When Xu Yueyao returned home in despair, Wang Ma had already left. Warm food still sat on the dining table. Standing in the living room, Xu Yueyao looked at everything before her, carefully observing every corner of the room. This house did not exist in the book; it was something she had worked hard to obtain. She shook her head and murmured to herself, “No, things have changed. This is already different from the book. Xu Yueyao, don’t be afraid.”
Calmly, Xu Yueyao walked to the dining table and began eating earnestly, just as she always had. She picked up braised pork and vegetables, stuffing her mouth full, chewing vigorously. The clashing of her teeth and the taste of the food reminded her that everything now was real. The food on her plate grew smaller and smaller. Suddenly, one drop, two drops… more and more tears fell from Xu Yueyao’s eyes onto the table. She forced herself to swallow the food in her mouth, as fear and helplessness spread through her heart…
Late at night, Xu Yueyao lay in bed, her eyes tightly shut, her delicate brows furrowed, her expression pained, as if she were dreaming of something terrifying. “I am Zhan Shao’s woman. You can’t touch me,” Xu Yueyao said fearfully, looking at the woman in red who had kidnapped her.
The woman in red turned around, and Xu Yueyao saw her face clearly—a beautiful face with chestnut-colored, wavy hair like seaweed cascading loosely behind her. Her features were exquisite, and the tear mole at the corner of her eye gave her a cold, alluring aura.
The woman gently lifted Xu Yueyao’s chin and said playfully, “Zhan Shao’s woman? As far as I know, Zhan Rong Xuan has found his white moonlight and has a fiancée from a prominent family. Who are you? Just a mere bedmate, yet you dare call yourself Zhan Shao’s woman?”
Xu Yueyao didn’t know who had kidnapped her. Was it Old Madam Zhan? An Zhiyi? Or an enemy of Zhan Rong Xuan? She didn’t know. There were too many people who wanted her dead. Xu Yueyao pleaded, “Since you already know I’m just a mere bedmate, why go through all this trouble to kidnap me? I’m insignificant to Zhan Rong Xuan. Please let me go.”
“I didn’t kidnap you because of Zhan Rong Xuan. I did it because of you. You shouldn’t be alive, understand?” The woman in red gripped her chin harshly.
“Bring them in,” the woman in red released Xu Yueyao and stood up.
Several men in black entered and stood behind the woman in red. She looked at Xu Yueyao disdainfully and said, “This is Zhan Shao’s woman. Consider yourselves lucky.” With that, she smiled at Xu Yueyao, turned, and left.
Watching her leave, Xu Yueyao immediately understood what was about to happen. Terrified, she shook her head and backed away repeatedly. “Don’t come closer, don’t come closer…”
As the men in black slowly approached, despair filled Xu Yueyao’s heart. “Zhan Rong Xuan, Zhan Rong Xuan, save me! Please, no! Ah! Get away, don’t touch me…” Then came the sound of clothes tearing, Xu Yueyao’s screams, and curses… echoing from the room.
The woman in red stood to the side, while a woman in white sat on a nearby chair, toying with a silver necklace in her delicate, boneless hand.
“Hong Yu, is she beautiful?” the woman in white asked, her pink lips parting slightly.
“Not even one ten-thousandth as beautiful as you, Miss,” Hong Yu replied expressionlessly.“To be noticed by the arrogant Zhan Rong Xuan means there must be something special about her.” Considering she herself was a stunning beauty, yet Zhan Rong Xuan’s gaze toward her was indifferent and no different from how he looked at ordinary people, it made her even more curious. What kind of woman could possibly catch his eye?
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Yueyao was awakened by a splash of cold water. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a woman standing before her, dressed in a white gown. Her skin was fair, gentle, and delicate. Beneath her gracefully arched willow-leaf eyebrows were clear, bright eyes, and her face was a perfect oval. A faint smile revealed dimples that flickered on her cheeks. Standing there, she looked like a celestial fairy. She glanced at Xu Yueyao and softly complained to the woman in red beside her, “Hong Yu, you’re too rough.”
She lowered her head and studied Xu Yueyao intently. At that moment, Xu Yueyao was curled up, her clothes torn and tattered, with disheveled strands of hair clinging to her blood-stained, pale neck. She possessed an exquisitely delicate face, but there was no smile on this dangerously beautiful countenance—only tear stains, as fragile as a forgotten toy, as fleeting as foam.
Kneeling down to meet her eye level, the woman examined her closely. Her face was flawless, and every part of her body was perfectly proportioned. Even in such a wretched state, she still appeared breathtakingly beautiful—so beautiful it was an eyesore. Gazing at Xu Yueyao’s jade-like fair skin, the woman said with innocent eyes, “Hong Yu, if we peel off her skin, no one will know what she looks like anymore, right?”
“Yes, Miss,” Hong Yu replied, slightly startled but quickly regaining her composure.
“Then hurry up and do it.” She smiled at Xu Yueyao, her pure and clear eyes making Xu Yueyao doubt whether she had misheard.
“Miss, please wait outside. It’s too dirty here, and I don’t want your clothes to get soiled.”
“No, I want to watch,” the woman in white said with an innocent smile, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
Xu Yueyao felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at her. She was a monster.
“Ah!” Xu Yueyao screamed in agony as Hong Yu used a knife to slice a piece of skin from her arm. The pain was so intense that Xu Yueyao nearly fainted, sweat pouring down her face. Gritting her teeth, she looked weakly at the woman before her and asked, “Who are you?”
Hong Yu raised the knife and brought it down, the sharp blade moving swiftly across her body. Xu Yueyao closed her eyes. At first, she didn’t feel much pain—only the sensation of flesh separating from skin. But soon, an excruciating, heart-wrenching agony took over. Just before losing consciousness, she heard:
“Remember, I am Nangong Ying.”
“Ah!” Xu Yueyao broke free from the nightmare, jolting awake in a cold sweat. She felt as though she were drowning, gasping for breath. The dream had been the ending of Xu Yueyao’s story in the book—a tragic conclusion woven from cold, descriptive words. She had been killed by Zhan Rong Xuan’s fiancée. Xu Yueyao hugged herself tightly.Nangong Ying was Zhan Rong Xuan’s fiancée, but the book gave her far too little description. The Nangong family was the most mysterious aristocratic clan in the imperial capital, never involving themselves in the power struggles between other prominent families. Because the Nangong family controlled abundant natural resources, no one dared to offend them. However, in the book, Xu Yueyao had learned that the young lady of the Nangong family did not like Zhan Rong Xuan at all and was determined to break off the engagement at all costs. Therefore, in the story, Xu Yueyao had never taken her seriously, spending every day thinking about how to compete with the female lead, An Zhiyi—because Zhan Rong Xuan loved An Zhiyi, and jealousy had completely robbed her of her senses.
Xu Yueyao rubbed her throbbing temples. She suddenly felt that the author’s logic in writing this book was flawed and the ending was rushed. The main plot of the book revolved around An Zhiyi and Fu Zheng, with Zhan Rong Xuan as the antagonist male second lead. She was the male second lead’s lover, a minor cannon fodder character, and that fiancée, Nangong Ying, was an even more dispensable role. Yet, Xu Yueyao had died at her hands. And in the end, Nangong Ying never married Zhan Rong Xuan either. So why had she still killed Xu Yueyao? After Xu Yueyao’s death, it caused no ripple, as if the author felt she was no longer useful and hastily wrote her out. No one ever mentioned her again; no one cared. The last time she appeared in the book was in the description after Zhan Rong Xuan’s death: The head of the Zhan family, Zhan Rong Xuan, once had a lover who died at the hands of his fiancée. After breaking off the engagement with his fiancée, Nangong Ying, he never had another woman by his side until he fell ill and died, still clutching the female lead’s protective talisman. He spent his life loving someone he could never have, left no heirs, and from then on, the Zhan family declined day by day.
When she first read this book, she had treated it as mere smut, never pondering the details too deeply. Besides, for this kind of brainless novel, she hadn’t had many expectations to begin with. But now that she had transmigrated into it, she realized there were so many things she didn’t know. Xu Yueyao’s heart felt as cold as ashes; she was lost in confusion. What could she possibly do to completely change her ending?