Chapter 1: Became Tu Sanmei

"Tu Sanmei..."

With a thunderous roar, Tu Shan snapped her eyes open. Seeing a familiar face, she was filled with astonishment: "Brother Ling Yang? Why are you here?"

She remembered that after she married Tu Liang, Ling Yang had married her sister-in-law. Since then, she had rarely seen Ling Yang; he seemed to be angry with her and had never come to visit her again.

How could he suddenly appear in her room now?

Her gaze swept across the room, and she realized with a start that something was wrong—this was not her room.

Could it be Ling Yang's room?

Why was she at Ling Yang's house?

"You don't know why I'm here?" A cold, large hand landed on her slender neck, raising a layer of goosebumps. It tightened abruptly, his voice even colder than his hand.

Tu Shan was shocked, her brain roaring, barely able to hear anything from the outside world. In her bloodshot eyes, Ling Yang's handsome face became ferocious.

Did he want to kill her?

Confused and terrified, she asked, "Brother Ling Yang, why?"

"Why?"

Ling Yang gripped Tu Shan's neck tightly. The pulse in her artery throbbed against his fingertips, stinging his heart. Why did her heart still get to beat?

He had only learned today that Shan-shan had been murdered by the Tu family—her heart and lungs torn out, leaving no body behind. It was so tragic.

If he had known this would be the result, he should have taken her away from the Tu family's wolf den, even if it meant risking Shan-shan's resentment.

Shan-shan was dead, and not a single member of the Tu family would live. He would use the blood of the Tu family to pay tribute to Shan-shan's soul, and Tu Sanmei would be the first.

"Tu Sanmei, why are you playing dumb? I don't believe you don't know what the Tu family has done.

Even if you didn't know, you enjoyed everything the Tu family gave you, so you must bear the burden of the Tu family's sins.

If you want to blame someone, blame the Tu family for picking you up and giving you the Tu surname."

He didn't care if Tu Sanmei was innocent, nor did he care if she was pitiful. As long as her surname was Tu, as long as she was a member of the Tu family, she deserved to die. She deserved to be buried with Shan-shan; this was what the Tu family owed her.

Tu Sanmei?

Tu Shan's brain stalled for a moment.

Wasn't Tu Sanmei Brother Ling Yang's wife, her sister-in-law?

"Brother Ling Yang, I am not..."

"You are not what?" The force in Ling Yang's hand increased instantly. Tu Shan felt it difficult to breathe, her head spinning: "When your Tu family schemed to make me marry you, I warned you: don't covet things you don't deserve, don't seek your own death. You never listened.

For so many years, I indulged you and kept you—you should know in your heart why.

Above all else, you shouldn't have touched her.

Tu Sanmei, you know, I have never been a good person."

Tu Shan's pupils gradually dilated. As she met Ling Yang's gaze, she could see into his gloomy heart through his bloodshot eyes.

This was not the Ling Yang she knew.

Just as Tu Shan felt she was about to suffocate and die, Ling Yang threw her aside, wiping his hands as if in disgust.

He wouldn't dirty his hands for these people. The Tu family didn't deserve a death as simple and easy as this; they should suffer a fate worse than death.

Without him, would Tu Sanmei return to the Tu family and wreak havoc on them just as she had on others?

He was looking forward to it.

His low voice rose: "Tu Sanmei, time and again, you have caused me great trouble, and you have caused trouble for others as well.

We are not suited to continue this marriage. I will file for divorce, so pack your things and leave.

We've been husband and wife for so many years; let's part on good terms and give each other some dignity. I hope you can have some self-respect."

A stack of papers was thrown into Tu Shan's face, the hard edges stinging her skin.

Ignoring the pain, she clutched her burning throat and gasped for air, unable to recover from the aura of death she had just experienced.

What kind of event could have caused the upright, bright, and kind Ling Yang of her memories to develop such dark and ruthless emotions?

A big-character poster?

*Zhang Limei is shameless, seducing a married man, may she die a horrible death.*

Tu Shan: "???"

Who was this? What did it have to do with her? Why did Ling Yang call her Tu Sanmei?

Ling Yang looked down at Tu Shan with deep, dark eyes before opening the door and leaving.

The crowd that had been eavesdropping at the door didn't have time to hide and came face-to-face with Ling Yang, looking sheepish.

Ling Yang's expression remained normal as he looked at one of them: "Auntie Wang, I won't be renewing the lease. My marriage to Comrade Tu Sanmei will end soon. Whatever happens to her has nothing to do with me anymore. Thank you for the trouble over these years."

Auntie Wang waved her hand: "It's fine, it's fine. But, are you really divorcing?"

Ling Yang nodded, not wanting to say more, and strode away.

Tu Shan watched Ling Yang's disappearing back, and countless images flashed through her mind—memories of Tu Sanmei, and her own.

She... had been reborn.

In her previous life.

Because of a staged "hero saves the beauty," she married the man who schemed against her, worked like a beast of burden for ten whole years, and was eventually murdered, leaving no body behind.

Her resentment was so great that after death, her soul did not dissipate. She drifted beside her family for half a year, watching helplessly as that beast who schemed against her persecuted her family.

Her eldest brother was framed and his mission failed; her second brother was reported for bribery and went missing; her parents were bullied and humiliated every day.

That beast treated the truth as a joke, mocking and slandering her in front of her parents. The more grief-stricken the old couple became, the more excited he grew.

And she could do nothing, eventually dissipating from sheer rage.

She just didn't expect that after dissipating, she wouldn't be reincarnated, but instead possessed a fetus in another world, gaining a new life.

That world faced an apocalypse, and she was lucky enough to gain an ability and contribute to the country, but she didn't live to the end.

After sacrificing herself for the country, she had actually returned to her first life, becoming Ling Yang's wife.

Ling Yang—the man she had secretly loved for years, the man she couldn't be with for various reasons, her former brother-in-law—was now her husband.

Tu Shan's joy outweighed her shock.

But she wasn't Tu Shan anymore; she had become Tu Sanmei. Could Ling Yang accept that?

The pain in her throat remained. She had almost died the moment she came back to life, almost sent away by Ling Yang again.

Having died twice, she really disliked the scent of death. She wouldn't be arrogant enough to think she would have a fourth life.

Her revenge had not yet been taken. Even if she died, she would only be satisfied if she took those who harmed her family with her. She would never be as cowardly as she was in her first life.

But why was Ling Yang so angry because of that big-character poster? Surely posting a big-character poster wasn't a capital offense?

And what did those things Ling Yang said to Tu Sanmei mean? Who did the Tu family harm? Was it this Zhang Limei?

Regardless, she had to tell Ling Yang that she wasn't Tu Sanmei; she was Tu Shan.

She got up to chase after him, but as soon as she reached the door, she was blocked by the aunts and neighbors who had been eavesdropping.

"Tu Sanmei, have some shame! Stop clinging to Ling Yang like a piece of dog-skin plaster." An aunt with slanted eyes looked Tu Shan up and down, full of disgust as if looking at a pile of dung: "Don't you go pee and look at yourself in the reflection? Ling Yang is not someone you can covet."

Tu Shan opened her mouth: "I am not..."