Chapter 1: Rebirth

Today is the funeral of Su Mu, the young mistress of the Yan family.

White banners hang in the Yan family mansion. In the darkness, the streets are silent, as if immersed in an inexplicable sorrow. Inside the courtyard, from masters to servants, all are dressed in mourning clothes with sorrowful expressions.

Suddenly, a commotion of cries erupts from the main hall. Servants tumble out running: “The young master has thrown himself at the coffin to die with her, quickly call for a doctor!” “Jiyue, you fool, how could you throw yourself at the coffin?” An elderly man with graying temples holds a beautiful young man, his expression grief-stricken.

“Su Mu is dead, what meaning is there left in my life?” Yan Jiyue looks haggard and withered, his lips pale and colorless. Fresh red blood flows from his forehead to the corner of his eye. His gaze is empty as he says: “Father, tell me, how am I supposed to restrain my grief? I regret it so much. For ten years, it seems I never really spoke properly with her. The last thing I said to her before she died was that I hated her.” The elderly man holds Yan Jiyue and weeps loudly. The kneeling servants around them also begin to cry crocodile tears.

The scene becomes heart-wrenching for a moment. Who wouldn’t say this couple had deep affection?

Su Mu’s transparent soul leans lazily against the coffin, watching Yan Jiyue’s performance.

Act! Keep acting!

Yan Jiyue may fool everyone else, but he can’t fool her.

Now that she’s dead, he must be so happy he wants to set off firecrackers.

Making such a scene at the funeral is just for show, to gain a reputation as a virtuous husband so he can remarry Shen Yuxue, the second daughter of the Shen family whom he’s been longing for.

Su Mu’s head is bright green. Damn it, even in death he still wants to use her one last time.

Poisonous husband! Poisonous husband!

The doctor hurries over with his medicine box and takes Yan Jiyue away from the mourning hall.

The show is over. Yan Jiyue has gained his good reputation, so naturally there’s no need to continue keeping vigil in the mourning hall.

As soon as he leaves, the crowd of servants also departs in a flurry.

The mourning hall that was so lively just moments ago is now left with only Su Mu and ghost Su Mu.

She lies bored on the coffin, swinging her legs. She had thought that after death she would transmigrate back to modern times, but it seems she still can’t return.

Does this mean she’ll have to live on as a ghost from now on?

Or perhaps cultivate for a few hundred years and then embark on the path of immortality? Su Mu’s imagination runs wild.

Suddenly the tightly closed doors of the mourning hall creak open, and a gust of chilly wind blows in.

Su Mu shudders. This scene is quite eerie.

But then she realizes she’s a ghost herself, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Su Mu sits up straight, waiting to make a good impression on the ghost friend who’s about to enter.

But the one who walks in is Xie Yi.

Xie Yi is of mixed Central Plains and Western Regions descent. He was kidnapped by human traffickers and brought to Juancheng. Feeling pity for him, she bought him back to be her attendant.

At first, Xie Yi couldn’t speak the Central Plains language well. It was Su Mu who taught him bit by bit.

For ten years, Xie Yi has stayed by her side. Gentle and understanding in nature, he was always there to comfort Su Mu whenever she was rebuffed by Yan Jiyue.

Back when she had just married Yan Jiyue and was ridiculed by the whole city, with servants bullying and making things difficult for her at every turn, only Xie Yi stood firmly by her side.

“Didn’t I leave you money and tear up your slave contract? Why did you come back? Hurry and leave, don’t let Yan Jiyue see you.” Su Mu blurts out, only then realizing she’s now a ghost.

Humans can’t hear ghost talk.

Su Mu feels regretful, hoping he won’t be discovered by Yan Jiyue.

Speaking of which, this Yan Jiyue is truly a poisonous husband. It’s bad enough that he hates her, but at least he doesn’t raise a hand against her.

But whenever Yan Jiyue and Xie Yi cross paths, Xie Yi would get slapped at the very least. Sometimes he would be punished with starvation, forced to kneel, or beaten with a rod.

As for the reason, there is no reason. Yan Jiyue arrogantly states that he simply can’t stand the sight of him.

It’s that kind of unbridled arrogance of “Do I need a special day to beat you? I’ll beat you whenever I want.”

To protect Xie Yi from being abused by this poisonous husband, Su Mu would take Xie Yi with her everywhere she went.

She had thought that if the two never saw each other, things would get better. But who knew Yan Jiyue’s temper would only worsen. He would barge into her courtyard every other day, with the air of someone who wouldn’t rest until he had flayed Xie Yi alive.

Just thinking about those scenes still gives Su Mu a headache. What a shrew of a husband.

While Su Mu is reminiscing about the past, Xie Yi, dressed all in white, has already walked up to her coffin. His face is pale and colorless, with red bloodshot eyes, looking as if he has been crying for a long time.

His hand gently caresses her coffin, his dry and bleeding lips murmuring softly.

Su Mu floats to his side, listening carefully to what he’s saying.

Xie Yi’s voice is thin and trembling: “Winter nights, summer days, after a hundred years return to this chamber.”

Su Mu’s eyes widen slightly in surprise. This was a phrase she had casually mentioned years ago when teaching him the Central Plains language.

She never expected that after so many years, he would still remember it.

Xie Yi’s pale, almost translucent fingertips trail over her coffin. He pushes it open forcefully, revealing Su Mu’s pale, lifeless body.

The corpse has been laying there for two days already. Although the weather isn’t hot, it has already started to emit a foul odor. Even Su Mu herself finds it unpleasant and purses her lips, holding her breath.

But Xie Yi smiles. A tear rolls from his eye as he says: “Sister Mu, I can’t wait a hundred years.”

Su Mu is shocked, finally understanding what he intends to do. She calls out to stop him.

But he can’t hear her, and she’s too late.

Xie Yi takes out a small bottle from his robes and drinks it all in one gulp. The poison takes effect quickly. Xie Yi’s expression becomes pained, but his reddened eyes reveal a hint of manic joy.

He supports himself as he lies down in her coffin, nestling into her embrace. A mouthful of deep red blood spills from his lips. Xie Yi smiles as he closes his eyes.

−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−

“The young master is resting now. Young mistress, please return.” Outside the tightly closed door, the servant Xiao Ping lifts his chin slightly, his eyes revealing undisguised disdain and a sense of superiority.

Su Mu’s head aches a bit. Just now, when she tried to stop Xie Yi from taking poison, she was suddenly blinded by a dazzling white light.

When she opens her eyes again, Yan Jiyue’s former personal attendant Xiao Ping is already standing in front of her.

Su Mu is a bit dazed.

Hadn’t he been sold off to human traffickers by Yan Jiyue? Why is he still in the Yan residence?

Five years after Su Mu married into the Yan family, she had expanded the Yan family business, making them the wealthiest in Juancheng. She had also cleared out those parasitic relatives of the Yan family who only knew how to ask for money, consolidating a great deal of power.

And Su Mu’s reputation in others’ mouths had changed from “that freeloader son-in-law of the Yan family” to “Young Mistress Su Mu of the Yan family”. In the end, those who once looked down on her would respectfully address her as “Madam Su” when they saw her.

Perhaps because she held more power now and associated with high officials in the city, there were also more men offering themselves to her bed.

This included Xiao Ping, though Su Mu naturally didn’t touch him.

Xiao Ping’s personality was cut from the same cloth as Yan Jiyue’s, and he also threw his weight around. She found him annoying just looking at him and directly chased him away.

Later, Yan Jiyue somehow learned that Xiao Ping had tried to climb into her bed uninvited. He gave him a severe beating with a whip and contacted human traffickers to sell him off that very night.

In the five years since then, none of Yan Jiyue’s personal attendants had been good-looking. On closer inspection, they were all a bit ugly.

No, that’s not the issue to think about now. Su Mu comes back to her senses, looking at Xiao Ping, then at her own wrist.

In the first winter after marrying Yan Jiyue, Su Mu had been burned by hot coals while protecting Yan Jiyue. The scar hadn’t faded for ten years.

But now her wrist is smooth and delicate. Could it be that she has been reborn?

Su Mu can hardly believe it.

At this moment, seeing that Su Mu is still standing in front of Yan Jiyue’s door and refusing to leave, Xiao Ping thinks she’s trying to cling to Yan Jiyue. He snorts disdainfully: “What’s the matter, young mistress? It’s only been half a month since your marriage and you’ve already forgotten the rules the young master taught you?”

Su Mu suddenly realizes – so she has been reborn to half a month after marrying into the family. Xiao Ping, you really are a qualified NPC.

“I remember, I remember. I’m leaving now.” Su Mu’s voice is full of joy as she leaves with light steps.

Xiao Ping watches Su Mu’s retreating figure, feeling something is strange but unable to pinpoint exactly what. In any case, it just doesn’t seem right.

“Has that woman left?” Yan Jiyue’s voice comes faintly from inside the room.

Xiao Ping shakes his head, dismissing the random thoughts from his mind, and replies: “Young master, Su Mu has left. This time she didn’t linger.”

In front of Yan Jiyue, Su Mu cannot be referred to as “young mistress”.

To the proud and arrogant Yan Jiyue, Su Mu’s servant background is a lifelong shame.

The door suddenly flings open. Yan Jiyue is dressed in light, thin clothes. His slender, cold and beautiful eyebrows are like the cold smoke, wet snow, and s described in ancient poetry. A soft, glassy thin gauze draped over him is like a layer of mist. He truly deserves the title of Juancheng’s number one beauty.

Yan Jiyue gazes at the dark courtyard gate, his eyes contemptuous: “It’s good that she knows her place.”

“Indeed, a toad lusting after swan’s flesh.” Xiao Ping seizes the opportunity to use the most insulting words to belittle Su Mu. Only in this way can he please Yan Jiyue.

Sure enough, Yan Jiyue smiles haughtily and turns back into the room.

On the way back to her side room, Su Mu is in high spirits, humming happily as she walks.

Not only has she regained her life, but she’s also ten years younger. The only flaw is that the timing of her rebirth is a bit awkward. If only she could have returned to before she married into the family.

Su Mu had transmigrated into this female-dominated world when she was only 16 years old, just starting her second year of high school. Her biggest worry then was how to improve her math skills.

But somehow, she unexpectedly transmigrated to this female-dominated world.

That wasn’t even the most critical part. The worst was that she had transmigrated from summer to winter, wearing a short-sleeved school uniform with bare arms. One second she was dying of heat, the next she was in the dead of winter in the wilderness, nearly freezing to death.

Fortunately, she encountered the Yan family’s master, Yan Jiyue’s father, Mo Hui, who was just returning from praying at a Taoist temple.

After learning of her orphaned background, Master Yan took her back to the Yan residence as a servant, giving her a place to stay.

Although Su Mu was a transmigrator, she didn’t have any of the typical transmigrator’s halo.

After half a year as a servant in the Yan family, because of her good looks, pleasant temperament, and quick wit, she quickly rose from a lowly menial worker to become the steward in charge of the Yan family’s outer courtyard.

She thought life would continue like this, but who knew that not long ago, the Yan family’s only daughter, Yan Ting, would encounter mountain bandits on her journey, fall off a cliff, and her remains would never be found.

When the news reached the city, that very night the master ran to her room and asked her to become the Yan family’s son-in-law.

Although Su Mu was young and naive at the time, she understood why Master Yan had chosen her.

In this female-dominated world, men have no inheritance rights. With Yan Ting’s death, the property that Master Yan and Yan Jiyue were guarding would be devoured by the collateral branches, leaving their privileged lifestyle in ruins and possibly even forcing them onto the streets.

The choice of Su Mu was also simple – she was an orphan, and as a woman marrying into the family, there was basically no risk of her trying to seize the entire estate.

Although in this female-dominated world, a woman marrying into a family was considered a great shame, Master Yan had after all saved Su Mu’s life.

Now faced with this crisis, Su Mu still agreed.

Her only worry was whether Yan Jiyue would agree. If he was unwilling, she didn’t want to ruin his happiness.

Moreover, the two of them had never met before, so in a sense, this was an arranged marriage.

To her surprise, Yan Zhujun quickly said, “They’ve already discussed this matter, and Yan Jiyue has agreed.”

So everything fell into place smoothly. Su Mu, bearing the curses of the entire city, became the wife who married into the Yan family.

During the wedding ceremony, Su Mu thought about having a good talk with Yan Jiyue afterward. After all, she was marrying into the Yan family to help Yan Zhujun. There was no love between them, so they could just be cordial to each other and maintain a surface-level marriage.

But Su Mu soon discovered that she had been deceived by Yan Zhujun. Yan Jiyue didn’t agree to this marriage at all. He was forced to marry her, even his hands and feet were tied.

Seeing Yan Jiyue’s eyes full of resentment, Su Mu was shocked and untied the hemp rope on his hands.

“Slap!” As soon as Su Mu untied the hemp rope for Yan Jiyue, she received a slap on her face.

“Su Mu, let me tell you, I, Yan Jiyue, would never look at a woman like you. Letting you marry into our family is just to shut the mouths of our relatives. So give up your filthy thoughts early, don’t delude yourself, and don’t you dare touch me in the future, or I’ll make your life miserable.”

On their wedding night, the cold, venomous voice of Yan Jiyue, dressed in a blood-red wedding attire, echoed in her mind.

Su Mu took a slap for nothing, only to learn that Yan Jiyue had wanted to marry the second daughter of the Shen family. But Yan Zhujun was worried about the Shen family taking all their property, and if his son married out, the Yan family’s assets would be divided by collateral branches. After enjoying a life of luxury for decades, he would end up destitute in his old age.

That’s why he came up with the idea of having Su Mu marry into the family.

Logically, both Su Mu and Yan Jiyue were victims, but how could Yan Jiyue resent his own father? He placed all his hatred on Su Mu.

It was Su Mu who was delusional, Su Mu who took advantage of the situation, she who wanted to climb up the social ladder by persuading Yan Zhujun to marry him to her.

She was like an evil consort from ancient times who brought ruin to the country. All the mistakes were hers, and Yan Zhujun had only become like this because she had bewitched him.

In the first year of their marriage, Su Mu still had the heart to reconcile with Yan Jiyue, so she was always yielding to him. But later, he always acted like “I’m not listening, I’m not listening,” and even Su Mu’s good temper was eventually exhausted.

Tired, she decided to let things be as they may.

From then on, they despised each other, with Yan Jiyue mocking her every time they met.

It wasn’t until the third year of their marriage that Yan Jiyue’s attitude improved slightly, but not by much. His tone just became a bit milder.

In her previous life, Su Mu had thought about divorce, but Yan Zhujun always prevented it and even made her learn how to do business.

Doing business was already considered lowly, and a wife who had married into the family doing business was even lower among the low. Su Mu endured the ridicule of the entire city and carved out a bloody path for herself, going from a despised wife who had married in to become the wealthiest person in Juancheng.

When she proposed divorce again, this time both Yan Zhujun and Yan Jiyue refused adamantly.

Su Mu finally realized belatedly that she had been manipulated by Yan Zhujun. She was grateful for his kindness in taking her in back then, but he only wanted to exploit that gratitude.

Unfortunately, Su Mu realized this too late. In the ninth year of their marriage, she proposed divorce for the last time, offering to leave without any property.

This time, Yan Zhujun had no objections, but Yan Jiyue acted as if it would kill him. He even looked at her with resentful eyes, accusing her of disregarding their marital bond, as if she were some heartless woman.

It was ridiculous. They had never had any marital bond.

Sadly, she never got to see the day of her divorce from Yan Jiyue. She was poisoned with a slow-acting toxin and died when it took effect.

With the disastrous marriage of her previous life, the reborn Su Mu was determined to divorce as soon as possible.

She wrote a divorce letter overnight and put it in an envelope, waiting to give it to Yan Jiyue the next day.

At this time, Yan Jiyue was wholeheartedly in love with the second daughter of the Shen family. He would surely agree.

Then she would move out of the Yan residence, escape the fate of being poisoned, and find Xie Yi.

Thinking of Xie Yi from her previous life, who endured the pain of poison eating at his heart, holding her already putrid corpse with a smile mixed with tears, Su Mu’s writing strokes softened as she wrote the divorce letter.