Chapter 2

Prime Minister An, nearing fifty, cast a cold, piercing gaze over his bevy of wives, concubines, and children. When his eyes landed on the bright red figure kneeling in a daze to the side, his tiger-like eyes finally softened, and his voice turned slightly hoarse: "Chuyi, you... Father doesn't want you to marry him anymore."

Hearing this, the girl in red suddenly lifted her face, revealing a stunningly beautiful countenance lightly dusted with powder. Her watery eyes were red, swollen, and filled with shock, along with a strange, lingering pain. After a long moment, she finally trembled her lips, lowered her head, and wept silently.

If she didn't marry him, who else could she marry? The man she loved most in this life—his coldness, his tenderness, his hidden depths, his tolerance and patience—all of that was supposed to belong to her! But why? She had waited painstakingly for two years, only to find that he would never be able to stand again, destined to lie in bed like a cripple for the rest of his life!

She didn't want to believe it, but her father’s secret guards would never report false information. It was said that he had come to collect the bride by carriage today, not on the blood-sweating steed he had promised, to carry her—home! To their home!

How could she be reconciled to this? Her dream in this life was to fly to the top of the branch and become a phoenix! She wanted that supreme crown, the empress’s scepter, the transcendent feeling of looking down upon the world, and for all things to bow at her feet. Once, she thought he could give her these things, but the moment he became a cripple, he stripped her of the right to obtain them!

Her hands clenched tightly. She was not reconciled. She did not want to marry him just like this. Her father had once said, "One cannot be soft-hearted when doing great things; you must use everything to achieve yourself!" So, she ignored the trace of fear and the dull ache in her heart, held back her tears, and suddenly looked up, her voice firm as rock: "I won't marry! I won't marry a cripple!"

Beitang Xian, even if you were once great, even if you loved her, you cannot change the fact that you have become a cripple. In this life, you will never have a chance at that golden throne. It was you who abandoned her, not she who abandoned you!

As soon as the words left her lips, the entire hall was shocked!

Even the small, white, delicate figure in the corner of the hall couldn't help but wake from her dalliance with the God of Dreams. Her cat-like eyes narrowed slightly, wearing a listless, idiotic expression, but her dirty little mouth curled into a sneer of disdain, and the gaze she directed at An Chuyi was filled with hidden contempt.

She despised women like this the most. When someone had a bright future, they would cling to them shamelessly; the moment that person fell from grace and their political future was about to go down the drain, they would kick them away without hesitation. She was simply... simply a beast in human form!

An Fang was also stunned, but his expression shifted quickly. Finally, amidst the terror and realization of the crowd, he burst into loud laughter. He strode over to An Chuyi, pulled her up, and patted her shoulder affectionately, his voice booming like a bell: "Good, good! You are worthy of being my, An Fang’s, daughter. You must have this kind of courage! Who else in this world dares to kick a prince besides my daughter? Haha!"

"Father, are you not blaming your daughter for being too willful? If I don't marry, wouldn't that be stripping the Imperial family of their face? The Emperor, he..." An Chuyi was conflicted and worried that the Emperor might fly into a rage and have their entire clan executed.

"Hmph, what is there to fear? Have you forgotten what I hold in my hands? Besides, who said the An family isn't marrying off a daughter?" An Fang’s words once again made his terrified wives and daughters widen their eyes. They saw him look with a sinister gaze toward the white figure in the corner, a strange smile blooming on his lips as he pointed at her and said softly: "Which of my, An Fang’s, daughters is not a peerless beauty? Even if she is a fool, she is the most beautiful one! Isn't that right, Qixi?"

The white figure stiffened all over. Under the disdainful gazes of the crowd, she shrank back tremblingly and nodded her messy little head, looking terrified. But who could see the cold, mocking curve of the mouth hidden beneath her arms?

"Father, you mean..." An Chuyi’s eyes widened, while her other sisters secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't them being forced to marry that crippled prince! He had once been the god in their hearts, and they had envied An Chuyi’s good fortune in gaining Beitang Xian’s favor, but at this moment, they were terrified of being the ones to marry him. But if that fool were to marry him instead, several of them exchanged smiles—smiles filled with mockery and schadenfreude.

A cripple paired with a fool—a match made in heaven!

"Qixi, Father loves you so much. I’ve found you the best man in the world. You should also thank your sister; it is her concession that has brought you this good luck. Someone, take the Seventh Miss down to dress her. The auspicious hour is almost here." An Fang finished with a hypocritical air, waving his hand. Without even asking for An Qixi’s opinion, he directly had her replace that vain woman to marry a cripple!

An Qixi was dragged away by two people. Even when she was stripped bare and pressed into the water by several ugly, fat hags, her brain was still short-circuiting. What was going on? She had only transmigrated here half a month ago; how did she end up being treated like a cheap substitute and cleared out like inventory?

An Qixi wanted to curse out loud, but she couldn't make a sound. She wanted to run away, but she couldn't move. She miserably accepted the fact that she had been struck by some legendary, magical pressure-point technique!

Pressure points! How far-fetched, yet here she was, like a mummy, being handled by seven or eight middle-aged women while unable to resist. Who had she offended? Betrayed by a damn man, killed by that damn man’s mistress, and inexplicably arriving in this Beihe Dynasty—a country that didn't exist in history. And the previous owner of this body she had landed in was a fool and an idiot before her soul took over.

This tragedy was simply... the heavens had no eyes! Forced to accept this cruel reality, she finally settled down and secretly searched for a way back to the modern era, but found nothing. The biggest consolation was that there was some amusement to be had; everyone here wanted to bully her, after all, who told 'her' to be a fool before?

But she had been reborn, and she wouldn't let herself be bullied. So, she often pretended to be a ghost in the middle of the night to scare people, leaving those who bullied her trembling with fear. She thought that being a fool wasn't so bad—at least she didn't have to understand anything and wouldn't be suspected, and she could just live out her days in a daze. Who knew that before she could even taste the good life, that cheap father would collude with that vain woman to clear her out like inventory, tossing her away as a substitute to that crippled prince who was rumored to be the most handsome man in the world.

Why was her life—so full of twists and turns?