Crack! Crack!
The sound of flesh being torn open reached Cheng Lan’s ears, one strike after another.
So noisy.
She forced her heavy eyelids open with great effort, only to see a group of people dressed in ancient attire in the courtyard.
A young man was being forced to kneel on the ground, his body enduring a brutal lashing.
His back was already a mangled mess. Each time the whip lashed upward, it took with it shreds of clothing and bits of bloody flesh.
His eyes were bloodshot, his face deathly pale. Beads of sweat as large as beans fell like rain. His hands gripped the ground tightly, veins bulging on his arms, yet he did not utter a single sound.
The man delivering the beating had small eyes filled with excitement and cruelty. He raised the whip high and sneered, “Young General Xiao, you have no one to blame for ending up like this but yourself. If you must blame someone, blame that wonderful mother of yours!”
“Your mother didn’t even look at what kind of trash she was before she dared to seduce Grand General Zhang Kui. She even dared to instigate the Grand General to recruit troops for a rebellion! The Emperor’s decree to confiscate your property and send your family into exile is an act of mercy!”
The sound of the whip piercing the air was ear-piercing. A drop of blood splashed onto Cheng Lan’s eyelid, carrying a lingering warmth.
As a sharp pain throbbed in her mind, she couldn’t help but press her hand to her forehead, a mocking sneer slowly spreading across her lips.
She, a 21st-century mercenary queen who possessed various industries including hidden weapons, medical supplies, farms, and supermarkets—with a net worth in the hundreds of billions—had died of cancer at thirty-two…
Only to transmigrate into the body of a vile woman! This was truly unheard of.
The original owner of this body was a common village girl—crude, stupid, greedy, and malicious. By a stroke of luck, she had saved the then-heavily injured General Xiao. She then used that favor to demand a reward, forcing Xiao Jinpei to marry her.
After giving birth to two sons, she had always been arrogant about her “contribution.” Later, when Xiao Jinpei died in battle with no body left to recover, the original owner took complete control of the Xiao Manor, becoming even more overbearing and tyrannical.
The eldest son, Xiao Muchen, had been fond of martial arts since childhood and possessed extraordinary bravery. After learning that his father had perished on the battlefield without a whole corpse, he resolutely went to the front lines at the age of twelve to kill the enemy, solely to recover his father’s remains. He achieved great military distinction, becoming the youngest and most valiant Young General.
Unfortunately, the original owner was truly malicious and ignorant. After taking over the Xiao Manor, she spent money like water. Within a few years, she had squandered the vast foundation Xiao Jinpei had built.
If that wasn’t enough, seeing the family’s fortunes decline, she felt her lack of a man to support her was the reason she was being bullied. She immediately went looking for one, seducing the successor, Grand General Zhang Kui. She shamelessly sent him gold and gifts, boldly professing her love.
In the end, she was deceived by his sweet words and handed over her entire family fortune!
Little did she know, Zhang Kui had long been worried that Xiao Muchen’s fame would eclipse his own. He took the opportunity to frame her, claiming she had attempted to bribe him into leading a rebellion.
The family assets she had foolishly handed over were undoubtedly the “ironclad evidence.” With a single decree from the Emperor, the family’s property was confiscated and they were sentenced to exile!
The person in charge of the seizure was none other than Xiao Muchen’s former lieutenant, Sun Tong.
At this moment, Sun Tong laughed arrogantly. As his whip fell heavily, Xiao Muchen’s eyes filled with blood as he cast a cold, hateful glance at Cheng Lan.
He did not have such a wicked mother!
Sun Tong’s laughter grew even more triumphant. “I really have your mother to thank. Your younger siblings, your wife, and your child will all fall into my hands from now on!”
Seeing the soldiers point their blades at his family, Xiao Muchen’s breath hitched. He tried to lunge forward but was pinned down firmly by two soldiers!
“Sun Tong, all you’re good for is flapping your lips. You’re useless for anything else!” Xiao Muchen’s eyes were crimson, yet he let out a contemptuous sneer.
Mentioning this caused Sun Tong’s wild laughter to stop abruptly. He remembered the days when, as a lieutenant, he had to bow and scrape before Xiao Muchen!
He was instantly consumed by rage and swung the whip with lethal force!
Having successfully diverted the attention to himself, Xiao Muchen clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, enduring the pain.
Seeing that Xiao Muchen had already fainted, Sun Tong still refused to stop, intending to take this opportunity to end his life.
“Stop.” A cold rebuke rang out. The voice wasn’t loud, but it was bone-chilling.
“Lieutenant Sun, the imperial decree only mentioned confiscation and exile. If you use such lethal force and actually kill him, you won’t be able to account for it, will you?”
Cheng Lan felt disgusted just looking at his petty face. She met his gaze with eyes as cold as ice.
In her previous life, she was an orphan who spent her life fighting and struggling alone, never having much of a concept of family. However, since she was already here, she couldn’t just let her “son” be beaten to death, could she?
Sun Tong felt an inexplicable chill from her gaze. This woman had been lying on the ground like a dead dog just a moment ago; how could she seem like a different person in the blink of an eye? That gaze was so sharp!
He snapped back to his senses a moment later. No matter what, she was just a woman. He immediately raised his voice and began to sneer again.
“Madam Xiao, shouldn’t I be thanking you? If it weren’t for you, how would I have this day where I can step all over him? Truly, what goes around comes around! Hahaha!”
He brought down another vicious lash of the whip.
“You wicked woman, shut up! Have you not harmed us enough already!”
The second son, Xiao Yunqing, was being held down by two soldiers, unable to move. He bore a fifty percent resemblance to Xiao Muchen, but because he had been frail and sickly since childhood, he lacked the heroic air. He shouted with all his strength.
His handsome face was as pale as paper, looking even weaker than the half-dead Xiao Muchen who was being beaten, as if a single gust of wind could blow him away.
However, his narrow phoenix eyes were woven with hatred, as if there were a blood-deep grudge between them.
Is this the way a son looks at his mother?
Cheng Lan felt no maternal connection to him. She cast a cold, detached glance before shifting her gaze to the young woman nearby—her eldest daughter-in-law, Li Xuerong.
With willow-leaf eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, her soft and graceful beauty couldn’t be hidden even by the ravages of her current life. No wonder she and Xiao Muchen had fallen in love at first sight. Her only flaw was her rough and aged hands, the result of the original owner’s mistreatment.
She was holding her one-year-old daughter, who was huddled in Li Xuerong’s arms, crying from fear.
Shifting her gaze again, there was a timid young girl in the corner named Xiao Qin’er. She was originally the only child of the second uncle’s family.
The couple from the second branch had both been heroic figures. Unfortunately, shortly after Xiao Qin’er was born, the couple followed Xiao Jinpei to the battlefield and both perished. Xiao Jinpei then adopted the child, making her the original owner’s adoptive daughter and giving the girl a legitimate identity.
She had bright eyes and white teeth. Though she hadn’t fully matured yet, one could foresee that she would certainly be a beauty when she grew up.
They were all being forced to kneel on the ground by the soldiers.
It was no wonder the family looked at her with such hatred. Cheng Lan recalled slightly that just a short while ago, the original owner had actually intended to marry the twelve-year-old Xiao Qin’er to a fifty-year-old man as his second wife…
Furthermore, because of the original owner’s stupidity and malice, Xiao Muchen’s military post was revoked, Xiao Yunqing’s medical clinic was closed, and Xiao Qin’er was expelled from her academy.
Even so, the original owner showed no remorse. Seeing that the house was about to be confiscated and they were to be exiled, she had actually sold her one-year-old granddaughter for ten taels of silver yesterday to use as travel expenses!
What an animal.
If Li Xuerong hadn’t gone and brought her back while weeping, there was no telling where the little granddaughter would be suffering right now.
The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt. Cheng Lan rubbed her nose. Although she hadn’t done those things, her body had. There was no escaping it.
Xiao Muchen had already closed his eyes and collapsed on the ground, his spine slumped.
Sun Tong spitefully lashed him a few more times. Seeing that he still wasn’t moving, he suddenly felt it was no longer interesting. He barked out a stream of curses, “Brothers, go in and seize the property!”
Looking at this family—the injured and the weak—Cheng Lan couldn’t help but frown inwardly.
Once the house was seized, their situation during the exile would be even more difficult.
Just as she was reminiscing about her hundreds of billions in modern assets, the scene before her eyes suddenly changed.
Her consciousness inexplicably appeared in another space. Her figure stood before a familiar building. Cheng Lan bit her lip and pinched herself hard.
Incredible!
Her Hidden Weapon Armory, Medical Equipment Warehouse, Western and Traditional Medicine Warehouse, and the vast, endless farm… all of her industries from her previous life were right before her eyes!
Watching the water flow in the farm’s stream, she focused her mind again and discovered that time within this space could actually stop or flow at her will!