Abandoning Wife and Selling Daughter? Turning Around to Marry a Powerful Minister and Wiping Out Your Entire Clan! - Chapter 1

The world is growing darker, and people’s hearts are growing colder.

Zhang Xiaolan had never felt the truth of these words so deeply.

Dark clouds filled the sky, fierce winds howled through the streets, and though it was daytime, it felt like night.

She was thrown out of the Zhou Manor. The rough ground scraped her skin, leaving deep wounds. The impact stunned her for a moment.

She had actually been kicked out of the Zhou Manor? And as nothing more than a concubine?

Ever since she married into the Zhou family, she had worked tirelessly to manage the household, served her in-laws with respect, and shared a loving bond with her husband. She had always been fair and never mistreated the servants.

How had she ended up like this?

She lifted her gaze and saw the guards at the gate looking at her with disdain, as if she truly were just a discarded concubine.

But she had been married into this house with an official ceremony, carried in by an eight-carriage wedding procession. She was Zhou Quan’s rightful wife!

As she watched the beautiful couple stepping out of the manor together, bitterness filled her heart. It was her own mistake for misjudging people, but this betrayal was entirely orchestrated by these two vile creatures.

The woman standing beside Zhou Quan was someone she had once trusted—a shopkeeper she had personally promoted. This woman had once confided in Xiaolan about her unwillingness to be forced into marriage. Yet, the next moment, she had used that very excuse to get close to Zhou Quan and seduce him.

How laughable! Xiaolan had even treated her like a dear little sister!

She suddenly burst into laughter. “Hahaha! Zhou Quan, do you think that by finding yourself a female manager, you can just kick me out?”

“Then let me wish you,” she sneered, her eyes full of mockery, “a prosperous career and endless wealth. Hahaha!”

Zhou Quan’s attention was entirely on Shen Ting. If not for Shen Ting’s arrival, he had originally planned to take Xiaolan to their summer estate to escape the heat.

Using her hands to push herself up, Xiaolan tried to stand, but a small stone made her lose her balance again. She fell hard, her vision swimming, fresh bl00d gushing from her wounded arm.

Had she already become this weak?

Her pride refused to let her remain on the ground. Summoning all her strength, she struggled to stand, swaying unsteadily.

Her mind was clouded with confusion, but she knew she couldn’t stay here. If she did, she would only become a joke.

“Elder Sister,” a soft, melodious voice called out. The voice was so sweet that it could make one’s bones melt, but to Xiaolan, it was nothing but sickening.

“Don’t you want to know about Xiang Ning?”

Shen Ting’s words were like a rope suddenly tightening around Xiaolan’s ankles, stopping her in place for a brief moment.

“She is the legitimate daughter of the Zhou family. The Zhou family would never mistreat her.”

“How could I, the newly married Madam Zhou, possibly have such a grown legitimate daughter?” Shen Ting’s voice was filled with fake innocence, but every word was laced with poison.
Madam Zhou? Newly married? Then what was Xiaolan to them?

At that moment, she finally understood why, at banquets with other officials’ wives, she had always felt strange, judgmental gazes on her.

At those gatherings, she was often seated with concubines rather than with the main wives.

She had assumed it was because her own family had declined in status. She had even complained to Zhou Quan about it, but eventually, she stopped attending such events.
Hah! So that was the truth. She had been nothing more than a concubine from the very beginning?

They had gone to such lengths—holding a grand wedding, making everything look like a proper marriage—just to deceive her.

What a well-woven net! A net that had trapped her heart, her eyes, and made her willingly dedicate herself to the Zhou family.

For a moment, Xiaolan was lost in thought. Shen Ting was now the official wife, so where would her daughter Xiang Ning go? The Zhou family would never allow her to stay.

She turned around woodenly. “She’s in the manor. She won’t get in your way. Why can’t you tolerate her?”

“Oh, but I simply don’t want her,” Shen Ting said coyly, pressing a delicate fan against her forehead as if she were an innocent young girl.

“In that case, Madam, give Xiang Ning back to me. I’ll take her and leave.” If Shen Ting refused to keep the child, Xiaolan would take her daughter away.

“Oh dear, that’s unfortunate.” Shen Ting opened her fan to cover her lips, a glint of malice flashing in her eyes before she resumed her feigned surprise.

“I already had the broker take her away yesterday.”

Xiaolan’s expression froze. The dullness in her eyes disappeared, replaced by sheer fury. Shen Ting delighted in the sight—she had finally cracked Xiaolan’s calm composure!

Hah! Where was her usual serenity? Where was her unshakable dignity? Why did she get to live so well?

“What did you say?!” Xiaolan’s mind went blank. Her eyes turned red, and rage burned in her chest. The world around her spun.

Sensing danger, Shen Ting tried to run toward Zhou Quan, but before she could escape, pain exploded at the back of her head, and she tumbled to the ground.

“You sold my Xiang Ning?!” Xiaolan grabbed Shen Ting, straddled her, and began slapping her across the face. “You dared to sell my daughter?!”

“Who are you? Who gave you the right to sell my child?!”

“Yes, I sold that little wretch. I sent her far, far away!” Shen Ting’s face was swollen from the blows, yet she still taunted Xiaolan.

“I even gave special instructions to the broker,” she sneered, “to sell her to the lowest brothel!”

Xiaolan was stunned for a moment, then she lost all control, clawing and hitting like a madwoman.

Tears streamed down her face like broken pearls. Her teeth clenched, her grip tightened, and she attacked with even more fury.

“How can you be so cruel?!”

“You have the heart of a beast! Let me tear it out of you!” Xiaolan grabbed a fallen hairpin and aimed it at Shen Ting’s chest.

Shen Ting’s face was swollen, her hair ornaments scattered, her clothes torn. Seeing Xiaolan’s growing madness, she desperately tried to escape.

Xiaolan was in no better shape—her face streaked with tears and snot, her body covered in cuts that bled freely.

Boom! A deafening thunderclap shook the sky. The clouds could no longer hold back, and heavy rain poured down!

The two women continued fighting in the middle of the street, their cries of pain mixing with the storm.

They brawled violently, and Zhou Quan was momentarily stunned.

By the time he reacted, rain was already flooding the street.

He rushed forward with his guards, pried the two women apart, and looked at Shen Ting’s pitiful state. His heart ached—this was his delicate, beloved woman!

Scooping her up, he hurried back into the Zhou Manor and ordered the gates shut.

“Make her suffer just as much as my wife did! Then throw her out!”

The doors slammed shut, his angry voice echoing behind them.

The guards obeyed immediately, stepping into the rain and viciously beating Xiaolan.

When they finally left, she lay curled up on the street, trembling in the downpour, sobbing in despair.

Her daughter—her clever, sweet daughter—had been sold!

She hated herself for being blind, for being weak. That wretched woman had sold Xiang Ning yesterday!

Yesterday!

A sudden thought struck her—there was still a chance to get Xiang Ning back!

Brokers didn’t immediately send off their goods. They waited for a buyer!

But she had nothing—no money, no home.

Forcing herself up, she staggered toward her family’s house.

She hid in a rundown shack, waiting.

A carriage rolled by.

It was her second brother! Her heart pounded.

She disguised herself as an old woman, approached the carriage, and whispered their childhood secret code.

Recognizing her, the carriage stopped, and she was pulled inside.

The moment she wiped the grime from her face, tears flooded her eyes.

“Second Brother! Zhou Quan abandoned me! He sold Xiang Ning!”

Her brother’s jaw dropped.

Xiaolan sobbed in his arms. “Help me find Xiang Ning! Please!”

His eyes darkened. “Xiang Ning is still a child. I will help you!”

Relieved, Xiaolan finally collapsed into unconsciousness.

“Xiaolan? Xiaolan?!”

Her brother yelled to the driver, “Hurry! Take us home!”