“Su Qingran, I’m talking to you right now! Are you pretending not to hear me on purpose? If you keep acting this willfully, don’t blame me for breaking off our engagement!”
A man’s voice rang beside Su Qingran’s ear.
Break off the engagement?
Since when had she ever been engaged to anyone?
Instinctively, Su Qingran wanted to retort, but she realized she couldn’t speak.
Everything before her was shrouded in darkness. Before she could figure out what was going on, another soft, delicate female voice spoke up.
“Cousin Pei, forget it. I’m not really hurt. Miss Su only insulted me in public a little—that’s all. It’s fine. Please don’t blame Miss Su anymore. My status is lowly; I shouldn’t have stayed in the Pei residence in the first place. It’s all my fault.”
The pretentious, tea-scented hypocrisy in those words made Su Qingran frown.
“Su Qingran, I can overlook your usual temper, but today you publicly humiliated and mocked Yuyan in front of so many people. You’ve gone too far. Apologize right now.”
Listening to the man and woman sing their little duet, Su Qingran almost laughed from anger.
Apologize my ass. Keep dreaming.
That was what she thought, but the moment she heard her own voice, she froze.
Because not only could she speak again—
She could see.
The young man before her had delicate features and a handsome face. Right now, however, it was filled with anger. His brows were tightly furrowed as he stared at her in disbelief.
Su Qingran rolled her eyes at the pair and sneered.
“You want me to apologize? Who the hell do you think you are?”
After saying that, she shifted her gaze to the so-called innocent girl.
The woman looked delicate and fragile, her face full of grievance and wounded innocence. Su Qingran had seen countless girls like this during the apocalypse.
After all, one of the golden rules of survival in the apocalypse was:
Get rid of the saintly white lotus first.
Wait a minute.
Why were these two dressed in ancient clothing?
She looked down at herself.
Good grief.
She had never worn so many layers in her life. Layer upon layer of clothing—it was no wonder she felt so weighed down.
“Su Qingran, have you gone mad?” Pei Xingzhou stared at her. She seemed like a completely different person, and a sense of unease rose within him.
“Cousin Pei, please stop. If Miss Su doesn’t want to apologize, then forget it. I can bear a little grievance,” Wen Yuyan said pitifully.
A little grievance?
Wasn’t she just adding fuel to the fire with those words? Or did she genuinely think it was nothing?
Anyone who didn’t know better would think she had suffered some great injustice.
Suddenly—
Smack!
The crisp sound stunned everyone present.
Su Qingran had always lived by one principle:
Anyone can suffer, but not me.
Since this woman kept talking about how wronged she felt, Su Qingran decided to give her a real reason to feel wronged. Otherwise, how could she live up to all those complaints?
Still…
Wasn’t she supposed to be able to kill a zombie with a single punch?
Why had that slap felt so weak and soft?
She looked down at her hand.
Good heavens.
Was this really her hand?
Even those hand models sold online before the apocalypse weren’t as fair, delicate, and slender as the hands she had now.
“Su. Qing. Ran!”
Pei Xingzhou practically spat her name through clenched teeth.
Right in front of him, Su Qingran had dared to slap Wen Yuyan.
Who knew how badly Wen Yuyan had been bullied when he wasn’t around to see it?
“Are you deaf or something? Why are you yelling so loud? I can hear you just fine! You’re about to make me go deaf!”
Su Qingran dug at her ear with a finger and shouted back.
Her words plunged the scene into dead silence.
Everyone stared at her with mouths agape.
If she hadn’t still been trying to figure out the situation, Su Qingran would have already beaten the handsome pretty boy senseless. He had been chirping nonstop in her ear and driving her crazy.
That was why sometimes violence was the answer.
See?
After that slap, the little green-tea schemer had stopped talking. She only shed tears silently without even making a sound.
If Su Qingran still had her gun, things would have been even simpler.
One shot for each of them.
At last, her ears had some peace and quiet.
Only then did Su Qingran have the leisure to observe her surroundings and confirm a shocking fact:
She had been reborn in another world.
This was not the apocalypse.
There were no frozen wastelands, no blazing volcanic suns, no endless deserts, no zombies, and no grotesque mutant beasts.
Instead, she saw lush vegetation everywhere.
Life thrived in every direction.
She barely had time to feel delighted before a sudden, agonizing pain exploded inside her head.
The pain was so intense that she immediately crouched down and clutched her head.
A flood of memories that did not belong to her rushed into her mind.
Perhaps the sheer volume of memories was too much for this frail body to bear.
The next moment, she blacked out.
Just before losing consciousness, she vaguely saw the pretty-faced young man staring at her with cold, indifferent eyes.
Damn it. What a frustrating way to go.
She hadn’t even gotten the chance to curse that shameless couple yet.
…
In her dream, Su Qingran witnessed every memory that belonged to this body.
This was a place known as the Great Ming Dynasty.
The original owner of this body was born in the fifth lunar month.
Yet, strangely enough, on the day she was born, snow suddenly fell from the sky. After giving birth to her, her mother also drew her last breath.
When Su Qingran was five years old, her father passed away from a severe fever.
As a result, ever since her birth, those around her had regarded her as an omen of misfortune.
However, her grandfather, the Marquis of Pingyang, never disliked her because of such rumors.
On the contrary, because she had lost both parents at such a young age, he doted on her immensely.
Perhaps knowing that he would not be able to protect her forever, before his death, the Marquis arranged a marriage between Su Qingran and his student Pei Xingzhou, the newly appointed third-place scholar in the imperial examinations. Once Su Qingran reached adulthood, the two would be married.
As the Marquis’s most outstanding disciple, Pei Xingzhou had received countless favors from his teacher and regarded him as a benefactor.
Since his teacher wished to marry his granddaughter to him, how could Pei Xingzhou refuse? He even promised that he would take good care of Su Qingran in the future.
Who would have thought that shortly after the engagement contracts were exchanged, the Marquis passed away?
From that moment on, chaos engulfed the Marquis’s estate.
The collateral branches of the family, who had long coveted the estate’s wealth, immediately began making their moves.
While the Marquis had been alive, he could suppress their greed.
But after his death, they no longer bothered to hide their intentions. They came directly to the estate and demanded possession of all its property, claiming that since Su Qingran was already engaged, she would eventually marry into another family.
And wasn’t a married daughter like water that had been spilled?
They argued that Su Qingran was no longer truly a member of the Marquis’s household.
Ancient laws rarely favored women, so even if Su Qingran wanted to seek justice through the courts, no one would stand up for her.
Moreover, the current political climate was turbulent. Officials colluded with one another, and corruption was rampant. Without personal gain, who would bother helping her?
Fortunately, the Marquis had anticipated this situation.
Long ago, he had transferred most of the family’s wealth into Su Qingran’s dowry.
Using his late teacher’s dying wish as justification, Pei Xingzhou took Su Qingran and all of her dowry into his residence after the Marquis’s funeral.
Su Qingran had thought her grandfather had found her a dependable and responsible man.
Filled with hope, she followed him to the Pei residence.
Only then did she discover that life there was completely different from what she had known before.
The Pei family was not wealthy.
There were very few servants, and even basic necessities were scarce.
At first, Su Qingran believed she could endure it and eventually get used to the lifestyle.
That was until Pei Xingzhou’s mother, Li Qiuju, and his cousin, Wen Yuyan, arrived.
From then on, a silent war erupted within the Pei household.
Because of Su Qingran’s reputation for bringing death to her relatives, Li Qiuju already disliked her.
Besides, why should the Pei family live frugally while this future daughter-in-law feasted on fine food every day?
Since she lived under the Pei family’s roof, she should follow the Pei family’s rules. How could an unmarried daughter-in-law eat better than the household’s own masters?
Furthermore, Li Qiuju had come to the capital for another reason—to arrange a marriage between her son and Wen Yuyan.
Who would have expected Pei Xingzhou to get engaged without consulting the family at all?
Li Qiuju was extremely dissatisfied with this future daughter-in-law. In her eyes, Su Qingran had just “caused” her grandfather’s death and was now trying to bring disaster upon her son.
So what if she was the Marquis’s granddaughter?
Wasn’t she now reduced to seeking shelter in the Pei residence?
That said, Li Qiuju was exceedingly tempted by the lavish dowry Su Qingran had brought with her.
Unfortunately, she understood her son’s temperament very well.
He cared deeply about his reputation, just like most scholars.
At present, he would never dare lay a hand on that dowry.
Not wanting to create conflict with her son, Li Qiuju could only join forces with Wen Yuyan, constantly making life difficult for Su Qingran both openly and behind the scenes.
On the surface, Wen Yuyan appeared gentle and considerate.
But whenever she was alone with Su Qingran, she always tried to provoke her into doing something foolish.
This time was no different.
Wen Yuyan mocked Su Qingran, saying that despite her family’s complete downfall, she still behaved like a pampered noble lady in the Pei residence.
She was nothing more than a stray dog who had lost its home.
Where did she get the confidence to think she was worthy of Wen Yuyan’s cousin?
Su Qingran had always been somewhat spoiled by her grandfather.
She had already exercised tremendous restraint while living under someone else’s roof.
This time, however, she could no longer endure the insults and directly cursed Wen Yuyan out.
Unexpectedly, Pei Xingzhou happened to return home at that very moment and witnessed the entire scene.
To say that Wen Yuyan hadn’t planned it in advance?
Not even a dog would believe that.
The dream lasted an unusually long time.
When Su Qingran finally woke up, the room was completely empty.
Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings, she felt her blood begin to boil.
Those idiots from the apocalypse who had schemed against her probably never imagined that she would be reborn in ancient times.
Still, this era was far too feudal.
Women were treated terribly.
Since she had already been reborn, why couldn’t she have been reborn as a man?
Even so, simply being alive again was enough to satisfy her.
The only pity was the vast stockpile of supplies she had accumulated in her spatial storage during her previous life—worth billions—and the precious plant-element ability she had painstakingly awakened.
Just as she was thinking about it, Su Qingran suddenly found herself inside an enormous space.
Staring at the scene before her in disbelief, she froze.
This was—
Her Spatial Spirit Spring!