“Have the people from the Yongyi Marquis’s Residence been dealt with?”
“Rest assured. Not a single survivor was left along the road to exile.”
The night rain of April pattered softly against the glazed tiles of the pavilion in the middle of the lake.
Yun Si clutched her cloak as she stood at the corner of the covered corridor, her fingertips growing colder by the moment.
She had been in poor health since childhood and needed to take medicine year-round. After her natal family had been exiled, she had also separated from Prince Xiao, Qin Ye.
Now, the only person she could rely on was Shen Qian, her childhood sweetheart, who had grown up with her.
She had come tonight to ask Shen Qian for a new prescription, but had unexpectedly overheard him speaking with someone else in secret in the study.
Rainwater slid down from her temples, and the cold made her whole body tremble.
“All the blame has been placed on Prince Xiao, Qin Ye! That foolish woman Yun Si still thinks Qin Ye was the one who destroyed her entire family.”
A clap of thunder exploded overhead. Yun Si staggered backward and kicked over a flowerpot beneath the corridor.
“Who’s there?”
The door was thrown open.
When Shen Qian saw that it was her, a flicker of astonishment crossed his face.
Yun Si’s voice trembled faintly. “So it was you… It was you who framed the marquis’s residence, shifted the blame onto Qin Ye, and sent people to kill my entire family on the road to exile.”
Shen Qian’s smile slowly vanished.
“So what if it was me? As long as you obediently listen to me, and for the sake of our former engagement, I can let bygones be bygones and take you as my secondary consort.”
“In your dreams!”
Yun Si turned and ran.
The rain blurred her vision. Shen Qian’s voice followed her like a bone-deep curse.
“A-Si, you can’t escape.”
Yun Si slipped, and the icy lake water instantly swallowed her.
The suffocating sensation lasted for a very, very long time.
When she opened her eyes again, Yun Si was floating above the beams of Prince Xiao’s study.
Qin Ye was reading a secret letter, the candlelight illuminating his slender, exquisitely beautiful profile.
She instinctively tried to speak, but no sound came out no matter how hard she tried.
She was dead.
Her soul had actually returned to Prince Xiao’s Residence.
Yun Si saw a servant enter and report something to Qin Ye. His originally calm expression instantly froze.
He abruptly rose and seized the servant by the collar, demanding answers.
The color drained from his face. It was as though he had suffered a devastating blow, and the emotions roiling in his eyes were both intense and complicated.
Yun Si guessed that Qin Ye had probably learned of her death.
For a foolish woman like her, who had been unable to distinguish good from evil and had failed to appreciate what she had, perhaps her death was only what she deserved in his eyes.
Yet Yun Si had never expected Qin Ye to disregard everything and lead men into the Shen Family to seize her corpse.
It was the first time Qin Ye and Shen Qian had ever clashed openly.
Qin Ye had beaten Shen Qian half to death like a madman, while the Shen Family’s hidden guards had also wounded Qin Ye severely.
That battle had been a confrontation carried out in secret. The Shen Family was not punished because of it, while Qin Ye, though he had successfully brought her corpse back to Prince Xiao’s Residence, lay in bed for several months. He teetered on the brink of death several times and nearly failed to pull through.
Yun Si’s soul remained by Qin Ye’s side, watching him pass through life-and-death struggles, hovering at the edge of the gates of hell. And she could do nothing.
Her soul was trapped beside Qin Ye.
And that captivity lasted five years.
Qin Ye spent five years desperately fighting for power. He became ruthless and unscrupulous, willing to use any means necessary, all so that he could climb to the highest position, uproot the Shen Family, and clear the marquis’s residence of its wrongful accusations…
Until the eighth day of the fourth month of the twenty-eighth year of Yongchang—the fifth year after Yun Si’s death—when Qin Ye walked alone to the top of the city wall.
“Yun Si.”
He rubbed the dagger Yun Si had once used to stab him.
“This lifetime is too long…”
His black dragon robe swept across the city wall as he leaped down.
No!
Yun Si floated in midair, screaming in terror. In the next instant, the sensation of suffocation returned, and she abruptly opened her eyes.
“Have the people from the Yongyi Marquis’s Residence been dealt with?”
“Rest assured. Not a single survivor was left along the road to exile.”
The familiar voices reached her ears.
Yun Si’s mind exploded with a roar.
Her gaze swept across the pitch-black rainy night. The rain struck her face, so real and piercingly cold.
Suddenly realizing something, Yun Si clapped both hands over her mouth, preventing herself from making even the slightest sound.
She cautiously and slowly retreated. Only after reaching a safe place did her entire body go limp. She crouched down against the cold wall and began to take deep, quiet breaths.
She had actually… been reborn!
Reborn on the very day she overheard the truth.
The eighth day of the fourth month of the twenty-third year of Yongchang—the same day, one month after she had separated from Qin Ye.
Heaven had eyes!
There was still time!
There was still time to change everything!
In her previous life, she had truly been utterly foolish. Unable to distinguish people clearly, she had trusted Shen Qian unconditionally simply because he was the legitimate son of the Shen Family, had grown up with her since childhood, and had once saved her life. She had devoted herself to marrying him.
Later, Prince Xiao Qin Ye had suddenly forced his way into the matter. He had schemed to ruin her chastity and forcibly married her into his residence. Because of that, she had come to hate Qin Ye to the bone.
During their year of marriage, no matter how well Qin Ye treated her, she had never once shown him the slightest kindness.
A little over a month ago, the Yongyi Marquis’s Residence had run into trouble and been confiscated before the family was exiled. Shen Qian had told her that Qin Ye was responsible for everything, that Qin Ye had deliberately framed the marquis’s residence.
Without conducting any investigation at all, she had believed Shen Qian’s lies. Not only had she threatened Qin Ye with her life to force him into a marital separation, she had also stabbed him viciously, nearly taking his life.
That stab had caused Qin Ye’s heart to turn completely cold toward her. At last, he had agreed to separate from her.
After their separation, Shen Qian had arranged for her to stay at a villa. Foolishly, she had continued to believe that Shen Qian truly cared for her and would help clear the marquis’s residence of its wrongful accusations.
But the truth had been…
As Yun Si recalled everything, she could not help covering her face and weeping bitterly.
She did not know how much time had passed.
After releasing her emotions, Yun Si slowly rose to her feet. Her gaze gradually changed, and the aura around her became calm and composed.
After meeting him again across lifetimes, Yun Si decided to give him a greeting gift first.
…
The rain stopped in the middle of the night.
A raging fire suddenly erupted in the western wing of the Shen Family Villa.
The flames spread rapidly. In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, they had reached the main residence.
It was the dead of night. By the time anyone discovered the blaze, the entire villa had already become a sea of fire.
“Fire! Hurry! Hurry and put it out!”
Mixed among the people rushing to fight the fire, Yun Si threw a specially made fire starter into the final storehouse, then turned and strode away.
The fire burned until dawn, reducing the entire villa to ashes.
Having lived at the Shen Family Villa for a month, Yun Si knew perfectly well that the study and storehouses contained many things of vital importance to the Shen Family.
Burning down the villa had inflicted a heavy loss on the Shen Family.
There was no need to hurry. This was only the beginning.
Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Yun Si arrived outside Prince Xiao’s Residence.
She saw the red wedding characters pasted on the vermilion gate, and a trace of confusion crossed her face.
Was Prince Xiao’s Residence holding a wedding celebration?
“Miss, have you come to attend the wedding banquet?”
Seeing a young woman standing outside the gate, the gatekeeper hurried over to ask.
When he saw clearly who she was, his expression changed slightly.
“Princess… Princess Consort?”
Yun Si froze. “What wedding banquet?”
“Of course, His Highness is taking a secondary consort.” The gatekeeper replied with a strange expression.
Taking a secondary consort?
At those words, the confusion on Yun Si’s face deepened.
In her previous life, after her death, her soul had remained at Qin Ye’s side. She had witnessed many truths, and she had also seen Qin Ye marry the Chancellor’s legitimate daughter as his principal consort six months after her death in order to compete for the position of Crown Prince. So why was this life different from what she had seen?
“Who is His Highness marrying?”
“His Highness is marrying Miss Lin, the younger sister of his neighbor from his days among the common people. The two of them share a childhood sweetheart relationship.” The gatekeeper answered honestly.
That wasn’t right!
Yun Si’s heartbeat quickened slightly.
She had met this woman surnamed Lin several times while her soul was at Qin Ye’s side, but Qin Ye had clearly only married the Chancellor’s legitimate daughter later.
And the timing was wrong as well.
In her previous life, Qin Ye had not married anyone at all on this day.
How could it have happened earlier?
Since Heaven had given her another chance to start over, no matter what, she had to try to change the tragic ending she and Qin Ye had suffered.
Besides, given the current situation, she and Qin Ye were clearly on the same side. She could not deny that she needed Qin Ye, but at the same time, she would do everything in her power to help him.
“I want to see him. Could you announce my arrival?”
The gatekeeper spoke rather unfriendly. “You’re already separated, and His Highness is getting married today. You should stop disturbing him and go back.”
A bitter smile curved Yun Si’s lips. Then she asked, “Then can you tell me whether His Highness’s injuries… have healed?”
“Whether my injuries have healed or not is none of your concern.”
Yun Si’s entire body stiffened.
That voice belonged to Qin Ye.
She looked up and saw Qin Ye standing inside the gate in a bright red wedding robe. His face was far thinner than she remembered, and there were faint dark circles beneath his eyes, but he was still as breathtakingly beautiful as ever.
His gaze was cold. When he looked at Yun Si, it was as though he were looking at a stranger.
“Your Highness.”
Yun Si drew a deep breath and walked slowly forward. She had only just called out to him when Qin Ye strode toward her and seized her wrist, gripping it so tightly that it hurt.
He lowered his voice, his tone dangerous.
“What are you doing here?”
Yun Si tilted her head up to look at him and declared domineeringly, “You’re mine. I won’t allow you to marry another woman!”