With her keen senses, Cheng Ruyi noticed the intermittent glances Cheng Qingyao kept throwing her way. She curled her lip in distaste; Cheng Qingyao was like a piece of dog-skin plaster—always sticking close and trying to step on her to highlight her own radiance. It was beyond annoying.
“Moxiang, let’s go for a walk by the lake.” The air in the Lotus Garden was exceptionally fresh after the rain. As a wood-element ability user, Cheng Ruyi particularly loved the garden’s lush flora. She decided to leave the pavilion and wander around, getting out of Cheng Qingyao’s line of sight. It was better than being poisoned by those constant looks.
“Yes, Miss!” Moxiang replied happily. This was the most famous lotus garden in the capital; it would be a waste not to admire it properly.
The moment the master and servant left the pavilion, they drew the attention of the crowd. Cheng Ruyi didn’t care. Holding up the corners of her skirt, she strolled leisurely along the shaded paths. Her sharp ears caught several noble ladies exclaiming over Cheng Qingyao’s jewelry set. She glanced back at the set—supposedly crafted by Master Zhao—but with her lack of appreciation for such things, she couldn’t see what was so amazing about it.
Seeing Cheng Qingyao surrounded and praised by everyone, Cheng Ruyi truly didn’t understand the mindset of these noble ladies. She had always advocated for simplicity and practicality. If it weren’t for her cousin Rong Mo insisting she wear the jewelry he gave her, she would have just had Moxiang style her hair in a simple maiden’s bun with a single white mutton-fat jade hairpin and a couple of pearl flowers.
Unfortunately, for this Lotus Appreciation Poetry Gathering, the three concubine-born daughters of the Jian’an Hou Manor—including the former legitimate daughter—had all had their reputations ruined by Cheng Qingyao and failed to receive invitations. Cheng Ruyi was the exception. Otherwise, she could have used them to nauseate Cheng Qingyao a bit, preventing her from constantly staring and scheming. It was too tiresome.
When she had first read the book, Cheng Ruyi found it quite satisfying to watch the female protagonist ruthlessly battle concubines, legitimate sisters, noble ladies, and imperial consorts, slapping faces and climbing the social ladder step by step. Almost every noble woman she encountered eventually turned “blackened” and met a miserable end. The protagonist’s ruthless methods had been cathartic to read.
But since transmigrating into this era and understanding the customs of this feudal dynasty, she was speechless at Cheng Qingyao’s behavior of designing the ruin of her own sisters’ reputations and purity over the slightest disagreement. One woman with a bad reputation might not affect the clan much—every clan has a few black sheep—but if a clan constantly had daughters with scandalous reputations, the character of all the women in that clan would be questioned, making it difficult for any of them to marry well.
Cheng Ruyi felt that the only reason Cheng Qingyao was able to marry the prince protagonist, aside from her “heroine halo,” was the massive prestige she accumulated during the great natural disasters of the next two years.
According to the plot, Cheng Qingyao and the protagonist had already crossed paths, but there hadn’t been substantial progress. Cheng Qingyao was ambitious; with her “prophetic” golden finger, she knew the future of many people. What she was doing now was establishing connections with those who would hold great power in the future.
Cheng Ruyi glanced at Lin Xin’er talking intimately with Cheng Qingyao in the distance and raised an eyebrow. There goes another “blackened” female supporting character destined to be abandoned by everyone. What a waste! But then again, Lin Xin’er had an outstanding brother who was destined to inherit the Jinyang Marquisate.
Even knowing the plot, Cheng Ruyi had no “Holy Mother” urge to save everyone. She loved this world—no zombies, and delicious food everywhere. She had no real desire to marry. As her father, the Marquis of Changle, said: if she couldn’t marry out, she could just find a man to marry into her family.
The wish was beautiful, but Cheng Qingyao wouldn’t let her have her way. As long as Cheng Qingyao gained power, the future Changle Hou Manor would vanish like smoke. Therefore, Cheng Ruyi only needed to destroy her “Living Bodhisattva” plan.
Along the way, Cheng Ruyi and Moxiang admired the beauty of the garden while Ruyi quietly used her wood-element ability. The plants here were precious; besides the unique lotuses, there were many ancient trees over a century old. They encountered many officials’ wives and noble ladies strolling in veiled hats. Some were exceptionally poised and beautiful, but they all avoided Cheng Ruyi as if she were the plague. Moxiang was indignant, but Cheng Ruyi didn’t mind; she actually preferred it this way.
When she reached a quiet, sparsely populated area, she heard a familiar voice nearby. Listening closely, she heard terms like “Landlord,” “Bid for Landlord”…
Cheng Ruyi was stunned. Some noble sons were actually hiding in a secluded corner of the Lotus Garden playing Fight the Landlord… the mental image was quite comical. Her father, the Marquis of Changle, must have spread the game during his outings.
“Miss, someone is playing Fight the Landlord!” Moxiang looked excited.
Cheng Ruyi gave her a speechless look. “…It’s just Fight the Landlord, is there a need to be that excited?”
Leading Moxiang away from the gamblers, Cheng Ruyi found a quiet spot to sit down. Suddenly, her wood-element ability sensed two presences. One of them carried a sharp, righteous aura mixed with an overwhelming, blood-soaked killing intent. Both presences were moving toward her.
Cheng Ruyi felt a surge of excitement. She hadn’t expected to meet someone with such heavy killing intent in this era. Since this person possessed a righteous aura and was within the heavily guarded Lotus Garden, he had to be a high-ranking military officer. He might even be the legendary “God of War” Prince—Prince Pingnan. Read this novel at NovelPing for the best experience.
She remembered the book mentioning that the Emperor had ordered Prince Pingnan to attend the gathering, though he only showed his face briefly before leaving.
As the two presences drew closer, her eyes darted around as a plan formed.
“Moxiang, I’ve had the same dream for several nights now. I feel like it must be a warning from Heaven,” Cheng Ruyi said suddenly, calculating the distance so the hidden person could hear her.
A warning from Heaven?
Moxiang’s eyes widened, and she asked curiously, “Miss, what did you dream about?”
“It definitely wasn’t a good dream. In the dream, a catastrophic drought struck our Great Zhou Dynasty next year. No rain for a whole year, fields cracked, rivers dried up, and the people had no harvest, forcing them to flee their homes.”
As Cheng Ruyi spoke, she monitored the hidden aura. She noticed that the moment she mentioned a “warning from Heaven,” that aura suddenly stopped.
“Not only that, in the second year after the drought, before anyone could recover, a massive flood hit. Countless people died, the land was covered in corpses, and plague spread. The scene was terrifying.”
Moxiang shivered. It truly was terrifying. Luckily, it was just her lady’s dream. “Ahem, Miss, that’s not real. It’s just a dream you had.”
“But I don’t feel like it was just a dream. The scenes were too real. Moxiang, you don’t know that in the dream, during these two rare natural disasters, my Cousin Qingyao emerged out of nowhere and earned the reputation of a ‘Living Bodhisattva.’ Her prestige among the people rivaled our Great Zhou’s God of War Prince.”
“Moxiang, don’t you think it’s strange? In the dream, Cousin Qingyao had actually hoarded massive amounts of grain and ice in advance…” Cheng Ruyi didn’t forget to dig a hole for Cheng Qingyao.
In the book, Cheng Qingyao was reborn at thirteen, three years ago. Since her return, she had used her foresight to secretly accumulate wealth and hoard grain. As for hoarding ice, that would happen this winter. As long as someone investigated with intent, they would surely find something.
In the book, after the rare disasters, it wasn’t that no one suspected Cheng Qingyao of having the ability to predict the future, but she had fooled them by saying she was warned in a dream by a deity. Because her prestige was too high and she was the “Living Bodhisattva” in the people’s hearts, the matter was eventually dropped.
So, Cheng Ruyi also fabricated a dream as a warning. Whether the hidden person would keep the information to themselves after verifying it didn’t matter to Cheng Ruyi, as long as Cheng Qingyao didn’t hold a monopoly on the situation. In the end, the people would benefit regardless.
“Miss, your dream is too strange. Maybe you only dreamed it because of your fire-and-water relationship with Miss Qingyao,” Moxiang suggested, finding an excuse after a silence, seeing that her lady was taking the dream seriously.
“Yeah, it is strange. If it were as you said, I should have been the one stepping on her in the dream,” Cheng Ruyi rolled her eyes and huffed in displeasure.
Moxiang chuckled: “Right, right, this servant was wrong.”
“Of course you were wrong. That’s why I told Father and Mother to renovate the manor, dig wells, build cellars, and hoard some grain and ice. Regardless of whether a disaster happens in the next two years, we won’t go hungry or suffer from the heat.” Cheng Ruyi spoke proudly. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
She noticed the hidden aura seemed to grow heavier for a moment.
Moxiang didn’t really believe the dream would come true, but something suddenly occurred to her: “Miss, didn’t you say Miss Qingyao in the dream hoarded a lot of grain in advance? Then we should find someone to investigate if it’s true.” Once they checked, the lady would know that a dream is just a dream and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Hearing Moxiang’s words, Cheng Ruyi became even happier. It was like someone handing her a pillow just as she was getting sleepy—she had been wondering how to bring up that point.
She deliberately rolled her eyes and teased: “Moxiang, we don’t have the manpower for that.”
Moxiang became anxious immediately.
Cheng Ruyi burst out laughing and comforted her: “Alright, Moxiang. It’s very simple to find out if this dream is a warning from Heaven. In the dream, one month after the Lotus Appreciation Gathering, there will be a solar eclipse.”
These words were meant for the person in the shadows. Feeling that person’s aura shift again, Cheng Ruyi was even more delighted.
Hearing this, Moxiang perked up. If the solar eclipse didn’t happen, her lady would have to give up on the idea. She looked at the sky and said hurriedly, “Miss, the poetry gathering is about to start. Let’s head over.”
“Fine!” Cheng Ruyi answered with little interest. She didn’t care about poetry, but thinking that her fabricated dream warning might destroy Cheng Qingyao’s plans, she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a happy smile and hum a tune.
She really was too clever!
Moxiang was speechless at her lady’s inexplicable joy.
As soon as they left, a man in a brocade robe, exuding a heavy killing intent, stepped out from behind a tree. The man had handsome features, a deep-set profile, and the aura of someone who had long held a high position.
“Who is she?”
“In reply to Your Highness, this lady is the eldest legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Changle,” another man dressed as a guard replied respectfully.
The man’s gaze was deep as he watched the retreating backs of Cheng Ruyi and her servant, his expression unreadable.
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