In the second month of early spring, the air was bitingly cold.
The ground was slick and difficult to walk on.
Lin Pianran lay on the icy ground, her face a ghastly white. Her eyes were shut tight, as if she were dead.
Lin Chuge shoved her forcefully several times, but there was no response.
“Lin Pianran, are you trying to play dead? I’m not falling for that!”
“I only gave you a light push! You’re the one who fell and knocked yourself out! Even… even if you fell to your death, you can’t blame it on me!…”
“You… you’re just our Lin family’s adopted daughter. How much is your life worth? If you really did die, we’ll just throw you to the wild beasts for a meal…”
The vicious words drifted on the wind.
Seeing that the person on the ground still showed no reaction, Lin Chuge grew even angrier. She pounded on Lin Pianran’s body a few times, but the girl remained motionless.
She placed a finger under Lin Pianran’s nose and felt an extremely weak breath, almost imperceptible. It seemed she could descend to the underworld at any moment.
A wave of panic swiftly seized Lin Chuge’s heart.
She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and her head swam.
She had never killed anyone before!
Seeing no one around, she fled in a panic.
After a good while, when Lin Pianran awoke from the pain and suffocation of being strangled by a white silk cord, she was like a dying fish, gasping for breath and desperately gulping in the fresh air.
She looked around. It was the familiar Royal Hunting Ground.
Seeing her own fair, slender hands, she knew she had been reborn.
Reborn ten years in the past, to the time when she was bullied by the Lin family siblings.
Lin Pianran was the adopted daughter of the Lin family’s first madam, Su Qingfeng.
Old Madam Lin had two sons and two daughters in total. The eldest son, Lin Aodong, was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites; the second son, Lin Aosong, was the Director of the Ministry of Works; the eldest daughter, Lin Aomei, had married into the Changping Marquis Estate; and the second daughter, Lin Aoshuang, was Consort De in the palace.
Su Qingfeng was Lin Aodong’s principal wife.
Shortly after their marriage, she had been gravely injured while saving Lin Aodong, losing her ability to bear children forever.
Later, Lin Aodong married Su Qingfeng’s younger cousin, Zhao Yurou, as a co-wife of equal standing.
After entering the estate, Zhao Yurou proved to be extremely fertile, consecutively giving birth to two sons and three daughters, continuing the first branch’s lineage.
They were the eldest son, Lin Chumo; the third young master, Lin Chusheng; the eldest daughter, Lin Chuyao; the third young miss, Lin Chuyan; and the seventh young miss, Lin Chuge.
Zhao Yurou had also solidified her position, becoming the matriarch of the Lin family.
Su Qingfeng, on the other hand, was pushed aside until she had no status or presence in the family.
Lin Pianran’s position was also extremely awkward; she was often bullied, beaten, and cursed by the Lin family’s children.
The words “bastard” and “little beggar” were often hurled at her, striking her heart.
Today, the Lin siblings had brought her out hunting under false pretenses, taking the opportunity to bully her.
Those who had come along were Lin Chusheng and Lin Chuge from the first branch, and Lin Chuxi and Lin Chuqi from the second branch.
In her past life, she had been tortured by the Lin siblings until she was covered in wounds, in so much pain she wished for death.
She had even had a leg broken and had to recuperate for two months before she could walk again.
As soon as her leg had healed, her adoptive father, Lin Aodong, forced her to marry the sixty-year-old Prince Jing as a Noble Concubine, all to secure a good post for his eldest son, Lin Chumo, and ensure him a brilliant future.
Prince Jing was a lecher with countless women in his rear courtyard.
One could only imagine how bloody and vicious the inner courtyard politics would be.
At that time, Lin Pianran had knelt before Zhao Yurou, begging and pleading until she wept tears of blood.
“I beg you, Madam, please don’t marry me to Prince Jing as a concubine. I’m willing to work like a horse or an ox in the Lin family. I will definitely repay you well…”
Her scalp was scraped raw and her face was covered in blood, a truly miserable sight.
But the entire Lin family in the room watched with cold indifference, without a shred of sympathy.
Not a single person spoke up for Lin Pianran.
They looked at her as if she were an ant, their eyes filled with contempt and unfamiliarity.
Zhao Yurou looked down on Lin Pianran from her high perch, her words even more bone-chilling.
“To be able to use your marriage to get your eldest brother a good post is not a waste of us having adopted you for so many years! This is what you owe the Lin family…”
“It is your good fortune to be able to marry Prince Jing! Don’t be ungrateful, and don’t fail to appreciate the good fortune you’re in…”
“You’d best put away those unrealistic little thoughts. If you dare to run, we’ll break your dog legs…”
After that, Lin Pianran was locked in the woodshed, forced to survive on leftovers.
The Lin family’s several sisters often stood outside the woodshed door, as if baiting a cat or a dog, tossing in food that even the servants wouldn’t eat, mocking her while showing off their “kindness.”
“Little sister, just wait for your wedding in peace! A husband old enough to be your grandfather, an old husband with a young wife—he will surely dote on you…”
“That’s right, Sixth Sister, you must cherish your blessings! Hahaha…”
Meanwhile, her adoptive mother, Su Qingfeng, was gravely ill with not long to live, completely unable to concern herself with anything else.
In the end, Lin Pianran was force-fed Tendon Weakening Powder, shoved into a wedding sedan, and escorted to Prince Jing’s estate.
Who would have known that on their wedding night, Prince Jing would accidentally fall into a pond and die.
From then on, Lin Pianran bore the wicked reputation of a “husband-killer” and a “jinx,” barely surviving in Prince Jing’s estate for over a year.
But the Lin family still refused to let her go.
One day, Lin Chuyan suddenly paid her a visit. Catching her off guard, she stole Lin Pianran’s personal jade pendant and usurped her identity, becoming the long-lost legitimate daughter of the Duke of Protectorate Estate.
Then, with the prominent status of a Duke’s daughter, she became Princess Consort Gong.
Later, she would even become the mother of the nation, the incomparably noble Empress.
Lin Pianran’s life, however, became increasingly difficult. In the rear courtyard of Prince Jing’s estate, she was jointly oppressed and tortured by the numerous wives and concubines, living a life worse than death.
Finally, on a snowy night, they joined forces and strangled her to death with a white silk cord.
After her death, her resentment transformed into a lingering spirit, and as she drifted through the mortal world, she learned more of the truth.
It turned out that she was the true daughter of the Duke of Protectorate Estate.
Lin Chuyan was merely a “thief” who had stolen her identity.
And the reason the people in Prince Jing’s estate constantly found trouble with her and tormented her was the result of the Lin family bribing them.
She watched as every member of the Lin family was showered with glory and favor, becoming marquises and ministers, their futures bright and limitless.
Only she, after having her blood and marrow sucked dry by the Lin family, had died a miserable death.
She was so unwilling to accept it!
She felt so pathetic, like a cosmic joke.
Recalling the painful experiences of her past life, an intense unwillingness and hatred made Lin Pianran’s eyes burn, turning them red.
In this life, the Lin family could forget about climbing up by stepping on her bones.
She would absolutely not allow it.
Nor would she let them go.
She would make the Lin family repay the debt they owed her a thousand times over.
The Lin family’s good days were over.
From now on, she would be the Lin family’s nightmare.
She vowed to torture this whole den of wolves and tigers until they wished for death, and then send them all to the underworld.
Her thoughts returned to the present. Lin Pianran slowly climbed up from the ground and saw the shocking whip marks on the back of her hands and arms.
An icy glint shot from her eyes.
She couldn’t help but murmur, “Since I’ve returned, it’s time to properly settle the scores of vengeance!”
Suddenly, a woman’s sharp cry rang out, “Lin Pianran, you really were playing dead…”
“You shameless little wretch, you dared to scare me! Just see if I don’t whip you until your skin splits open…”
With that, she brandished her whip and charged over, her face contorted with rage.
When Lin Pianran saw her, a strange and wicked smile appeared on her face.
“Since I’m taking revenge, let’s start with you.”
Lin Pianran whispered softly, like the grim reaper’s chant.
Just as Lin Chuge was about to reach her, Lin Pianran dodged to the side, threw a sentence over her shoulder, and ran.
“You want to hit me? If you’ve got the guts, then come and chase me!”
She took off at a sprint, continuously provoking with her words as she ran. “You run slower than a turtle, and you want to hit me? You’re dreaming! How hilarious!”
Lin Chuge had a fiery temper. She was so angry that smoke was practically coming out of her ears. She cursed, “You little slut! When I catch you, I’ll whip you until your skin splits open and you’re crying for your parents, begging me on your knees…”
After running for a while, Lin Pianran suddenly stopped, panting heavily beside a pile of dead branches.
Lin Chuge quickly caught up.
Furious, she swung her whip wildly and charged forward.
Lin Pianran deftly dodged the attack, then turned and shoved her shoulder hard. Lin Chuge pitched headfirst toward the pile of dead branches.
First came a loud “thump,” followed by a miserable scream of “Ah!” Lin Chuge had fallen into a hunting trap.
Then, Lin Chuge’s wails and howls echoed from the pit. “Ah… ah… It hurts… It hurts so much… There’s so much blood… I’m injured…”
Lin Pianran glanced down, her heart blooming with joy.