Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As we were about to leave, the transmigrator blocked our path.

“Where are you two headed? I disturbed you just now; why don’t I give you a ride?”

“Thank you for the kind offer, but there’s no need. Please, go about your business, Miss.”

The transmigrator looked at us for a long time before finally nodding and taking her leave.

Once she was far away, Ah Si spoke up. She said she didn’t like that woman, noting that the look in her eyes had been far from kind.

Her intuition was correct.

The transmigrator had taken over the identity of the Marquis Mansion’s Concubine-Born Daughter. That girl had committed a mistake in the inner manor and was sent away to a rural estate. No one expected her to fall ill and die there, only for her body to be occupied by the transmigrator upon her “revival.”

Relying on her foreknowledge, the transmigrator believed she understood the great affairs of the world.

She possessed talent and a deep-seated arrogance; it was only natural for her to look down on us.

But…

Who decreed that the talented and arrogant of this world were guaranteed to survive?

I comforted Ah Si. “She’s just a passerby. She’s not worth getting angry over.”

But I was wrong.

I never imagined that when I returned home, the person who opened the door would be the transmigrator.

She said with a beaming smile, “Young ladies, we truly share a fated connection.”

This “fate” was clearly something she had forced.

Grandma said she had opened the door to find someone collapsed at the entrance, so she had brought her inside to save her.

I was furious.

The transmigrator could seek a better life for herself, but she shouldn’t have schemed against Grandma. This could very well bring trouble to her door.

In my dreams, wherever the transmigrator went, endless trouble followed.

By virtue of her talents, she attracted the likes of an Imperial Prince, a General, a Young Duke, and a Divine Physician.

Meanwhile, the Capital’s Young Ladies-no matter how clever or sharp they had been before-seemed to lose all their wits the moment they encountered the transmigrator. They envied her, grew jealous, and framed her, only to be humiliated by her time and again. Their reputations would be dragged through the mud, yet they seemed to never tire of the cycle.

Ah Si and I were among those who had been humiliated in the dream.

With a casual wave of her hand, she stirred the winds and clouds, making the waters of the Capital even murkier.

My reason for keeping Ah Si here was partly to avoid her.

I hadn’t expected her to track us down and even deceive Grandma.

She had intentionally fainted at our doorstep, likely because she suspected I might be hiding Yang Jingzhi in my home.

Heh!

Since she had come, she shouldn’t think about leaving.

The transmigrator introduced herself as Yun Xiyue. After offering a few words of thanks, she prepared to depart.

I reached out and blocked her.

“Wait!”

“Miss Yiguang, is there something else?” Yun Xiyue asked, feigning surprise.

I said coldly, “Hand it over.”

Her expression shifted instantly, her eyes sharpening. “You have quite the nose, Miss. I do indeed have a treasure in my robes, but it is my own. Why are you telling me to hand it over?”

I stared at her.

What she had hidden in her robes was a ginseng root.

I had found that ginseng in the deep mountains with great difficulty. Ever since Father passed away, I had intended to keep it for Grandma to prolong her life. No matter how bitter or difficult life became, I never once thought of selling it.

And she dared to claim it was hers?

I asked icily, “Are you sure? Then can you tell me the age of the ginseng in your robes? What are its five forms? What are its six bodies?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Move aside, I’m leaving.” Yun Xiyue pushed my arm away and tried to bolt for the door.

I reached out, grabbed an arrow from the wall, and threw it with force. The arrow embedded itself in the ground right in front of her, its fletching vibrating slightly.

Yun Xiyue froze in her tracks.

Her face was pale, but her gaze remained resolute.

“You want to kill me and steal my treasure?”

Heh!

I wasn’t going to kill anyone.

I was just catching a thief.

I clapped my hands.

Several men in black emerged from various corners, surrounding Yun Xiyue and quickly subduing her.

Even as she was forced to her knees before me, Yun Xiyue’s face remained defiant.

Ah Si quickly snatched the wild ginseng from her robes and made a face at her.

“You shameless thief.”

Yun Xiyue turned red with a mix of embarrassment and the fury of being insulted.

“And what are you? You also stole someone else’s identity!”

“You…” Ah Si was momentarily speechless, nearly toppling over from anger.

I pulled Ah Si back and looked coldly at the woman. “Taking without asking is stealing. Her identity was given to her by my parents. Since they were willing to give it, she takes it with a clear conscience. You, on the other hand-how do you know such private matters? Take her away and interrogate her thoroughly.”

Yun Xiyue was taken away. Not long after, the County Magistrate sent word to me.

He said that Yun Xiyue insisted she had only heard rumors; she refused to say another word even under torture.

The County Magistrate threw her into the County Jail and sentenced her for theft. She was to serve three years of hard labor.

I was very satisfied with this result.

After three years of hard labor, by the time she returned to the Capital, I would have already established a firm foothold there.

That night, I had a dream.

I dreamed that Yun Xiyue sent word to the Capital, allowing the people in the palace to learn of my existence ahead of time. I was taken back to the Capital early.

She, meanwhile, stayed behind and met Yang Jingzhi. She also took my Grandma as her own grandmother and used a Millennium Wild Ginseng to save Yang Jingzhi’s life, forging a bond of life and death with him.

When she eventually returned to the Capital, she used her relationship with my Grandma to make me feel guilty, making me a willing tool for her use.

In the beginning, I was the noble patron she used to humiliate other noble ladies. Later, once she attained a high position, she trampled me into the dirt.

I woke from the dream.

I felt a chill, unable to tell for a moment whether it was real or just a fantasy…