A cold, sharp blade pierced deep into her chest.
Once… then twice. The man’s heartless gaze stung Qiao Zilin’s soul far worse than the steel. Crimson blood sprayed from the wound, staining the ground in a visceral splatter, a shade of shocking red and a brand of agony she would never forget as long as she lived.
This was the man she had exhausted every ounce of her strength to support. This was how he repaid her the moment he ascended the throne: with a cold-blooded execution.
In that final moment, Qiao Zilin thought to herself that if she were ever given a second chance, she would never, ever marry the Prince Regent again. Never.
“Ah!”
Qiao Zilin bolted upright, startled awake by the nightmare. The woman in the dream looked exactly like her, only dressed in the finery of the ancient past. Why was she having such a vision?
The following night, the dream returned, identical in every detail. When she woke the next morning, she noticed that the dates for tomorrow and the day after had already been circled on her calendar.
What did it mean? Was the woman in the dream giving her some kind of omen? Ancient times… was she really going to be transported to the past? Was the dream a warning?
But a warning of what?
That night, the dream came for a third time. Finally, a voice echoed in her mind, urging her to stock up on supplies immediately. In one day, she would be reborn into the body of an ancient woman who shared her name, Qiao Zilin.
Holy crap, she thought. This is insane. She was perfectly fine and very much alive, so why on earth was she being sent to the ancient past?
Despite her skepticism, she grabbed her bank card and rushed to the farmer’s market in a frantic shopping spree. Rice, flour, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea, pigs, chickens, ducks, and all sorts of poultry, she even bought a massive haul of seafood.
Blankets, sanitary pads, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and toiletries, nothing was left behind. Then, she drove straight back to her small private farm. It was the only place she could safely house the live animals.
Looking at the chickens and ducks wandering through her orchard, Qiao Zilin hoped that she would finally be free of those dreams tonight.
However, life is unpredictable. To celebrate her preparations, she decided to enjoy a solitary hotpot meal. As she happily ate, a single meatball got stuck in her throat.
…
“Eldest Miss… Eldest Miss! Your face is so pale, are you feeling unwell? Please tell me, and I will fetch the manor’s physician at once!”
Qing Mei looked at Qiao Zilin with a face full of worry and heartache. Her mistress was clutching her chest, her complexion ghastly.
It took Qiao Zilin a long moment to process her surroundings. She reflexively reached up to touch her chest, no blood. Then she felt her throat, no obstruction. She had been reborn. She had truly been reborn into the body of the ancient woman who shared her name.
Qiao Zilin looked up at the maid standing before her. Qing Mei was a fiercely loyal girl who, in her previous life, had died a tragic death trying to protect her mistress. In this life, Qiao Zilin vowed she would never let the girl suffer like that again.
She cleared her throat and asked, “What is the matter?”
Qing Mei began to vent her frustrations indignantly. “Elderly Miss, everyone outside is saying that during the morning court, the Master requested a decree from His Majesty to betroth you to the Prince Regent, Xiao Yian. Meanwhile, the Second Miss was supposed to be married off to a hunter named Long Zhenting in Peach Blossom Village, Ping’an Town, out in Lingnan.
But after hearing the news, the Second Miss begged the Prime Minister to swap your marriages! How could she do such a thing? She is just a concubine-born daughter, how could she possibly deserve to be the Princess Regent?”
Hearing Qing Mei’s words, Qiao Zilin froze. The Emperor betrothing her to the Prince Regent… wasn’t this exactly what happened in her past life?
The Prince Regent held terrifying power. In her previous life, her father had used her as a stepping stone to cling to the imperial family’s influence. He had essentially gifted her to the Prince Regent, though she never knew what deal her father had struck with that “Black Yama.”
It wasn’t until later that she discovered the truth: the Prince Regent only wanted her for her legendary dowry. After their wedding, he used her wealth to secretly fund his private army and cover his daily expenses. In the end, he successfully seized the throne, while her entire family was slaughtered.
In this life, her father, the Prime Minister, was still obsessed with power and had once again sought an imperial decree to marry a daughter of the house to the Prince Regent. The difference this time was that Qiao Zina had snatched the “golden opportunity” for herself.
Could it be that she had also been reborn? Why else would she be so desperate to steal this marriage?
Qiao Zilin remembered that in her previous life, news of Qiao Zina’s death came shortly after she married the hunter. Because of that, Qiao Zina never knew the horrors that followed. She only saw the prestige of being the Princess Regent, completely unaware of the misery behind the title.
That man might look like a gentle, refined gentleman on the surface, but underneath, he was a total psychopath.
Since both of them had been reborn, and Qiao Zina refused to marry a hunter in some remote backwater, then fine. If Qiao Zina wouldn’t marry him, Qiao Zilin would.
However, before that, she needed to find a place to hide all the dowry her mother had left her. But where? Should she hide it at the suburban manor? Or…
Just then, a voice rang out in her ear.
“Master, put them all into your space!”
The voice gave Qiao Zilin a massive fright. She looked left and right but saw no one.
“Who? Who’s talking?”
Xiao Bai didn’t want its host to think it was a monster. It was a small jade rabbit. She had raised it in her previous life, and now it had come to repay the favor. It immediately flickered into view before her.
“Master, Xiao Bai missed you so much! Did you miss Xiao Bai?”
Qiao Zilin looked at the pure white rabbit and was overcome with joy. Wasn’t this the same rabbit she had raised on her farm? It had followed her here!
“Xiao Bai, thank you.”
“Alright, Master, now isn’t the time for sentiment. Hurry to the warehouse and collect your mother’s dowry. If you’re too late, someone else will take it. Oh no! That wicked woman has already ordered people to start moving your mother’s things!”
Qiao Zilin was momentarily confused. Mother? Then she remembered she was now the ancient Qiao Zilin, carrying the memories of her past life.
There was no rush. Since Qiao Zina wanted to take things, she would let the girl indulge in her vanity for a moment. Once everything was packed up, she would simply swap them out.
“Xiao Bai, let’s head to the foot of the mountain outside the city first to get some rocks. We’ll pull a switcheroo. Imagine her face when she opens those crates expecting gold, silver, and silk, only to find nothing but heavy, hard stones.”
Xiao Bai’s ears stood straight up at the idea. Haha! Its master truly was wise.
After instructing Qing Mei to keep a close watch on the courtyard, Qiao Zilin walked out of the house acting perfectly normal, with Xiao Bai following along.
It was true that Qiao Zina had also been reborn, returning to the moment just before the imperial decree was issued. In this life, she was determined to swap the marriages. In her previous life, she had died miserably in the hunter’s house, while her sister, Qiao Zilin, had lived a life of perceived comfort after marrying the Prince Regent.
…
Inside the warehouse, Prime Minister Qiao was helping his second daughter, Qiao Zina, plunder his late wife’s belongings. The greed on their faces was sickening.
“Father, I think it would be so much more lively if Sister and I were married off on the same day. Don’t you agree?” Qiao Zina’s malicious intent was written all over her face, and there was no way Prime Minister Qiao couldn’t see it.
However, at this critical juncture, he couldn’t afford to cause trouble. Although the imperial decree only specified the “Eldest Daughter of the Prime Minister’s Manor,” and Zina was technically a legitimate second daughter, he knew what he was plotting. He wouldn’t let anyone jeopardize his plans.
“Zina, I cannot promise you that. Your sister must leave in three days, while the auspicious date for you and the Prince Regent is in seven days. The decree for your marriage will only be read after your sister has left the manor, so you cannot be married together. Also, if you want to marry the Prince Regent, do not cause extra trouble. Once your sister is gone, I will give you whatever you want.”
…
Outside the city, Qiao Zilin and Xiao Bai arrived at a pile of jagged rocks at the foot of the mountain. After checking to make sure no one was around, she swept a large pile of discarded stones into her space. In an instant, the rocks vanished.
She turned to Xiao Bai and said, “Haha, let’s go, Xiao Bai. Let’s head to the market.”
Xiao Bai froze. Why go to the market? It was a chaotic place, not safe at all!
As he watched the small figure at the base of the mountain, Long Zhenting’s lips curled into a slight smile. Wasn’t this the little tag-along who used to follow him everywhere when they were children?
Haha, it wouldn’t be long before she became his wife. How wonderful.
Standing to the side, Long Shiyi was stunned by his master’s expression. Was this really his master? His master actually knew how to smile?
“Master, shall we enter the city?”
Long Zhenting shook his head. “Not yet. Gather some men; we will go to receive the bride together when the time comes.”
“By the way, Master, should we prepare a betrothal gift?” Long Shiyi suddenly asked.
Without a second thought, Long Zhenting replied, “You’ve forgotten. The man Lady Qiao is marrying is just a hunter. He is supposed to be very poor.”
Realizing his mistake, Long Shiyi quickly nodded. “Right, right. Of course.”