It took Zhang Yue an entire day to accept that something was terribly wrong.
She lay awake beneath layers of thick cotton quilts, staring at the carved canopy overhead. Every now and then, her fingers reached instinctively toward the bedside table where her phone should have been, only to grasp empty air.
One moment she had been kneeling before the ancient shrine of Wuqian Jun, speaking to a god she didn't believe in.
The next...
She had awakened in a forest.
Then somehow returned to a mansion that looked exactly like her ancestral home—
Only younger.
Even the people inside it had become younger.
Her grandfather looked like he'd shed twenty years.
Her uncle had stepped straight out of an oil painting she'd admired since childhood.
The servants dressed as though they had wandered off the set of a historical drama.
There wasn't a single electric light in the entire estate.
Every explanation she came up with collapsed almost immediately.
A dream?
Dreams weren't this detailed.
Hallucination?
Hallucinations didn't leave sore feet and bruises from walking half the night.
An elaborate prank?
No one rebuilt an ancestral estate overnight.
There was only one explanation left.
"...He really sent me back."
The words escaped in a whisper.
She buried half her face beneath the blanket.
"That bastard."
If she had time travelled in real, then which timeline had fate thrown her into?
But why her grandpa looks the same but not her beloved uncle? If she is in a different timeline, then what happened to her in the original timeline? There were lots questions and they kept her awake throughout the night in her new life.
But the following morning was different.
No matter wherever or whenever Zhang Yue got dumped into, one thing burned clear in her mind. Whatever happened in her life, she wouldn't let it happen again. The universe has given her a second chance and this time, she would change her fate by not making the same mistakes.
That one mistake that started a chain of misfortunes in her life, that wretched night when her entire world shattered. She lost her virginity, her career, her life, her parents and her child. Everything that once held dear had slipped through her fingers, like water. She would never let that happen again.
This is a new life for her. This Zhang Yue would never get into trouble that would cost her life.
With determination rippling through her face, Zhang Yue carefully pushed open the carved wooden door. She tiptoed into the cold hallway, without alerting anyone. She must find her bearings in this unfamiliar place.
But before she could get far, a voice called out her from behind.
"Young Miss, where are you going?"
The voice belonged to a young maid, barely more than a eighteen years. Her round eyes were wide with suspicion as she hurried over. She immediately blocked Zhang Yue's path with surprising boldness.
"I," Zhang Yue fumbled for words. She scrambled her mind for something believable. "It felt stuffy inside. So, I thought I will get some air."
The maid tilted her head, clearly unconvinced. "No, I don't believe you. Master gave me strict orders to watch over you . Especially after what happened to you last night."
Zhang Yue blinked. Last night? Did they really think that she was trying to run away? But before she could think more, her lips moved on their own.
"I wasn't trying to run off. Actually, I was looking for you."
The maid frowned. "For me? Why?" Her eyes sharpened in curiosity.
"I needed some information," Zhang Yue answered carefully, watching the girl's reaction. "About this place."
Hearing that, the maid's suspicion softened just a little. "This place? But this is your home. Your mother's family. No one told you about them?"
Mother's family? Zhang Yue's thoughts stumbled for a moment when she heard that. Am I not supposed to be Zhang? She shook her head.
"No... I don't think so."
The girl's mouth fell open, scandalized. "Oh my God. How could they raise you without telling you about your own family?"
Zhang Yue gave a strained, polite smile. "I'm still trying to figure that out myself."
The maid, now slightly more relaxed, lowered her voice as if she were sharing a piece of family gossip. "I only know what everyone says. Apparently your father and mother had a terrible fight, and your mother tried to take you away to live with her family. But your father's family didn't let you go." The maid sighed.
"You're part of the Zhang family, young miss. We were shocked that you stayed away for so long. After fighting for almost eight years, your grandfather finally brought you back home."
Zhang Yue absorbed every word. She felt like a stranger eavesdropping on her own life. Eight years? The timeline twisted in her head, trying to piece itself together.
She nodded slowly, then asked, "I see... And where's my mother now?"
The maid's voice dropped even lower. "She's long gone."
"Dead?" Zhang Yue flatly asked, with no flicker of emotion crossing her face.
The maid gasped clutching her hands to her chest. "Oh my God! How can you say that so calmly?"
Zhang Yue looked away, her voice barely above a whisper. "How would I know?"
She let the silence settle for a moment before speaking again, her tone casual but her mind razor-sharp. "So, I don't have a mother and a father, I assume. And you're telling me I got into some terrible accident, which explains why I act differently , kind of mentally, right?"
"Young Miss, you are not mental," the maid said quickly, as if offended by the idea. "You just lost your memories."
Yes, a typical time-travelling trope, Zhang Yue mused silently.
"So, can I ask you what my name is?" she asked aloud. She tried her best bid to know about her father's family. Her paternal family from her previous timeline has become her maternal family. What if a tangled connection happened in the current paternal family's pedigree?
"You don't remember your own name?"
"Uffo, I know my name. I just want to know how it will change now that I'm living here."
"You'll become Zhang Yue. Before, you were Qing Yue."
"So, I am from the Qing family." Zhang Yue stopped for a moment and tried to recall whether she had ever come across any members from the Qing family or even heard about them. Definitely not.
"Yes."
Zhang Yue nodded, the weight of the name shifting inside her chest like an old coin. "And what about you? What's your name?"
"My name is Lianhua," the maid answered.
"So, tell me, Miss Lian, what are our plans for today?"
"Plans? You don't have any plans.Master said you should rest."
"For how long?"
"Until you recover."
"And after that?"
Lianhua hesitated.
"Well, you don't have any powers, you don't have to attend school or train your skills. You just need to…"
"Sit and relax?" Zhang Yue finished for her.
"Yes."
"Damn," Zhang Yue muttered under her breath. "I worked so hard to build everything from scratch and now I just need to sit and relax?" She was always a high achiever in her previous life. So, the term sitting idle has never been part of her life.
"Well, you can learn how to run a household." The maid suggested when she noticed the disappointment on her young miss's face.
"What?"
"I mean, you are at the age for marriage."
"I won't," Zhang Yue answered, sharp and sure. She didn't cross timelines to just get married and serve a man.
The words dropped like an iron anchor between them. The conversation was over.