“In my heart, there has only ever been Chan’er from start to finish. If you know what’s good for you, go to Imperial Concubine Mother yourself and break off the engagement.”
The jarring male voice left Ye Liujin dazed for a moment.
Hadn’t she just died? Why was she hearing those familiar words again?
She looked up in confusion, only to see an arrogant face before her.
Xiao Cong?
Ye Liujin was in a state of trance, then a tidal wave of hatred surged within her.
“Did you hear a word I said!” Xiao Cong looked at the distracted Ye Liujin with revulsion. “Don’t pretend you can’t hear me. You don’t even compare to one of Chan’er’s fingers.”
Ye Liujin snapped back to her senses and looked up at Xiao Cong, a flash of murderous intent flickering in her eyes.
So, she had returned to the year she was sixteen.
Xiao Cong’s face was sharp and angular, but it made her want to tear him to pieces. Almost all the misery of her past life was tied to the man before her.
Her Ye Family was a prestigious clan. Her father was the Duke of Shanguo and the Jiedushi of the three circuits of Longxi, Guannei, and Anbei.
Great Liang’s total military force was only five hundred thousand, divided among the Ten Circuits. Her Ye Family alone controlled the three most important circuits, commanding two hundred thousand troops.
Later, her father died of injuries and illness, and her mother followed him in death.
Her Elder Brother was cared for by old subordinates in the army, and her Elder Sister remained in Longxi. Only she, at the tender age of one, was sent to the palace by imperial decree to be raised by her aunt, Ye Chenfei.
While still in her swaddling clothes, she was betrothed to the Third Prince, Xiao Cong, born to her aunt.
She was a pawn for Emperor Liang to appease the Ye Family, and a hostage left in the capital.
Her aunt’s treatment of her was truly sincere; over the years, the two had become as close as mother and daughter.
But this beautiful facade was all a fraud.
Xiao Cong was not her aunt’s son at all!
Emperor Liang had set this grand scheme to let Xiao Cong gain the Ye Family’s trust, and then close the net step by step, letting Xiao Cong personally dismantle the Ye Family’s military power.
With Emperor Liang’s support behind him, even a mediocre talent like Xiao Cong could appear as a master strategist.
In the end, her aunt was framed as a villain who stole another’s child and was strangled to death in Guanju Palace.
And her Elder Brother, a Young General who grew up on horseback, did not die by an enemy’s blade but was poisoned by his trusted “Cousin” in the Duke of Shanguo’s residence when he returned to the capital to report on his duties.
Her heroic Elder Sister was also betrayed by her Bed Partner; she was heavily pregnant when she died, two lives lost.
Her Elder Sister’s Bed Partner was none other than Xiao Cong’s Study Companion.
The Ye Family’s military power was quickly carved up. The title of Duke of Shanguo also fell to her Second Uncle.
On his first day as the Duke, her Second Uncle expelled everyone from her father’s branch from the family genealogy.
Soon, Xiao Cong was made Crown Prince, and Rong Chan became the Crown Princess. She still remembered Rong Chan’s triumphant, gloating face.
“Your father managed the army like it was made of iron. Over the years, His Majesty wanted to kill your brother but had no way to do it. But so what? The methods of women in the inner chambers are the ones that shed no blood.”
“Your aunt was proud her whole life, but in the end, she only toiled for the sake of others. All that effort was for nothing.”
Rong Chan’s long, balsam-stained nails scraped across her cheek, cold and stinging.
“I originally wanted to kill you, but I felt it would be too easy on you. Why don’t I find you a good marriage instead?”
Thus, she was betrothed to a City Gate Guard in his fifties who was a violent alcoholic.
In the days while she was waiting to be married, Rong Chan came to torture her almost every day.
Needle pricks, lashings, caning, forced kneeling…
Her life was spared, but it was a fate worse than death.
On the day of her wedding, she didn’t even have a bridal gown. Clad in plain white clothes, she was sent into the bridal chamber. Only then did Rong Chan finally relax her guard and withdraw the people monitoring her.
Taking advantage of the guard being dead drunk, she used a hemp rope to strangle the brute who had beaten two previous wives to death. Clinging to the last shred of hope, she knocked on the gates of Prince Yu Xiao Zhaoyan’s manor.
Amidst the torrential rain, she knelt on the ground, begging Prince Yu to save her lowly life.
The gates of the Prince Yu Manor opened. From that moment on, Ye Liujin ceased to exist in this world; there was only an anonymous concubine within Prince Yu’s manor.
It wasn’t until Prince Yu raised troops to stage a coup—where Xiao Cong was beheaded at the Vermilion Bird Gate and Emperor Liang committed suicide in the Taiji Palace—that she saw the light of day again.
She only heard that those who had tormented her were all dead, even the Duke of Shanguo’s estate and her Elder Sister’s in-laws had been exterminated. Yet, confined within the small confines of the back palace, she had been unable to take action personally, which was a source of great regret.
When Prince Yu ascended the throne, she became Consort Ye, the sole favorite of the back palace.
After Prince Yu passed away, she became the powerful Empress Dowager Ye.
But her Aunt could not be brought back to life, nor could her Elder Brother or Elder Sister. Even Xiao Zhaoyan, due to old lingering injuries, passed away abruptly only a year after his coronation.
She had later personally enshrined the spirit tablets of her Father and Mother—which had once been tossed into the main street—at Cifang Temple. It must have been her day-and-night chanting at Cifang Temple that moved the gods and Buddhas to pity her, allowing her to return to a time when everything could still be redeemed.
Ye Liujin snapped her head up, her face drenched in tears.
“What are you crying for?”
Xiao Cong frowned, a hint of guilt flickering in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by irritation. “Don’t think crying will work. My Imperial Concubine Mother might fall for your tricks, but I won’t!”
In her previous life, Xiao Cong had also come to discuss breaking the engagement. Fearing her Aunt’s worry, she had begged him humbly, even going so far as to threaten him by jumping into the Taiye Pond.
In the dead of winter, when dripping water turned to ice, she was soaked for half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before the palace attendants fished her out.
Her health was likely ruined from that moment on.
The self-defense and martial arts skills her Elder Sister and Elder Brother had taught her when they returned to the capital could never be used with strength again.
As for Xiao Cong, he had fled in panic the very moment she jumped, caring nothing for whether she lived or died.
Ye Liujin, oh Ye Liujin, you really were foolish to the extreme.
“Xiao Cong.”
Ye Liujin lowered her eyelids slightly. “Do you know that standing behind me is the military power of three Jiedushi?”
Xiao Cong spoke dismissively, “I am Imperial Concubine Mother’s son, and she is also surnamed Ye. Whether I marry you or not, the Ye Family will always stand behind me.”
“In that case,” Ye Liujin couldn’t help but laugh, “let us go together before His Majesty and call off this engagement.”
Xiao Cong froze, his tone displeased. “This engagement was originally requested by Imperial Concubine Mother for your sake. What does it have to do with me?”
Ye Liujin mocked him. “Since you want to marry Rong Chan, you must get the approval of my Aunt and His Majesty. Why? Are you afraid?”
“Of course I’m not afraid,” Xiao Cong said stubbornly. “I’m just afraid that if this blows up, you’ll lose face. As a young woman, if you bear the reputation of a broken engagement, how will you ever marry in the future?”
“It’s better to explain it to Imperial Concubine Mother sooner rather than later. She dotes on you and will surely find another good family for you.”
What a calculated plan, Ye Liujin sneered inwardly.
Whether it was her Aunt, His Majesty, or Lady Rong, they all wanted Xiao Cong to marry her.
Therefore, Xiao Cong could not go and say it himself—he didn’t even dare to.
Xiao Cong understood such a simple truth, yet it was a pity that she hadn’t understood it in her past life.
Ye Liujin shook her head and sighed.
Her gaze fell upon the calm, still waters of the Taiye Pond, which was dotted with bits of ice. A curve lifted the corner of her mouth.
“What kind of thing are you to be worthy of marrying me?”
“What did you say?”
Xiao Cong stared at her in disbelief. The next moment, however, he was kicked squarely in the chest, falling flat into the bone-chilling waters of the Taiye Pond.
Ye Liujin withdrew her foot with effortless grace. She stepped forward leisurely, watching the splashing water, her mood brightening considerably.