Expelled from the Duke's mansion, the fake heiress is richer than a country.

"My daughter... I'm so sorry..."

Blood and foam kept spilling from Ji Chunhua's mouth, and tears mixed with mud flowed down her chin and soaked Yu Wanran's shoulder.

"Mother... I never thought... Yao Yao... wasn't your child..."

She owed other people's daughters, and she also owed her own daughters, for a full sixteen years.

Her sobs, like those of a dying animal, grew fainter and fainter. Finally, her head slumped onto Yu Wanran's back, and she lost all strength.

Tears welled up in Yu Wanran's eyes. Without thinking, she ran and rushed out of the Duke's mansion.

However, as she stepped out of the Duke's mansion, a shadow blocked the sunlight and her way.

Yu Wanran looked up and saw a young man, barely twenty years old, standing before her in an indigo satin robe with ink-splashed vine patterns. He was handsome and refined, and his words were sharp and cutting.

"Yu Wanran, here's your keepsake."

Wei Baifeng opened his left hand, and a gold chain with a jade pendant slipped from his fingertips, swaying in the cold wind.

"The woman we are betrothed to is the daughter of the Duke's family. We, the Wei family, cannot break our promise..."

Although I had heard it once in my previous life, hearing it again in this life still burned my heart like a raging fire.

The two families arranged a marriage between their children. The Duchess of the State and the wife of the Prefect of Tongcheng were close friends. From a young age, Yu Wanran had decided that Wei Baifeng was her future husband.

The two grew up together as childhood sweethearts. In her memory, Wei Baifeng was gentle and refined, and never went against her wishes.

However, in both lifetimes, Wei Baifeng publicly annuled the engagement, completely shattering her dignity and reputation. Was he making a statement to the Duke's Mansion and Xiao Yao?

Without her status as the daughter of a duke, she was nothing in his eyes!

Suppressing her surging emotions, Yu Wanran caught the jade ring and put it in her pocket. Then, she took off the necklace from her neck with one hand, which had a small jade pendant attached to it, and tossed it to Wei Baifeng.

Without uttering a single word, he pushed through the crowd behind Ji Chunhua and hurriedly left.

Wei Baifeng held the still-warm jade pendant in his hand, his eyes flickering, his face blank with surprise.

"Brother Wei..."

Xiao Yao followed, glancing shyly at the man in front of her, quite pleased with his beautiful appearance.

Now, she is the daughter of the Duke's mansion! And the perfect marriage is hers too!

Yu Wanran rushed into the nearest clinic and placed the unconscious Ji Chunhua on an empty chair. She gasped for breath and called out anxiously to the doctors and patients who stared in astonishment.

"Doctor! Someone, please save her!"

With a compassionate heart, an elderly doctor quickly approached, rolled up his sleeves, examined the barely breathing Ji Chunhua, and was filled with doubts.

"How could this woman have been beaten to such a state?"

Many young wives who had been beaten by their husbands or mothers-in-law were brought in before. Although the doctor found it strange, he quickly began to stop the bleeding and bandage Ji Chunhua.

Yu Wanran knew very well that once her reputation as the fake daughter of a duke, who had been kicked out of her home, spread, no medical clinic in the city would dare to accept her and treat her and those around her.

Therefore, she dared not delay for a moment and rushed to the clinic as soon as she left the Duke's mansion. She not only escaped the misfortune of losing a leg in her previous life, but also saved her mother's life.

He was penniless.

Without the slightest hesitation, she handed the gold necklace with the jade pendant to the old doctor.

"Is this enough to cover the consultation fee?"

The old doctor took the gold necklace, looked at the jade pendant hanging from it, glanced meaningfully at Yu Wanran, and nodded slightly.

"can."

He turned and called to the young apprentice to carry Ji Chunhua to the bed in the inner room.

Yu Wanran finally breathed a sigh of relief, grabbed the chair leg, and slid softly to the ground.

The doctor's answer meant that Ji Chunhua's life was at least saved.

"My right arm and left leg are broken."

After treating Ji Chunhua's injuries, the old doctor wiped the blood off his hands with a handkerchief and came out to tell Yu Wanran the results of the treatment.

"Even if the injury heals, she won't be able to do heavy work and will be left with a lifelong disability. I'll give you some plasters and fever reducers. Remember to change her dressings every three days when you get back."

Ji Chunhua lay stiffly on the wooden board, her body wrapped in layers of white cloth. Although her face was still frighteningly pale, at least she no longer had that terrifying, dying aura she had at the beginning.

Yu Wanran bent down and held her hand tightly. Her tears fell like beads from a broken string.

The way he gazed at Yu Wanran was tinged with unfamiliarity, yet also with deep guilt and confusion.

Yu Wanran knew that her mother was unable to accept the fact that her child had been switched.

The daughter he raised for sixteen years turned out not to be his biological child!

She also suffered a lifetime of pain, paying a terrible price with her life, before finally realizing her mistakes.

"Mom, let's go home. Where is home? Please show me the way..."

She guided him gently.

We must leave Tongcheng as soon as possible. Otherwise, given Xiao Yao's vengeful nature, once she adapts to life in the Duke's mansion, she will immediately turn her attention to her.

Back in the countryside, with the family ancestral hall for protection, Xiao Yao wouldn't dare to go too far, at least not openly.

In her previous life, she was naive and persistent. When she first returned to the Yu family, she single-mindedly hoped to return to the Duke's mansion.

This angered the Duke's mansion, leading to a complete falling out. The bully picked a fight and killed Yu's father; his elder brother had an accident in the mine. Was the other party involved?

Suppressing the surging emotions within her, Yu Wanran carried her mother on her back again. This time, she would risk everything to protect her family!

Ji Chunhua's hands trembled as she pulled out a handful of blood-stained copper coins from her person and handed them to her daughter.

"Xiao... Ranran, take this money, let's go to the south gate to catch a carriage. Our home is in Qingping Village, thirty li outside the city..."

She managed to finish saying those words before fainting again.

Yu Wanran gripped the copper coin tightly, carried Ji Chunhua on her back, and silently walked along the bustling streets of Tongcheng.

She knew these roads all too well...

In the past, to do business and evade enemies and rivals, she traversed the streets and alleys of many towns. She even knew exactly where the dog holes were in the corners of walls, all in order to find a way to escape in times of crisis.

"Madam, Miss... please spare some food!"

A familiar, hoarse voice came from ahead, and Yu Wanran trembled and turned to look.

A group of ragged beggars, young and old, surrounded a horse-drawn cart, stretching out their dirty hands and broken bowls. A thin, wiry man wearing a straw hat, with shifty eyes, kept pushing his way forward.

This angered the green-clad maid who had just gotten out of the carriage and was helping her young mistress, who let out an angry scream.

Yu Wanran's eyes flashed with hatred. This man was the henchman of the tyrant who killed Yu's father in her previous life! Who would have thought he was just a beggar now?

After a while, feeling the heavy weight behind her, she lifted Ji Chunhua's constantly sliding body up, bent over, lowered her head, and took a detour.

There is ample time!

She repeatedly warned herself that now was not the right time to settle a lifelong grudge. Blending into the flow of people leaving the city, she quickened her pace.

"Come to Qingping Village..."

At the city gate, the mule cart driver cracked his whip and shouted at the top of his lungs among a group of drivers waiting to solicit customers.

"There are only three seats left... Hurry up, those going to Qingping Village, get on the bus quickly, or there won't be any seats left!"