Mistakenly recognized as a cousin, thousands of pampered

After Shen Zhiyi finished speaking, he immediately left the greenhouse.

Tao Jiuxi stood there in a daze, staring blankly at Shen Zhiyi's departing back. When Tao Jiuxi came to his senses, there was already a tear mark on his face.

In this era, she didn't have much freedom.

Although Shen Zhiyi was in love with her and doted on her, he would not tolerate her disobedience.

If the high and mighty Duke Shen wanted to take revenge on her, it would be an easy task.

At this moment, she had no idea what "good show" Shen Zhiyi had prepared for her. There was only an inexplicable fear in her heart.

After a while, she finally adjusted her mood, left the greenhouse and returned to the polo club.

When she passed by the central reading stand, she was surprised to find Shen Zhiyi leaning on the couch with an expressionless face.

It turns out he was sitting here.

In this way, Shen Zhiyi must have seen clearly every move she made on her reading stand just now, so he was so angry.

Tao Jiuxi pretended not to see it, turned his head quickly, quickened his pace, and hurried towards his reading stand.

As soon as she stepped onto the reading stand, she heard someone calling her from behind.

"Miss Tao Er."

When Tao Jiuxi heard the voice, she turned around and saw a fortune-teller calling her from a few steps away.

Tao Jiuxi took a closer look and realized that the girl's complexion was not good, but she was just covering it up with rouge.

Tao Jiuxi stopped and pretended not to know her.

"The girl is calling me?"

"I'm Zhong Yunxi. I wonder if Miss Tao is free now? Can we go for a walk outside together?" Zhong Yunxi took the initiative to suggest.

Tao Jiuxi saw that she was in low spirits, but she took the initiative to talk to him and seemed to have no ill intentions.

So he walked down the stairs.

"My name is Tao Jiuxi. Wherever you want to go, please lead the way."

Seeing that Tao Jiuxi did not reject her, Zhong Yunxi forced a faint smile on her pale face.

The two walked slowly, one in front and one behind, and soon they arrived at the river.

There was a winding path there, and besides the two of them, there were only willow trees swaying and dancing gently in the wind.

"Miss, do you still remember me?" Zhong Yunxi walked to this deserted place and asked softly.

"Um...Have I met the girl before?"

Tao Jiuxi pretended not to know him.

"Miss Tao advised me that day that everything depends on human effort. Even if I have no strengths, I should not complain about myself and must live a wonderful life. Unfortunately, I am afraid it is difficult for me to do so." Zhong Yunxi did not seem to be affected by Tao Jiuxi's answer, and just talked to herself.

Tao Jiuxi only felt that Zhong Yunxi was in a very low mood at the moment, and looked completely listless.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, she looked like a flower that was about to wither.

Tao Jiuxi couldn't help but feel a surge of sympathy in his heart.

"Miss Zhong, what happened?"

"After returning home that day, I began to monitor my mother's behavior. I even spent all my money to bribe the servant who kept close tabs on her. The servant was quite helpful, reporting to me regularly. Unexpectedly, I discovered that my mother was out there... But when I brought the evidence to my father, he not only refused to believe me, but also blocked my mouth and beat me on the spot."

Tao Jiuxi listened to Zhong Yunxi's story and thought that the mother she was talking about should be the two-faced stepmother she mentioned.

"It turns out that it took me a long time to find out. My father had an illegitimate child with the woman he was dating. It's not that he didn't know what my mother did, but he just didn't care. All he cared about was the support from my mother's family."

"Even when he married my biological mother, it was only for her dowry. After she was completely exploited by him, he deliberately seduced my current mother to gain her power. The two of them hit it off immediately, and in the end, they worked together to murder my biological mother. Oh, he never cared about me, or anyone else in the mansion. He was only thinking about climbing up the social ladder."

Zhong Yunxi just felt that her and her mother's life was a joke.

Although her stepmother didn't know that her father had other women and children outside, she enjoyed her father's favor and thought that her father must love her very much, so he would beat and kill people in his backyard without restraint.

Gradually, the stepmother became dissatisfied with the status quo and began to have an affair with the man she had seen during the marriage proposal.

On the surface, she is the dignified and loving wife of the Chief Censor, but secretly she is vicious, cruel and dissolute.

Tao Jiuxi listened quietly to the woman in front of her, and every word she said hit her heart like a heavy hammer.

I just felt that Zhong Yunxi at this moment was like an exquisite porcelain that was about to fall apart, which made people feel pity for her.

She stood there, feeling an indescribable sadness in her heart, but at this moment she didn't dare to say anything.

"Miss Zhong, you and I have never met before. I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to tell me all this today."

Zhong Yunxi pulled a sad smile from the corner of his mouth: "There's nothing wrong, I'm about to die."

"what?"

Tao Jiuxi widened his eyes, his face full of shock.

She could hardly believe her ears. The person in front of her looked a little weak, but not about to die.

"My father beat me severely with twenty sticks that day, and made me kneel in the ancestral hall for two days. The ancestral hall in winter was so cold! But he never came to see me once, not even once..." Zhong Yunxi's face was full of pain. Recalling the scene at that time, it seemed as if all the tears had dried up, leaving only endless despair.

"Is there something wrong with your body?" Tao Jiuxi asked anxiously, feeling uneasy.

"Since then, my health has been getting worse day by day. Even though the court doctor comes to check my pulse every day and I drink bitter medicine all day long, my health is still getting worse. The court doctor said that in my current physical condition, I am afraid I won't survive more than half a year."

Zhong Yunxi's tone remained calm, as if he was talking about someone else's life or death.

But a hint of helplessness and sadness flashed in her eyes.

When Tao Jiuxi heard this, his heart suddenly tightened, as if it was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand.

It's her! It's her fault!

It was because I was so ignorant that I advised Zhong Yunxi that everything was man-made, so she was punished for offending her father and eventually developed a chronic illness, and her life is numbered.

Tao Jiuxi looked at Zhong Yunxi's face, which was still pale under the rouge, and heartache and self-blame surged into her heart like a tide, and tears instantly burst out.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I was disrespectful and tried to persuade you that day..."

Tao Jiuxi's voice trembled, and tears kept falling like beads from a broken string.

Her heart was filled with guilt and regret. If she had not advised her so impulsively, perhaps she would not have ended up like this.

When Zhong Yunxi saw Tao Jiuxi crying for him, he felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.

She never thought that besides her personal maid, there was a stranger who would cry for her after learning that she didn't have much time left.

"It's not your fault, Miss Tao Er."

She looked at Tao Jiuxi's expression full of concern and self-blame, and her heart felt both warm and bitter.