The room was filled with the suffocating scent of medicine, almost making one nauseous, yet all the doors and windows were tightly shut.

The person amidst layers of curtains furrowed her brows tightly, her entire being like one pulled out from the water, and she suddenly sat up from her bedding.

Her face, damp with cold sweat, was pale as paper.

Yan Wanqing gasped for air, her mind buzzing.

Haunted by nightmares, she saw herself covered in wounds, backed against a cliff, while the man she had wholeheartedly supported spoke proudly.

He spoke of how he, once an unloved Prince, used her, the foolish eldest daughter of the Yan Family, to rise step by step, and eventually usurped the Emperor's throne by deposing the senior to appoint the junior.

He spoke of how he had disintegrated the entire Yan Family of over a hundred people, driving them to a dead end.

He spoke of how the Yan Family, fearless in face of death, had knelt and begged him desperately to spare her life...

"A hundred years of the Yan Family, reduced to mere bones. Yan Wanqing, all of this is the best gift you have given me."

The oil dwindled and the lamp dimmed; Yan Wanqing, eventually pierced by an arrow, fell from the cliff, dying without a whole body.

Yan Wanqing recalled her past life's myriad occurrences, her frail body afflicted with consumption coughed up fresh blood.

Looking at the crimson in her palm, her heart was filled with remorse.

She had been clever all her life but failed to understand people, entrusting her family in what she thought was protection of lineage, only to meet such an end!

If it weren't for her support, with Xiao Hongshen's birth status as a Palace Maid's son, he could never have ascended to the position of Crown Prince no matter how cunning!

Yes, Xiao Hongshen was right; she had handed him the realm.

But if she could secure the realm for him, she could also secure it for others!

Yan Wanqing's clear eyes were filled with bloodshot hatred, her rage enveloping her tightly.

Since she had come back alive.

In this life! Xiao Hongshen, we shall not rest until one of us is dead!

People outside heard the coughing and entered the room; Yan Wanqing quickly contained her emotions.

"Is Miss awake?" The curtains were drawn, and Cong Ge, her personal maid, walked in.

Upon seeing Cong Ge, Yan Wanqing's heart again ached.

In her previous life, this maid and her fifth sister had died under the Imperial Court's brutal campaign.

Cong Ge, seeing the blood on Yan Wanqing's palms, turned pale with shock: "Miss, you're coughing up blood?"

She flung the curtains open and shouted outside: 'Cong Huan, go quickly to the old lady's place and summon the doctor!"

Yan Wanqing, however, held her hand back: "No need."

Cong Ge hesitated: "But Miss, you're coughing up blood…"

Yan Wanqing shook her head firmly.

This was a sickness of the heart, beyond any doctor's cure.

Her hatred, her grievances, could only be cured with the blood from Xiao Hongshen's heart!

"What day is it today?" She took a handkerchief from Cong Ge and wiped the fresh blood off her palms.

"The third day of the twelfth lunar month." Cong Ge looked at Yan Wanqing with concern: "It's the day the Wang Family is coming to propose for the fifth young miss."

This statement struck Yan Wanqing like a hammer, awakening her from her stupor.

So, she had been reborn on this very day.

She paused, a tear involuntarily falling from the corner of her eye.

Carrying the memories of her past life, she knew that the fifth sister was to marry Wang Shujian, a man who made his fortune by slandering the Yan Family as traitors!

The men of the Yan Family followed their father, the Duke, in defending Governor's Office Pass, having been there for over half a year now.

Yan Wanqing knew deep down that by June, news of the defeat would arrive, closely followed by the fall of Governor's Office Pass, and the death of all Yan Family men!

The Emperor, having lost Governor's Office Pass, turned a blind eye to the massacre of fourteen members of the Yan Family in battle, yet believed without basis Wang Shujian's fabricated accusations of the Yan Family colluding with foreign enemies. It merely took a day for the Imperial Edict mandating the execution of the entire family to arrive at the Yan Family's doorstep.

Wang Shujian's marriage to the fifth daughter of the Yan Family was nothing more than an exploitation of his status as Duke, aimed at securing a better future for himself, for without any significant background, how could a poor scholar navigate the complex relationships of Capital City to advance himself otherwise?

After the incident, he brutally severed all ties with the Yan Family, casting them out completely! He even expelled his prematurely born sister-in-law and her child from his house!

Poor fifth sister, ever since her marriage, had not spent a single good day; she had neither enough food nor adequate clothing, and was tormented to thinness by her cruel mother-in-law and sisters-in-law during pregnancy. Giving birth was a life-and-death struggle. However, by the time the news of the Yan Family men's defeat reached Capital City, the Yan Family was already too preoccupied with their own troubles to care for the life and death of the fifth sister.

Even so, during the time when the Yan Family was being falsely accused of rebellion, the fifth sister, dragging her frail body and clutching her infant, along with the family servants, blocked the soldiers, sacrificing her life to allow Yan Wanqing to escape!

Her poor nephew, not even a month old, died with his aunt on the streets...

Remembering past life events, Yan Wanqing's eyes reddened as if ready to bleed.

Next to her, Cong Ge watched in alarm, feeling that after this bout of illness her mistress had changed a lot.

She couldn't help but cry out, "Miss..."

Yan Wanqing immediately composed herself, "Help me up to get dressed."

This time, she would never let the fifth sister marry a squalid man like Wang Shujian!

After changing, Yan Wanqing asked Cong Ge to apply some rouge to add some color to her complexion.

By then, news had already arrived from the front yard that the Wang family's people were waiting outside.

In her previous life, she was too exhausted from her illness to appear, and the Wang family successfully secured a marriage alliance with the Duke's family. Within a month, Wang Shujian used this connection to rise in rank.

Yan Wanqing and Cong Ge were just about to open the door when a maid in a pink fur-trimmed jacket hurried their way, nearly colliding with Yan Wanqing.

Cong Ge caught her just in time, her face displeased, "Cong Huan, why are you so careless?!"

She had just called for Cong Huan, who had not responded, and now she had almost bumped into her mistress. Her expression grew even colder.

Chastised, Cong Huan felt somewhat resentful.

She pulled out a letter from her bosom, handing it over Cong Ge to give to Yan Wanqing.

"Miss, this is a letter from Prince Seven."

Prince Seven was Xiao Hongshen.

Yan Wanqing glanced at Cong Huan but did not take the letter.

She had not expected Cong Huan to be serving Xiao Hongshen so early; her face painted and perfumed, and now producing the letter—it was clear she was beguiled by Xiao Hongshen.

No wonder; when the entire Yan Family was massacred, only Cong Huan survived by clinging to the household of Prince Seven.

The filthiness of that survival was easy to imagine.

Cong Huan was but a dog of Xiao Hongshen.

Seeing Yan Wanqing's expressionless face, Cong Huan grew anxious and pushed the letter forward again, "Miss, it's a letter from Prince Seven, won't you read it?"

"Go away!" Cong Ge pushed Cong Huan aside, "If your brain is muddled go dip it in cold water. Our Miss is pure and upright, why should Prince Seven's letter be handed over by you? Are you trying to harm her with rumors of inappropriate conduct? If the lady hears of this, watch how you die!"

Cong Ge spoke sensibly, and Yan Wanqing couldn't help but curve her lips.

Indeed, even a maid could see things so clearly.

Why hadn't she seen things clearly in her previous life?

Had she really been mesmerized by Xiao Hongshen's face?

She scorned herself internally.

But now was not the time to deal with a treacherous servant seeking to ingratiate herself with rebels; she needed to rush to the main hall to stop the marriage.

Thus, Yan Wanqing continued walking without pausing, but she looked back at Cong Huan with a cold gaze.

"Kneel in the courtyard and wait for me to deal with you."