“Have all the people from the Marquis Yongyi’s Estate been dealt with?”
“Rest assured. Not a single survivor was left alive on the road to exile.”
A cold April rain pattered softly against the glazed tiles of the lakeside pavilion.
Yun Si stood at the corner of the corridor, clutching her cloak tightly. Her fingertips felt icy cold. She had been frail since childhood and relied on medicine year-round. After her family was exiled, she had also divorced Qin Ye, Prince Xiao. Now, the only person she believed she could depend on was Shen Qian, her childhood sweetheart who had grown up alongside her. Tonight, she had come to ask him for a new prescription. Instead, she accidentally overheard a secret conversation taking place in his study. Rainwater slid down her temples, and the chill made her whole body tremble.
“Blame everything on Qin Ye, Prince Xiao! That stupid woman Yun Si still believes he was the one who destroyed her family.”
A thunderclap exploded across the sky. Yun Si staggered backward and kicked over a flowerpot beneath the corridor.
“Who’s there?” The study door was thrown open.
When Shen Qian saw it was her, surprise flashed across his face.
Yun Si’s voice trembled. “So it was you. It was you who framed the Marquis’s Estate, pinned everything on Qin Ye, and even sent people to murder my family during their exile.”
Shen Qian’s smile slowly vanished. “Yes, it was me. So what?”
“As long as you behave and obey me, I can overlook the past. For the sake of our former engagement, I’ll even take you as a concubine.”
“In your dreams!” Yun Si turned and ran.
The rain blurred her vision. Behind her, Shen Qian’s voice clung to her like a curse. “Ah Si, you can’t escape.”
Her foot slipped. In an instant, the icy lake swallowed her whole. The suffocating darkness lasted for what felt like an eternity. When she opened her eyes again, Yun Si found herself floating beside a beam in Prince Xiao’s study.
Qin Ye was reading a secret letter. Candlelight illuminated his lean, breathtaking profile. Instinctively, she tried to speak. No sound came out.
Only then did she realize: She was dead. Yet somehow, her soul had returned to Prince Xiao’s Manor.
A servant hurried in and reported something to Qin Ye. The calm expression on his face froze instantly. He shot to his feet and seized the servant by the collar, demanding an explanation. The color drained from his face. It was as though he had suffered a devastating blow. The emotions surging in his eyes were intense and impossible to decipher.
Yun Si guessed he had learned of her death. A foolish woman like her, blind to people’s true intentions and incapable of appreciating what she had, probably deserved her fate in his eyes. But what she never expected was that Qin Ye would storm into the Shen residence without hesitation and forcibly reclaim her body.
It was the first direct clash between Qin Ye and Shen Qian. Like a madman, Qin Ye beat Shen Qian until he was half dead.
The Shen family’s hidden guards, in turn, gravely injured Qin Ye.
The struggle remained hidden from public view. The Shen family escaped punishment, while Qin Ye, despite successfully bringing her body back to Prince Xiao’s Manor, spent months bedridden. Several times, he hovered on the brink of death. Several times, he nearly failed to survive.
Yun Si’s soul remained beside him. She watched him struggle through life-and-death crises with her own eyes, wandering time and again at the gates of the underworld. And she could do nothing. Her spirit was trapped by Qin Ye’s side.
Five years passed in the blink of an eye.
For five years, Qin Ye fought desperately for power. He became ruthless, willing to use any means necessary. All to climb to the highest position, uproot the Shen family, and clear the Marquis’s Estate of its unjust accusations.
…
On the eighth day of the fourth month in the twenty-eighth year of Yongchang, the fifth year after Yun Si’s death, Qin Ye ascended the city wall alone.
“Yun Si.” His fingers traced the dagger she had once used to stab him.
“This lifetime has been far too long…” His black dragon robe swept across the battlements. Then he leaped from the wall.
No! Yun Si floated helplessly in the air, screaming in terror. The next instant, a familiar feeling of suffocation overwhelmed her. She suddenly opened her eyes.
“Have all the people from Marquis Yongyi’s Estate been dealt with?”
“Rest assured. Not a single survivor was left alive on the road to exile.”
The familiar conversation echoed in her ears. A deafening roar exploded inside her head. Her gaze swept across the dark, rain-soaked night. The raindrops striking her face felt painfully real. And then she realized something.
Covering her mouth tightly with both hands, Yun Si stopped herself from making even the faintest sound. She had returned. Returned to the very night she first uncovered Shen Qian’s betrayal. She backed away cautiously, one slow step at a time. Only after putting a safe distance between herself and the study did her legs finally give out. She sank to the ground, leaning against the cold wall as she gulped down shaky breaths.
She had actually been reborn. Reborn to the very day she overheard the truth. The eighth day of the fourth month, in the twenty-third year of Yongchang. Exactly one month after her divorce from Qin Ye. Heaven had not abandoned her. There was still time. Everything could still be changed!
In her previous life, she had truly been a fool. Blind to people’s true nature. Because Shen Qian, the eldest son of the Shen family, had grown up with her and had once saved her life, she trusted him unconditionally and had always dreamed of marrying him. Then Prince Xiao, Qin Ye, suddenly intervened. He schemed against her, ruined her reputation, and forcibly married her into his household. For that, she hated him with every fiber of her being. Throughout their year of marriage, no matter how well Qin Ye treated her, she never gave him a kind look.
A little over a month ago, when the Marquis Yongyi’s Estate was raided and its members exiled, Shen Qian told her that Qin Ye had been behind it all, that he had deliberately framed the marquis’s family. Without conducting the slightest investigation, she believed every one of Shen Qian’s lies. Not only had she threatened Qin Ye with her own death to force a divorce, but she had also even stabbed him, nearly taking his life.
That single stab had completely broken Qin Ye’s heart. At last, he agreed to divorce her. Afterward, Shen Qian settled her in this secluded estate. Foolishly, she believed he genuinely cared for her and would help clear her family’s name. Instead…
Recalling everything, Yun Si couldn’t help but cover her face and weep. No one knew how much time had passed. After finally venting her emotions, Yun Si slowly rose. The look in her eyes had changed. So had the aura around her. The panic and grief were gone, replaced by calm determination. Now that fate had granted her a second chance, she decided to prepare a gift for Shen Qian—A reunion gift.
The rain stopped late that night. Suddenly, a towering blaze erupted in the western wing of the Shen family’s estate. The fire spread rapidly, reaching the main courtyard in less than fifteen minutes. It was the dead of night. By the time anyone noticed, the entire estate had become an inferno.
“Fire! Fire!”
“Quick! Put it out!”
Blending into the crowd of servants scrambling to fight the flames, Yun Si slipped a specially made firestarter into the final warehouse. Then she turned and walked away without looking back.
The fire burned until dawn. By morning, the entire estate had been reduced to ashes.
Having lived there for a month, Yun Si knew the study and storehouses held many items vital to the Shen family. Burning down the estate had dealt them a devastating blow. But there was no need to rush. This was only the beginning.
Just before dawn, Yun Si arrived outside Prince Xiao’s Manor. The bright red double happiness decorations pasted on the gates immediately caught her eye. A puzzled look crossed her face. Was the manor preparing for a wedding?
“Young lady, are you here for the wedding banquet?” A gatekeeper hurried over when he noticed her standing outside. The moment he recognized her, his expression changed dramatically. “Consort?”
Yun Si frowned. “What wedding banquet?”
“Why, His Highness is taking a secondary consort, of course,” the gatekeeper replied, looking rather confused.
A secondary consort? Yun Si’s confusion deepened. In her previous life, after her death, her soul had remained by Qin Ye’s side. She had witnessed many hidden truths, including how, six months after her death, he married the Prime Minister’s daughter as his principal consort to strengthen his bid for the position of Crown Prince. Why was this life unfolding differently from what she remembered?
“Who is he marrying?”
“The bride is Miss Lin, the girl who used to be His Highness’s neighbor before he entered the capital. They’ve known each other since childhood.” The gatekeeper answered honestly.
Something was wrong. Yun Si’s heartbeat quickened. She had seen this Miss Lin a few times while her soul followed Qin Ye in her previous life. But as far as she remembered, Qin Ye had ultimately married only the Prime Minister’s daughter.
And the timing was wrong. On this day in her past life, Qin Ye had not married anyone at all. Why had it happened earlier this time?
Since Heaven had granted her another chance, she would do everything in her power to change the tragic ending she and Qin Ye had shared. Besides, the current situation made one thing clear: she and Qin Ye were on the same side. She couldn’t deny that she needed his help. But this time, she would also do everything she could to help him.
“I’d like to see His Highness. Could you please announce my arrival?”
The gatekeeper’s expression turned unfriendly. “You’ve already divorced. And today is His Highness’s wedding day. Please don’t cause a disturbance. You should leave.”
A bitter smile tugged at Yun Si’s lips. After a moment, she asked softly, “Then could you at least tell me whether His Highness’s injuries have healed?”
“Whether my injuries have healed or not, what concern is that of yours?”
Yun Si froze. That voice— It was Qin Ye. She looked up. There he stood just inside the gates, dressed in brilliant red wedding robes. Compared with the man in her memories, he seemed much thinner. Faint shadows lingered beneath his eyes, yet he remained as breathtakingly handsome as ever. His gaze was ice-cold. The way he looked at her was no different from how he would look at a stranger.
“Your Highness…” Yun Si took a deep breath and stepped forward. She had barely spoken when Qin Ye strode toward her. In the next instant, he seized her wrist. His grip was so strong it hurt. Lowering his voice, he asked in a dangerous tone, “Why are you here?”
Yun Si lifted her head and met his eyes. Then, in an imperious voice, she declared: “You belong to me.”
“I won’t allow you to marry another woman!”