Two months later, Jingcheng.
Across the span of seven years from her past life, Wen Xueling stood outside the Prime Minister’s Mansion once again.
In her previous life, she had thought that entering this gate would reunite her with her father and brothers, never realizing it was the beginning of her descent into an endless abyss of pain.
Tonight was her stepmother’s birthday. Her scumbag father was hosting a lavish celebration for her, and a steady stream of guests arrived.
A crowd of commoners had gathered at the entrance to scramble for auspicious silver.
Standing among the crowd, she watched the handsome youth busy preparing for the stepmother’s birthday. His words from her past life echoed in her ears.
“Mother is already dead, so why do you care about the empty title of first wife? Clearly, you are just jealous of An’an’s status as the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s Mansion!”
“A stepmother is still a mother. You really are an ungrateful white-eyed wolf!”
The youth’s face was filled with joy. His eyes, which were identical to her mother’s, did not flare with the delight of a two-year reunion when they landed on Wen Xueling; instead, they narrowed in shock.
This person was her fourth brother, Wen Jinli.
Wen Xueling took in his frowning expression and curled her lips.
How eyesearing.
So, her fourth brother’s heart had been biased this early on.
It didn’t matter. They would be humiliated in a moment anyway.
Wen Jinli waved his hand impatiently and called over a page boy.
“Miss, our young master told me to take you to the back door.”
Wen Xueling ignored the page boy and turned to leave.
“Ling’er—”
A voice both familiar and strange, spanning two lifetimes, etched a bloody scar deep into her heart.
Wen Xueling stopped in her tracks. Before she could even turn around, Wen Jinli forcefully dragged her into a nearby alley.
As if… she were something shameful that couldn’t see the light of day.
Wen Jinli looked around warily and said in a harsh tone, “How did you find this place?”
She looked up, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes spreading across her face. “I came to find you all. Does Brother not welcome me?”
He glanced at her coarse linen clothes with disdain, pulled her deeper into the alley, and frowned. “Where is Mother?”
“At the inn.”
“Do I need to go over now and invite Mother here? She misses—”
Wen Jinli cut her off sharply. “No! Not now!”
She pulled back her smile. He was actually this resistant.
Realizing his tone had been too cold, Wen Jinli hurriedly tried to compensate, “Wait until tomorrow morning, I will personally go and pick you up.”
Suddenly, a call came from the entrance of the alley.
It was Wen Jin’an’s voice.
A flash of worry crossed the youth’s face. He beckoned the page boy guarding the alley. “Send her back, and don’t let anyone see her.”
Wen Xueling watched his back as he rushed toward Wen Jin’an, a sight so familiar it overlapped with her previous life.
At the mouth of the alley, Wen Jin’an was dressed in luxury, her hair full of jeweled hairpins, surrounded by numerous maids and guards.
Seeing Wen Jinli, she pouted and complained, “Fourth Brother, where did you go? An’an has been looking for you for so long.”
“There are many beggars asking for auspicious silver today. I was afraid they would disturb Mother’s peace, so I walked a bit further away.”
“The night wind is cold, and your constitution is delicate. Brother will take you back into the mansion.”
He glanced toward the back alley out of the corner of his eye, his voice kept very low, fearing that Wen Xueling would hear these words.
“Miss, I’ll take you back to the inn… Wait, where is she?”
The page boy couldn’t find anyone, and he didn’t bother looking further.
“Forget it, she’s just a female beggar, probably not important anyway.”
Following the memories of her past life, Wen Xueling climbed to a high point on the rockery in the backyard of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, coldly observing the harmonious and grand scene in the front hall.
The stepmother, surrounded by the crowd, was all smiles.
Her scumbag father and grandmother, along with the fourth brother who had just abandoned her to return to the mansion, were all gathered around her.
“Mother, Eldest Brother is fighting pirates and couldn’t make it back. He specifically asked me to present this East Sea pearl as a gift. May you remain as beautiful as ever, year after year.”
“You fear the cold in winter, so Third Brother spent a fortune to find this brocade robe with fox fur, hoping you will no longer suffer from the chill this year.”
“I have prepared a Western Region hand-warming stone for Mother.”
Wen Xueling had lived with her four brothers for over ten years, yet she had never seen them prepare birthday gifts with such care.
The stepmother couldn’t hide the smile on her lips. “You are all so thoughtful. Have Second and Third Brother not returned yet?”
“Second Brother went to Duantou Mountain in the Fuli Kingdom. There is a thousand-year-old mountain ginseng there. He said he would harvest it to make soup for your health. He should have returned today, but a riot broke out in the Fuli Kingdom, so Third Brother took the merchant caravan to fetch him.”
A bone-chilling coldness enveloped Wen Xueling.
Second Brother and Third Brother were twins. Third Brother was physically robust, but Second Brother had always been sickly.
It was her mother who had nursed his body day and night, carrying him on her back as she performed three steps and one kowtow to ascend the Sacred Mountain. She had ruined her own legs just to beg the Sage of Medicine to save him.
Duantou Mountain was a place where even the miasma was lethally poisonous, yet he had gone there to pick old mountain ginseng for this stepmother!
The four brothers’ gifts brought glory to the stepmother’s face, drawing the envy of everyone.
Wen Jin’an acted coquettishly. “Fourth Brother, you’re biased. The birthday gifts you gave Mother are so precious and heartwarming. I don’t care, for my birthday this year, you must prepare gifts for me that are just as good as these.”
“Good, good, good. All the best things in the world will be given to our dear sister.” Wen Jinli’s tone was full of doting affection for her.
The coldness in Wen Xueling’s eyes intensified.
On her mother’s birthday, they wouldn’t even return to offer a bowl of longevity noodles, nor did she ever receive a letter from them celebrating the occasion.
Could what this woman did for them possibly compare to the debt of being born and raised?
Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Wen Jinli opened a brocade box.
He took out an East Sea pearl and a moonstone, placing one in each palm, waiting for the guests’ praise.
But before the pride on his face could fully bloom, an arrow suddenly pierced the air.
The moonstone was shot out of his hand, falling to the ground and splitting into two.
The East Sea pearl followed, falling to the floor where it was trampled by the panicked guests.
“Assassin!”
Wen Xueling narrowed her eyes. Unhurriedly, she stared at the brocade robe with fox fur in the servant’s hands and fired an arrow, piercing it and pinning it to a pillar.
In the panic, someone knocked over a candle beside the pillar.
The fox fur instantly caught fire. The servants rushed to get water, but by the time the fire was out, the brocade robe with fox fur was ruined.
The birthday banquet fell into chaos.
Wen Jingshu stood in front of the stepmother, placing his hand on her shoulder in a protective stance.
“Someone! Escort the Madam away!”
A cold sneer tugged at Wen Xueling’s lips. She drew her crossbow once more, and the final arrow flew straight toward him.
The arrow pierced the scumbag father’s palm at extreme speed. At the moment it was about to hit the stepmother’s shoulder, he shoved her aside to avoid it.
She heard her fourth brother’s cry of alarm, her half-sister’s sobbing…
Wen Xueling watched the chaos in the front court with cold eyes. If she and her mother were suffering, why should they get to live a good life?
In her past life, two lives were lost.
In this life, she would make them pay back double in pain.
This hand… is the down payment.
The real show was just beginning.
Wen Jinli’s roar echoed from the front hall: “Men! Catch the assassin—”
The guests fled in all directions, leaving the birthday banquet in shambles.
With a leap from the rockery, Wen Xueling vanished, leaving no trace that she had ever been there.