Chapter 1
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
Just as the sky began to lighten, a series of urgent dings rang out from outside. A jade-white hand stretched out from under the quilt, fumbling by the pillow before its fingers suddenly stiffened.
The brocade quilt rustled, and Song Yuli emerged from beneath it.
She was dressed in a snow-white silk nightgown with a crossover collar. Her long hair, which reached her waist, cascaded down like a waterfall, with only a few stray strands tousled on her forehead.
Her gaze fell upon the familiar wooden doors, windows, and furniture. Outside the paper-paned window, the sky was a dark blue, on the cusp of dawn. In her modern life, this was when she would get up for work. In her current life, it was also time for her to open her shop and sell breakfast.
She sighed. It had been over two years since she had transmigrated to this ancient era in an unknown timeline. She had nearly forgotten her past life, but the recent flood of changes had left her feeling a sense of temporal dislocation.
But there was no need to rush out of bed now. She had been married seven days ago to a wealthy merchant from the capital. Yet, on their wedding night, before she had even seen her husband’s face, he had departed.
Three days ago, her husband had sent word that his business in the capital would be delayed for a long time and that she was to join him there. The people in the residence packed up and left at a moment’s notice, and she had been on the road for the past few days.
She didn’t want to wake up early, but now that the noise had roused her, she couldn’t fall back asleep.
She threw back the covers, got out of bed, and walked to the window. Pushing it open a crack, she saw the stablehands in the backyard, dressed in coarse brown linen, shoeing a horse.
So that was the source of the dinging. Just as a stablehand was about to swing his hammer again, a man in deep-collared black robes approached.
“Stop. Do not disturb the mistress,” he ordered in a low, cold voice. The stablehands meekly agreed and stepped aside.
The man turned, and Yuli saw his face clearly. He was the head of the Xie Residence’s guards, a man named Song He.
There were eight guards on this journey, and Song He was the tallest among them, with a build rarely seen in Xihe County. Moreover, they all possessed an indescribable air—profound and sharp, like modern-day soldiers.
But there was something more to them than soldiers, something that inspired even greater fear.
Song He looked up toward her window, and Yuli immediately shut it.
She pressed a hand to her chest. It had been several days, but she still didn’t dare to face them. The guards of a merchant family were this intimidating; she had long suspected something was amiss.
She had been forced into this marriage. Her father had accepted an exorbitant bride price, placed her under house arrest, and forced her into the bridal sedan.
Other transmigrators received a golden finger. At the very least, they were born as the illegitimate daughter of a great house, with no worries about food or clothing.
But not her. She had transmigrated into a poor, patriarchal family. When her father, Song Zhu, looked for a husband for her, his first condition was an exorbitant bride price, all to save up for her younger brother’s betrothal gift.
This Master Xie was a wealthy merchant from the provincial capital. He was incredibly generous, and the bride price he offered was enough to make the Song family the richest in Xihe County.
Her father was so overjoyed he nearly fainted, declaring that even if she starved herself to death, he would marry her corpse off.
Of course, Yuli wouldn’t starve herself. Even if she had to die, she would do it on a full stomach and choose a painless way to end her life.
The matchmaker who delivered the betrothal gifts had said her husband was as handsome as Pan An, peerlessly so, and that she would surely be satisfied with the marriage.
As someone who had grown up with anti-scam campaigns, Song Yuli didn’t believe in such windfalls. She only knew that the gifts of fate are already secretly marked with a price.
Sometimes, fate offered a tiny gift but demanded everything in return, just like her balding boss in her previous life, who had given her a meager salary in exchange for her working like a horse.
Perhaps this Master Xie was on his deathbed, and she was a suitable bride to ward off ill fortune. A more terrifying possibility was that they had bought her for her life…
Although the Xie family’s intentions in marrying her were likely sinister, at least for now, they were still trying to humor her.
Actually, as long as they don’t torture me, if they just discuss it with me, knock me out, take what they want, and then let me die unconsciously, that would be a decent outcome.
The worst part was this unknown, which sent her imagination running wild, scaring herself.
As Yuli’s thoughts ran amok, a knock came from the door.
She had only just woken up, and someone was already here, right after Song He had seen her. They were watching her so closely. She had thought she might have a chance to escape on the road, but it seemed it would be very difficult.
Yuli opened the door, and two maids entered. They were dressed in brocade and wore gold hairpins, their faces bearing gentle smiles. They first curtsied to Yuli and offered greetings before setting down the washbasin and other items in their hands. They were clearly from a prominent household.
Behind the two maids was her dowry maid, Xiyun.
After receiving the exorbitant bride price, Song Zhu had spent a fortune to buy Xiyun for her. Xiyun had originally been the personal maid to the county magistrate’s daughter, and for him to be willing to sell her, the price must have been very high.
Xiyun wore simple cloth garments and a wooden hairpin, much like Yuli’s own attire from before. The sight of Xiyun brought Yuli a measure of comfort.
Yuli wasn’t used to being served. She wrung out a cloth to wash her own face and rinsed her mouth. Seizing a moment when the two maids from the Xie Residence had left, she pulled Xiyun aside and asked in a low voice, “Is this really the road to the capital?”
After being sold to the Song family, Xiyun had thought it was just a simple change of masters. However, after following Yuli to the provincial capital for the wedding, she saw the maids of the Xie family, who carried themselves with an air of sophistication that even the county magistrate’s daughter lacked. Then there were the guards, whose stern presence was suffocating.
Xiyun also felt that something was wrong.
Having left Xihe County, where they had spent their entire lives, and after traveling from place to place, Xiyun and Yuli had gradually developed a sense of mutual reliance.
Seeing how uneasy Yuli had been these past few days, Xiyun nodded firmly. “This is the road to the capital. I once accompanied my former mistress to the capital. This is an official post station. Back then, a person of high status was staying here, and even with my master’s official rank, he wasn’t allowed to stay. We stayed across the road. I remember it very clearly.”
Yuli asked no more questions. Fearing she was truly being sent to her death, she still wanted to try to escape. But she couldn’t tell Xiyun; if she were caught, Xiyun’s ignorance would spare her from being held accountable.
Yesterday, Song He had told her they would arrive in the capital by this evening. She had less than a day.
The sky was just beginning to lighten—the perfect time to escape. Yuli looked at Xiyun. In historical dramas on TV, the confined young miss would always knock out her maid, change into the maid’s clothes, and slip away to freedom.
Without a second thought, Yuli raised her hand and chopped the back of Xiyun’s neck. Xiyun yelped, clutching her neck as she stared at Yuli, her eyes wide with confusion and surprise.
Yuli: …
A sudden realization struck Xiyun. “Miss, you’re not trying to knock me out and escape, are you?”
Yuli awkwardly wrung her hands.
Her guilt was obvious.
But Xiyun suddenly grabbed her arm. “Take me with you!”
Yuli’s heart leaped, and she nodded emphatically.
Yuli quickly dressed. The clothes were part of her dowry; they looked magnificent, but they were uncomfortable to wear, and the embroidery on the collar chafed her skin. At this moment, she couldn’t be bothered with such things.
Acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary, the two of them left the room, one after the other. Two maids were standing outside the door. Seeing her emerge, they bowed and followed. At the top of the stairs stood two guards, their gazes fixed straight ahead. As she descended, the guards fell in behind the two maids.
Yuli feigned a need to use the privy, and they followed her like shadows.
By the time she stepped out of the post station, she had six people trailing her, not including Xiyun. They said nothing, merely following in silence.
Yuli looked at the four guards patrolling outside the station’s fence, then turned back to meet Xiyun’s gaze. In each other’s eyes, they saw despair.
Yuli had no choice but to return to her room. As if the previous events had never happened, she finished getting ready and boarded the carriage. Surrounded by an entourage of some twenty guards and maids, she set off toward the capital.
The closer they got to the capital, the more uneasy Yuli became.
Xiyun was no better. Though neither of them spoke of it, they were both certain that a massive conspiracy was afoot.
Some thoughts were enough to make one’s skin crawl.
After noon, both people and horses were weary.
Yuli called for the procession to halt, saying she needed to relieve herself. It was a reason no one could refuse.
Song He stopped the party and had two maids accompany her and Xiyun into the woods.
The early spring air still held a chill. The ground was covered in fallen leaves and withered grass. Some branches had buds, but there was no green to be seen yet.
Yuli wore a light crimson dress, which wasn’t too conspicuous in the woods. Xiyun, in her light green cloth jacket, was more noticeable.
Once they were far from the main road, with the carriage and guards out of sight, Xiyun put on the airs of a mistress’s dowry maid and ordered the two accompanying maids to stop.
The two maids exchanged a glance, hesitant, but they obeyed.
Having lived in the capital for years, they looked down on Xihe County as the countryside. The mistress’s dowry maid was dressed shabbily. And although the mistress herself wore new dowry clothes that looked splendid, the style was long outdated, and the fabric was of poor quality—all for show. Feeling superior, they held Yuli and Xiyun in slight contempt.
Although they had been instructed not to let the mistress out of their sight, the idea of relieving oneself in the wild was something a lady from the capital would never do. Not having to follow them suited them just fine.
The two maids stopped.
Xiyun and Yuli walked on until the maids could barely see the tops of their heads before stopping. They were afraid that going too far would arouse suspicion.
Yuli squatted down but made no move to undo her trousers. Xiyun whispered, “Miss, you should relieve yourself. It will be less of a burden when we run.”
Yuli’s face flushed. She didn’t actually need to go.
Yuli tugged on her hand, signaling for her to squat. As Xiyun squatted, Yuli whispered a few words in her ear, and Xiyun nodded repeatedly.
A hundred feet away, the two maids kept watch. At first, there was some movement, but after a period of silence, they finally sensed something was wrong. As they walked over, they saw that Yuli and Xiyun had already scrambled down a small slope and were now up and running at full speed.
“Help! The mistress has run away!” the two shouted in unison, jumping in place, hesitant to give chase for fear of stepping in something foul.
Hearing the commotion, Yuli and Xiyun ran for their lives without a backward glance.
Yuli found her clothes too heavy and shed her wide-sleeved outer robe, leaving her in just a short jacket and skirt. Xiyun was already dressed in practical narrow sleeves. Neither of them was a delicate lady, and they ran at a decent pace.
Ahead lay a village, one they had spotted earlier. If they could just get into the village, they could find a place to hide and perhaps even get help from a kind soul.
The sound of hoofbeats rose from behind them. Yuli’s heart tightened, but she didn’t slow down. Xiyun was more frightened; she stumbled and fell, her hand slipping from Yuli’s grasp.
In an instant, Yuli was already three steps ahead.
“Miss, run! Don’t worry about me!” Xiyun shouted at her.
But Yuli stopped and turned back to help her up.
If Xiyun had been one of them, it would have been a different story. But she was closer to Xiyun, and they had agreed to run together. Yuli wouldn’t abandon her.
Xiyun’s legs had felt weak, and she had been about to give up. But as Yuli pulled her to her feet, she felt a surge of strength, quickly recovering.
In that moment, Song He had already reached the spot where they had stopped.
Yuli pulled Xiyun along, running without looking back. A horse’s startled neigh came from behind them, and she ran even faster.
This world felt so unreal to her. She looked at the bamboo forest ahead. Perhaps if I run through this forest, I’ll discover this is all just a game. The modern world is still out there, and the people behind me are just NPCs.
Yuli ran on, filled with hope. The sound of hoofbeats grew closer. She had already emerged from the bamboo forest, and the village ahead came into view. Paths crisscrossed the fields, and the houses stood in neat rows, but they were all squat, wooden buildings of various colors.
It wasn’t a dream. She couldn’t escape. The breath in Yuli’s chest deflated, and her legs grew heavy.
Amidst the chaotic hoofbeats, a thunderous, orderly rumble suddenly erupted, as if a thousand-strong army was in pursuit.
In an instant, the thunder was directly overhead, shaking her to her core. Before Yuli could turn, a powerful steed galloped past her.
The rider pulled sharply on the reins. The horse reared up on its hind legs, standing before her and Xiyun for a few moments like a small mountain blocking their path.
There was no escape. Yuli and Xiyun simultaneously squeezed each other’s hands.
But Yuli wasn’t panicking. She was momentarily stunned when she saw the man on the horse.
It wasn’t Song He, nor was it one of the eight guards.
Her first glance at the man before her was so breathtakingly handsome it made her stop breathing. But his expression was cold, and within that unapproachable chill, there was a hint of suppressed anger.
The guards were usually expressionless and respectful, not even sparing her a glance. But this man stared straight at her. As he dismounted, his eyes never left her, walking toward her without even looking at his feet.
Yuli instinctively shrank back, and the man abruptly halted.
“Young Master.” Song He’s arrival broke the nearly suffocating atmosphere.
Song He leaped from his horse. He had taken a fall earlier, and his clothes and hair were dotted with grass clippings, making him look even more disheveled than Xiyun. His brow furrowed slightly as he knelt on one knee before the man.
The Young Master paid him no mind. His eyes were on Yuli. Her outer robe was gone, her face had faint red scratches from running through the grass, and the hem of her skirt was stained with dirt. She looked at him with a mixture of confusion and forced composure.
“Are you alright? Why did you run?” he asked.
Yuli remained silent, wary.
“You don’t remember me. Two years ago, you saved my life.”
Yuli was bewildered.
“Now, I am your husband.”
Yuli stared at the man, whose beauty seemed almost otherworldly, and paused. She recalled that two years ago, she had taken in a disfigured man for three days…
A faint, half-hidden clue suddenly surfaced in the blankness of her mind.
Transmigrated from the modern era to ancient times, born into a poor family, accidentally saved a disfigured man, who then used various means to marry her…
This plot felt a little familiar, like a novel she had read in her early years.
The female lead of that novel was named Song Yi, which was this body’s original name. Song Yuli was the name she had taken after transmigrating. And the male lead…
Yuli’s voice trembled as she asked, “What is your name?”
The question was blunt and rude, but Yuli couldn’t care less at that moment.
She was his wife. They had exchanged betrothal cards, yet she didn’t even know his name. The man’s expression darkened slightly before he parted his lips and uttered two words: “Xie Yao.”
Yuli’s vision went black. This wasn’t a simple transmigration through time. She had transmigrated into an old-school, female-abusing, bad-ending (BE) novel of forced possession.