightly, nails digging into her palm and sending shooting pains up her hand. Her heart was racing, and her bloodshot eyes were locked on the seam of the tent above her. Her sheets were soaked in cold sweat.

"It's alright, Miss. It was just a dream," the girl said gently. Qin Wanru heard light footsteps, and the bedcurtain lifted. Qing Yue, a maid of twelve or thirteen, looked over her.

In this life, Qing Yue was still lively and witty. In her previous life, Qing Yue had tried to protect her. For that, the girl had been beaten horrifically and left in the firewood shed to die.

Qin Wanru had woken up from these dreams two nights in a row. Every time she tried to sleep, horrific memories of another life played in her head. They were messy and fragmented, but they were too real to deny. She had been reborn.

It was still her body, but somehow, she had died and returned to when she was eleven.

She reached out with a weak and skinny wrist, so pale the veins showed beneath her skin, then propped herself up to look around. This was her bedroom. She could remember sleeping here as a child.

In her head, she was still weaving together the tragic and bloody scenes of her past. Looking through them, she could begin to see who had pushed her into the depths of hell.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Qing Yue asked.

When Qin Wanru continued to stare forward listlessly, Qing Yue reached out to check her temperature.

"I'm alright," Qin Wanru managed, voice hoarse. She took Qing Yue's hand and slowly sat up. "Is Nanny Yu doing better?"

Nanny Yu had nursed her as an infant. Yesterday, Stewardess Fang had criticized Nanny Yu harshly. Nanny Yu had forced herself to the laundry rooms and worked herself sick. When Qin Wanru woke up, Nanny Yu's condition was already quite serious.

She had asked for a physician to diagnose her, and it was the first thing on her mind as she woke.

"Why don't you have a sip of water for your throat first, Miss?" Qing Yue said, supporting Qin Wanru with one hand as she nimbly picked up the warm water from the bedside table the with other. "Nanny Yu is doing much better. I went to check a while ago. She said she slept well last night. As long as she takes care of herself, she'll be fine."

"How about the arrangements we made yesterday? Is everything ready?" Qin Wanru asked. She sat up and took a few sips, enjoying the warmth of the water spreading through her. It reminded her that she truly was alive again.

After handing the cup back to Qing Yue, she glanced out the window. She could see the bright red ribbon flowers that hung along the corridors. Everything was prepared for a wedding, a wedding where the bride's little sister would replace the bride.

In her previous life, she had longed for this marriage, but it was the same marriage that would push her down the path to her death.

She had been a child, only eleven years old. What young man would want a wife who was only eleven?

Their father, Qin Huaiyong, was the general of Ninyuan. Qin Wanru was his second daughter, but Qin Yuru was his eldest. The groom, Qi Tianyu, was the eldest son of the magistrate of Jiangzhou.

As a general of Jiangzhou, their father was on good terms with Qi Tianyu's father, so the families got along as well. Magistrate Qi had long ago set his sights on Qin Yuru, hoping she would marry his eldest son. Qi Tianyu and Qin Yuru were around the same age.

Time and time again, Magistrate Qi had hinted at the match, but Qin Huaiyong turned his offers down. Qin Yuru, he said, was still too young. He wanted to wait until she was a bit older for her marriage and so any formal agreement was put off. The month before, when Qi Tianyu passed the first round of the imperial examinations, the general finally agreed to the marriage.

Qi Tianyu would go to the capital for the second round of examinations soon. After the wedding, Qin Yuru would accompany Qi Tianyu to the capital city to take care of him while he took the exams.

While the Qi family merrily prepared to welcome Qin Yuru into their family, General Qin Huaiyong received a letter. His wife's family, the Di family, sent a letter asking for Qin Yuru's hand as well.

As soon as the letter came, Madam Di became apprehensive.

This had been the real reason the Qin family had delayed accepting the proposal. Qi Tianyu was the son of a magistrate. Di Yan, Madam Di's nephew, was the son of the Count of Yongkang. The two young men couldn't even be compared. Madam Di had delayed accepting the proposal specifically in hopes of matching Qin Yuru with Di Yan, and now the offer came just after she'd been promised to another husband.

Madam Di had given up on the match with Di Yan. She had spent years hinting at the idea to her sister-in-law and had begun to worry that, if she continued to wait, Qin Yuru would lose her chance at a good marriage. When Qi Tianyu had passed the exams, she had been relieved and happily agreed. Only days after the two families set the date, the Qin family received the Count's letter.

With only twenty days before the wedding, Madam Di became greedy.

The Qi's and Qin's had already completed most of the preparations. It would be difficult to withdraw now, so Madam Di and Qin Yuru resorted to a plot. Nanny Fang would persuade Qin Yuru's naive sister, Qin Wanru, to take her place and marry Qi Tianyu.

Qin Wanru was told that Qi Tianyu had asked for her hand in marriage, but that Qin Yuru had forcibly stolen her suitor. Qin Wanru, humiliated, had thrown a tantrum in front of their grandmother. She insisted she be allowed to marry Qi Tianyu.

Before her grandmother could clarify what had really happened, Qin Yuru had come to her. Qin Yuru told her she was willing to allow Qi Tianyu to marry Qin Wanru for the sake of salvaging her relationship with her sister.

The old grandmother thought that one sister desperately wanted to marry Qi Tianyu while the other was kindly conceding. The marriage was a good way to strengthen the ties between the Qi and Qin family, so she agreed to the change.

Today, Qi Tianyu would come to marry Qin Yuru. Rather than telling him of the change, they would send Qin Wanru in the wedding sedan instead. The veil would hide her face, and nobody would know of the switch until the ceremony was finished. Even Qin Huaiyong didn't know of the change. When the truth was revealed, they would claim they had been bewitched into swapping the brides.

Well, while they schemed to surprise Qi Tianyu, Qin Wanru planned her own surprise.

"Don't worry Miss! I made all the necessary arrangements yesterday," Qing Yue replied.

Everything was carefully laid out. Now they were just waiting for the right moment to set everything motion.

"Did grandmother send anyone to tell us to hurry?" Qin Wanru asked, taking another sip. Her voice was clear and gentle, but she'd lost her usual innocent look. There was a coldness in her eyes that had never been there before.

"Old Grandma has sent a number of maids. The last maid warned us that old grandma would come to personally scold you if you weren't up soon!" Qing Yue reported.

The night before, Qin Wanru had requested not to be woken early. If her grandmother sent someone, Qing Yue was to send them off with a vague reply.

Qi Tianyu had already found out about the swap. In her previous life, he blamed Qin Wanru for ruining his marriage with Qin Yuru. Furious, he made a cruel plan. He would pretend to be unaware of the swap and let his men carry the bride's sedan chair to the Qi mansion. When it arrived at the gate, he would tear off the veil in front of everyone and push her to the ground, accusing her of being vicious and presumptuous.

Qin Wanru had known nothing about these plans and it had played out exactly as Qi Tianyu intended. At only eleven years old, her reputation had been destroyed. She became the laughingstock of everyone in Jianzhou.

In this present, however, her long lashes demurely hid her bloodthirsty eyes. They were no longer the eyes of a child. She flipped over on the bed and sat up, dangling her legs over the side.

"Is the sedan almost here?"

"Almost! I heard earlier that it was about time," said Qing Yue. She squatted on the ground, helping Qin Wanru put on her shoes.

"I guess everything is ready then?" Qin Wanru asked as she stood.

"Don't worry, Miss. Brother Fengzi just sent somebody to tell me everything is ready. He's waiting for the sedan to arrive!" Qing Yue said, standing up as well.

She was looking at Qin Wanru with sparkling eyes, almost overcome by emotion. Something about the girl had felt different since yesterday, but she was thankful for the change. Her young mistress was becoming more sharp-witted. Not only did she rescue Nanny Yu from the laundry room, she'd seen through the plot to switch the brides.

Wang Feng, the man Qing Yue called Brother Fengzi, was Nanny Yu's son. He oversaw the most critical element of Qin Wanru's plans. Wang Feng was to destroy the wedding sedan.

If Qin Wanru wished to change the future, she had to ruin Qin Yuru and Qi Tianyu's plans now before they grew into an even bigger disaster.

She needed the whole world to know that Qin Wanru had not stolen her sister's husband. It was Qin Yuru who had refused the marriage and tried to push the responsibility onto her little sister.

"Please send word to Grandma," Qin Wanru said. Since it was almost time for the wedding, she had to begin preparing. If she didn't, Qin Yuru would notice something was wrong.

"Yes, Miss. Shall I help you put on your wedding gown first?" Qing Yue asked, blinking.

"It's alright. First, please call for Grandma," said Qin Wanru. Her eyes were still cold. Clad in a white robe, she still aimed to look like she'd just gotten out of bed and had not yet had time to get ready.

Qing Yue obeyed immediately, hurrying off to find Grandma Qin. Qin Wanru walked up to the dresser and looked into the mirror. Reflected back was an innocent, weak child, face pale as snow, lips red. She was young now, but her features showed she would someday be a great beauty.

However, she stood out a bit too much...

The marriage between the son of Jiangzhou's magistrate and the daughter of Ninyuan's general was an important event to the people of Jiangzhou. The entire city was excited, and a crowd was gathered at the gates of the General Qin's mansion to watch the bridegroom pick up his bride.

Qi Tianyu had led the sedan all the way from his own mansion, the entire procession accompanied by lively music and celebration. When they finally arrived, Qi Tianyu leapt down from his horse and lifted the long train of his robe to walk up the steps.

Suddenly, a group of men carrying broomsticks and poles dashed from the crowd. They began to strike at the sedan, smashing it apart.

The crowd froze, not knowing how to react. Some even assumed it was an odd family custom to strike the bride's sedan, but they realized something had gone very wrong when it began to collapse. The attackers moved in to stomp on the pieces.

"Stop! Someone restrain these men!" Qin Tianyu called. No longer stunned, he began to issue angry orders.

The moment Qi Tianyu issued those orders, men stepped forward to restrain the sedan's destroyers.

"This sedan is useless!" one of the restrained men cried. "The elder daughter refuses to marry you and has forced her younger sister to take her place. However, the younger sister isn't willing to marry you either."

"That's right! First Daughter Qin doesn't want to marry you, and her sister won't take her place! Please give up, Master Qi!" another man cried.

"Destroy the sedan so our eldest miss won't have to marry him!" yet another man cried, his voice even louder.

Outraged, Qi Tianyu grabbed a man who was still trying to hit the sedan with his broom.

"Even the younger sister doesn't want to marry me? Does she think this marriage is such a joke that she can just decide not to marry me?"

The man he'd grabbed was Wang Feng, Nanny Yu's son. He burst out laughing.

"Isn't it strange, Master Qi? You were supposed to marry the elder sister, but here you are, blaming the younger sister. Are you sure you understand what you're getting into here?"

Wang Feng pushed Qi Tianyu away and waved his hands, gesturing for the men with him to retreat. They dispersed into the crowd, leaving only the broken sedan, scattered across the ground.

"Qin Wanru... what tricks are you playing now..." Qi Tianyu ground his teeth. He was no longer concerned with the broken sedan. Instead, he stormed the rest of the way up the steps and into the mansion. He braced himself to confront Qin Wanru who was, in his mind, the mastermind of all this.

Not far away from the mansion, a young man watched the proceedings from a second story window. He was wrapped in an elegant purple robe, lips so pale he looked fragile and sickly. Still, his features were handsome enough to make many girls blush and set their hearts pounding.

At the moment, he leaned against the window watching the dramatic scene play out below. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a closer look. The corners of his lips turned up a bit.

"Master, shall we go home? The wind is getting stronger," the guard behind him said cautiously, glancing out the window.

"A little wind won't hurt me. Don't be so spineless!" said the man with a smile. His voice was elegant and gentle, even if his words weren't.

"But... Master, you mustn't catch a chill. It will strain your body," the guard said worriedly.

"Forget it. The exciting part is over. Let's go," the handsome man said with a sigh, looking disappointed. When he turned, he found himself smiling mischievously. This was the first time he'd seen a bridal sedan beaten apart on the wedding day. It seemed his trip to Jiangzhou would not be entirely boring.

It was this sort of boredom that could drive people to do unspeakable things...

After a few moments alone, Qing Yue, breathing hard hard, returned to Qin Wanru.

"Is Grandma on her way?" Qin Wanru asked calmly.

"Old Grandma Qin is rushing over now that she's heard about the chaos you created outside!" Qin Yue said, still gasping. She'd hurried over to warn Qin Wanru.

"Then let's hurry up as well!" Qin Wanru said with an evil smile.

As expected, Qin Yuru had also rushed over to check on her when she realized something was wrong.

"Quick, tidy me up a bit! I need to tell Grandma something urgent!"