part 2
He had been engaged three times in succession.
His first fiancée, the legitimate daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites, drowned in a garden pond merely half a month after their betrothal.
His second fiancée, the younger sister of Marquis Anyuan, had already exchanged marriage certificates with him, yet she fell gravely ill out of the blue one month before the wedding and passed away despite all medical efforts.
His third fiancée, a young lady from a prominent clan in the south of the Yangtze River, was waylaid by bandits on her journey to the capital and met a tragic end before she even arrived.
All three brides-to-be died under exceedingly strange circumstances. Everyone in the capital whispered that Gu Lin was born with an inauspicious solitary fate, doomed to bring death to any woman who married him.
Yet he was the emperor’s most trusted and favored general, enjoying immense imperial favor, so he could not decline these imperial arranged marriages. Every time a fiancée died, gossip spread across the capital: "The general is indeed infamous for bringing misfortune to his wives."
He never defended himself upon hearing such remarks, only his already stern face turned colder than frost.
Thus, the betrothal between the Shen family and the general’s mansion became an unwanted burden no one dared to take on.
The main wife, Shen Mudan’s mother, had spared no effort to secure this marriage alliance in the hope of marrying her eldest legitimate daughter to him and gaining the prestigious title of general’s wife. But upon learning of the successive sudden deaths of his three former fiancées, she instantly changed her mind, wishing this engagement had never existed at all.
She had intended to call off the marriage, yet Gu Lin was highly valued by the emperor. To break the engagement rashly would be nothing short of offending the imperial family.
While she was stuck in a dilemma, the betrothal offer for Young Lord Zhao Ming came along.
Zhao Ming was the heir of Prince Rong. Long ago, Prince Rong had been convicted and demoted, with all his family property confiscated. Though his noble title remained, his mansion had long fallen into utter poverty. Bearing only an empty title of young lord, Zhao Ming was even less well-off than ordinary wealthy households.
Still, the title of royal heir seemed far more honorable than that of a general. Shen Mudan coveted his status as a member of the imperial clan. She naively believed that once she married into the prince’s mansion, she would surely rise in status sooner or later despite the current hardship.
Naturally, the cold-faced general known for bringing misfortune to his wives had to be pushed onto someone else.
And that someone else happened to be me, a concubine-born daughter.
"What great fortune you have, Tanxiang," Shen Mudan whispered with a mocking grin as she walked past me. "Marry the general, and you will be the general’s wife from now on."
Her maid Chunxing chimed in sneeringly, "Exactly! The general’s mansion has held so many funerals already. Perhaps you can even help arrange them after you marry in."
I kept my head lowered, fingers tightly clenched inside my sleeves, yet not a trace of emotion showed on my face.
After they left, my maid Qinghe spoke with reddened eyes. "Miss, they are going too far! The general caused the deaths of three fiancées. They are practically sending you to your doom! Your late mother struggled so hard to get you this good marriage. Why should you give it up to the eldest young lady!"