Chapter 1: His Fourth Bride

Late at night.

In a narrow alley.

Under the fists and kicks of several thugs, a frail figure curled into a pitiful ball. Her voice was hoarse as she tried to fight back, but the second she moved, she was brutally pinned down.

Someone planted a foot on her shoulder and kicked hard.

The girl's entire face was forced into the light.

One half was stunningly beautiful. The other half was hideous as a nightmare, scarred by a terrifying burn.

“What the hell is that?! Flip her over, quick! Don’t let me see that face. I’m going to puke!”

“This is the woman Ninth Master Bai married? Ninth Master Bai has power, money, everything. Why would he ever want an ugly freak like her?!”

“Who knows? Rich people have weird tastes. Enough talking. Hurry up and kill her so we can report back.”

The thugs raised their hands again.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from the mouth of the alley.

A man and a woman, both dressed in expensive, polished clothes, walked over arm in arm, looking intimate.

“Young Master Bai, Miss Yun... why did you come in person? Just leave this woman to us. We’ll make sure she dies properly!”

The thugs spoke with fawning smiles.

Yun Manxia struggled to lift her head. Hatred burst from her eyes.

“It’s... you?”

Yun Yiyi.

Bai Chengxuan.

One had once been her closest sister. The other had once been the man she loved most.

And now, ruining her like this was not enough.

They wanted her life.

“Why...?”

“Why?” Bai Chengxuan looked down at her from above, his tone cold and indifferent. “Ninth Uncle is dead. You’ve lost your value. Naturally, there’s no need for you to stay alive.”

Yun Yiyi curled her lips. “Manxia, since you’re about to die anyway, I’ll be kind and tell you the truth. We only needed you because of Ninth Master Bai’s fortune. Now that he’s dead and his assets are in our hands, of course you can go die.”

Ninth Master Bai.

The most powerful and wealthy man in the empire.

And yet, why did he have to fall so deeply for a worthless little bitch like Yun Manxia?

Yun Yiyi’s eyes turned red with jealousy.

But in Yun Manxia’s mind, something exploded.

“Bai Hedu... is dead?”

Her voice was rough and broken.

“The car accident three days ago. He traded his life for yours.” Yun Yiyi laughed softly. “What? No one told you after you woke up?”

With that, she waved her hand.

The fists and kicks raining down on Yun Manxia grew even heavier.

She lay there in a daze, her face deathly pale.

Bai Hedu...

I’m sorry...

Tears slid silently down her face.

In a blur, a figure surfaced in her mind. A man with cold, powerful eyes seemed to look straight at her.

That was Ninth Master Bai.

Bai Hedu.

He had come from the Imperial Capital to Yangcheng. He was the head of the empire’s most mysterious and ancient family, ruthless and decisive, powerful enough to cover the sky with one hand.

He was also her husband in name.

But because of her...

He had died miserably.

How she wished time could turn back.

Back to before she trusted this rotten man and woman.

Back to before she hurt Bai Hedu.

...

A black sedan drove toward an intersection.

Without warning, Old Chen, the driver, slammed on the brakes.

The girl in the back seat suddenly opened her eyes.

“Third Miss, hurry and get out. Young Master Bai is waiting for you over there!”

Yun Manxia was still in a daze, but Old Chen’s voice jolted her awake.

This was...?

She touched her smooth face, the face that had not yet been burned. Her eyes widened as she stared at everything around her in disbelief.

Old Chen urged her, “Third Miss—”

“Keep driving.”

Old Chen froze, then hurriedly said, “But Ninth Master Bai is so sick he’s practically dying. Third Miss, how can you jump into a fire pit like that?”

“I said keep driving. Go to Yujing Garden.”

Yun Manxia’s voice was hoarse, firm, and trembling slightly.

No one knew how overwhelmed she felt at this moment.

She remembered when this was.

This was the day Bai Hedu had just moved from the Imperial Capital to Yangcheng to recuperate because of his health.

This was the first day she, bound by the marriage agreement her mother had made with the Bai family, married Bai Hedu and moved into Yujing Garden.

At the thought of that man, her eyes suddenly reddened.

Who would have thought?

The man she had always rejected, avoided, and feared was the only person who had ever truly cared about her.

She had been afraid of him.

She had run from him.

She had even betrayed him.

She had caused the untouchable Ninth Master Bai to fall from the clouds.

And in the end, he had used his own life to protect hers.

Yun Manxia forced down the tears surging in her chest.

In her last life, it had been today.

Instigated by her stepsister Yun Yiyi, she chose to elope with Bai Chengxuan.

Through the rearview mirror, her bloodshot eyes met Old Chen’s.

She knew.

Old Chen was one of Yun Yiyi’s people.

Old Chen was startled and quickly said, “A-All right. I understand!”

Her phone vibrated.

Yun Manxia picked it up.

[Yiyi: Manxia, don’t worry. Just leave with Young Master Bai. I’ll take care of the rest for you!]

Hatred flashed through her eyes.

Without hesitation, she turned off her phone.

As the car drew closer and closer to Yujing Garden, her heart refused to calm down.

Twenty minutes later, the car arrived at Yujing Garden.

On the second floor.

A tall man sat in a wheelchair. His deep eyes fell on the car slowly stopping below.

“Ninth Master, Third Miss Yun has arrived.”

Beside him, his subordinate Lin Shen spoke.

Bai Hedu lowered his eyes. “Which one is she this month?”

Lin Shen hesitated. “...The fourth.”

This was already the fourth wife their Ninth Master had married this month since coming to Yangcheng and publicly choosing a bride.

The first one married in and died a week later.

The second entered the house and went insane after two days.

The third had not even stepped through the gates of Yujing Garden before she cried and screamed, saying she would rather jump off a building than marry him.

The Old Madam had been sick with worry. After thinking it over, she remembered that the Bai family once had a verbal marriage agreement with the Yun family.

But hadn’t Ninth Master already sent word to the head of the Yun family, saying the agreement did not need to be fulfilled?

So why had Third Miss Yun still come?

With his Ninth Master’s reputation...

If she had a chance to run, why wouldn’t she run as fast as she could?

Yet she had delivered herself to his door.

How rare.

“Let’s go down and take a look.”

The man’s low voice sounded.

Downstairs.

Yun Manxia sat on the sofa. Her suitcase rested beside her, and she waited nervously.

The indoor elevator opened.

Her heart tightened, and she instinctively looked over.

Bai Hedu sat in a wheelchair as someone pushed him out.

A few days ago, he had been in an accident and injured his legs. He could not walk.

The man’s features were deep and strikingly handsome. His face carried a faint, sickly pallor, yet his entire body radiated a calm, noble pressure.

Yun Manxia lost control for a moment and stood up.

Her eyes instantly turned red.

A crushing wave of guilt nearly drowned her.

Bai Hedu’s brows drew together.

In an instant, his interest faded.

“Someone. Send Miss Yun back.”

Another woman forced here by her family.

He, Bai Hedu, was not so desperate for women that he would accept this.

“Wait!”

Yun Manxia panicked and hurried forward.

The man turned his head to look at her. His gaze was bottomless.

“What?”

Even though he could not stand, the aura around him was still so dark and sharp it made people afraid.

“I... I already married you. I’m not leaving. I want to stay!”

There was not the slightest reluctance in Yun Manxia’s words.

She owed this man too much.

If heaven had allowed her to come back, perhaps it was giving her a chance to make it up to him.

How could she leave?

How could she possibly leave?

Thinking of the truth she had learned right before her death, her eyes stung unbearably.

The entire room fell silent.

“Stay?”

For a moment, Bai Hedu almost thought he had misheard.

Women had always avoided him like poison.

This was the first one who said she was willing to stay.

There was no reluctance in the girl’s bright, beautiful eyes.

Only nervousness, unease, and...

Guilt?

He had to admit that in that instant, something in Bai Hedu’s heart seemed to be lightly touched.

After a tense silence, he said—