I was born with hips three sizes larger than most, so every night I would wrap a python around my waist and pour a bowl of pig's blood over it. Sensing the pig's blood, the python would constrict my waist until it creaked. Though the pain was so intense I nearly fainted, I still refused to stop.
As it turned out, all of this was because my lady had recently been diagnosed with pregnancy and had no desire to attend to the young master. So she wanted to choose a maid to warm his bed, and the young master favoured slender, delicate waists above all.
Sure enough, the young master chose me at first glance. He immediately carried me into his room to make love. A few months later, my lady gave birth to fraternal twins, and I was diagnosed as two months pregnant.
My life suddenly felt full of hope. When the young master came to see me, I was thrilled and ready to share the good news with him. But before I could speak, I was held underwater by the young master's servant. As I struggled, I saw the murderous intent in the young master's eyes.
"My wife's love for me is true. How could I ever let a mere maid take her place?"
The servant's grip grew tighter and tighter until he finally drowned me in the pond. Afterward, the two of them remained as loving as ever, becoming a celebrated romance in the capital, while my unborn child and I died in vain.
But when I opened my eyes again, I had actually been reborn to the time before my lady gave me to the young master.
This time, I must rewrite my destiny. I knew the Duke had remained unmarried since his wife's passing. If I could find a way to climb into his bed, I would instantly become his stepmother.
I will make both of you willingly call me mother.
A few days later, my lady was indeed diagnosed with pregnancy by the imperial physician. The young master rushed back. Just as he passed by me, his gaze lingered on me for a moment. That gaze was uncomfortably sticky. Soon, my lady's soft giggles and the young master's low growls came from inside the room. From afar, they sounded as loving as could be.
After the young master left, Yuanru, the young mistress's personal maid, began to complain and curse.
"What girl from a decent family would have her chest so full that it is bursting out of her clothes? And with a figure and face like that, even the courtesans in the brothels aren't as seductive as her. Why does the young mistress keep a seductress like Wanning around?"
Inside the room, the young mistress sighed and told her not to speak so recklessly.
Soon, the young mistress summoned me into the room. I knelt on the floor with my head bowed. The young mistress sized me up for a long moment before speaking with a beaming smile.
"Wanning, you are a blessed one."
I wouldn't dare to want this blessing again. In my previous life, not long after she said this, I became the young master's bed-warmer maid. The feeling of drowning was far too agonising. I had no desire to experience it a second time.
After the young mistress became pregnant, the young master came to see her every single day. But every time he came, his gaze would linger on me, unwilling to look away. Sometimes it fell upon my face. That gaze filled me with dread. It was obvious that he was extremely pleased with my appearance and my figure.
Whenever this happened, Yuanru would glare at me fiercely and curse me as a seductress again once the young master left. Although the young mistress smiled virtuously, there was a coldness in her eyes.
Things couldn't go on like this. In another two days, the young master would drag me into his room. But as a maid, the young mistress still held my indenture contract. Trying to escape this captive fate was incredibly difficult.
Just at that moment, the excited voice of a servant came from outside.
"Young mistress, the Duke of Gen State has won the war. He will lead the army back to the capital tomorrow."
The young mistress's face instantly lit up with joy. I clenched my fingers and suddenly had an idea.
The Duke is the young master's adoptive father. He is only thirty-two years old now. He has never married, and there is not a single wife or concubine in his inner chambers. If I become his woman, no one will dare to make things difficult for me anymore. Even my lady and the young master would not dare to go over the Duke's head.
Moreover, the young master is not his biological son. The young master's biological father was once the Duke's subordinate, who unfortunately lost his life after years of military campaigns with the Duke. Upon hearing the news, his wife could not bear the grief and soon followed him to the grave. At that time, the young master was only a child of a few years old, with no one to look after him, so the Duke simply took him into the manor and adopted him as his foster son. For all these years, he has been the only young master in the Duke's manor.
When my lady heard that the Duke was returning, she was overjoyed. She held her father-in-law in high esteem. Early the next morning, she had Yuanru dress her up.
"Miss, you are pregnant now. The Duke will surely be delighted to hear the news. Once you give him a chubby grandson, he might even go to the palace to request a decree to name the young master as the heir apparent."
My lady's smile deepened as she gently caressed her belly with a face full of anticipation. I stood nearby, looking down in silence. Unfortunately, she was bound to be disappointed. In my past life, the Duke went straight to a palace banquet as soon as he returned. My lady waited until dark, but the Duke never came back.
However, this actually worked to my advantage. My lady disliked my face very much, so it wasn't long before she dismissed me from her presence. I hurried back to my quarters, took out all the savings I had accumulated over the years, and quietly went to bribe the right people. I finally managed to find out which path the Duke would take upon his return.
After the sky turned dark, I carried a lantern and stood on the path the Duke was bound to take back. My clothes were extremely thin and light. As a breeze blew by, my body couldn't help but shiver from the cold. My heart also began to beat with anxiety.
The Duke holds a lofty position. I heard many noble ladies in the capital want to marry him, and countless others have tried to climb into his bed. However, this master was also known to keep his distance from women, and those who had tried to sneak into his bed were all flogged and sold off by human traffickers.
The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became, and my hands and feet began to grow weak. In the end, hardening my heart, I simply stopped thinking about it. After all, if I didn't succeed today, the young master would claim my body tomorrow, and I wouldn't escape death in the future anyway. I might as well give it a try. Even if I were sold by human traffickers, perhaps I could still find a way to survive outside the estate.
After waiting for about an hour, a figure finally approached slowly from ahead. Looking through the moonlight, the man appeared to be around thirty years old. He was built strong and powerful, walking over with large, confident strides.
My legs felt a bit weak.