But one thing had become crystal clear to Ming Yue in the depths of her thoughts: the reason she had been reborn this time was probably because Heaven was giving her a chance to make amends.
In her previous life, she had committed countless atrocities and caused hundreds of her brothers and sisters to die meaningless deaths. So in this life, she had taken over the body of the frail and delicate eldest Miss Bai—a girl no one cared about, with no one to rely on. It was probably because Heaven wanted her to start everything over from scratch.
That much was obvious from the fact that she had become the wife of a man as devoted to righteousness as Yang Jian.
Lowly evil had no choice but to stand beside lofty virtue.
Sigh!
Ming Yue sighed and tossed and turned on the soft bed, asking herself over and over, “This can’t be real, can it?” She had asked the question hundreds, even thousands, of times by now.
But the more she thought about it, repeating the same thoughts until she went too far, the less good it did her. She might as well put her free time to use—for example, training her body until it was as strong as before.
She wanted to rise to greatness again, just as she had in the past.
Yet now she had become a fragile woman as delicate as a flower petal, ready to fall at the slightest breeze. What could she do except wait for the right moment?
The chance to rise gloriously once more would surely come one day!
First, she had to restore her health. Then, little by little, she would practice the technique that unlocked the memories of those who removed their masks, teaching it to the comrades who had survived that day. They would reunite with her and build an empire together once more.
The first would be Xing Yue, her beloved younger sister...
Ming Yue began by meditating alone in her private chamber, focusing her mind and regulating her breathing.
The young woman remembered every move of the Shadow of the Moonblade technique in minute detail. Only she knew its secrets.
Thus, she secretly trained hard every day without anyone discovering it—not even Jin Xin, Ming Yue’s closest maid.
And of course, Yang Jian knew nothing about it either.
He had never gone anywhere near the bridal chamber again since the day his dignity had been so severely humiliated.
Every day, General Yang remained at the military camp. If he returned to the estate, he usually shut himself away in the study. After discussing matters with his subordinates, he ate and slept there, acting cold and distant toward his imperial bride.
As for the young madam, Bai Ming Yue, aside from going to pay her respects over tea before the Old Madam, her mother-in-law, the principal madam, and the senior relatives of the second branch who gathered in the main residence each morning, she returned to her own quarters and firmly shut the door. She did not even crack open a window to let in the breeze.
Ming Yue behaved with quiet, restrained composure in her own quarters. She went nowhere and associated with none of her husband’s relatives.
She did not even return to visit her former home.
At the Bai Estate, the real Bai Ming Yue had already died. She was Ming Yue, the former great bandit chieftain known as the Shadow of the Moonblade. Did she really need to lower herself by returning to visit the Bai family? Hmph!
After the wedding celebrations ended, the atmosphere at the Yang Estate became unbelievably gloomy and ominous.
Inside the main residence, the tea ceremony had taken place amid an utterly dark and oppressive atmosphere. No one had asked after anyone’s well-being, and there had been none of the warm, friendly conversation one would expect among family members.
As soon as this cold observance of tradition ended, Ming Yue excused herself and immediately returned to her own quarters, just as she did every day.
She regularly brought an icy chill to contend with the frigid coldness of the Yang family elders, to the point that even the maids who secretly watched her felt chilled to the bone.
After the Bai daughter-in-law had left, the elders sat down to discuss Yang Jian and Bai Ming Yue with grim, dark expressions.
“I heard that although the eldest Miss of the Bai family is lowborn, she is a proper, quiet, and modest woman who obeys instructions. Her manner is gentle, even tending toward weakness. She is pliable and easy to control. So who exactly is this person we see every day?”
The principal madam of the second branch was the first to complain. She had married into the Yang Estate as a young girl and had grown into adulthood there, yet she had never seen any woman behave so disgustingly before.
“This Bai Ming Yue is not only lowborn, but she also behaves like a vulgar, ill-mannered woman. She is arrogant, haughty, and conceited, caring about no one. She will not even return to visit her former family. Just look at her—she comes to pay her respects to the elders for barely a moment before hurrying back to her quarters. She does not exchange even a single word with anyone. There are so many aunts and uncles still sitting here, yet she shows not the slightest respect. Hmph!”