1
Gu Xueyi was dead.
The day before, she had just been granted the title of First-Class Royal Command Lady.
The next day, when she opened her eyes again, she found herself sitting at a white table. Beside her hand was a strangely simple and crude cup, and next to that, a book with an odd binding…
On its pages, written with incomplete, missing-stroke characters, were the words: Forcibly Loving My Sweetheart Wife.
Those five words pierced deep into her eyes, abruptly pulling all the memories buried in the depths of her mind to the surface.
Her name was Gu Xueyi, but she was no longer the matriarch of the Sheng family from the Great Jin Dynasty. Instead, she was Gu Xueyi, the eldest daughter of the Xinyuan Group.
At the age of twenty-four, she had fallen in love at first sight with Yan Zhao, the president of the Yan Group. So, she used cunning means to hide in Yan Zhao’s hotel room and then paid the media to come and “catch them in the act.”
The media photographed them entering and leaving the hotel room one after another, and the story quickly became a headline.
Half a month later, they got married.
…
Gu Xueyi struggled to process those unfamiliar images and words, suddenly realizing that she had come back to life—only this time, inside the body of a woman who shared her name.
“Bang, bang, bang—” A fierce knocking sounded at the door.
This household had no sense of propriety.
Gu Xueyi frowned inwardly.
“Who is it?” Gu Xueyi asked coldly.
The knocking stopped, and a woman’s voice immediately followed from outside: “Madam… please, come out and see. Miss Jiang has been waiting for you downstairs for a long time, and now she’s starting to lose her temper.”
Who was Miss Jiang?
Coming into someone else’s home and losing her temper at her? What arrogance.
It had been many years since Gu Xueyi had last seen anyone dare to throw such a tantrum in her presence.
“Madam…”
“Madam, the master isn’t home right now. You can’t afford to be willful.”
“Madam, Miss Jiang is carrying the master’s child…”
The voices outside grew more urgent with each plea.
Gu Xueyi roughly understood that the woman outside was likely a servant of this household. But since when did a servant have the right to order the mistress around?
The more urgently they pressed her, the more unhurried Gu Xueyi became.
She gave herself a gentle pinch.
It hurt.
That meant it wasn’t a dream.
Her first priority now was to quickly familiarize herself with this unfamiliar place, survive, and live in a way that did not disgrace the dignity of the Gu family’s daughter.
“Madam!” The maid, Wang Yue, pounded heavily on the door a few more times. Still getting no response, she couldn’t help but mutter to herself.
How strange.
This wasn’t Miss Jiang’s first time here. The previous two times she had come, Gu Xueyi had flown into a rage and started smashing things the moment she heard the name… Why was there no sound today?
Wang Yue grew a bit anxious.
If it weren’t for the fact that Gu Xueyi held the title of Mrs. Yan, and according to the Yan family’s rules, everything had to be reported to her when the master was away, Wang Yue wouldn’t want to stir up trouble either.
That Miss Jiang was no pushover either… But someone had to deal with this!
“Madam…” Wang Yue had barely called out again when she turned her head and saw Miss Jiang herself coming up the stairs.
This Miss Jiang was quite famous—a top-tier actress in the entertainment industry. Three years ago, she had skyrocketed to fame playing the female lead in a historical drama. She wore a trendy woolly perm, her features had a slightly exotic, mixed-race look that gave her an air of elegance, and when she pressed her crimson lips together, there was a certain charm about her.
Miss Jiang kept one hand protectively over her lower abdomen, her brows slightly furrowed, and asked directly, “Is Mrs. Yan still unwilling to see me?”
Jiang Meng was anxious.
If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have come to the Yan residence repeatedly. The Yan family was her last chance… If it weren’t for the rumor that Yan Zhao had gone missing, she wouldn’t have dared to come.
Gu Xueyi is a fool. You can definitely fool her…
Jiang Meng silently encouraged herself, but on the surface, she wore a melancholy and pitiful expression.
Wang Yue looked embarrassed and said cautiously, “Miss Jiang, the madam might still be sleeping…”
Gu Xueyi was not favored by the master. The reason she had married him back then was all due to those despicable schemes and coercion.
But this Miss Jiang was different. She was carrying the master’s child in her belly. And now that the master was missing… This might very well be his only flesh and blood…
Jiang Meng looked at the door before her.
It was the work of renowned French designer Christian Liaigre.
But not just this door… From the moment she had stepped inside, everything she laid her eyes on screamed money.
The Yan family was truly wealthy and powerful. Yet it was occupied by a woman like Gu Xueyi.
A flicker of envy arose in Jiang Meng’s heart, but she quickly suppressed it. Yan Zhao and the Yan family were things she could see but never grasp. She only needed to hold onto what she could. As long as she got through this, even if it couldn’t compare to the Yan family’s riches, she would still live a life that countless people could never achieve even after a lifetime of hard work…
With that thought, Jiang Meng stepped forward and knocked on the door herself.
“Mrs. Yan, I think we need to talk.”
The one in a hurry was the other party, so Gu Xueyi naturally wouldn’t lower herself to pay any attention to that Miss Jiang.
Gu Xueyi ignored the voices outside. She looked up and focused on observing her surroundings…
This was a rather crude place—strange bed, strange lights, strange windows… and many other odd, cheap-looking ornaments… On the opposite wall, a large mercury mirror was installed, its surface facing directly at her and the bed behind her.
How strange these people were. Didn’t they know that a mirror should never face the bed?
Gu Xueyi slowly approached the large mirror.
In the mirror, she was wearing a light green silk dress, held up by two thin straps over her shoulders, revealing her slender neck and beautiful collarbones. The hem of the dress fell to her knees, revealing a pair of straight legs beneath.
The woman in the mirror resembled her in appearance, but her features were blurred by strange makeup, making her look fierce and inexplicably gaudy, instantly aging her by several years.
Drawing on the body’s memories, Gu Xueyi found the “bathroom,” then fumbled around and found a tissue. She struggled to turn on the faucet, tentatively reached out her fingers, and tested the water…
It was warm.
This world was truly strange—servants with no sense of propriety, room decor with no aesthetic sense. But these clever contraptions were rather interesting and offered quite a bit of convenience.
Gu Xueyi dipped the tissue in warm water and began wiping off the makeup on her face.
But the makeup was difficult to remove.
Gu Xueyi wasn’t in a hurry either. She wiped slowly, bit by bit, all the while continuing to digest the memories of this unfamiliar world…
Outside the door, Jiang Meng had grown extremely anxious.
Why was Gu Xueyi so composed today?
Jiang Meng bit her lip, then furrowed her brows and put on her best acting performance. She pressed a hand to her lower abdomen and began hissing in pain: “My stomach… it hurts a little…”
“Mrs. Yan! My stomach hurts…”
Wang Yue panicked. While supporting Jiang Meng, she shouted loudly, “Someone! Go get the family doctor!”
At the same time, she yelled, “Madam! This is terrible! Madam, please come out quickly…”
Inside the door.
Gu Xueyi had finally found something called “makeup remover” and managed to wipe off most of the makeup. Her features beneath were now clearly revealed.
Just then, a burst of noisy sound suddenly rang out in the bedroom.
It was a language she didn’t understand, only vaguely recognizable as some kind of music…
Gu Xueyi walked over and found the small square object making the noise.
This was a “phone.”
Her memory told her so.
Gu Xueyi followed the memory traces and answered the call with clumsy movements.
A man’s embarrassed and cautious voice came from the other end: “Is, is this Mrs. Yan? Fourth Young Master Yan is at the police station right now. He got into a fight with Third Young Master Jiang… Do you think you could come and pick him up?”
Fourth Young Master Yan?
That should be the younger brother of the body’s husband, that Mr. Yan Zhao.
Got into a fight with Third Young Master Jiang? At the police station?
Police station?
Gu Xueyi quickly searched her memory for the definition of “police station.”
It seemed to be something like a yamen or the Dali Temple. For a young master of a noble family to end up at the yamen because of a street brawl, and needing the matriarch to come pick him up!
Utterly shameful and ridiculous!
Gu Xueyi’s expression darkened. She looked around the room and finally selected a suitable object, picking it up.
Just then, her gaze paused on a drawing—no, it was called a “photo.”
A person’s image was clearly printed on it.
It was a tall, straight young man, extremely handsome, with a bearing as noble as jade and as upright as a pine.
He was dressed in black, with short hair and a faint smile on his face, but his brows and eyes were exceptionally aloof.
Black signified nobility; short hair signified severity. The entire man exuded an air of authority without anger. Even through the “photo,” one could feel the invisible pressure radiating from him.
Gu Xueyi could immediately tell that this man had blood on his hands.
Outwardly a gentleman, he actually carried a bloodthirsty aura even more daunting than ordinary ferocity.
Was that Yan Zhao?
How could such a man readily agree to marry the original occupant of this body? He didn’t look like someone who could be easily coerced.
But then again, what did that have to do with her?
Gu Xueyi ruthlessly turned the photo face down.
Half a minute later, Gu Xueyi opened the door.
Wang Yue, who had been shouting outside, and Jiang Meng, who was putting on a theatrical performance, both froze. As the door opened, Gu Xueyi stood there in her nightgown, casually wrapped in a red trench coat, her long black hair spilling over her shoulders. Her brows and eyes were cold and sharp. In that instant, there was something breathtakingly beautiful about her, so intense it left them breathless…
Wang Yue and Jiang Meng suddenly felt like circus clowns—performing their hearts out without earning so much as a single coin.
Wang Yue stammered, “M-Madam, you’re out, you’re finally out… Miss Jiang, she…”
Jiang Meng immediately narrowed her eyes, leaning weakly against Wang Yue’s shoulder, and looked up at Gu Xueyi. “Mrs. Yan, please don’t be impulsive. I don’t want to take your place as Mrs. Yan. I just want to talk to you about this child…”
Gu Xueyi swept a cold glance over her and said nothing.
Jiang Meng suddenly felt an awkward sense of being looked up and down, as if she were being appraised like some kind of goods.
Strange, am I going crazy?
Why do I feel this way?
Jiang Meng gritted her teeth.
Ignoring everyone, Gu Xueyi strode downstairs.
Wang Yue was dumbfounded.
Jiang Meng was dumbfounded too.
Hadn’t Gu Xueyi come out to see her?
Wang Yue quickly let go of Jiang Meng and instinctively moved to block Gu Xueyi, shouting as she went, “Madam, don’t go…”
Just then, Jiang Meng, suddenly released, nearly fell to the ground and let out a startled cry.
Wang Yue had no choice but to hurriedly turn back and steady Jiang Meng. “Madam, what are you going to do?”
Only then did Gu Xueyi pause and say, “I’m going to pick up Yan Si.”
Yan Si?
Wang Yue was momentarily confused before realizing she meant Fourth Young Master Yan Wenbai.
“P-Pick up Fourth Young Master?” Wang Yue was even more puzzled.
No one in the entire Yan household got along with Gu Xueyi, especially Fourth Young Master, who was young and hot-tempered and had often humiliated Gu Xueyi. So, no matter what happened to Fourth Young Master, it should never fall to Gu Xueyi to pick him up!
Before Wang Yue could figure it out,
Gu Xueyi waved the object in her hand and said, “Yes. And while I’m at it, I’ll give him a beating.”
Only then did Wang Yue see clearly that Gu Xueyi was clutching a Gucci belt—thicker than a finger.
Wang Yue: ???
Jiang Meng: ???
She… she’s going to beat Fourth Young Master Yan? Would she dare?
Crazy. She’s completely crazy!
The madam has gone mad!
**