“Mm…”
The red candles burned brightly, while shadows overlapped behind the gauzy bed curtains.
Shang Lingjun abruptly opened her eyes. She had actually been reborn on the night of her wedding.
Well… marvelous!
【Whoa! A live show in the bridal chamber! What deep grudge does your husband have against you that he’s fooling around with another woman on your wedding night?】
A clear, teasing male voice rang out in Shang Lingjun’s mind.
This male ghost had entered the cycle of rebirth with her. Somehow, something had gone wrong, and he had ended up inside her body, causing them to share a body.
Shang Lingjun had gone from resisting the situation to helplessly accepting it.
The male ghost had never imagined that he would return home in such a manner.
Unable to conceal his shock, he decided to observe the situation before saying anything.
Shang Lingjun glanced back at the two filthy bodies on the wedding bed and replied coldly in her mind:
【No. That woman is the husband I married…】
Xie Zhaoqing!
Xie Zhaoqing had entered the academy disguised as a man, where she had made a great impression and fallen deeply in love with Xiao Jing of the general’s residence.
To help Xie Zhaoqing conceal her identity as a woman, Xiao Jing had arranged for his younger sister—Shang Lingjun—to marry Xie Zhaoqing.
Shang Lingjun was an adopted daughter of the Xiao family. She had cried, pleaded, and even attempted suicide, yet Xiao Jing remained unmoved. He had merely said coldly:
“Consider it something you’re doing for me. After you marry into the Xie family, you must take good care of Zhaoqing.”
Xie Zhaoqing had always hated the “childhood sweetheart” at Xiao Jing’s side. Once Shang Lingjun fell into her hands, she suffered endless beatings, scolding, and humiliation.
Kneeling as punishment, slapping her face, whipping her… all of it was routine.
Her mother-in-law had forced her to wear a sheer gown to please Xie Zhaoqing. When Xie Zhaoqing saw her, she had burst into loud laughter, shoved her in front of Xiao Jing, and humiliated her like a prostitute from a brothel.
Later, Xie Zhaoqing inexplicably changed her attitude. That night, Shang Lingjun became pregnant with a son.
Then, when the boy was seven, he accidentally fell into the water and was left at death’s door. Xie Zhaoqing flew into a rage and beat Shang Lingjun to death with an iron whip soaked in salt water.
Only after her death did Shang Lingjun learn that she was a green-tea female supporting character, existing in a romance novel whose protagonists were Xie Zhaoqing and Xiao Jing.
Xie Zhaoqing was a female protagonist—valiant and heroic. Disguised as a man, she fell in love with Xiao Jing, and together they dominated the imperial court. Their love was an evenly matched romance between two formidable people.
The green-tea female supporting character beside the male protagonist was always detestable. Naturally, a decisive female protagonist like Xie Zhaoqing would never spare Shang Lingjun, that wretched green tea.
Thus, every time Xie Zhaoqing abused her, it was treated as a satisfying triumph in a wish-fulfillment story.
Because the female supporting character secretly loved the male protagonist, she deserved to die ten thousand deaths.
Even the child Shang Lingjun had raised herself was the bastard offspring of Xiao Jing and Xie Zhaoqing.
As for her own biological child, Xie Zhaoqing had contemptuously called him “a lump of rotten flesh.” He had been thrown away to feed the dogs immediately after birth.
“That idiot Shang Lingjun couldn’t have heard us, could she?”
Xie Zhaoqing looked toward the person lying motionless on the floor.
“Don’t worry about her. She took a sedative and won’t wake up. Tonight is our wedding night.”
Xiao Jing’s voice was hoarse and low.
“Shang Lingjun likes you so much. You really don’t want this little childhood sweetheart anymore?”
There was a hint of smugness in Xie Zhaoqing’s voice.
“Being able to help conceal your identity is her good fortune…”
【Bastard!】
The male ghost cursed furiously. He had never expected that the nephew he had watched grow up was actually a woman—and such a shameless one at that.
Absolutely incomprehensible!
Shang Lingjun was slightly taken aback. 【Why are you so worked up?】
She had never expected the first person to sympathize with her to be a male ghost. The feeling in her heart was indescribable.
【What if I told you that my father and elder brother died saving Xiao Jing, and that was why the Xiao family adopted me?】
And Xiao Jing, a man who repaid kindness with betrayal—what right did he have to be the male protagonist?
The male ghost became even more indignant.
【Come on, give me control of your body. I’m not particularly talented, but I do know a few martial arts moves.】
Shang Lingjun immediately became wary. Did he intend to seize control of her body?
It seemed she had better guard against this wandering soul whose origins were unknown!
【No need. I have a way of my own.】
She would make this treacherous pair lose their reputations and suffer eternal ruin!
Shang Lingjun quietly removed the cumbersome wedding garments, feeling much lighter at once. Then she took a pill from her waistband and placed it inside the censer.
It was an aphrodisiac incense pellet that the nanny had forcibly stuffed into her hands. Knowing how much Shang Lingjun detested Xie Zhaoqing and seeing her resistance, the nanny had insisted that she take it, declaring that the couple had to consummate their marriage.
Shang Lingjun had accepted it only reluctantly. She had never expected it to come in handy.
Since they were already burning with desire and unable to restrain themselves, why not make things even more intense?
After finishing all this, Shang Lingjun slipped out of the bridal chamber. The glance she cast back was cold and sinister.
By then, night had fallen, but the front courtyard was still full of clinking cups and lively conversation. The banquet had yet to end.
“Help! Everyone, hurry and save my husband!”
When Shang Lingjun reached the front courtyard, she put on a frantic expression, snatched a wine jug from a servant, and smashed it on the ground. The sudden, crisp crash drew the attention of every guest.
“Isn’t that the bride? Why did she run out dressed like that?”
“What happened to Brother Qing?”
For a moment, everyone bombarded her with questions.
Shang Lingjun took a deep breath. Her eyes reddened as she cried anxiously:
“My husband is drunk and lying on the bed, but there’s a man sitting astride him! My husband keeps screaming! Everyone, hurry and save him!”
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone’s expression changed. They looked at one another in confusion.
What… what did she mean?
Why did it sound so strange?
Was it really what they thought it was?
Or was the bride merely so flustered that she had jumbled her words and caused them to imagine things?
The matter was too embarrassing for anyone to show an unusual reaction. Afraid of becoming a laughingstock, someone instead asked with concern:
“Who is beating Brother Qing? Why didn’t you pull them apart?”
Shang Lingjun’s tears flowed even more heavily as she shouted:
“I couldn’t see clearly. From the voice, it sounded like my older brother, Xiao Jing! The two of them had stripped off all their clothes and were fighting fiercely on the bed. I didn’t dare try to separate them…”
Then Shang Lingjun seemed to grow confused again and spoke timidly:
“I truly don’t know what kind of quarrel they were having, so I secretly ran out to ask everyone for help!”
Silence!
An eerie silence!
The more delicate female guests instantly flushed crimson, their cheeks nearly dripping blood. The men’s expressions were hardly any better, each one more colorful than the last.
If they had merely suspected that their own thoughts were filthy and that they had read too much into her words before, then now the matter was confirmed beyond doubt.
Of course, some people were still completely innocent and had no idea what she meant.
They might not have understood, but there were certainly others who did.
The current emperor had expressly forbidden sodomy, condemning it as “against humanity” and “a violation of human morality.”
If word spread that a man from any family had such a proclivity, his official career would be over. He would also become the object of ridicule throughout society.
“Please, everyone…”
Shang Lingjun acted as though she could not see the guests’ strange reactions. Her voice trembled with sobs, and her beautiful, limpid eyes brimmed with crystalline tears.
Even her delicate body was quivering. Holding a silk handkerchief half over her lips, she looked utterly pitiful.
Green tea, was it?
Shang Lingjun had not originally understood what the term meant. But after recalling the things Xie Zhaoqing had cursed her with in her previous life, she had a general idea.
Affected and artificial, weak and innocent, always using tears as a weapon—that was green tea.
Then she would carry the term “green tea” through to the very end!
Shang Lingjun wanted to see how this “female protagonist,” Xie Zhaoqing, could remain valiant and heroic after being labeled a male lover.
【Whoa!】
If the male ghost had a body, his eyes would certainly have been wide with shock, his face flushed crimson. This woman was far too good at making things up!
How could she fabricate such unspeakably embarrassing details without even blushing?
And in front of all these people?
He was now extremely curious to see what else this woman with such astonishing acting skills could do.
“What? My husband is my older brother’s male lover? No… No, that’s impossible! You’re all talking nonsense! I don’t believe it!”
Shang Lingjun put on another performance, clutching her head in apparent despair.
In truth, no one had said anything of the sort.
【You wanted to take control of my body earlier, didn’t you?】
The male ghost had been thoroughly enjoying the spectacle when her sudden question nearly caught him off guard.
【What about it?】
Shang Lingjun’s tone was ambiguous. 【I’ll give it to you.】
【Really?】 The male ghost was overjoyed.
What happened next left everyone aghast, throwing the entire scene into chaos!
Shang Lingjun suddenly slammed her head into a pillar. With a loud bang, she collapsed to the ground, unconscious and unaware of whether she lived or died.
【Ahhh! Are you even human?!】
The male ghost’s anguished wail was the only thing echoing through her mind.
“Someone’s been killed!” someone shouted.
And so, a wedding banquet that night exploded across the entire capital.
Yet an even more spectacular show was about to begin…