Chapter 1: Kill Her

“You fool, why do you always follow us?” Yan Yan was dressed in pale pink fine clothes with a rose-red brocade shawl draped over her shoulders, the edges sewn with snow-white rabbit fur. She looked at the young girl before her with a contemptuous gaze.

“I... I want to follow Brother Sheng...” Xia Wanwan replied timidly, looking back at Yan Yan.

“Give it a rest. With a dummy like you who doesn't even dare to speak up loudly, my Imperial Brother will never take an interest in you.” Yan Yan spoke without any politeness, every sentence laced with thorns.

Xia Wanwan seemed accustomed to her sarcasm; she simply smiled foolishly at her and at the young man in exquisite robes standing beside her.

Yan Sheng detested her foolish smile. He looked at her coldly, his eyes filled with deep loathing. “You ugly, stupid fool. This Prince will never like you. You had better give up hope early!”

“It doesn't matter if Brother Sheng doesn't like me, as long as I like Brother Sheng.” Xia Wanwan let out another burst of foolish laughter, as if seeing Yan Sheng alone was enough to make her happy every single moment.

“This Prince does not just dislike you, I find you extremely repulsive! Your shameless clinging to this Prince makes me feel nauseous!” Unable to deal with her, Yan Sheng could only roar at her in anger.

If the Empress had not issued an order for him to marry Xia Wanwan as his Imperial Consort, he would never have spoken a single word to this ugly and stupid woman.

No matter how dim-witted Xia Wanwan was, being spoken to like this by the man she loved still hurt her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

To him, her affection was like dust—fragile and easily scattered by a single breath.

Yan Yan reached out and pulled Xia Weiman, who had been standing silently to the side, forward. “Look closely. What my Imperial Brother loves is your eldest sister, Xia Weiman. Only she is worthy of my Imperial Brother. What kind of thing are you? A fool.”

“Eldest Sister, do you also like Brother Sheng?” Xia Weiman didn't care that she was being hit or insulted; she only cared about her Brother Sheng.

“I have always liked the First Prince.” Xia Weiman’s voice was very, very soft, as if she were afraid that stating the truth would hurt Xia Wanwan, and she intentionally lowered her voice.

“You... you two...” Xia Wanwan felt as if she had just woken from a dream, unable to accept the fact that her own sister actually liked her fiancé.

“What do you mean 'you two'? Can't you see? My Imperial Brother and your eldest sister are in love. You're just an interloper trying to break up a matched pair. That is a sin. If I were you, I would have jumped into the river to commit suicide long ago instead of living in this shameless manner.” Yan Yan continued her biting sarcasm, completely disregarding Xia Wanwan's feelings, her words extremely malicious and acerbic.

The First Prince Yan Sheng, the Fifth Princess Yan Yan, the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's manor Xia Weiman, the third daughter Xia Wanwan, and a boatman—five people in total were on the boat.

It was currently high noon, with the sun directly overhead, as the boat gradually paddled out of the city outskirts.

If Xia Wanwan truly jumped into the river to commit suicide, there would likely be no one to save her.

“No...” Xia Wanwan shook her head desperately, grasping Xia Weiman's hands and looking at her in despair. “How can you like Brother Sheng? You are my sister! You've always known I like Brother Sheng, so why do you have to steal him from me! Sister, please don't fight me for Brother Sheng, okay?”

A dark glint flashed in Xia Weiman's eyes, but her face wore an expression of self-reproach and deep affection. “I'm sorry, little sister, I cannot control my feelings for the First Prince.”

“Row more slowly! I feel a bit dizzy.” Xia Weiman acted as if she wanted to shake off Xia Wanwan's hands, but in reality, she increased the pressure of her grip, pulling Xia Wanwan's hands back while pretending to be in great pain.

“Xiao Man, what's wrong? You fool, how dare you hurt Xiao Man! You're asking for death!” Fearing that Xia Wanwan had harmed his beloved, Yan Sheng rushed to Xia Weiman's side in a panic and struck out at Xia Wanwan with a palm strike.

Xia Wanwan happened to be standing right at the edge of the boat. Hit by his strike, her slender body flew straight out of the boat and fell into the river.

Watching Xia Wanwan fall into the water, Yan Yan clapped her hands in celebration. “Serves her right! She didn't know her place!”

“Third Sister!” Xia Weiman's eyes looked toward the falling Xia Wanwan with tension, yet her hands remained tightly clutching Yan Sheng's hand. “First Prince, I'm so scared!”

Yan Sheng pulled her into his arms, gently patting her back to comfort her. “Don't be afraid, I am here.”

“Help...” Xia Wanwan's body was naturally frail and she did not know how to swim. After falling into the water, she exhausted her strength in less than two minutes, and her cries for help grew weaker and weaker.

Meanwhile, Yan Sheng's boat drifted further and further away from her.

It was only then that Xia Weiman seemed to remember she needed to save Xia Wanwan. She poked her head out from Yan Sheng's embrace and rolled up her sleeves, looking as if she were about to jump into the river to save her. “First Prince, please stay on the boat. I will go down to save Third Sister.”

Yan Yan blocked her. “It's better if she's dead.”

Xia Weiman tucked her head back into Yan Sheng's embrace, weeping, “My poor Third Sister...”

Xia Wanwan's body drifted down the river for about two days before, somewhere unknown, she was wedged into a crevice between two rocks.

Cold... so cold!

Pain... so much pain!

Xia Wanwan slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself trapped between two rocks in the middle of a rushing current.

She was stunned. Wasn't she sleeping in her shared apartment?

How did she end up in a river?

And it seemed she had been soaking in the water for a very long time.

Spring had not yet passed, and the weather had not warmed up. Being wedged between rocks in the river in the middle of the night, she could still feel a bone-chilling cold.

Waves of sharp pain surged into her brain, yet despite the freezing water, large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Chunks of memories that did not belong to her flooded into her mind.

“Fool, bark like a dog for this young lady.”

“Fool, if I haven't told you to get up, then stay kneeling for me.”

“Fool, why wasn't my chamber pot emptied yesterday?!”

“Someone come! Beat her! Beat her until she can't move!”

“Get far away from this Prince.”

“This Prince finds you annoying just by looking at you. Get lost!”

...

It turned out her soul had traveled through time into the body of a third daughter with the same name in the Prime Minister's manor of the Sheng Domain in the Holy Land Continent.

Most of her memories consisted of Xia Weiman's verbal abuse, humiliation, and beatings.

As well as the First Prince Yan Sheng's contempt and disdain.

The original owner of this body, however, was incredibly weak and kind-hearted. She allowed Xia Weiman to bully her without ever talking back, and she never publicly exposed the various evils Xia Weiman had committed against her.

She even defended her in public.

She was especially devoted to the First Prince. Even though the First Prince never treated her as a human being, her infatuation with him never wavered.

Xia Wanwan let out a soft sigh. Such a silly girl—she was so foolish it was heartbreaking. No wonder everyone called her a fool.

In her memories, there was almost nothing good; it was entirely filled with fragments of people mocking her for being ugly, foolish, stupid, and useless.

She had merely gone to meet the God of Dreams, and she had ended up catching the trend of transmigration.

Xia Wanwan looked around. It was currently night, and the surroundings were filled with rushing currents. Fortunately, the water where she was located was not deep.

However, being wedged between two rocks, she could not break free.

The riverbanks were lined with dense forests, devoid of human life.

A few distant wolf howls sounded in the silent forest, making them seem exceptionally terrifying.

Whether it was the terrifying sound of the wolves or the freezing water, Xia Wanwan shuddered.

No, she had to get out of here quickly. Otherwise, she would either freeze to death or be eaten by wild beasts.

Xia Wanwan struggled between the rocks for a long time but could not break free.

This body was truly quite weak.

Just as Xia Wanwan was preparing to rest for a moment, two snakes suddenly swam toward her from ahead.

They were bright red with triangular heads!

They were moving very fast, clearly attacking in her direction!

Xia Wanwan's skin crawled, and the hairs on her body stood on end.

In her desperation, she reached out both hands, grabbing one snake in each hand. She pinched them at their vital points and slammed their heads heavily against the nearby rocks!

After more than a dozen strikes, the two red venomous snakes finally breathed their last.

Xia Wanwan let out a heavy sigh of relief. Heaven knows, the thing she feared most in her previous life was venomous snakes.

“Ugly girl, you have quite the nerve.” A low, highly magnetic male voice drifted from the left bank.

The man looked down at her from above, his eyes filled with hostility.

Very well, she had actually killed his pet snakes.