Chapter 0

Birdsong echoes through distant hills,

In the forest mist, she wanders alone.

Through the cold mist, willows sway,

She climbs the tower, waiting for her love to come.

Surrounded by silk and jewels, she is but a humble secondary daughter...

In short, this is the story of a secondary daughter's fight for survival!

Prologue

In the corridors of the Luo family mansion's garden, Ten Miss yanked Eleven Miss's collar, her face filled with anger: "Take it off! Take it off!" Eleven Miss stumbled, her large eyes brimming with tears, but her lips were tightly pressed, not uttering a word.

Bitao and Hongtao, Ten Miss's maids, avoided eye contact, one staring at the ground and the other at the bare magnolia tree, pretending not to notice.

Seeing this, Shuisu, Eleven Miss's maid, sighed and stepped forward to comfort her. She then smiled at Ten Miss and said, "Tenth Sister, Eleventh Sister doesn't have a fur coat. Her cotton coats are all thinly made. In this cold weather, she dares not even step out of the door. Lady Yang lent you her fur coat for Eleven Miss to wear. After we pay our respects to the matriarch, we'll return it to you immediately."

Hearing that Lady Yang had lent the fur coat to Eleven Miss, Ten Miss looked at Bitao suspiciously.

Bitao had already raised her head to observe Eleven Miss's expression when Shuisu spoke. Seeing Eleven Miss looking at her, Bitao immediately nodded with a smile: "Tenth Sister, it was indeed Lady Yang who lent the fur coat to Eleven Sister."

Satisfied with the response, Ten Miss's expression softened, and her hand gradually loosened its grip on Eleven Miss's collar: "Even if Mother lent it to you, don't get too cocky. After paying respects to our mother, you must return it to me immediately."

Shuisu stood up, preparing to take Eleven Miss to the main room to pay respects to the matriarch.

However, just at that moment, Eleven Miss suddenly limped forward and ran: "I'm going to tell Mother you're bullying me!"

Furious, Ten Miss immediately ran after her: "I'll beat you to a pulp, you little brat!"

The maids were alarmed and started to chase after them, but Ten Miss, with her longer legs, quickly caught up. Grabbing Eleven Miss's hair, she pulled her toward the white stone pillar, ready to slam her head into it: "You dare to report me..."

The small and short Eleven Miss covered her hair, crying painfully.

Seeing their young miss had the upper hand, Bitao and Hongtao didn't rush to intervene, standing far away and watching.

Shuisu went forward to stop them but didn't dare to forcefully pull Ten Miss away, circling around them anxiously: "Tenth Sister, please don't do this..."

The cold wind blew, and water turned into ice. The green stone bricks, swept clean of snow, became even more slippery when wet with melted snow. In the scuffle, Eleven Miss fell to the ground, a splash of blood bloomed, and she fell unconscious.