Xu Qingyan had actually transmigrated into a book.
Just because she stayed up for a few nights to binge-read a novel, she had actually died suddenly in her bed.
However, what was even more tragic was that she hadn’t transmigrated as the heroine, but as the heroine’s cannon fodder younger sister who died early.
Hearing the intermittent crackle of firecrackers outside, Xu Qingyan put on her red bridal veil and was supported by several maids and older female servants as she walked out of the Xu manor’s main gate.
“The auspicious hour has arrived! Welcome the newcomers to the sedan chair!”
Following a loud shout, Xu Qingyan saw a pair of long legs step onto the stairs, slowly walking toward her.
【Is he the cannon fodder Young Duke who will die early just like me? Wow! Those long legs are really good-looking. With a build like that, his body must be amazing!】
Who was speaking?
Pei Jingchuan’s body stiffened involuntarily as he looked around in shock and suspicion.
It was true that he only had two years left to live, but no one had ever dared to say he would die early to his face. And what were “cannon fodder” and “amazing”?
Finding no suspicious people among the crowd, he withdrew his gaze and continued walking toward his bride.
However, when he reached out his long, jade-like hand toward the bride, that strange voice appeared again.
【Oh my! How can this Young Duke’s hands also be this beautiful? The man himself must be very handsome! Just for this, this marriage swap isn’t a loss! If I followed the plot, I’d have to make a huge scene like the original host to swap the marriage back, but that would lead to a miserable death!】
Xu Qingyan shook her head slightly. 【No… I won’t swap. I’ll just make the best of this mistake and marry him!】
Pei Jingchuan’s eyes widened upon hearing this. This time, he heard it loud and clear—the voice was coming from the bride in front of him.
“Could it be that she’s talking to me from under that veil? But from what she just said, it seems her marriage was swapped, which means she isn’t the person I was supposed to marry. If that’s the case, it’s not too late. I should hurry and swap the person back.”
Thus, Pei Jingchuan reached his hand toward the veil, intending to swap the bride back.
【Ah! Ah! Ah! He doesn’t want to lift my veil, does he? No way! If you swap this marriage back, not only will I die a tragic death, but you’ll also be cuckolded and end up raising someone else’s bastard!】
Pei Jingchuan froze in shock, thinking to himself, “I’ll be cuckolded and have to raise a bastard! That won’t do!”
One had to know that this time, he was acting against his conscience, forced by his elders to marry even though he knew he would leave his future wife a widow. It was only because he wanted to leave behind an heir to give his parents something to live for! If he ended up raising someone else’s bastard, then what was the point of getting married?
After confirming that no one else could hear and that only he could hear the true inner thoughts of the bride before him, he inexplicably lowered his hand and instead took the bride’s hand in his.
At this moment, Xu Qingyan felt the weight on her heart finally lift.
Thinking back, she had transmigrated into a “Great Heroine” novel. It told the story of the heroine Xu Qingyue and the male lead Pei Jingyuan, who fell in love at first sight, went through many hardships, supported each other, and helped the male lead achieve great things. But later, once the male lead became the Emperor, the two grew weary of each other. More and more female confidantes appeared around the male lead, and eventually, the relationship between the two shattered.
After experiencing multiple disappointments and schemes, the heroine gradually matured. She abandoned love, worked hard on her career, and finally eliminated the male lead to ascend the throne herself with her young son, becoming the Dowager Empress who held power over the world—an inspirational story.
And she was the heroine’s half-sister in this book. She was supposed to be the legitimate daughter of the Xu family, but after her father placed high in the imperial examinations, he was snatched as a son-in-law by a wealthy family right after the results were posted. That wealthy family didn’t want their daughter to suffer as a concubine, so they forced her father to demote his original wife to a concubine. After her mother gave birth to her, they were driven to the countryside. Thus, she grew up in the village with her mother from a young age.
Later, the heroine and male lead fell in love at first sight, but Father Xu was only a sixth-rank official, so there was a huge disparity in their social status. Consequently, the male lead incited the Duke’s manor to find a wife for the dying heir to continue the family line.
The status of the Duke’s manor’s Young Duke was incredibly noble. Originally, a girl would need to be from a family of at least a fourth-rank official to be a match. But because the Young Duke was plagued by illness and the entire court knew he had less than two years to live, those officials of the fourth rank and above were naturally unwilling to marry their daughters to him.
While the Duke and his wife were worrying, the male lead—the Duke’s illegitimate son—came up with a wicked idea. He suggested they marry the Young Duke to the daughter of a sixth or seventh-rank official. That way, the other party wouldn’t dare to be disdainful, and she would be a well-bred legitimate daughter, which was better than finding a maidservant to continue the bloodline.
However, they also worried that if a sixth or seventh-rank official loved his daughter dearly, he might rather offend the Duke’s manor than let his daughter suffer. So, the male lead added that as compensation, he would also marry the concubine-born daughter of that sixth-rank official as his wife.
Although the male lead was an illegitimate son himself, for a concubine-born daughter of a sixth or seventh-rank official to marry the illegitimate son of a Duke as his primary wife was considered climbing the social ladder. This way, they would surely be very willing to marry their legitimate daughter to the short-lived heir.
Father Xu was overjoyed by this, but over the years, his wife had been too fierce, resulting in him having no other concubine-born children. Thus, he finally remembered the original host, who had been raised in the countryside since childhood.
Coincidentally, at that time, the original host’s mother died because they had no money for medical treatment, so he brought the original host back to the capital.
The original host was overjoyed, but she didn’t know that the heroine neither wanted to marry the Young Duke—feeling it would be inconvenient to have an affair with the male lead later—nor did she want to lose her noble status as the legitimate daughter. Therefore, she decided to swap the brides on the wedding day.
Originally, everything went smoothly, but to the heroine’s surprise, the original host she looked down upon actually lifted her veil the moment the bridal sedan reached the Duke’s manor upon hearing the groom’s coughing. She discovered the marriage was wrong. After the original host made a scene, they had no choice but to swap the two of them back. The male and female leads were thus separated by her, and she earned their deep resentment.
Since the marriage, the male lead was unwilling to touch the original host. As time passed, resentment grew in the original host’s heart, and she discovered the affair between the male and female leads. Consequently, through the original host’s constant “death-seeking” behavior and various schemes against the heroine, she successfully caused the relationship between the leads to heat up. She herself was eventually drowned in a pond by the male lead on charges of adultery, ending her tragic life.
Drowned in a pond! Just thinking about it made Xu Qingyan tremble uncontrollably. She didn’t want to be drowned, so she’d better honestly marry the short-lived heir. Once the Young Duke was gone, she’d take a sum of money and run away.
“Cough, cough… Madam, we have arrived.” The bridal sedan landed. After Pei Jingchuan coughed a few times, he walked to the front of the sedan, prepared to lead her into the Duke’s manor.
【It’s coming, it’s coming, the critical moment is here! At this time, I absolutely cannot expose the truth. I hope no wretched Heavenly Dao power controls me to follow the plot. I want to perform the wedding ceremony with the Young Duke and enter the bridal chamber with him. In the future, after having a child and my husband dies, I’ll take the money and be a wealthy woman! Hahaha, a beautiful life is about to begin! Just thinking about it makes me excited! Of course, this Young Duke is a bit pitiful. After he dies, I’ll burn a lot of paper money for him, and I’ll make our son kowtow and show filial piety at his grave every year!】
Pei Jingchuan was somewhat speechless upon hearing this. Was his newlywed wife so impatient to enter the bridal chamber with him? And she had already planned her life for after he died. When other women knew their husbands were dying, they were moved to tears, so why did she seem not the least bit afraid? On the contrary, she even seemed a little happy?
Pei Jingchuan felt strange in his heart. When he led Xu Qingyan’s hand to the main gate of the Duke’s manor, they happened to encounter his younger illegitimate brother, Pei Jingyuan, and his bride.
Pei Jingchuan couldn’t help but remember the inner thoughts he had heard earlier. He subconsciously looked toward the bride beside Pei Jingyuan, his gaze falling on her stomach. She was already carrying a bastard child; he didn’t have to wear this green hat, but the green hat was going to fall on his younger brother’s head instead. No, he had to stop this from happening.
Just as he was struggling with how to stop it, Pei Jingyuan suddenly spoke nervously, “Big Brother, let’s not miss the auspicious hour for the ceremony. We should head inside quickly!”
Pei Jingyuan gave the bride a gentle pull behind him and then hurriedly led her across the threshold.
【Oh my… what is this Young Duke dawdling for? Even Pei Jingyuan knows to hurry up and perform the ceremony with Xu Qingyue. What a perfect reunion for a family of three. He couldn’t have discovered the brides were swapped, could he?】
Just then, Xu Qingyan’s inner voice appeared again.