When Xu Jing woke up, she found herself lying in a quaint but simply decorated room, with a strong aroma of medicinal herbs permeating her nose.
She was slightly startled, momentarily thinking she hadn't woken up.
She remembered that last night she was sorting out autopsy records in the morgue all night, and finally too tired, she fell asleep on the desk. How did she open her eyes and end up in such a place?
Suddenly, with a gentle "creak," a young woman dressed in a beige cross-collared shirt and a verdant green skirt tiptoed in.
Seeing Xu Jing awake, she sighed softly, placed the tray in her hand onto the table nearby, and said softly, "Madam, you're awake, time to take your medicine.
This servant knows Madam is in pain, but... things have become like this, Madam must consider your health somewhat.
If Madam suffers any misfortune, what would you have this servant and Chunyang do?"
As she spoke, she seemed to become agitated, her voice unconsciously rising, her eyes brimming with tears, biting her lip hard to stop the tears from falling.
Xu Jing looked at her in shock, everything before her was too real, preventing her from convincing herself it was just a dream.
She sat up suddenly, just about to ask something when a sharp pain surged through her head, and a flood of unfamiliar memories poured into her mind, leaving her in disbelief, sitting dazedly on the bed, unable to accept for a long time that she had actually time-traveled!
—And moreover, she had time-traveled to a completely unfamiliar dynasty!
As luck would have it, the original owner was also named Xu Jing, only her background, experiences, and personality were not the least bit similar to Xu Jing!
The original owner was born in a place called the Great Chu Dynasty, the legitimate eldest daughter of the current Minister of Ministry of Industry. However, like all clichéd TV drama plots, her mother died of illness when she was six.
Her father, a real romantic, disregarded everyone's objections shortly thereafter and elevated his long-favored concubine to the status of a legitimate wife.
That concubine had always looked down on the original owner's mother and the original owner, and when the original owner was eight, she used illness as an excuse to send her to a manor on the outskirts, leaving her to fend for herself.
Grown in a neglected environment filled with grievances, the original owner became an uncultured, tyrannical, and willful woman.
Shortly after her fifteenth birthday, the original owner's father, under the instigation of her stepmother, brought her back with the intention of having her replace her half-sister Xu Ya to marry the infamous playboy, Wu Youbing, the third son of the Marquis Wushun's family in the Capital City.
The original owner resented her stepmother immensely and was not foolish; no matter how much her father praised that Wu Sanlang, she refused to marry. After returning to the Xu Family, all she could think about was how to rise above others and exact ruthless revenge on her stepmother and the half-siblings who had taken everything from her.
But how could a powerless and statusless young lady become an existence capable of crushing them overnight? The original owner racked her brains for a long time, and the solution she came up with was to marry a man with power and influence, allowing her to trample those vile people beneath her feet!
The original owner lived in the Capital City of Western Capital, a place teeming with prestigious families and nobles. Finding a suitable and influential man to marry here was easier than finding a fly.
Thus, the original owner embarked on her husband-selection journey. She had a knack for selection, choosing the Seventh Son of the Xiao Family, Xiao Yi, born into one of the four major families of the Great Chu, who at seventeen aced the imperial examinations as the top scholar and became Vice Minister of the Secretariat at just nineteen. Rumor had it he was greatly favored by the Holy Emperor!
Xiao Yi was the juvenile genius whose tales fascinated the entire Great Chu. Even the renowned scholar of the Great Chu, the current Imperial College Sacrificial Officer Song Manting, looked at him with admiration. Many said that the person most likely to one day take the position of Prime Minister was Xiao Yi.
What does the position of Prime Minister mean? Second only to one, above tens of thousands! If she could marry Xiao Yi, crushing the original owner's stepmother and her offspring would be no different than crushing a few roaches.
The original owner was immediately excited and meticulously orchestrated a scheme, catching Xiao Yi during an early spring outing. She drugged him, achieving success in the wilderness.
After that, she shamelessly ran out, crying and making a scene among other flower-viewers, claiming that Xiao Yi had taken advantage of her, ruining her purity, and demanded Xiao Yi take responsibility. The incident caused a huge sensation at the time and remains the top gossip among the people of the Great Chu today.
However, no matter how shameless the original owner was, she was still the legitimate eldest daughter of the Minister of Ministry of Industry. Her father, despite his anger, couldn't afford to lose face and had to step up to negotiate. Coupled with the overwhelming public opinion at the time, Xiao Yi had no choice but to marry her publicly, making her his legitimate wife.
But such a marriage was bound to be a tragic fate!
After the wedding, Xiao Yi completely ignored the original owner. The original owner couldn't even loan his influence to take revenge on her stepmother and half-siblings. If she could meet Xiao Yi twice a year, it would be considered good!
Later, the original owner discovered she was pregnant, thinking that being the mother of his child would earn her more regard from Xiao Yi.
Who knew, Xiao Yi was even more ruthless than she was; from pregnancy to childbirth, Xiao Yi only returned to see the child born once, and otherwise continued his ways, seemingly forgetting he had a wife.
The original owner was never a peaceful character, and seeing such a situation, she couldn't take it. Not only did she cause a ruckus at home every day, but she also frequently took out her anger on the child, hitting and scolding him.
Xiao Yi's only response was to have the child taken away, telling the original owner that she surely knew how this marriage came about.
He could give her the status of Young Madam Xiao and could ensure her a lifetime of prosperity, but other than that, she shouldn't expect more, and he couldn't provide it.
The original owner felt she couldn't accept it. The outcome was completely different from her original expectations! After that, she continued causing trouble every day, flaunting her status as Young Madam Xiao and bullying others, offending many nobles in the Capital City.
Xiao Yi merely had people silently follow her to clean up her mess.
Eventually, the original owner caused a mess that even Xiao Yi couldn't clean up—during an outing to buy jewelry, she got into a quarrel with the Princess Xiling, who was sent to Great Chu for an arranged marriage, and actually slapped the princess, causing her to fall down the steps and break her ankle, delaying the arranged marriage.
This was a major diplomatic incident, and the Prince Xiling, who personally escorted the princess, immediately demanded the Holy Emperor give an account for his sister. Ultimately, at Xiao Yi's plea, the original owner was only punished with fifty lashes, and was carried out of Xiao Yi's residence half-dead.
Xiao Yi sent her a divorce letter, ending their marriage.
The Xu Family had already been extremely disdainful of the original owner, and now they certainly didn't want to accept this mess, so they severed ties with her with a sentence, "Expel Xu Siniang from the genealogy."
Thus, the original owner, escorted by two close maids, was taken to a county near Western Capital—Anping County under Qingzhou. With the original owner's last remaining money, they rented a courtyard for a temporary settlement.
After digesting these memories, Xu Jing couldn't help but draw in a deep breath, feeling both absurd and incredulous.
The original owner ended up with this outcome because she brought it upon herself, but what did she do wrong to have to take over this mess?