“Older Brother? You’re back?”
As Zhu Qingshan pushed open the courtyard gate, his younger sister, Zhu Qinghe, immediately looked up from her embroidery work.
“Brother, what happened to you? Why are you soaked like this?”
Alarmed, she hurried over to inspect him carefully. Only after confirming that he wasn’t injured did she finally relax.
Zhu Qingshan remained silent.
His thoughts were still in complete chaos.
He clearly remembered dying.
When his consciousness first returned, he had awakened underwater, utterly disoriented. By the time he managed to drag Li Xiyue back onto the muddy shore, she had already stopped breathing.
But this wasn’t how things had happened in his previous life.
Back then, he had rescued her in time. The moment he carried her onto the shore, Li Xiyue had coughed up water and regained consciousness almost immediately.
Thinking about Wang Zhen’er standing beside the pond earlier, looking wronged and tearful, disgust rose violently in his chest.
Now that he had been reborn, how could he possibly fail to see through her schemes?
In his previous life, Wang Zhen’er had secretly asked him to meet her by the eastern pond, claiming she had something important to discuss.
But when he arrived, Wang Zhen’er was nowhere to be found.
Instead, he saw Li Xiyue struggling desperately in the deep water, crying for help.
Unable to watch someone drown, he had jumped in without hesitation.
Everything that followed afterward had unfolded exactly the same as today.
Except this time…
Li Xiyue had truly died.
In his previous life, Wang Zhen’er’s mother had later stormed into the Zhu family home and caused an enormous scene, ultimately forcing the cancellation of his engagement with Wang Zhen’er.
Meanwhile, Li Xiyue’s reputation had been completely ruined by vicious rumors.
As if that wasn’t enough, her father later arranged to marry her off to an old man as a replacement bride.
Unable to endure the humiliation any longer, she eventually tried to kill herself.
Consumed by guilt and responsibility, Zhu Qingshan had stepped forward and married her.
Later, the mysterious man Wang Zhen’er rescued from the mountains turned out to be the Imperial Prince, the King of Wei.
Eventually, the King of Wei ascended the throne and became Emperor, while Wang Zhen’er rose to the position of Imperial Noble Consort.
As for him and Li Xiyue…
They both died in a suspicious house fire.
Looking back now, Wang Zhen’er’s methods were laughably obvious.
After becoming infatuated with a man of supreme status, she had feared Zhu Qingshan would refuse to end their engagement. So she deliberately orchestrated this scandal to destroy his reputation and force the separation.
A woman this manipulative and heartless was someone he absolutely wanted nothing to do with anymore.
“Brother, hurry and drink this ginger soup before you catch a cold,” Zhu Qinghe said softly, interrupting his thoughts.
Zhu Qingshan accepted the bowl and drank it in one breath.
Thankfully, he had been given another chance.
This time, he refused to die such a meaningless death.
He would protect his sister.
He would reunite with their missing younger brother.
And he would survive.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, the gathered villagers finally realized Li Xi was still alive.
After offering a few shallow words of comfort, the village chief instructed Tiezhu’s wife to escort her home.
The moment Wang confirmed that Li Xiyue hadn’t actually died, the panic in her chest finally disappeared.
This miserable girl might not be loved by her own family, but if she had truly died inside Zhu Family Village, Master Li would certainly have caused endless trouble for everyone.
The instant they entered the house, Wang’s expression changed completely.
“Listen carefully, Li Xiyue,” she snapped viciously. “Don’t start entertaining shameless fantasies just because Zhu Qingshan saved you from drowning. Do you seriously think you can use this incident to force your way into the Zhu family?”
She dropped heavily onto a wooden stool and sneered.
“The Zhu family has the best financial standing in the entire village. Even if Wang Zhen’er didn’t exist, a girl like you still wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Li Xi silently stared at the wall, using the opportunity to organize her thoughts.
Seeing no response, Wang’s temper exploded.
“Are you deaf now too, you useless little brat? Pour me some water immediately!”
Instead of answering, Li Xi simply allowed her body to go limp and collapsed onto the floor.
“Hey!” Wang screamed. “Don’t pretend to faint in front of me! I invented tricks like that when I was young!”
Seeing that Li Xi still wasn’t moving, Wang became irritated and raised her hand to strike her.
“Stop!”
A man’s voice suddenly interrupted her.
Zhu Tiezhu had just entered the room.
“She obviously fainted from exhaustion,” he said impatiently. “If she ends up seriously ill, what are we supposed to do?”
Then he lowered his voice slightly.
“She’ll be married off soon anyway. If the matchmaker notices bruises all over her body, how are we supposed to explain it?”
Wang froze instantly.
“Married off?” she asked sharply. “To whom?”
Zhu Tiezhu grunted.
“Help me move her onto the bed first. Why are you asking so many questions? Once the money comes through, your share won’t be missing.”
The couple carried Li Xi onto the bed before leaving the room together.
Neither of them mentioned calling a doctor ever again.
Wang was too stingy to spend money on treatment.
And Zhu Tiezhu wasn’t any better.
Once the room finally fell silent, Li Xi slowly opened her eyes.
After piecing together fragments of memory and listening to the couple’s conversation, she finally understood her current situation.
This place was Zhu Family Village, located in Qingtian County under Qingzhou Prefecture of the Grand Xian Empire.
And the body she now occupied belonged to a girl named Li Xiyue.
Li Xiyue’s maternal grandfather, Zhu Shou, had once traveled extensively while building a massive family fortune.
However, despite his wealth, he never had a son.
Eventually, he chose a young goldsmith apprentice named Li Dong as his son-in-law and married him to his beloved daughter, Zhu Muyin.
After entering the family, Li Dong worked diligently and gradually took over the family business.
Because of his handsome appearance and smooth personality, Zhu Muyin loved him deeply.
She even insisted their first child carry the Li surname instead of Zhu.
The decision enraged Master Zhu so severely that he suffered a stroke.
Afterward, the family business completely fell into Li Dong’s hands.
Only then did he reveal his true nature.
He immediately brought his pregnant childhood sweetheart from the Qin family directly into the household.
By the time Zhu Muyin realized what kind of monster she had married, it was already too late.
After her father’s death, she lost all protection and was confined to a secluded courtyard until she eventually died of heartbreak.
As Li Xiyue grew older, her appearance became increasingly similar to her mother’s.
Li Dong’s current wife, Madam Qin, hated the sight of her face.
So she banished Li Xiyue back to her maternal family’s countryside estate.
Thus, despite technically being the rightful heir to the entire property, Li Xiyue ended up living under the abuse and exploitation of distant relatives.
And now, those same relatives planned to sell her into marriage for profit.
Li Xi felt a headache coming on.
In an ancient society like this, escaping alone without money or legal identity would be nearly impossible.
Should she really rely on Zhu Qingshan, just like the rumors suggested?
Wait.
Zhu Qingshan?
Wang Zhen’er?
Li Xi suddenly sat bolt upright.
The female protagonist of the farming novel she had been rage-reading before her death was named Wang Zhen’er.
And the doomed former fiancé in the story was named Zhu Qingshan.
No way…
Just because she criticized the plot online, the universe had transmigrated her directly into one of the story’s cannon-fodder characters?!
According to the novel’s original plot, Wang Zhen’er had accidentally bound herself to a magical Koi Luck System.
While gathering wild vegetables in the mountains, she rescued the severely injured King of Wei, Zhao An.
After falling in love with his appearance and status, she deliberately engineered the pond incident, forcing Zhu Qingshan to rescue Li Xiyue publicly and giving herself a perfect excuse to dissolve the engagement.
With Wang Zhen’er’s supernatural luck supporting him, Zhao An eventually defeated all his political rivals and seized the imperial throne.
Wang Zhen’er then became Imperial Noble Consort.
Meanwhile, Li Xiyue’s reputation was utterly destroyed after the drowning incident.
When her father attempted to marry her off to an old man, she tried to commit suicide by returning to the same pond.
Zhu Qingshan stopped her.
Eventually, the two married.
Although Zhu Qingshan initially felt no romantic affection for her, years of shared hardship slowly turned their relationship into one of deep mutual trust and dependence.
But Wang Zhen’er never truly forgot Zhu Qingshan.
After learning that the two lived peacefully together, jealousy consumed her completely.
She secretly sent assassins to burn down their home.
Li Xiyue and Zhu Qingshan died together in the fire.
And in the novel’s ending, Wang Zhen’er eventually rose all the way to Empress Dowager, gaining absolute power over the empire.
Li Xi nearly burst into tears.
She had only criticized the ending online for one hour.
Was that really enough to get transmigrated into cannon fodder?!
…
That evening, villagers gathered beneath the large banyan tree at the village entrance to enjoy the cool breeze and exchange gossip.
For villagers with little entertainment, even tiny events became major discussion topics.
So naturally, today’s scandal had spread like wildfire.
After finishing a full day of farm work, a village woman named Chen approached the banyan tree.
The moment the others spotted her, they immediately surrounded her excitedly.
“Chen! Is it true your nephew refuses to marry Wang Zhen’er now?”
“Wang Zhen’er’s the prettiest girl in the village too!”
Chen frowned in confusion.
“What nonsense are you people talking about?”
“You seriously haven’t heard?” someone whispered dramatically. “Your nephew Zhu Qingshan tried forcing himself on Master Li’s daughter beside the pond! They both fell into the water struggling together!”
“When they got pulled out, they were practically embracing each other with their clothes in complete disarray!”
Chen’s face exploded with rage instantly.
She ripped off her cloth shoe and swung it straight at the speaker.
“Shut your filthy mouth!”
“You dare slander my nephew again?!”
“Our Qingshan would never do such a thing!”
The woman barely dodged backward, though Chen’s shoe still smacked against her shoulder several times.
“I’m not making it up!” the woman protested. “Half the village saw it!”
Chen immediately abandoned her evening walk and stormed straight toward Zhu Qingshan’s home.
Years ago, when Zhu Qingshan’s father split from the main household, there had been no remaining plots inside the village proper.
As a result, their home had been built near the mountain foothills.
After walking rapidly for nearly fifteen minutes, Chen finally arrived and began pounding violently on the gate.
“Qingshan! Qinghe! Open the door!”
Inside, Zhu Qinghe quickly set down her embroidery and hurried to answer.
“Aunt Chen? Why are you here so late?”
Chen brushed past her immediately.
“Where’s your brother?”
“He swallowed some pond water today and caught a chill,” Zhu Qinghe replied nervously. “He’s resting in bed now.”
Chen marched directly into Zhu Qingshan’s room.
The room was dark except for the weak glow of the oil lamp Zhu Qinghe carried inside.
Zhu Qingshan lay beneath a thick quilt, sweat covering his forehead.
Chen pressed her hand against his brow.
After confirming his fever wasn’t severe, she finally relaxed slightly.
“Aunt Chen, what happened?” Zhu Qingshan asked tiredly.
“I want the truth,” Chen demanded immediately. “What happened between you and Wang Zhen’er today? And how did you end up in the pond with the Li girl?”
Zhu Qinghe’s eyes widened.
“Brother, you jumped into the pond to save someone?! Why didn’t you tell me?”
Seeing the determined expressions on both women’s faces, Zhu Qingshan sighed and carefully recounted everything that had happened.
“…That’s the entire story,” he concluded quietly.
“That little snake!” Chen exploded furiously.
“If her father hadn’t died, forcing her into three years of mourning, you two would’ve been married long ago! Our family waited respectfully for her, and this is how she repays us?!”
“She thinks she can just throw you away now?!”
Chen looked ready to storm over and tear Wang Zhen’er apart personally.
Zhu Qingshan quickly grabbed her sleeve.
“Aunt Chen, calm down. The man Wang Zhen’er rescued has an extremely dangerous background. Don’t act recklessly over someone like her.”
Zhu Qinghe’s eyes reddened with anger.
Who would have thought Wang Zhen’er’s gentle and graceful public image hid such a vicious heart?
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Chen demanded angrily. “Just quietly accept the broken engagement?”
“She isn’t worth damaging your health over,” Zhu Qingshan replied calmly.
Even though he knew Wang Zhen’er’s future fate, the royal power behind her was not something ordinary villagers could fight.
After a long silence, Chen finally spoke again.
“Fine. Forget Wang Zhen’er for now.”
Her expression turned serious.
“What do you plan to do about Li Xiyue?”
Zhu Qingshan froze.
“Li Xiyue?” he repeated blankly. “But… didn’t she stop breathing by the pond?”