Chapter 1: and

Beimo, the sixteenth year of Yongxi, autumn.

The capital, Secretariat of the Imperial Secretariat, front courtyard of the Xiao residence.

The masters sitting in the main hall wore very grim expressions. The Old Madam spoke first: "Since things have come to this, you all should think about how to tell Ru'er and make her stop thinking about the marriage with the Huo family."

The First Madam, Lady He, said sorrowfully: "Why is our Ru'er so ill-fated? My second brother and his wife were truly heartless; to have an accident at such a critical juncture, they have truly ruined our Ru'er."

The Old Madam shouted angrily: "Shut your mouth! If the people from the Jin Prince’s Mansion hear this, are you trying to destroy the entire Xiao residence?"

This stern rebuke successfully silenced the First Madam.

Realizing she had spoken out of turn, she hurriedly apologized: "Mother, it is this daughter-in-law who was wrong; I should not have spoken without thinking. But now that the Huo family has called off the engagement, how will Ru'er conduct herself in the future?"

The Old Master then spoke coldly: "Truly the shortsightedness of a woman. With Renjin’s life-saving grace toward the Jin Prince, why worry about finding another good husband?"

Hearing her father-in-law’s words, the First Madam thought to herself: "Even with the Jin Prince’s Mansion involved, Ru'er has been rejected; her reputation is ruined. What good family would still be willing to marry her?"

However, since her father-in-law had said so, she could not contradict him on the spot. Though she was unwilling, she stood up, offered a slight bow, and said: "Father-in-law is right."

Yet, in her heart, she resented the second branch of the family even more.

******

Youzhu Courtyard

Two young maidservants under the veranda were burning with anxiety: "I wonder when the Third Miss will wake up?"

The person standing beside them sighed: "No one could bear such a thing. May the heavens bless the Third Miss to pull through; otherwise, what will become of the young masters and misses of the second branch in the future?"

Inside the room, the young girl lying on the canopy bed seemed to be having a nightmare. Her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and she kept struggling. The scenes in her dream kept shifting, playing out like a movie.

After a long while, the person on the bed slowly opened her eyes. She knew that she had transmigrated once again.

Thinking of the images in her dream, she gave a bitter smile. Having lived three lifetimes, she was always called Yunyi. The only difference was that in this life, she had returned to her surname from her modern life. The original owner was Xiao Yunyi, just turned fourteen, the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the household.

The original owner’s father was a fifth-rank deputy military commander in the Jin Prince’s Mansion, who had died previously while saving the Jin Prince, Mo Yuxuan. The original owner’s mother had given birth at an advanced age two months ago. Having just finished her confinement, she could not bear the blow of losing her husband and followed him in death ten days later.

After her mother’s funeral, the original owner was already heartbroken. Then, she heard rumors spreading in the mansion that the second branch’s newborn young master was a jinx who would bring death to his parents. The First Madam, Lady He, wanted to take charge and have the brother, who was not yet a hundred days old, adopted by a distant cousin who had been married for many years without children.

Unable to bear the blow, the original owner fell ill from rage and grief.

The First Madam, Lady He, had long held grievances against the second branch, feeling that her brother-in-law’s official status overshadowed her own husband, and that everything in the mansion was prioritized for the second branch.

Now that the couple of the second branch was gone, her branch was in charge. If the children of the second branch were all to pass away as well, then the debt of gratitude the Jin Prince’s Mansion owed would surely fall upon them.

For the sake of her branch’s interests, the First Madam had secretly had the mansion physician tamper with the original owner’s medicine, ultimately causing her to perish and be replaced by her, a soul who had already lived two lives and transmigrated here.

Just as she had sorted out the situation, she heard the sound of greetings from outside the courtyard: "This servant greets the Third Young Master."

The person who arrived asked softly: "Has my sister woken up yet?"

The maid bowed: "Replying to the Third Young Master, the Third Miss has not yet woken."