She struggled to sit up again. No choice, her head was killing her.
Rubbing her head, Yun Xi began sorting through and digesting the memories in her mind.
She had gone from being a pampered young lady of modern society to becoming the newly married wife of Mu Sheng, the Protector General of the Great Ming Dynasty.
To be clear, this “Great Ming” had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty of the era she’d actually lived in.
This had to be a parallel world.
The original owner of this body was also named Yun Xi.
Yesterday had been the original Yun Xi’s wedding night with Mu Sheng, but her husband had slept in his study instead. It wasn’t that Mu Sheng disliked her or had any complaints about her, it was that the original Yun Xi had simply been too nervous.
The original Yun Xi had just turned eighteen this year, a girl from a modest family.
Her father, Yun Zhen, had once served as a trusted aide to the old Protector General, Mu Yuanzhi, Mu Sheng’s father. He had fought alongside Mu Yuanzhi and had once taken an arrow for him on the battlefield, which counted as saving his life.
Yun Zhen had never thought much of it, protecting his commander was simply part of his duty, not something worth being repaid for.
But the old General Mu was an honest, generous man. After Yun Zhen left the battlefield due to injury, the old general gave him a good deal of gold and silver, helping him settle down on the outskirts of the capital.
After retiring, Yun Zhen’s life had gone reasonably well, he bought land on the outskirts of the capital, built a house, married, and started a family. Unfortunately, his wife died in childbirth, leaving him alone with a newborn daughter to raise.
Yun Zhen was a good father. He never remarried, and raised the original Yun Xi by himself, the hardships involved went without saying.
The original Yun Xi was a sensible, well-behaved girl, wholly devoted to caring for her father. Father and daughter had originally planned for her to bring in a husband to live with them and inherit the family property, but plans didn’t keep up with change. Old General Mu sent someone to propose marriage, wanting the original Yun Xi to become his daughter-in-law.
Old General Mu’s eldest son, Mu Sheng, had married a few years earlier. His first wife had died in childbirth, leaving behind a son who was now only three years old.
Before this, Mu Sheng had always been stationed at the border, and the child had been raised by the old couple.
Now that there was no fighting at the border, Mu Sheng had returned to the capital, and the matter of remarriage had been put on the agenda.
After careful consideration, the old general chose the original Yun Xi to become Mu Sheng’s second wife.
Yun Zhen thought it over for a long time. Seeing that his daughter had no objections, he agreed.
In fact, the original Yun Xi simply had no opinions of her own, she was used to deferring to her father in everything, believing he always acted in her best interest.
As for Yun Zhen’s reasoning: taking in a husband didn’t guarantee finding a good one, if he turned out to be an ungrateful wretch, his daughter’s remaining years would be miserable. But he trusted the old general’s character, the Mu family’s reputation was upright, and marrying his daughter into it would at the very least mean she wouldn’t suffer too much.
Old General Mu, for his part, did have some intention of repaying a debt of gratitude, after all, Yun Zhen had saved his life, and he had only the one daughter. Marrying her into the general’s household meant he could look out for her as well.
Otherwise, with so many young ladies from prominent, high-ranking families in the capital, there was no way the original Yun Xi would have been chosen to become the general’s wife, even as a second wife.
The original Yun Xi had married in just the day before. Last night should have been their wedding night, after the general finished entertaining the guests and returned to the bedchamber, he lifted her veil and they drank the ceremonial cup of wine together. But in the end there was no consummation, because the original Yun Xi was simply too nervous. Mu Sheng, understanding this, didn’t press the matter.
Originally Mu Sheng had wanted to stay, even without consummating the marriage, staying would give his wife more dignity. After all, he knew exactly why his father had chosen this girl to be his wife, it had to do with a debt of life owed.
He’d thought it all through nicely, but the original Yun Xi trembled with nerves just lying beside him in the same bed. Mu Sheng had no choice but to go sleep in the study.
The original Yun Xi lay trembling in bed, tossing and turning until she finally fell asleep well past midnight. When she woke again, the soul inhabiting the body had changed.
That was where the original owner’s memories ended.
Yun Xi had also received another, complete set of memories, in these, the original Yun Xi never managed to overcome her inner timidity. Even though her husband and the rest of the family treated her gently, she never managed to change herself or adapt to her role as the general’s wife.
Her relationship with Mu Sheng could be described as polite yet as cold “as ice.”
Living day after day under this constant tension, both her body and spirit deteriorated rapidly, and she passed away before even turning thirty.
Perhaps this manner of death was so absurd that even Heaven couldn’t bear to watch, and so the original Yun Xi was granted a chance at rebirth after death.
Except she didn’t want this chance. Even given another try, she didn’t believe she could do any better. So she gave up on rebirth, and that was when Yun Xi arrived.
Going straight from single her whole life to already being a married woman, skipping even the dating stage entirely, Yun Xi was thoroughly dazed by it all.
But what else could she do? She knew nothing about this world, so all she could do was take things one step at a time and make peace with the situation she found herself in.