The village was burning. The sky was tinted with the color red, the color of blood. The invasion was done within an hour. The village flattened, and the whole tribe annihilated.
Her homeland was on fire.
Xiao Yue turned her head to the side. All she could hear was the joyous roar of victory, coming from some distance away. The army from the Hong Kingdom was celebrating the end of their mission. They cheered over the dead bodies of men, women, and children.
How could people be so cruel, she thought.
How could people feel proud, ecstatic over a bloody slaughter like this?
Xiao Yue's tears started to flow down her cheeks.
Wherever her eyes could reach, all she could see was the mangled corpses of her family and friends, their blood slowly seeping into the ground. Most of these people were civilians. People who were not engaged in politics and disputes between tribes or kingdoms. They were common people who just tried to live their lives as normally as possible.
She squinted at the little body hanging lifelessly down an overturned cart. He was the youngest son of one of her father's most loyal retainers, his name was… Xiao Yue's lips moved but nothing came out. Her memory gradually faded. What was the boy's name again? Yesterday he came and gave her an apple. He called her... what did he call her again?
Xiao Yue sighed and closed her eyes. Did it even matter anymore?
Xiao Yue expected to start her journey in the afterlife. Her tribe had the belief that when someone died, the underworld gate would open for them. They would all then line up to be judged by the God of Life and Death. If the person had been virtuous in life, then reincarnation as deity was possible. If the person on the other side had been vicious and despicable in life, then the person would be reincarnated as a cow or peasant. Destined to die early leaving no intact corpses. Her tribespeople were good people. That Xiao Yue knew. So they would all hopefully be reincarnated as deities. It was of course impossible, but praying did not hurt.
The dying girl breathed in and breathed out. In and out. In and out. Then she closed her eyes and exhaled for one last time. Her surrounding turned pitch-black. Everything turned into nothing. Only cold darkness prevailed.
When Xiao Yue's consciousness returned, she felt unusual warmth. The warmth, which was initially concentrated in one spot gradually turned into searing heat, spreading all over the body she did not have. Or did she? Xiao Yue stifled a groan. Her body was hot, but her hands and feet were ice-cold. She curled up on the bed, shivering but at the same time burning from fever.
"Young Lady, ahh… Young Lady… you are finally awake."
'Who's that?'
Someone was choking back sobs as gentle, cold hands touched her shoulder to unfurl her from her fetal position.
"Cold…" she whispered when a wet cloth was pressed against her forehead. It was cold, but at the same time soothing to the skin.
"Young Lady, why did you do this… how am I supposed to answer to your honorable mother in heaven?"
'Did what? What did I do?'
Xiao Yue tried to talk but found that her throat was burning from an effort to utter even a single noise.
"Young Lady, even if you don't want your life anymore, please think about this servant. This servant… this servant has watched you grow up, raised you from infancy to marriageable age… This servant cannot bear to see you die!"
More sobbing. The wet cloth was replaced with a new one. Xiao Yue slowly opened her eyes. Whatever she saw was red-colored. Red bedding. Red pillow. Red quilt. Xiao Yue looked up. Red silk curtain hung down from the canopy.
"..."
Xiao Yue was speechless. No matter how one looked at it, this was definitely a wedding chamber. She sat up suddenly with unexpected vigor, shocking the woman who was tending to her.
"Young Lady, not so hasty!!!"
Xiao Yue did not have time to placate the maid. She grabbed the latter's shoulders and demanded, "Where am I? Why am I here?"
Her voice came out hoarse. Two questions were all she could blurt before she clutched at her throat in pain.
The maid trembled when she finally answered, "But… Young Lady, don't you remember? You were married to General Long yesterday. And then… and then… you…"
Xiao Yue stared at the maid in disbelief.
General Long? The general who was sent to overthrow her tribe was also surnamed Long!
Xiao Yue made a writing gesture with her hand. The maid quickly caught up and brought her a piece of paper to write on.
"Which General Long? Is this Hong Kingdom?"
"Yes, Young Lady of course you are in Hong Kingdom. It's General Long Zhao Xue, your… your honorable husband."
Xiao Yue swallowed the facts painfully. Not only was she resurrected somehow, but she also landed in the body of General Long Zhao Xue's newly wedded wife. The general who ruthlessly flattened her homeland! Images of the bloody massacre flew past her inner eyes, sounds of the dying tribesmen and –woman and –children rang in her ears. Xiao Yue clawed into the crimson bed sheet, the color of fresh blood.
The maid mistook her for having another suicidal thought, so she hastily knelt by the bed and begged.
"Young Lady please do not think too much about what already happened. The General might come off as cold and ruthless at first, but he was very concerned about your well-being! After seeing what happened to you, he retreated to Second Madam's palace for the night!"
Xiao Yue turned her head slowly to stare at her maid. Incredulous, she wrote further on the piece of paper.
"Second Madam? What Second Madam?"
The maid gaped at her.
"But… Young Lady, don't you remember? You married into this household as the Third Madam."
"…"
So not only did she end up as the wife of his tribe's arch-nemesis, she was not even the first wife? Or second wife? Third wife? Third wife???
Xiao Yue's eyes rolled back in her eye sockets. She passed out immediately.
"Waaaaa, Young Lady!!!"