Chapter 1: She Has Been Reborn!
The damp, lightless dungeon reeked of blood and decay.
Two massive iron hooks shot forward with brutal force, piercing through flesh inch by inch before mercilessly driving through Xiao Yuge’s shoulder blades. Fresh blood splattered everywhere as the hooks tore into her body.
“Ahhh!”
A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the dungeon.
The agonizing pain forced her body upright, trembling uncontrollably. Her sunken left eye socket and the hideous scar that twisted across her face like a writhing centipede made her appear even more terrifying. Blood dripped steadily from the iron hooks, staining the cold stone floor crimson.
Standing before her were three men.
Not one of them showed the slightest hint of pity.
“Why…?” Xiao Yuge gasped through the suffocating pain, struggling to lift her head. “Why are you treating me like this?”
One was the man she loved with all her heart.
One was the brother she had trusted.
One was the childhood friend who had grown up beside her.
She could never have imagined that these three would one day become the cruelest people in her life.
Qian Sichen slowly stepped in front of her.
“Ge’er, you shouldn’t have run away.”
“Fu’er is your elder sister. She has always been frail since childhood, while your blood has been tempered by hundreds of divine herbs. It is immune to every poison and even possesses the power to restore life. The Imperial Physicians have said that if your blood is transferred to Fu’er, she will live a long and healthy life.”
“You occupied Fu’er’s rightful identity for so many years. She has never blamed you. Instead, she has always treated you kindly.”
“You wouldn’t want anything to happen to her… would you?”
Xiao Yuge stared at the man she had loved more than her own life.
“So if she gets to live a long life…”
“What about me?”
“Do I deserve to die?”
Her voice trembled.
“Brother Sichen… you promised you would never betray me.”
For him, she had endured countless poisons and survived death time and time again until her body became immune to every toxin.
She had never imagined that the very sacrifice she made for him would become the reason he wished to kill her.
“From beginning to end,” Qian Sichen replied coldly, “the only person I have ever loved is Fu’er.”
“It was only because Fu’er couldn’t bear to see you heartbroken that she forced me to make those promises to you.”
“But… I am your fiancée!”
Her heart felt as though it had been torn apart.
To stay by his side, she had even agreed to his outrageous proposal—that the two sisters would share the same husband.
She had compromised again and again.
Yet this was the ending she received.
“I never loved you.”
“And Lan Zhao Kingdom will never accept a one-eyed, scar-faced Crown Princess.”
Every word from the handsome face she had once adored cut deeper than any blade.
“But… you were the ones who forced me to give my eye to my sister!”
“This scar… I got it while saving you!”
His words pierced the countless wounds already covering her heart.
Qian Sichen turned his face away, unwilling to meet her gaze.
“Ge’er… I have wronged you.”
“But don’t worry.”
“After I ascend the throne, I will posthumously confer upon you the title of Noble Consort and bury you in the Imperial Mausoleum.”
“When a hundred years have passed, Fu’er and I will be laid to rest beside you.”
“Then… we’ll be together again.”
His shamelessness truly knew no bounds.
“Brother Sichen…”
“There are many ways to save my sister.”
“I… I don’t want to die…”
Never in her wildest dreams had Xiao Yuge imagined that the man she had loved with her life would treat her this way.
The instinct to survive filled her with overwhelming fear.
Afraid that Qian Sichen might hesitate, Chu Tianqi urged anxiously,
“Your Highness, now is not the time to waver.”
“We can wait.”
“But Fu’er cannot.”
“Brother…” Xiao Yuge turned desperately toward him.
“I am your sister too.”
“When you made me gouge out my own eye for Elder Sister, you promised that you would take care of me for the rest of my life.”
“How can you bear to hurt me like this?”
Chu Tianqi let out a cold snort.
His eyes were icy.
“If it weren’t for Fu’er, do you really think a wild bastard who came from who-knows-where deserves to call me ‘Brother’?”
“You stole more than ten years of Fu’er’s life.”
“It’s time you paid her back.”
“I stole her life?”
“Was that my fault?”
“Why do all of you place every bit of blame on me?”
Only then did she realize…
Every bit of kindness they had ever shown her had been because of Xiao Yufu.
Clinging to her final shred of hope, she turned toward the last man.
“Brother Feng…”
“What about you?”
“Do you think the same?”
She prayed desperately in her heart.
But Ning Feng’s answer crushed that final hope completely.
“Xiao Yuge.”
“Fu’er once saved my life.”
“What have you ever done for me?”
“If I hadn’t known your blood could still be useful to Fu’er…”
“I wouldn’t even have looked at you.”
Those three men’s words were like three sharp blades plunging deep into her heart.
For the first time in her life…
She experienced pain that shattered both body and soul.
Hope.
Disappointment.
Despair.
Each emotion dragged her deeper into darkness.
“But… the one who saved you was clearly…”
Me.
She could not finish the sentence.
Those three men had once been the light of her world.
Only now did she finally understand…
That light had never existed.
Everything they had done for her—
Every smile.
Every act of kindness.
Every promise.
Had all been for this day.
Everything had been for the sake of the woman they cherished like the moon in their hearts—
Her elder sister.
Xiao Yufu.
“Your Highness!”
“Oh no!”
“Our Miss has fainted!”
At that moment, An Ling, Xiao Yufu’s maidservant, came rushing over in panic.
“Your Highness, we can’t wait any longer!”
Chu Tianqi and Ning Feng urged together.
“Do it.”
Qian Sichen slowly drew a sharp dagger.
“Ge’er…”
“I’m sorry.”
With one swift motion, he slashed deeply across her right wrist.
Blood instantly gushed out like a spring, flowing from her pale hand into the prepared vessel below.
Xiao Yuge struggled desperately.
But both of her arms had long since been crippled.
She could not even lift them.
She felt all the blood in her body rushing toward her wrist.
Life slipped away faster and faster.
She was in unbearable pain.
She was freezing.
She begged them over and over to spare her.
But her voice grew weaker.
Her vision dimmed.
Her consciousness slowly faded into darkness.
So…
This was how she would die.
She refused to accept it.
If Heaven granted her another chance…
She would never let any of those who had hurt her go unpunished.
“Ah!”
Xiao Yuge suddenly sat bolt upright, waving her arms wildly as she cried out.
“Miss! Miss!”
A voice filled with shock and joy sounded beside her.
“Qingluo?”
She stared blankly at the maid before her.
Wasn’t Qingluo beaten to death?
How could she still be alive?
She hurriedly looked at her own hands.
Gone were the rough scars that had covered them.
Instead, they were slender, fair, and delicate.
She rushed toward the bronze mirror.
Her trembling fingers touched her face.
Her left eye…
Was still there.
The ugly scar across her face…
Had disappeared.
Everything felt like a lifetime ago.
Heaven had shown her mercy.
She had truly…
Been reborn.
She had returned three years into the past—
To when she was only fifteen years old, just before her coming-of-age ceremony.
At this moment…
She was still the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family.
“Miss!”
“You’ve finally awakened!”
Qingluo’s eyes turned red with tears of joy as she rushed outside.
“Master!”
“Madam!”
“Young Miss!”
“Second Miss is awake!”
“Second Miss has awakened!”
The courtyard instantly erupted into excitement.
Moments later, the first person to rush into the room was Xiao Yufu.
She immediately embraced Xiao Yuge tightly.
Before she could even speak, tears were already streaming down her face.
“Ge’er…”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all my fault.”
“I failed to protect you.”
“If I had known…”
“Even if it cost me my life, I would have stopped you.”
“If anything had happened to you…”
“How could I ever face Father and Mother?”
“I only wish…”
“The one who had fallen that day…”
“Had been me instead.”
End of Chapter 1
Glossary Updates
Characters
- Xiao Yuge (萧语歌) – Female protagonist; the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family at the start of the story.
- Xiao Yufu (萧语芙) – Xiao Yuge’s elder sister.
- Qian Sichen (千思尘) – Crown Prince; Xiao Yuge’s fiancé.
- Chu Tianqi (楚天齐) – Xiao Yuge’s nominal elder brother.
- Ning Feng (宁风) – Xiao Yuge’s childhood friend.
- Qingluo (清洛) – Xiao Yuge’s loyal maidservant.
- An Ling (安铃) – Xiao Yufu’s maidservant.