“The number one villainess of Chang’an City, Jiang Chaohua, is dead!”
“Jiang Chaohua, who murdered her brother, mother, and husband, was shot dead by the new emperor with a single arrow!”
Memories surged over her like tidal waves, leaving Jiang Chaohua with a suffocating sensation.
Her head throbbed with intense pain, and her lungs felt as if they were being crushed.
The icy lake water pulled her downward, but she suddenly opened her eyes and, with a burst of effort, swam to the surface!
“Cough, cough, cough.”
It was early March, when the warmth of spring was still interspersed with sudden chills. Jiang Chaohua lay by the lakeside, coughing as if her lungs were about to burst.
“Waaah, Miss, please don’t scare Feicui! How did you end up falling into the lake for no reason? If the Old Madam finds out, how heartbroken she would be!”
A familiar voice rang in her ears. Jiang Chaohua looked up and, through the hazy mist, saw a familiar face.
It was her personal maid, Feicui.
But hadn’t Feicui died long ago while protecting her?
Killed by Jiang Wanxin.
“Feicui?”
Jiang Chaohua’s voice was hoarse, her vision blurred. Feicui nodded, quickly taking off her own outer garment to drape over Jiang Chaohua, though her eyes were filled with fear.
“Miss, please wear my clothes. Today is your birthday celebration, and there are still guests in the front courtyard.”
Feicui’s voice grew softer. Jiang Chaohua’s intense stare made her shiver involuntarily. But Feicui had served Jiang Chaohua since childhood and always had her best interests at heart. Thinking about how her mistress’s birthday banquet was being overshadowed by the foster cousin who acted as if she were the host, Feicui mustered her courage and continued:
“Miss, are you alright? Today is your birthday banquet, yet Cousin is receiving guests as if she were the host. What kind of situation is this? And to think, your birthday happens to fall on the same day as hers.”
Seeing that Jiang Chaohua remained silent and unharmed, Feicui, unable to contain her frustration, began to vent.
“Feicui, what is the current date?”
Jiang Chaohua took the garment from Feicui, stood up abruptly, and looked up at the sunlight in the sky.
Hadn’t she died? Hadn’t she been shot dead by the new emperor? Could it be that she had been reborn? Returned to the day of her fifteenth birthday banquet?
“Miss, what’s wrong with you? Today is the eighteenth of February, your birthday.”
Feicui grew uneasy at Jiang Chaohua’s strange expression. Remembering Jiang Chaohua’s cruel methods of torment, she couldn’t help but shrink back.
“I asked you what year and month it is now.Jiang Chaohua’s expression was inscrutable, her tone eerily calm, devoid of her usual irritability and ferocity. Feicui dropped to her knees abruptly:
“Currently, it is… the eighteenth year of the Zhenguan era in the Prosperous Tang Dynasty!”
“The eighteenth year? Zhenguan? Hahaha, I’ve returned. I’ve truly returned.”
Jiang Chaohua murmured to herself, tightened the garment around her, and closed her eyes abruptly, as if the tidal wave of memories threatened to drown her.
She was the legitimate daughter of Jiang He, Vice Minister of War in Chang’an City during the Prosperous Tang Dynasty. Her birth mother, Shen Shi, was the only daughter of the Loyal and Brave Marquis.
Jiang He came from a poor background but placed third in the imperial examinations. Shen Shi took a liking to him and married him, even severing ties with the Loyal and Brave Marquis’s household for his sake.
As the only daughter of the Loyal and Brave Marquis, Shen Shi had been raised by the Empress Dowager herself and was known as the top noble lady of Chang’an City. Everyone expected her to marry the Crown Prince and become the future Empress. Yet, for the sake of a scholar from a humble family, she defied her maternal clan and married beneath her station.
After marriage, Shen Shi gave birth to her eldest son Jiang Wanfeng within a year, followed by her second son Jiang Wanyi the next year, her third son Jiang Wanzhou three years later, and finally her daughter Jiang Chaohua.
To outsiders, Shen Shi’s marriage appeared blissful, with a house full of children. Jiang He took no concubines, remaining devoted solely to Shen Shi, making their story a celebrated tale in Chang’an City.
But perhaps heaven disliked Shen Shi’s life being too perfect. Her only daughter, Jiang Chaohua, had been notorious since childhood – even at a young age, she frequently beat and abused servants, displayed willful and mean-spirited behavior, and enjoyed poisoning people. If not for fear of her maternal grandfather’s power, even dogs would have spat at her.
Shen Shi worried day and night, her health deteriorating steadily. Yet misfortune never comes alone – her eldest son Jiang Wanfeng, though a martial arts prodigy, lost the use of his legs; her second son Jiang Wanyi, despite his profound knowledge, suffered high fever that damaged his brain, leaving him simple-minded.
Her third son Jiang Wanzhou broke with Shen Shi over a courtesan and left home, disappearing for three years.
All these blows caused Shen Shi to age rapidly, gradually withering away.
Outsiders only sighed at Shen Shi’s tragic fate, lamenting how she had come to such a state. The only comfort was that her husband never abandoned her, always staying by her side, leading people in Chang’an City to praise Jiang He as a righteous and good husband.
“Heh.”
Jiang Chaohua opened her eyes, laughing coldly incessantly. A righteous and good husband? What a colossal joke!
All the misfortunes that befell her mother, her brothers, and herself were caused by Jiang He. He kept a mistress outside who bore him a daughter – that daughter was Jiang Wanxin, now living in their mansion under the guise of a cousin!
For Jiang Wanxin’s sake, Jiang He had deliberately raised Jiang Chaohua to become a wicked woman, despised by everyone in Chang’an City. In her previous life, Jiang Wanxin had climbed over her and the Loyal and Brave Marquis’s household, not only marrying Prince Jing as his principal wife but also being rewarded by the emperor and celebrated by the people for righteously exposing the Marquis household’s rebellion. She became the white moonlight of young nobles.
Jiang Wanxin! Jiang He!!
Jiang Chaohua’s heart filled with hatred. Even sunlight falling upon her couldn’t dispel the gloom in her heart.
“Jiang Chaohua, killer of brothers, mother, and husband!!”
Her head throbbed with pain as these words tormented Jiang Chaohua’s heart. She suddenly remembered that at today’s birthday banquet, her second brother had climbed a tree to pick jujubes to cheer her up, but fell to his death – this incident became the key rift between her and Shen Shi.
“Feicui, go to the front courtyard and find mother. Tell her I’m unwell and wish to see her. Quickly!”
Calculating the time, in her previous life, this was exactly when her second brother met his accident. Looking back now, everything seemed too coincidental – so coincidental it frightened Jiang Chaohua.
“Yes!”
Feicui didn’t dare delay, standing up immediately and running toward the front courtyard. Meanwhile, Jiang Chaohua put on Feicui’s clothes and strode quickly toward the back courtyard.
A jujube tree grew in the back courtyard, bearing fruit every March. Though her second brother was simple-minded, he clung to her affectionately. Impatient with him, she had found an excuse saying she wanted to eat jujubes, leading her second brother to climb the tree and fall to his death!
“Second brother, wait for me, wait for me!”
Jiang Chaohua ran swiftly, her figure weaving through the Jiang family courtyards. Holding her breath, she charged directly into the back courtyard.
The back courtyard was silent and empty, with only that towering jujube tree particularly conspicuous.
Among the swaying branches, a figure in blue brocade robes stood unsteadily on a branch.
The area around the jujube tree was utterly quiet – not even attending servants, nor a single bird in sight!
So bizarre. In her past life, no one had sensed anything amiss, believing it all to be mere accidents.
Crack.
The faint sound echoed sharply in the courtyard, making Jiang Chaohua’s heart leap into her throat. In a daze, she could already envision Jiang Wanyi falling from the tree and meeting his death!
Without a second thought, she rushed toward the large tree. The closer she got, the louder the cracking sound became.
“It’s true, it’s true!”
Around the tree stood two or three chopped wooden stakes.
Unbeknownst to anyone, those stakes had been sharpened to a deadly point. If Jiang Wanyi were to fall onto them, he would die instantly!
At this critical moment, Jiang Chaohua grabbed a large axe and desperately hacked at the wooden stakes.
“Sister, sister.”
Up in the tree, Jiang Wanyi heard the noise and looked down. But the branch beneath his feet was too brittle. With just a slight movement, he tumbled from the tree.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Chaohua threw herself onto the ground, cushioning Jiang Wanyi’s fall with her own body.
In the midst of this tense scene, she had dropped the axe in her hand. From a distance, it appeared as though she had chopped down the jujube tree, causing Jiang Wanyi to fall!
“Ah, Second Sister, what have you done? Second Brother has fallen!”
A familiar female voice rang out, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. A group of women, three or five in number, appeared before them.
Witnessing Jiang Wanyi’s fall with their own eyes, the female guests attending the birthday banquet gasped in shock:
“Heavens! How wicked must Jiang Chaohua be to try and kill her own brother!”
Amid the chorus of exclamations, one delicate voice stood out—one that Jiang Chaohua would never forget, even in death.
Jiang Wanxin was indeed nearby.