Chapter 3

Yun Xiu was afraid to sleep that night and insisted that I keep her company.

In her eyes, I naturally did not deserve to share her bed, nor should I lay a mattress on the floor.

So I fetched a wooden stool, sat beside her bed, propped my head on one arm, and listened.

“Yun Xia, my last life was horrible… Zhao Qinchen is a monster! He took me only as a concubine. He had countless bedchamber maids, and he tormented and humiliated me. He even gave me to other men like a gift. I was nothing but a pawn he used to win them over!”

My drowsy mind snapped awake.

I studied her closely.

She did not seem to notice anything amiss.

“You were the lucky one. Wen Changfeng rose higher and higher until he actually became prime minister, powerful enough to stand against Zhao Qinchen!”

Yun Xiu could not understand what came next.

“Later, Zhao Qinchen’s abuse killed me. Wen Changfeng’s power was at its height, but you asked him for a divorce. You took some money and shops, abandoned everything else, and left…

“Yun Xia, why would you divorce him? He was already prime minister. Everyone under heaven knew Wen Changfeng’s name. He was practically… beneath one man and above ten thousand.”

A blush crept involuntarily over Yun Xiu’s face, turning her smooth earlobes pink.

I listened in silence.

At first, I did not believe her.

“Yun Xia, I want to marry Wen Changfeng! He likes me. I know he does.”

She suddenly sat up and gripped my arm. “He only treats you as a substitute for me.”

“You’ll divorce him eventually anyway, so why not let me marry him from the start?”

The conviction in her eyes finally made me consider her claim of rebirth in earnest.

Yun Xiu had always been proud beyond measure and never moved unless there was profit in it. If she was throwing herself at Wen Changfeng like this, could her rebirth truly be real?

And in that other life, I would divorce Wen Changfeng?

What could have happened to force even someone like me, who wanted nothing but to survive, to leave him?

I was certain I would never fall in love with Wen Changfeng.

He must have done something that would lead to his death and implicate me as well. That had to be why the other me was forced to go.

My lips curved into a smile.

“Very well, Elder Sister.

“You may marry him.”

If Yun Xiu was so eager to fling herself into his arms, I would yield him to her.

The stool was hard. I sat upright on it for several hours.

Every muscle in my body ached, swollen and numb. Still, I listened patiently as Yun Xiu recounted her misery and unrequited love from her previous life.

Terrified and excited, with no other outlet for her need to talk, she handed me an unexpected treasure.

It was as though only by speaking without pause could she ease her resentment and lingering fear.

I committed everything that might prove useful to memory, not daring to miss a single word.

Only when she finally sank into sleep did I move.

I quietly blew out the lamp.

Even in the darkness, Yun Xiu’s brow remained furrowed and her lips pressed tight.

It seemed she knew nothing about what I had been doing behind the scenes.

Yun Xiu’s “rebirth” had disrupted my plans for revenge.

I had originally meant to maneuver her into marrying that libertine Zhao Qinchen.

Now, it seemed, the plan would have to change.