Chapter 1
“Are you still not satisfied after ruining me, Elder Sister?” Xiao Ruyi stared coldly at her older sister, Xiao Liyue, after feeling her heart pounding millions of times faster, as though it were about to explode.
Xiao Liyue stared coldly at the cup on the table. It contained green tea thoroughly mixed with poison meant to kill her own younger sister, Xiao Ruyi.
“I already withdrew from the selection, and then… I also—” While Xiao Ruyi spoke weakly, Xiao Liyue quickly cut her off. “No matter how far you fall, you’ll always be a stumbling block in my way.”
Xiao Ruyi gritted her teeth and tried to reach for the cup on the table while staring at Xiao Liyue through tear-filled eyes. Filled with determination and vengeful fury, Xiao Ruyi said, “I’ll hasten my own death, and then I’ll make you pay for all of this. That is my oath!”
Glug!
Xiao Ruyi drank the remaining green tea. Slowly, her body and breathing grew heavier. Before closing her eyes, the last thing she saw was Xiao Liyue smiling in satisfaction.
A massive bolt of lightning suddenly struck the middle of the imperial capital. Unbeknownst to anyone, a soul filled with resentment had now entered their realm.
When she opened her eyes, Xiao Ruyi suddenly found herself kneeling before the Imperial Eunuch. The clothes she wore were no longer her wedding dress, but the outfit she had worn when receiving the marriage decree to Qin Prince.
“By this decree, Xiao Junzhu, the Xiao family’s Second Miss, is granted the honor of becoming an imperial daughter-in-law with the title of Qin Princess Consort and will become the wife of the honorable Qin Prince.”
The Imperial Eunuch read aloud the Empress’s decree, approved by the Emperor, before all the participants in the Imperial Consort selection and the other noble families who had come to witness it.
Xiao Ruyi remained frozen in her kneeling position as she listened to the imperial decree. Whispers about her soon became clearly audible, causing the warmth in Xiao Ruyi’s gaze and expression to fade. Xiao Ruyi lifted her head, then turned and looked at her sister, who was smiling in her direction.
Xiao Ruyi smiled bitterly as her pain and disappointment resurfaced. By now, she understood her situation. She had transmigrated to the time before her sister poisoned her to death, before she left for Qin Prince’s Residence.
“Xiao Junzhu, extend your hand and accept this decree,” the Imperial Eunuch reminded her, making Xiao Ruyi turn to look at him and slowly rise as she lowered her head and reached out.
The moment the decree landed in her grasp, it became official: Xiao Ruyi would be married tomorrow. Her dreams, efforts, and hard work—everything had been destroyed. At that moment, Xiao Ruyi felt only lonely and cold. Her heart had suddenly died.
The older sister she had regarded as a lifelong companion, despite the fact that they were half-siblings, had actually been cruel enough to force her out of the Imperial Consort selection through such despicable means.
“Congratulations, Xiao Junzhu. You’re going to become a daughter-in-law of this great Eastern Empire.” One of the noble family’s young ladies who had participated in the Imperial Consort selection offered praise as sharp as a thorn in the flesh.
“Ruyi…” The head of the Xiao family, Xiao Dajie—the father of Xiao Ruyi and her sister, Xiao Liyue—fainted the moment he heard the decree granted to his daughter.
“Oh, no! Master Xiao has fainted! Call a physician!”
“Where’s the physician?!”
“Quickly, carry Master Xiao inside!” Xiao Ruyi stared at her unconscious father, but there was nothing she could do. She stood up after the Imperial Eunuch had left. Then she walked past Xiao Liyue and stopped right beside her.
“Why did Elder Sister do this to me?” Xiao Ruyi’s eyes remained cold. She spoke while continuing to stare straight ahead without turning toward Xiao Liyue. This was what she had done before, and this time she wanted to do it again, hoping her sister would give her a different answer.
“What do you mean, Little Sister? Isn’t one supposed to take responsibility for one’s crimes?” Xiao Liyue replied, her lips curved in a calm smile.
Xiao Ruyi tightened her grip on the imperial decree she had just received. Disgusting. How could her sister still act so calm after slandering her and ruining her own sister’s reputation?! It turned out that nothing about Xiao Liyue had changed. In that case… Xiao Ruyi would no longer show her any mercy.
Xiao Ruyi took a deep breath, then shot Xiao Liyue a sharp glance. “That’s right. Being punished by becoming an imperial Princess Consort doesn’t seem so bad. I’ll become the legitimate wife and legitimate imperial daughter-in-law of this Empire. Thank you, Elder Sister. Thanks to you, I don’t have to work so hard to become an imperial daughter-in-law.”
After that, Xiao Ruyi walked away, leaving Xiao Liyue behind without first looking at the woman’s reaction to her words.
Meanwhile, in the second-most luxurious residence after the Imperial Palace, a cold, untouchable-looking man stared sharply toward the courtyard in his rear garden.
“Your Highness, should we take action?” Gu Sinjie, Qin Wujing’s guard and right-hand man, stood behind him and whispered.
Qin Wujing gave Gu Sinjie a brief, cold glance, then shook his head. “There’s no need. That woman will kill herself. Besides, the people in the Imperial Palace really do whatever they please.”
Gu Sinjie nodded in agreement before replying, “Yes, Your Highness.”
The next day, Xiao Ruyi and Qin Wujing’s wedding was held. Xiao Ruyi now openly refused to allow her sister to attend. This naturally left her father and the servants confused.
However, for the sake of her life, Xiao Ruyi would not allow Xiao Liyue to appear before her. This time, Xiao Ruyi wanted her wedding to proceed smoothly.
Meanwhile, the Empress Dowager could not stop crying weakly when the pearl in her palm—the niece she cherished most—was about to marry a crippled, paralyzed prince.
The Empress Dowager was completely unwilling to let this happen, but she herself could do nothing because the Emperor, her own son, had made the decision without discussing it with her first.
“Listen, Ruyi. You’ll always be Aijia’s niece, so don’t hesitate or feel shy about asking Aijia for anything you want. Forgive Aijia…” The Empress Dowager had even come personally to the Xiao Estate to see her off. This softened Xiao Ruyi’s heart after she had felt cold throughout the night.
Xiao Ruyi gently wiped away the tears wetting both of her aunt’s cheeks. “Aunt, you mustn’t cry. Isn’t today Ruyi’s wedding day? You have to believe that Ruyi will be happy.”
“But he… Wujing…” The Empress Dowager was still deeply worried about Qin Wujing.
Qin Wujing shook his head. “Ruyi believes that Qin Prince is a good person. Regardless of his physical condition, Ruyi will do her best to be a good, dutiful wife and strive to find happiness in the little things worth being grateful for.”
After saying that, Xiao Ruyi immediately climbed into her red wedding sedan. The Empress Dowager’s sobs grew louder, her heart utterly unwilling to part with the daughter of her late younger sister.
Xiao Ruyi’s mother had been the Empress Dowager’s biological younger sister. Sadly, her younger sister had been unlucky in love. At the time, Xiao Ruyi’s mother had chosen to become Xiao Dajie’s concubine rather than the principal wife of another nobleman.
While giving birth to Xiao Ruyi, she could not be saved because of severe bleeding. This devastated the Empress Dowager. She had even observed her mourning period by abstaining from richly flavored foods, eating only plain bread and warm water every day for two weeks.
What a pity… If her younger sister had chosen a man other than Xiao Dajie, she might already have become an imperial daughter-in-law just like the Empress Dowager. She could have married another imperial prince, since at the time, many marriage proposals had been sent to her younger sister by her husband’s younger brothers.
But all of them had been rejected outright, solely so she could become an ordinary nobleman’s concubine instead of marrying into the imperial family.
Although the Xiao family was also prominent and renowned throughout the Empire, a nobleman’s concubine was still a concubine. Her younger sister would even have had to bow when encountering the personal attendants of imperial family members. It was truly pitiful.
Returning to Xiao Ruyi, she sat silently inside the sedan, thinking about many things. Xiao Ruyi had been in the wedding sedan for nearly an hour. Qin Prince’s Residence was not particularly far from the Imperial Palace, but it could not exactly be called close, either.
Thus, Xiao Ruyi could still see the bustle of people entering and leaving the Imperial Palace. The sedan and procession suddenly came to a stop. Xiao Ruyi wagered that she had arrived in front of Qin Prince’s Residence. She did not move from her seat at all, waiting for her future husband to open the sedan door himself.
She waited for fifteen minutes, but no one opened the sedan door for her, making Xiao Ruyi grumble inwardly.
However, not long afterward, someone knocked on the sedan door from outside.
“Welcome, Xiao Jun—my apologies. I mean, Qin Princess Consort. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gu Sinjie, Qin Prince’s right-hand man. Your Highness, the Prince’s legs are currently unwell, and his condition has worsened somewhat. For that reason, His Highness is unable to come here and open the wedding sedan door personally.”
Xiao Ruyi raised her left eyebrow upon hearing this. And then? Was she supposed to open the sedan door herself? That was absurd.
Xiao Ruyi sighed, releasing all her exhaustion, then replied, “I understand, Master Gu. What am I supposed to do, then? Open my own wedding sedan door? Tell the Prince that I won’t come out until His Highness opens this sedan door with his own hands.”
Gu Sinjie was stunned by this. He had not expected Xiao Ruyi to answer with such a bold statement. He coughed lightly before replying, “Your Highness, please be understanding. The Prince truly cannot get out of bed because of his legs right now. Even moving to his wheelchair is difficult.”
Xiao Ruyi smiled faintly. All right… it seemed her husband truly could not open the sedan door for her. At first, she had thought it was merely an excuse.
Although Qin Wujing was currently famous for his paralyzed legs and had earned the sympathy of many people, he had once been a prince who commanded hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield, with a hard and cold temperament.
Who knew? Perhaps the man also disapproved of this marriage and had made up an excuse so he would not have to meet her.
Gu Sinjie took a step back when he saw the wedding sedan door open. Xiao Ruyi emerged from the sedan, still wearing her red bridal veil. Her eyes stared at Gu Sinjie from behind the veil as she said, “Take me to see the Prince.”