“You bitch! Go to hell!”
The sharp blade ruthlessly pierced through Ye Yao’s chest. Warm, fresh blood gushed out instantly. Everything before her eyes gradually blurred. As her consciousness drifted away, the last thing Ye Yao saw was her younger stepsister, Ye Hanzhu, being executed by a swordsman at the order of her husband.
…
The quilt was abruptly yanked off, and a rough, burning-hot hand reached inside.
Ye Yao jolted awake, dazed, thinking for a split second that everything that had just happened was a dream. Then, she felt a warm sensation on her lips and her eyes widened in shock.
Someone was kissing her! And… it was a man!
Absurd!
Startled and furious, Ye Yao raised her hand and gave a forceful shove. “How dare you! Mph—”
Her remaining words were swallowed in the entanglement of their lips and teeth, breaking into fragmented syllables.
You bold, lawless fool! Simply preposterous!
Between the shock and the rage, she failed to notice for a moment that her body had regained the delicacy and softness of her youth.
“You bastard! Get off!”
She struggled with all her might, but the tall, brawny frame on top of her was as heavy as a mountain. In her desperation, she lowered her head and bit down hard on the man’s shoulder, using every ounce of her strength as if she truly intended to tear off a piece of flesh.
“Hisss…” The man let out a muffled grunt of pain.
Taking advantage of his moment of hesitation, Ye Yao tucked her legs in and kicked him fiercely, sending him tumbling off the bed.
In the dim light, she locked eyes with him. He was glaring at her intently, his eyes burning with rage yet rippling with an layer of incredulous grievance.
“You truly refuse to share a bed with me?”
Ye Yao was left speechless by his words. She was the one who didn’t want to sleep with him, so why was he the one acting aggrieved?
She was just about to shout for someone to apprehend this madman, not even having time to pull her clothes together, when the man suddenly stood up and lit the candle on the corner of the table.
The candlelight was dim and yellow, slowly illuminating the surroundings to reveal a crude, humble thatched hut. Standing before her was a young man with a stature as tall and sturdy as an ox.
The man turned around.
The moment Ye Yao caught sight of his face, the anger and shock within her froze, turning into absolute astonishment. This face… it was identical to her husband’s brother, Xie Hanshuo, whom she had known in his youth before he went missing for many years!
Xie Hanshuo’s face was sullen. His deep, dark eyes were locked onto her with a gloomy expression, like a large dog that had been discarded by its master. He was shirtless, his muscles well-defined, taut, and fluid, with his V-taper disappearing into the waistband of his trousers. His wheat-colored skin glowed with a faint luster under the candlelight. The ring of bleeding teeth marks on his shoulder was particularly striking.
But Ye Yao had no time to look at that. Her mind was in total chaos; she simply stared blankly down at her own young, smooth, jade-like skin.
This was no dream. She really had been reborn.
But… why had she been reborn into her brother-in-law’s bed? This was absolutely ridiculous!
While she was still lost in her thoughts, she heard Xie Hanshuo speak in a low voice, laced with an unspeakable desolation:
“What is so great about Big Brother studying? Do you like him that much? I know you don’t want to marry me, that you think I’m rough and unrefined… From now on, I won’t touch you.”
Marry?
Ye Yao was even more puzzled. The one who had married Xie Hanshuo back then was clearly her stepsister, Ye Hanzhu. How had it become her?
No, that wasn’t right. It was indeed meant to be her who married into the Xie family. Even though the family was poor in this village, the eldest son was diligent in his studies, and the second son had a talent for hunting. Her father had decided to marry both sisters into the family. In the countryside, things weren’t as complicated; most marriages were arranged blindly.
However, her father and stepmother were biased. They wanted her stepsister to marry the scholar so she could enjoy a life of ease, so they had promised her to this “ignorant, rough farm boy.”
Who knew that her stepsister had heard from somewhere that the eldest Xie son was sickly and short-lived, while his younger brother was handsome and a hunter who could provide meat at every meal. On the day of the wedding, Ye Hanzhu had secretly switched their embroidered shoes. By a twist of fate, Ye Yao had performed the wedding rites with the eldest Xie son and, unable to go back on her word, had no choice but to resign herself to her fate.
But in this new life… how had it turned out that she married Xie Hanshuo?
Ye Yao’s thoughts were a tangled mess, and she remained silent for a long time. Her silence only made Xie Hanshuo’s expression darken further. He remembered what his mother had said: his brother was a respectable scholar, and both Ye sisters were fighting to marry him. Only the one who didn’t win the “competition” would end up with him.
When they entered the bridal chamber, Xie Hanshuo had been overjoyed to see that his bride was Ye Yao. He had never liked Ye Hanzhu; when he was naughty and fell into the water as a child, Ye Hanzhu had only stood on the bank mocking him. Only Ye Yao had reached out to pull him up and carefully wiped his face clean. He never expected that the person he had missed for so many years would finally be his wife, only for her to refuse to let him touch her—even biting him.
Xie Hanshuo felt stifled and annoyed. His remaining sliver of pride caused him to stiffen his neck and rasp, “I’ll keep my word. From tonight on, I’ll sleep in the cowshed.”
With that, he quickly threw on his shirt and strode away without looking back.
Ye Yao had no heart to deal with him right now. She climbed down from the kang bed, barefoot, and took out the small copper mirror stored in the cabinet, staring blankly for a long time at the fair, delicate face reflected in it.
In her past life, because Ye Hanzhu had swapped them, she married the sickly eldest Xie son. On the surface, he was a refined gentleman, but in reality, he struggled in the bedroom and took pleasure in tormenting women during intimate moments. Night after night, she had to exhaust herself trying to refuse him while enduring the cruelty and coldness of her mother-in-law, Mrs. Wang. She had lived a life of total emotional and physical exhaustion.
Later, she gritted her teeth and started a business. Only when the money she earned began to pay for Xie Moyan’s books and medicine did Mrs. Wang finally give her a slightly better look. Xie Moyan also gradually turned from contempt to respect. She used her silver to pave the way for his official career, maintained her position as his legal wife, sought out doctors and medicine for him, helped him take concubines to ensure his lineage, and ultimately helped him rise to the position of Prime Minister.
Thirty years of marriage had only earned her the label of “mutual respect as if between guests.” After waiting until Xie Moyan passed away and the Crown Prince ascended the throne, she was granted the title of a First-Rank Noble Lady, becoming a respected old matriarch envied by everyone in the capital.
The peaceful life she had spent most of her life struggling to build had to be restarted. And to her surprise, even her husband had changed. In this life, if her memory served her right, this new husband of hers would secretly join the army two months after their marriage and vanish without a trace. Even until the day Xie Moyan died, his only regret was not finding his younger brother, feeling he had no face to see his parents again…
“What kind of racket are you making in the middle of the night!”
Her mother-in-law, Mrs. Wang, having heard the commotion, came over from the next room. She bumped into Xie Hanshuo as he was leaving and immediately pulled a long face, screeching, “You didn’t serve your man properly on your wedding night and you’re making all this noise! What kind of behavior is that!”
Ye Yao was already accustomed to this tone from her past life, so her face remained calm. She glanced at the room where the eldest Xie son and Ye Hanzhu were staying; it was deathly silent.
Her gaze drifted down, accidentally landing on the embroidered shoes on her feet—red satin, embroidered with orchids. They were her own. Ye Hanzhu’s shoes had yellow flowers on a red background. In her previous life, she hadn’t been paying attention and was swapped by Ye Hanzhu, leading to the wrong marriage.
Now, the shoes were still on her own feet…
Ye Yao’s thoughts shifted, and she faintly understood what had happened. She deliberately lowered her eyes, putting on a timid expression, and whispered, “Mother, perhaps I upset Hanshuo just now… He said he didn’t expect the one he married would be me.”
When Mrs. Wang heard this, she scoffed, “It was originally decided that you were to be given to the eldest. I don’t know what kind of madness seized your family a few days ago, suddenly saying your sister wanted to swap back with you.”
As expected.
In Mrs. Wang’s eyes, she likely thought both sisters were fighting to marry Xie Moyan. How ridiculous. But this confirmed her suspicion: Ye Hanzhu had also been reborn, and a few days earlier than her.
In her past life, Ye Hanzhu had gone to great lengths to swap the marriage, only to reap the fruits of her own labor. She hadn’t enjoyed a single good day, living as a widow in all but name, suffering poverty and grievances under Mrs. Wang, and spending her whole life in the countryside. Now, living again, she probably thought that by snatching the marriage to the eldest Xie son, she could enjoy wealth and glory, waiting to be awarded a title?
What a pity, her calculations were wrong. Without her, Ye Yao, working her fingers to the bone to earn money in the previous life, the eldest Xie son wouldn’t even be able to afford medicine, let alone the expenses for his studies and the imperial examinations.
She still wanted to top the imperial examinations and become a high-ranking official? It was a pipe dream!
Since she could lift up a Xie Moyan, she could naturally lift up a Xie Hanshuo. Of course, the prerequisite was that he didn’t run away or play the vanishing act. Therefore, as long as she could find a way to keep him…
As Ye Yao was silently plotting, Mrs. Wang had already moved into the room, her shrill voice stabbing at her once more:
“He wouldn’t even consummate the marriage with you? You really are useless; you can’t even hold onto a man!”