“The couple bows to each other, now escort them to the bridal chamber!”
Amidst the overwhelming joy and laughter, Fang Yao was jostled and pushed into the newly decorated room.
As the crowd eagerly rushed out to attend the wedding banquet, the door closed, and the clamor in the courtyard finally became less piercing.
Fang Yao steadied herself against the bed curtain, swaying slightly. Through the red veil, she looked down at the red coat she was wearing and touched her flat, empty abdomen, confirming that she had been reborn back to 1982—the day of her wedding to Xu Manjiang!
“Heh, heh heh.” The hatred that filled her chest made her let out a bitter, sharp laugh.
In her previous life, after marrying Xu Manjiang, she had been unable to conceive for a long time. Her husband’s family had all assumed it was her body’s fault, forcing her to take medicine and subjecting her to all sorts of folk remedies, tormenting her for a full five years.
Finally, when she became pregnant, she discovered during her due period that Xu Manjiang was having an affair with his cousin’s wife, Li Xuemiao, and had also gotten her pregnant.
It was only then that she realized her five years of infertility were all because Li Xuemiao had secretly been slipping contraceptive pills into her meals! The reason was that Li Xuemiao’s own husband had been injured on a mission, leaving him permanently disabled in both legs. Li Xuemiao despised him, grew restless, and began a secret affair with Xu Manjiang, even hoping he would divorce Fang Yao so she could take her place!
And Xu Manjiang was even more shameless than her!
While sweet-talking Fang Yao into dutifully serving his parents, he also planned to have Li Xuemiao’s child recognized by his disabled cousin as the father, thereby rightfully seizing his family property!
Upon learning the truth, Fang Yao stormed in to confront them, determined to expose the adulterous pair.
Unexpectedly, Xu Manjiang, incited by Li Xuemiao and for the sake of her so-called ‘son’ in her belly, beat Fang Yao severely, directly causing her to die from a difficult labor and massive hemorrhage.
Fortunately, Heaven had eyes, giving her a chance to start over!
Fang Yao clenched her fingers tightly, digging her nails so deep into her palms that they drew blood. Just as the door opened, her breath and blood seemed to freeze.
Steady, powerful footsteps approached her, and Fang Yao keenly sensed something was wrong.
Xu Manjiang loved smoking and drinking, always carrying a smoky tobacco odor. But the person walking toward her now was filled with a clean, crisp scent, and his footsteps were distinctly different. She immediately realized that the person before her was not him!
Fang Yao directly lifted her veil. Their eyes met—a pair of cold, stern eyes.
Xu Qingzhou was dressed in a brand-new grass-green military uniform, the medals on his chest gleaming brilliantly. Against the backdrop of the large red flower, they added a touch of joy to his handsome, rugged face, though his jaw remained tightly clenched, and a flicker of surprise passed through the upturned corners of his eyes.
“It’s you?”
“Why is it you?”
Fang Yao and Xu Qingzhou spoke almost in unison.
Then, as she surveyed the unfamiliar furnishings in the room, she realized that after the four of them had completed the wedding ceremony together, they had been led to the wrong bridal chambers!
“It must be that the bride was sent to the wrong room. I’ll go to the front courtyard and explain.” Xu Qingzhou looked at his ‘sister-in-law’ in the bridal chamber, his handsome face flushing with embarrassment. He turned and pushed the door open to leave.
Fang Yao did not follow him. Instead, she began to ponder: originally, she was supposed to marry Xu Manjiang today, so why had she been sent to Xu Qingzhou’s room?
She remembered Li Xuemiao deliberately pushing her when they entered the main gate?
Clutching the red veil in her hand that didn’t belong to her, a bold guess formed in her mind.
Li Xuemiao had also been reborn!
Because she knew that Xu Qingzhou would soon be injured and disabled, she simply exchanged bridal chambers with her, directly becoming husband and wife with Xu Manjiang!
When Xu Qingzhou’s mother, Wang Hua, learned that the bride had been sent to the wrong bridal chamber, she rushed in anxiously, tripped over the threshold, and fell hard on her backside.
“Auntie! Are you alright?” Fang Yao helped her up.
Wang Hua grabbed Fang Yao’s arm, gently patting her hand and urging, “I’m fine, hurry. Qingzhou has gone to the front courtyard. You should go too, and swap Xuemiao back as soon as possible.”
Cousins getting married on the same day was originally a Double Happiness event, but now the brides had been sent to the wrong bridal chambers. If word got out, people would laugh their heads off!
Fang Yao knew she was anxious, but she understood better than anyone that Li Xuemiao had deliberately mixed up the bridal chambers to cement the outcome of the marriage swap. Even if she went now, it would be too late.
She steadied Wang Hua as she supported her. “Auntie, your leg is hurt like this. Let me help you over. It won’t make much difference even if we hurry.”
“Alright, let’s go quickly.”
Wang Hua’s fall had been quite severe, and she walked with a limp. As Fang Yao supported her, she could feel the cold sweat on her arm.
When Fang Yao arrived with her at the front courtyard, they saw Xu Qingzhou standing in the yard, his face ashen. Xu Manjiang, disheveled and reeking of alcohol, was being dragged out of bed by Wang Cuilian.
Wang Cuilian pushed and shoved him as she demanded, “Had a bit of cat piss and couldn’t even recognize your own bride? What did you do?”
Xu Manjiang met Xu Qingzhou’s cold, stern gaze and guiltily pursed his lips.
“Mom! Today’s my wedding day. If I didn’t do anything on my wedding night, what kind of man would I be?”
Hearing Li Xuemiao’s muffled sobs from inside the room, Xu Qingzhou clenched his fists. Just as he was about to strike, an even sharper, more resentful female voice rang out from behind.
“Xu Manjiang, you bastard!”
Fang Yao rushed up to Xu Manjiang. Seeing his face, she remembered his past cruelty and hypocrisy. She raised her hand and slapped him across the face with all her strength!
Smack!
Fang Yao’s arm went numb from the impact, and her palm stung as if pricked by countless needles.
But with her enemy right before her, she couldn’t care about anything else. All she wanted was to vent the hatred in her heart. Before anyone could react, she raised her other hand.
Smack!
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Fang Yao struck left and right, beating Xu Manjiang, a grown man, until he covered his head and scrambled around. Everyone else in the yard was stunned by her ferocity, frozen in place.
Finally, Wang Cuilian rushed over and pulled her back, crying out, “Fang Yao, what’s done is done! Even if you beat Manjiang to death today, it won’t change anything!”
Fang Yao was completely consumed by rage. If Wang Cuilian hadn’t stopped her, she would have gladly taken Xu Manjiang’s life!
Even so, she managed to land two more slaps on him while being pulled away before gasping for breath.
Because of this commotion in the Xu Family, guests who had just been drinking at the wedding banquet and hadn’t gone far, along with neighbors from all around, gathered to watch. The yard and the walls outside the gate were crowded with people. While pointing and laughing at the spectacle, they also joked about how fierce the Fang family’s new daughter-in-law was.
Old Mrs. Xu, who had always cared deeply about face, was utterly humiliated. She stomped her cane and ordered the whole family to gather in her room before having the main gate shut.
Soon, all members of the Xu Family gathered at the old lady’s place, including Li Xuemiao, who had already consummated her relationship with Xu Manjiang. She had put on her clothes and was brought over by Wang Hua.
Wang Hua, already at odds with her, released her hand as soon as he led her into the room, his face ashen as he stood beside Xu Qingzhou.
Xu Manjiang stood with his parents, while the two new brides, Fang Yao and Li Xuemiao, stood in the center of the room.
“You Xu Family are a bunch of fools, even managing to mix up the Bridal Chambers! You’ve ruined a perfectly good virgin maiden like me, taking away my purity—I can’t go on living!” Li Xuemiao, who had switched the Bridal Chambers herself and was now crying thief, lunged toward a pillar as if to crash into it.