Arc 1
This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m
The sky stretched clear for thousands of miles, and busy figures filled the vibrant green rice fields. Standing at the edge of the dirt path, Yan Ji looked up, shielding her eyes against the somewhat blinding sunlight before lowering her gaze onto a woman in her forties or fifties, a short distance away.
So, this was the mother of the body she had just possessed?
With that thought, Yan Ji adjusted the woven basket hanging from her wrist and slowly walked over.
“Ji Niang[1]a traditional way of addressing a young woman, often combining her name or a title with ‘Niang (娘)’, which can imply a young lady, daughter, or woman depending on the context jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2381435_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2381435_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, why did you come all the way out here?” The woman in coarse cloth clothes raised a dirt-smudged hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, spotting Yan Ji immediately. Hurriedly setting down her farming tools, her face flooded with motherly concern. “The weather is so scorching. Why did you come out for no reason? What if you get sunburned?”
While quietly sorting through the original owner’s chaotic memories, Yan Ji set the basket down on a dry patch of grass and replied with a gentle smile, “Mother, I brought you lunch.”
“My precious daughter really knows how to care for her mother.” Yan Liu Shi[2]a traditional naming convention for a married woman. It combines her husband’s surname (晏 – Yan) with her maiden surname (刘 – Liu), followed by ‘Shi (氏)’, which … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2381435_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2381435_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });’s face initially softened with deep affection, but by the second half of her sentence, her expression hardened into a scowl. “But in this blistering heat, errands like delivering food should be done by your sisters-in-law! Haven’t they always done it before? What, did those lazy women bully you into this?”
She truly was someone who favors her daughter above all else. Yan Ji noted calmly in her mind, though she answered aloud with practiced sweetness, “How could that be? My sisters-in-law still have to bring food to my brothers. I was just worried Mother would go hungry, so I wanted to bring yours first.”
Hearing how incredibly considerate her precious daughter was, Yan Liu Shi’s eyes immediately reddened with emotion. She eagerly took the basket from Yan Ji’s hands, pulled out a bowl of watery porridge and a few pieces of flatbread, and finished them in just a few massive bites.
“The sun is far too harsh. Hurry back home, Ji Niang. Mother knows you are filial, but leave this kind of grueling work to your sisters-in-law in the future. A daughter-in-law serving her mother-in-law is only natural. Don’t go spoiling them rotten!” Yan Liu Shi continued to grumble nonstop as she packed the empty bowls and chopsticks back into the basket for Yan Ji to carry.
Yan Ji offered a soft, obedient murmur of acknowledgment, picked up the basket, and traced her way back along the same path.
Once she arrived home, she set the basket aside in the kitchen, retreated to her quarters, and locked the door securely behind her. Sitting down on the edge of the simple bed, she called out in a low voice, “052?”
Not long after, a cold, mechanical voice echoed directly inside Yan Ji’s mind, 〖What is it?〗
“I only need to help the original owner change her tragic fate, correct?” Yan Ji asked, wanting to be absolutely certain.
〖Correct.〗
Hearing the system’s confirmation, Yan Ji quietly let out a long sigh of relief.
Yan Ji was not the Ji Niang the woman so fiercely protected, nor did she belong to this mortal world. In her past life, she had been a powerful Nine-Tailed Fox. But during her ultimate tribulation to transcend the heavenly ladder, she had failed. Her soul was shattered, her cultivation plummeted, and she not only lost the eight tails she had painstakingly cultivated over centuries, but she had nearly lost her life as well.
It was in that moment of desperation that she encountered the entity calling itself System 052.
The two had struck a mutually beneficial bargain— Yan Ji would travel through the three thousand small worlds to salvage the broken destinies of women whose fates had been unjustly tampered with. In return, she would harvest the power of faith from each world to mend her fractured soul.
052 had even promised that once all her missions were successfully completed, it would lend its full power to shield her the next time she attempted to ascend the heavenly ladder.
Faced with such a tempting reward, it would have been a lie to say she was not moved. After a brief consideration, Yan Ji had agreed.
Every small world possessed a daughter of destiny. These were individuals favored by heaven itself, blessed with smooth, prosperous lives and destined to reach the heights meant for them.
Yet for some unknown reason, many daughters of destiny across numerous worlds had recently run into disastrous anomalies. Thus, System 052 had been created to intervene and rewrite their altered fates.
The daughter of destiny in this particular world was the original owner of Yan Ji’s current body— Ji Niang.
As Yan Liu Shi’s youngest daughter, she had been deeply doted on since childhood. Even her three older brothers ranked far behind her in their mother’s eyes. After those brothers married, Yan Liu Shi became even more fiercely protective, refusing to let Ji Niang lift a single finger for chores. Every day, Ji Niang simply stayed in the comfort of her room, embroidering and reading books. At seventeen, she married Lin Zhiyan, the brilliant son of the village scholar.
Later, Lin Zhiyan traveled to the capital to take the prestigious imperial examination. He excelled, placing third in the entire country to earn the title of Tanhua[3]the specific title awarded to the person who ranked third highest in the entire country during the imperial examination jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2381435_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2381435_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Granted an official post by the emperor himself, he became the local county magistrate. Consequently, Ji Niang’s status skyrocketed alongside her husband’s success. In the blink of an eye, the village girl was transformed into a respected noblewoman— the magistrate’s wife.
Ji Niang’s original life could truly be described as a dream. Pampered by her mother in childhood, cherished by her husband after marriage, and doted on by her children in her twilight years, she was the very definition of a winner in life.
If that was the case, why had Yan Ji been summoned there?
Because a major anomaly had fractured the timeline. Ji Niang’s second sister-in-law had been reborn.
Armed with knowledge of the future, the reborn sister-in-law had immediately begun her sabotage. She instigated her husband to force a family separation, fracturing the household and driving Yan Liu Shi into a grief-stricken illness. Following that, she introduced her own niece to Lin Zhiyan, successfully severing the destined bond between him and Ji Niang. Finally, she even schemed in the shadows to have Ji Niang married off to a notoriously cruel local scoundrel.
In that rewritten timeline, Yan Liu Shi was ultimately angered to death, while Ji Niang fell into deep depression and passed away a few miserable years later.
Therefore, Yan Ji’s mission was simple— shatter the sister-in-law’s plots, prevent Ji Niang from marrying the local scoundrel, and save Yan Liu Shi from an early grave.
Amused by the simplicity of it all, Yan Ji let a faint smile grace her lips. For a fox spirit like her, dealing with a petty mortal’s schemes was far too easy.
“Ji Niang! Ji Niang!”
While she was reflecting, a shrill voice suddenly called out her name from the courtyard. Yan Ji smoothed the creases of her clothes before opening the door and walking out.
“Second Sister-in-law, did you call for me?” Yan Ji looked at the woman standing in the center of the yard, her eyes narrowing slightly as she feigned a look of innocent confusion.
The second sister-in-law, Wang Xuefeng, stared at the beautiful, unblemished clothes her young sister-in-law wore, her eyes locking onto a pair of fair, delicate hands that lacked even the slightest callus. A flash of bitter jealousy and deep-seated resentment flared in her eyes. Yet, a split second later, her face was masked over with a warm, sisterly smile.
“Ji Niang, something came up, and I have to head out later. Could you help prepare dinner for the family tonight?”
Yan Ji did not miss the ugly swirl of emotions hidden in the woman’s eyes. She immediately understood that the woman had almost certainly already been reborn. With a faint, knowing tilt of her head, she pressed further, “What kind of business does Second Sister-in-law have that is so urgent?”
“Nothing much, just a small personal matter.” Wang Xuefeng snapped, her voice laced with impatience.
Yan Ji smiled gently, her voice as soft as silk, “Since it is only a small matter, Second Sister-in-law should probably stay and cook. Otherwise, when Mother returns from the fields and sees dinner isn’t ready, she will surely scold you for being lazy again.”
Wang Xuefeng’s expression instantly stiffened. Looking at Yan Ji’s serene, smiling face, she wanted nothing more than to step forward and slap her twice. The truly lazy one in this household was obviously Yan Ji! They were both women, so why did Yan Ji get to have such an effortlessly blessed fate?
In her past life, Ji Niang had been thoroughly spoiled by her mother, and after marriage, her husband proved to be an outstanding, meteoric success. Before long, Ji Niang had become the prestigious wife of a county magistrate, enjoying endless wealth and honor.
But what about Wang Xuefeng?
When she was younger, she had served her birth family day and night. After marrying into the Yan family, she still had to work hard serving her mother-in-law and the entire household. Even after her own children grew up, she had to continue exhausting herself for them.
Why? Why was the gap between their lives so vast?
A toxic mix of dissatisfaction and hatred surged inside Wang Xuefeng’s chest, burning so fiercely she nearly lost control of her expression. By the time she managed to pull herself back to reality, Yan Ji had already turned on her heel and disappeared back into her room.
“Let’s see how proud you can stay once you lose that old woman’s protection!” Wang Xuefeng spat viciously at the closed door.
But the moment the words left her mouth, she froze, startled by her own train of thought.
Wait…… as long as they forced a family separation and split the household, wouldn’t the little brat lose her backing?
The more Wang Xuefeng plotted, the more exhilarated she became, her eyes gleaming with a manic, vengeful excitement. Yes! She had to find a way to make her husband demand a separation from the matriarch!
Yan Ji had no idea that such a minor incident had triggered Wang Xuefeng into accelerating her plots to split the family. But even if she had known, she wouldn’t have cared. In fact, she also supported dividing the household.
Just…… not quite yet.
As the afternoon progressed, the sun grew even more unforgiving. Yan Ji slung the family’s small bamboo basket over her shoulders, donned a wide straw hat to shield her delicate skin from the harsh rays, and quietly headed toward the back mountain.
Beneath the canopy of towering ancient trees, the mountain air was cool, and lush green grass flourished in the shade. Nearby, clusters of small, nameless wildflowers bloomed vibrantly.
Yan Ji walked over, deftly uprooting the flowers along with their soil-laden roots, and placed them carefully into her basket.
Growing curious at her seemingly pointless actions, 052 could not help but pipe up inside her mind, 〖What are you doing?〗
Yan Ji hadn’t expected the cold system to speak up out of nowhere. Her elegant hands paused for a fraction of a second before she resumed her harvesting, explaining in a relaxed tone, “My Nine-Tailed Fox clan is naturally gifted in many mystical arts. Aside from the charm and bewitching abilities the mortal world knows us for, we are also exceptionally skilled in the art of scent crafting. Nine-Tailed Foxes naturally possess a unique body fragrance. When combined with our specially crafted scents, the effects become truly remarkable.”
She continued to pluck the choice flora as she spoke, venturing deeper into the uncharted depths of the mountain. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as they landed on a dense patch of wild grass nearby.
The grass possessed remarkably slender, blade-like leaves, and nestled at the very top of the stalks grew small, round, vibrant green fruits.
Yan Ji walked over and plucked one of the green fruits, crushing it effortlessly between her fingers before holding it beneath her nose. As the sharp, aromatic oils escaped, her eyes immediately lit up.
“This is excellent material for fragrance.”
Without further hesitation, she began harvesting the plants with practiced speed. Only when her basket was completely overflowing did she reluctantly turn back and head home.
By the time she returned, pale gray smoke was already curling upward from the kitchen chimney. Seeing Yan Ji carry in a basket bursting with what looked like worthless weeds, Wang Xuefeng couldn’t resist mocking her, “Well now, Ji Niang, you’re already a grown woman. Why are you still running around picking grass like a little child?”
Yan Ji couldn’t be bothered to waste her breath. She walked right past Wang Xuefeng, carrying the fragrant herbs into her room while mentally listing the items she would need to buy. She needed to visit the town market soon to purchase proper fragrance-making supplies. It was a pity that the tools she used to craft fragrance in her past life could not be brought into this mortal realm. Otherwise, the scents she produced would be of the absolute highest, soul-soothing quality.
As twilight began to fall, the rest of the family members who had been laboring in the fields all day gradually filtered back into the courtyard. Yan Ji quietly observed her other two sisters-in-law and noted that they looked far more honest, exhausted, and simple-minded than the scheming Wang Xuefeng.
Soon, dinner was served.
A woven basket piled with coarse flatbread made from bran and wild greens, several bowls of watery porridge with barely any rice grains visible at the bottom, and two small dishes of salty pickled vegetables— that was the Yan family’s evening meal.
The three men of the household, completely starved after a grueling day of hard labor, didn’t waste a second. The moment they picked up their bowls, they began wolfing down the food like ravenous beasts.
Yan Ji, however, hesitated. As a Nine-Tailed Fox, she had never consumed ordinary mortal food before. Her diet had consisted entirely of spiritual fruits, spiritual spring water, and monster crystals.
Staring at the rough meal, she delicately picked up a piece of the flatbread and took a small, cautious bite.
Her fine, elegant brows immediately furrowed into a tight knot.
It tasted dreadful— coarse, bitter, and incredibly difficult to swallow. How could food be this unbearable? When she had briefly traveled through the mortal realm in her previous life, the human delicacies she saw had looked nothing like this disaster.
Too poor. This family was far too poor.
She absolutely had to find a way to earn silver, and fast.
“Ji Niang, can’t swallow it?” Yan Liu Shi asked hurriedly, noticing her daughter’s displeased expression. Her voice softened with immediate concern, “If you can’t eat it, just leave it there. Don’t force yourself. Mother will go to the kitchen and steam a bowl of egg custard for you in a bit.”
“I want egg custard too! Grandmother, I want egg custard too!” The youngest daughter of the Yan family’s eldest son immediately chimed in, her eyes wide with longing.
Her mother, the Yan family’s eldest daughter-in-law, instantly clamped a hand over the little girl’s mouth. Then she shot a nervous glance at Yan Liu Shi, not daring to utter a single word.
“Eat, eat, eat! All you know how to do all day is clamor for food!” Yan Liu Shi scolded loudly, her expression darkening. “You barely lift a finger to help around here, yet you sure have a big appetite!”
The matriarch completely ignored the glaring fact that Yan Ji herself hadn’t done a single shred of work all day, either.
Her favoritism truly has reached absurd, shameless proportions. Yan Ji thought to herself, watching the display play out.
Yet, as the sole beneficiary of that fierce, unreasonable love, she couldn’t help but feel entirely pleased.
・❥・
Robbin: Chapter schedule is every Wednesday and Saturday.
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