End His Line

I was the most magnanimous wife in the capital.

After ten years away on campaign, Zhao Huan returned with an eight-year-old adopted daughter named A Ying.

He said she was the orphaned child of a deputy general who had died in battle, and instructed me to care for her attentively.

The adopted girl called him Father, but she called me a wicked woman.

She had even taken a liking to A Ruan’s hot spring courtyard.

I agreed to everything.

I gave up my own daughter A Ruan’s residence for her to live in, personally overseeing the redecorating and filling it with every kind of rare treasure.

The wives I was close to tried to persuade me otherwise.

“That must be your husband’s illegitimate daughter from outside. Are you really going to let her walk all over you?”

But I only smiled and said,

“My husband has suffered enough fighting on distant battlefields.”

“Even if A Ying truly is his blood, as the principal wife, I should treat her as if she were my own and make it up to her properly.”

Those words made their way to Zhao Huan’s ears.

That very night, for the first time in ten years, he stepped into my main chamber.

Holding my hand, he said, “Madam, you are virtuous and generous. I’ve wronged you in A Ying’s matter, but from now on, I will never fail you again.”

Until the day came when the clan elders gathered to formally enter this adopted daughter into the family genealogy.

By the rules, a blood test was required to show whether her lineage was genuine.

A bowl of clear water was brought forward.

Zhao Huan was brimming with confidence and pricked his fingertip first.

A Ying giggled as she held out her finger.

Two drops of blood fell into the clear water.

They remained sharply distinct.

They did not merge.

But the smile on Zhao Huan’s face froze instantly, and his expression darkened.

“Impossible.”

“That’s impossible.”