Bai Nianqing had finished organizing her space. Everything was neatly arranged, and she could easily pull out whatever she needed at a moment’s notice.
After tidying up, she washed up and got ready for bed.
She had taken a few days off from work at her company. Even though she had prepared for unexpected events, she still needed to live normally. After all, she was supposed to return to work tomorrow.
But fate had other plans. Not long after she fell asleep, an earthquake struck.
Feeling the tremors, Bai Nianqing grabbed her clothes and ran outside. But as soon as she stepped out of the door, parts of the ceiling fell.
Everything went black, and she lost consciousness.
At the same time, in the Daqing Kingdom, Shen Wenhe stood anxiously in his new room, watching a doctor take the pulse of his bride.
“Doctor, how is she? What’s wrong with my wife?” Shen Wenhe asked nervously.
“It’s nothing serious. She just had a minor bump to the head. She should wake up soon,” the doctor said as he withdrew his hand.
“That’s good… that’s good.” Shen Wenhe let out a sigh of relief.
Knowing that his bride was fine, he could finally handle the rest of the situation.
“Tell me what happened. What exactly went on?” Shen Wenhe asked the maids sternly after dismissing the doctor.
“Master, you should’ve stood up for our lady! She fainted because of them!” Bai Nianqing’s maid angrily pointed at a few women nearby who looked clearly flustered.
“Don’t talk nonsense. She fainted because of her weak constitution, what does that have to do with us?” said a woman in a crimson outfit—a middle-aged lady in her thirties.
She was Shen Wenhe’s eldest sister-in-law, the legitimate eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family.
“Exactly, what does it have to do with us? We didn’t lie. Mother already said that as long as you marry, you’d be kicked out anyway,” said Shen Wenhe’s younger sister.
“Yes, Fourth Brother, your bride fainted just because she spoke a few truths. Honestly, this is her own fault—she fainted out of fear of being kicked out,” added Shen Wenhe’s second sister-in-law.
Shen Wenhe’s youngest sister-in-law nodded silently in agreement.
Shen Wenhe glanced around. Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, he felt a wave of desolation.
He was a son of a concubine. His mother had been a maid for Shen’s legitimate wife. She had taken advantage of the situation while Shen’s wife was pregnant to get close to the master.
Luckily, she became pregnant and gave birth to him. Otherwise, Shen’s wife might have already gotten rid of her.
Even so, life in the back courtyard was far from easy for him and his mother.
His father, Old Master Shen, had built his fortune thanks to Shen’s wife’s family. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to take concubines, claiming to be devoted to Shen’s wife—it was all a calculated move.
If he hadn’t wanted to, his mother couldn’t have forced him.
But after the incident, Old Master Shen pushed all the blame onto his mother, a weak woman, which disgusted him.
After he was born, Old Master Shen never cared for them; they were left to fend for themselves in the back courtyard.
He had to admit that he was lucky Shen’s wife wasn’t completely cruel. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived his childhood safely.
He knew that Shen’s wife had long wished to get rid of him.
What surprised him now was that Shen’s wife seemed so eager—today, his wedding day, and she had already sent someone to deliver a message to the bride.
This was fine by him; he had been wanting to move out anyway.
But what was his new bride thinking? Did she not want to move out with him? Otherwise, why would she faint when someone mentioned leaving home?
Although Shen Wenhe thought a lot about it, in reality, it all happened in an instant.
Though uneasy inside, he remained calm, indifferent to the complaints of his sisters-in-law, and sent them away.
“Since nothing serious happened, sisters-in-law, you may leave,” Shen Wenhe said sternly.
“Hmph! Ungrateful! I’ll tell Mother about this!” his eldest sister-in-law said, flicking her sleeve as she left.
The second and youngest sister-in-law followed.
Shen Wenxi, his younger sister, glared at him angrily for not waiting for her before following the others out.
Once everyone had left, Shen Wenhe waved for the maid to leave and then sat beside the bed to look at his bride.
It was the first time he had examined his bride so carefully.
Upon closer inspection, he was stunned—she looked exactly like the girl from his dreams.
Could it be that the girl he saw every night was actually his fiancée?
At that moment, Bai Nianqing woke up.
All she remembered was the earthquake; she had been buried under debris.
She moved slightly—no pain. She cautiously opened her eyes and saw bright red wedding curtains.
Next to her was a man in wedding attire, staring at her in shock.
“What’s going on? Where am I? Who are you?” Bai Nianqing asked the man in front of her, dressed in ancient clothes.
From the moment she spoke, Shen Wenhe knew this was the girl from his dreams.
Although he didn’t know how this had happened, it didn’t stop him from feeling excited.
“I don’t know what’s going on either. This is the Daqing Kingdom, and I am your husband, Shen Wenhe,” he said, restraining his excitement, speaking gently.
“What? The Daqing Kingdom? Th…this…” Bai Nianqing stammered.
Even if she was confused, she realized she had somehow traveled back in time.
Although she had prepared mentally, being suddenly thrown into a strange place made her nervous.
At this point, she hadn’t even fully understood Shen Wenhe’s words.
“Yes, this is the Daqing Kingdom. And you are my wife,” Shen Wenhe said, looking at Bai Nianqing with affection.
Bai Nianqing, however, was still processing the memories of her previous life.
In just a few minutes, she experienced the short life of her original self.
The original Bai Nianqing was six years old.
She had once had a happy family. Her father was a security escort master who, though often away on work, treated his wife and daughter very well.
Even though Bai Nianqing was their only child, he did not take other women as concubines, living solely with his wife and daughter.
Four years ago, when Bai Nianqing was two, her mother became pregnant again, which delighted the couple.
They had assumed that Bai Nianqing would be their only child, and now, at their age, they were about to become grandparents, and yet, another child was on the way.