Exile at the start? The princess is no ordinary woman.

At this moment, Gu Honglang was still thinking of dissuading his mother from making the arrangement, but the old lady did not give him the chance, and said sternly, "Hong'er, you cannot refuse this matter. Listen to your mother."

He then looked at He Xiang with a loving smile, "He Xiang, let me ask you, would you be willing to serve the master?"

Upon hearing this, He Xiang was so surprised that she looked at the old lady with a look of astonishment, but a closer look revealed a hint of delight beneath the surprise.

Then her expression turned to fear, and she knelt nervously on the ground, saying, "Madam, this servant...this servant dares not hope for more."

"He Xiang, you are a maid in my courtyard, and you are clever and quick-witted. With the sudden change in the family, I am placing my hopes on you. If you can conceive and carry on the Gu family line, I will arrange for you to be made the official wife and for the child to inherit the Gu family as the legitimate heir."

Originally, she was just a maid in the manor, and it would have been entirely up to the master to decide who should serve her. However, He Xiang was one of the maids favored by the old lady, so she said a few more words.

At the same time, she directly said that she would be made the official wife. In the past, she was hesitant because of Gu Nanzhi, but for the past ten years or so, Zhao Shi had been thinking about making her the official wife every day.

Originally, Gu Nanzhi was married off, and the old lady had agreed to it, but then this incident happened.

Her sons, being the eldest sons of the Gu family, naturally wanted to use their status as heirs to secure their future.

When the old lady mentioned this matter, Gu Honglang's face darkened. They had already agreed that once Gu Nanzhi was married off, Zhao would be made the official wife, but instead, they had suffered this blow. Who were these two villains? What grudge did they hold against the Gu family to harm them like this...?

He Xiang, kneeling on the ground, feigned nervousness, but inside she was extremely excited, overjoyed, imagining herself becoming the housekeeper's wife in the future.

What a glorious prospect! If she could bear a son for the Gu family, she could rise in status through her son, escaping the slave class and becoming a member of the upper class.

"Madam, Master, this servant will obey you. If Master does not dislike this servant, this servant is willing to serve you and bear you children."

"Good, good, He Xiang, serve Master well and don't disappoint me. When you become pregnant, I will first make you a concubine, and if you give birth to a boy, I will make you my principal wife."

At this point, in the old lady's eyes, He Xiang wasn't anything special. Among the maids, she was a likable one, but as a concubine, she was nothing more than a tool for bearing children.

"Alright, it's getting late. He Xiang, help Master back to rest."

After instructing He Xiang, she turned to Gu Honglang and said, "Hong'er, go. Listen to your mother. The Gu family line cannot end in your hands, and it cannot end because of Zhao Shi. Over the years, because of Zhao Shi, we haven't been able to have many grandchildren. I wanted you to take a concubine, but you disagreed."

Now that Zhao Shi is so useless, and Xuan'er couldn't even leave behind a son or daughter before everything was ruined, the Gu family can only rely on you.”

After saying that, she gave He Xiang a wink, ignoring Gu Honglang's silence.

Having received permission, He Xiang boldly rose from the ground, bowed to the old lady, and approached Gu Honglang with eyes full of expectation and reverence, extending her skillful hands...

"Master, let me help you back to your room to rest."

Gu Honglang's silence did not indicate disagreement; in fact, he quite agreed. His silence stemmed from a slight hesitation due to his health condition.

But when those skillful hands touched his arm, he suddenly understood. He hadn't reacted to the other two concubines, so why shouldn't he try someone else? Perhaps with another beautiful woman, his body would recover.

The doctors all said there was nothing wrong with his health; it must be because of his partner.

"A son listens to his mother."

Having made his decision, Gu Honglang rose from the stool and bowed to the old lady again, saying, "Mother, I'm going back now. I'll come to visit you another day."

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Gu Honglang's agreeable attitude pleased the old lady, who was already fantasizing about hearing the news of her pregnancy soon.

"Madam, this servant takes her leave."

"Um"

He Xiang bowed to the old lady again, then helped Gu Honglang away, saying, "Master, please be careful, let me help you."

He Xiang helped Gu Honglang to his courtyard, where Gu Honglang led her into a room. She fantasized about living a life of luxury.

Therefore, even though she was a virgin, she took the initiative based on the limited knowledge she had heard in her daily life.

"Master, let me help you change your clothes."

Gu Honglang cooperated fully. Looking at this beautiful young woman, his heart was filled with excitement. After He Xiang helped him change, his hands began to wander.

The two then succumbed to desire and ended up in bed. However, despite his best efforts, Gu Honglang, though deeply agitated, remained unresponsive.

At that moment, He Xiang sensed something was wrong. Her flushed face and alluring eyes flashed with surprise as she looked at Gu Honglang.

"Sir... you..."

A certain possibility occurred to her, and she lowered her eyes as if in disbelief, not daring to voice her thoughts, for this concerned a man's dignity, and she feared offending the master.

Gu Honglang had just figured out that the problem was with the other person, but when he switched to a young virgin, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how burning with desire he was, he still couldn't get a response. His dignity as a man was once again shattered.

A surge of anger and resentment welled up inside, with nowhere to vent it.

However, his sense of dignity was exposed and spoken aloud, causing the anger he had been suppressing to surge instantly, provoked by He Xiang's gaze and words, leading him to lose his temper and become irrational.

A fierce glint appeared in his eyes, and he flipped over and pinned He Xiang down.

"You shameless woman, how dare you question me!"

"Ah...Master...This servant didn't...Master...No...Help..."

He Xiang was also frightened by Gu Honglang's sudden outburst of anger, and at the same time felt a sharp pain all over her body. She cried out for help, but when she returned, the servants in the courtyard had already been dismissed by Gu Honglang. He Xiang could only endure the torment from Gu Honglang, who was no longer humble and gentle but had become brutal.

Gu Honglang abandoned his usual feigned gentleness, channeling all the hatred, resentment, anger, and personal setbacks he had accumulated due to the recent upheavals in the manor into a rage, which he unleashed on He Xiang. He tortured her relentlessly, ignoring her pleas for mercy, his actions ruthless and merciless.

After he vented and calmed down a bit, He Xiang had long since stopped moving. At this moment, he panicked slightly and quickly reached out his finger to check if she was still breathing.

Fortunately, she had only fainted. However, there were few unscathed spots on He Xiang's body, with her genitals covered in blood. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of her chest, it would be difficult to tell that she was still alive.

She remained completely still, like a broken doll that had been played with and destroyed... but this did nothing to elicit even the slightest sympathy or guilt from Gu Honglang.

Instead, his eyes were full of disdain as he coldly got up and called someone to tidy up the room for him to rest. He Xiang was simply thrown onto the soft couch in the room as he had instructed, with no regard for her life or death.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The next day, Gu Honglang, who had to get up early for court, glanced towards the soft couch. He saw that the person on the couch remained motionless. However, Gu Honglang merely gave it a cold look.