Chapter 1

When she woke up, even though she was covered with two bright red silk brocade quilts with a hundred children pattern and the three silver charcoal braziers in the room were still burning, Mi Yao still felt that it was a few degrees colder than yesterday.

Pushing open the carved porthole, the morning mist filled the air, and the distant, continuous mountain ranges were a vast expanse of white, with hardly any green to be seen.

The river wind rushed in like a knife, and Mi Yao quickly closed the window, wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, closed her eyes, and lay down for a while before she recovered.

"Sister, are you asleep again?"

Yu Xiu slept in the side room. She got up early and finished her breakfast. She was trying to figure out when Mi Yao would wake up. Sure enough, she heard a noise by the door. She brought up some hot water and found that Mi Yao was still lying down.

Mi Yao made a soft "hmm" sound, sat up while hugging the brocade quilt, and waited for Yu Xiu to place the hot water with peony dew, chrysanthemums, and mulberry leaves in front of her before she drowsily opened her eyes and began steaming her noodles.

It takes at least two people to help Mi Yao with her washing and grooming.

The shallow, silver basin, large enough to fit in both hands, carved with apricot blossoms and parrots, was held by Shuanghua, Mi Yao's maid. Yu Xiu took out a carved ivory comb from a tortoiseshell box and combed Mi Yao's hair while keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't get sleepy and fell into the warm water.

"Sister, your hair is getting better and better."

Yu Xiu couldn't help but sigh every time she combed Mi Yao's hair.

In her memory, half a year ago, Mi Yao's hair was blacker and shinier than that of ordinary women, but it was not thick. She usually had to wear hairpins to support the gold hair ornaments. But now, without the help of gold and silver jewelry, Mi Yao's black hair was as soft and beautiful as a fairy's shawl.

When Mi Yao first started growing her hair, she only thought that she had another opportunity to please Mi Yao and serve her. But who would have thought that with careful care, her hair would actually grow in a way that was different from before?

Aside from her silky black hair, the other changes that Mi Yao has undergone in the past six months have broadened her horizons.

Mi Yao was hailed as the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan at the age of fourteen. Her appearance was naturally different from that of other ordinary women. She was born with a beautiful and elegant appearance, and was quiet and graceful. But who would have thought that the peony, which had been beautiful since childhood, could bloom with even more splendid splendor.

In the past, Mi Yao's love of beauty was limited to jewelry and clothing. She spent more time studying music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and trying to win the favor of being unparalleled in talent and beauty at various banquets.

After the engagement was arranged six months ago, Mi Yao changed a lot. She was no longer seen at flower parties and banquets, and spent much more time in her room every day. Apart from that, she was busy serving her beautiful face.

At this time, the silver basin for steaming the face had been taken away. Shiya put a soft silk handkerchief into the juice made from sandalwood, centella asiatica, and bergamot, wrung it out, and began to apply it to Miyao's eyes.

After several cycles of alternating hot and cold, Mi Yao's beautiful eyes, with their thick eyelashes like small umbrellas, opened completely. She slowly sipped the morning tea, a blend of several medicinal herbs and flowers.

At the same time, Shuanghua held up the tricolor porcelain fish tank.

Mi Yao's gaze fell upon the small fish swimming nimbly, her eyes moving.

The rising steam from the hot water resembled a misty fairyland, and Mi Yao was like a fairy from Penglai, with skin as white as ice and as smooth as jade, her complexion reflecting the glow of the sunset.

In the past six months, Mi Yao's facial features have not changed much.

With almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose, and crimson lips, she was like a deer.

But it also feels different.

Yu Xiu didn't know how to describe it. It was like she used to be just graceful and ethereal, but now her face was still the same, but she had an otherworldly air about her, and she had become a beautiful and ethereal goddess.

"If Xiu'er had even a fraction of her elder sister's beauty, her brother-in-law would definitely take a second look."

Mi Yao disliked elaborate and complicated hairstyles. She opted for a simple "fallen horse bun" style with auspicious cloud and lotus flower gold and jade hairpins, then moved her feet to start getting dressed.

Upon hearing Yu Xiu's words and seeing the longing and expectation on Yu Xiu's youthful face, Mi Yao unconsciously paused.

She has been living inside this book for half a year now. She has accepted her new identity and is openly enjoying the leap in social status it brings.

But hearing that a thirteen-year-old girl hoped to win the favor of her future brother-in-law still made her feel shocked.

Yu Xiu is the original owner's half-sister. Unlike the original owner, who was born to the legal wife, Yu Xiu's birth mother was a maidservant of the original owner's mother.

The original owner's father wasn't particularly capable, but his ability to conceive was exceptional.

Besides her biological older brother, the original owner also had more than ten half-siblings.

Even though the Yu family was a prestigious clan, having too many children still made them worthless, which resulted in some motherless girls in the Yu household living worse off than favored maids and servants.

So when Yu Xiu reached the age where she could run and jump, she followed behind the original owner of the body. Although she was called a half-sister, she was actually more like the original owner's head maid.

Yu Xiu was perfectly content with this.

Even when the original owner was married off to Shu, Yu Xiu shouldn't have come along. It was Yu Xiu who knelt before the head of the Yu family and begged to become a concubine before she followed Mi Yao onto the ship.

Mi Yao thought about Yu Xiu's future in the book. There was no favor from her brother-in-law. The male lead thought she was too young and not only did he not touch her, but he also embarrassed her when she kept getting closer and trying to please him.

Unable to please the male lead, Yu Xiu naturally had no choice but to cling to the original owner of the body and continue to be her lackey, doing whatever she was told.

The book doesn't mention Yu Xiu's fate, but the original owner died a tragic death, so it's likely that she didn't fare much better.

"Overlord" is a male-oriented novel that offers a satisfying read. The original owner of the body was the ex-wife of the widowed male protagonist, and her life before marrying him was relatively comfortable.

Because of her outstanding appearance, the original owner was promoted by her family when she was thirteen or fourteen years old, and was given the title of the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan.

But the true intentions behind the aristocratic families' boasting and promotion of the women's appearances are quite obvious.

The head of the Yu family originally planned to give the original owner to the military governor of Huainan as his second wife, but the Prince of Jiangning missed her after he saw her by chance at the flower banquet.

The two major powers were at odds and both had designs on the original owner, so the original owner's marriage was delayed from the fourteenth to the seventeenth.

Until half a year ago, when Xiao Chuan, the adopted son of the Jiedushi of Jiannan, had made meritorious contributions in quelling the rebellion, it was mentioned at the banquet that he was still unmarried. When asked which young lady he was interested in, he joked that it didn't matter which one, he only wanted a beauty that would make people forget the mundane world.

As soon as she finished speaking, someone mentioned her.

Not long after the banquet, Xiao Chuan asked the Yu family for his hand in marriage. The head of the Yu family looked down on Xiao Chuan's status as an adopted son, but due to the rising power of the Jiannan military governor, and the fact that keeping the original owner and not marrying would inevitably offend the Huainan military governor or the Prince of Jiangning, he simply went with the flow and agreed to the marriage.

The original owner had long been in love with her cousin who was staying at the mansion. Upon learning that the marriage was arranged, she discussed with her cousin about running away from the marriage and having Yu Xiu marry in her place.

Unfortunately, Xiao Chuan refused to acknowledge the substitute bride, and since the Yu family couldn't find her, he led the Jiannan Army to find the original owner himself.

After being captured, the original owner harbored deep hatred for Xiao Chuan. Taking advantage of Xiao Chuan's busy military affairs and constant battles, she tortured and killed two of his children. By the time Xiao Chuan discovered this, only his eldest son, who was half-dead, remained of his three children.

Xiao Chuan hated the original owner to the core and was unwilling for the original owner to simply pay with his life.

First, he imprisoned the original owner in a water prison filled with countless water insects, then he personally skinned and dismembered him, and only when the original owner was on his last breath did he deliver the final blow, tearing him apart with five horses.

Thinking of the torture the original owner suffered, Mi Yao couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. The original owner's behavior was heinous, but Xiao Chuan was also a true pervert.

She came across the book "The Overlord" because she was a screenwriter. After the film and television company bought the original work, they felt that the male lead in the book was too lonely and lacked a romantic relationship with a female lead. They hoped that she could add an official female lead to the male lead in the script.

Seeing the male protagonist's methods towards his ex-wife, and the author's detailed description of the ex-wife's miserable state after these methods, as well as the male protagonist's excited emotions, she felt that it was normal for the male protagonist to be a widow, and that such a man should not have an official partner.

Who knew that not long after she had this idea, she opened the document and typed just a few words when she felt a sharp pain in her heart, and when she woke up, she was here.

Working late into the night is common in her line of work. She used to experience frequent heart cramps, and when under a lot of stress, the nerves on her left side of her face would spasm uncontrollably.

She was afraid of dying suddenly, so she kept thinking that she would go to the hospital for a thorough check-up after finishing her work.

But as soon as one job ends, another one begins immediately. With work constantly on her hands, she can only try to maintain her health by drinking fewer cups of coffee.

Who knew that the final outcome would still be a sudden death?

Thinking that she would die on the job, she stayed in bed for almost a month after she entered the book.

Every day, besides sleeping, she would eat and daydream. One day, she couldn't stand the smell on her body anymore and took a shower. When she saw her flawless skin and her beautiful face in the mirror, she felt a surge of fighting spirit.

Aside from sleeping and eating, she began to spend a lot of time and effort taking care of her new body.

The original owner not only shared the same name as her, but also had facial features that were seven or eight parts similar to hers, as if she were a refined version of her.

Besides, the original owner was beautiful and delicate, looking like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. However, due to her endless overtime work, her body shape was deformed, her skin was rough, and she had the eye bags, tear troughs, and nasolabial folds of a woman in her forties even though she was only in her twenties.

She benefited from her beauty during her adolescence, but she was surrounded by a lot of negative comments. People said that if she used skincare products and makeup, she was considered to be pretentious and dishonest; if she got conveniences in life, she was accused of relying on her looks; and if her grades dropped slightly, they said she was all looks and no brains.

It can only be said that she was too young at that time and cared too much about what others thought. In order to prove herself, she started working day and night during college and set up her own studio a year after graduation.

To appear professional, he moved closer and closer to the image of a reliable screenwriter, hiding in a dark corner, wearing thick-rimmed glasses, looking pale, and constantly typing on a keyboard.

If you ask her what she gained from those years of hard work, she definitely did. She paid off her student loans, owned a large apartment in the city center, and had many employees who called her "boss."

But... I'm so tired.

If she hadn't died suddenly, she would have chosen to continue striving and become a top screenwriter in the industry, but since she's already dead...

Rather than working like a hardworking ox or a horse, she now only wants to be a pampered wife who can lie down and relax.

The male protagonist wants an obedient and beautiful "vase" wife, and she will be a perfect vase, with even her toes exuding a clean floral fragrance. As for other things, the original owner tormented the male protagonist's child and suffered a miserable end.

She's here on vacation to enjoy life, unlike the original owner who pursued true love. As long as she's well-fed, well-drinked, and comfortable, she won't mind stepchildren; she can even call them "baby."

Of course, the best outcome would be for everyone to live in peace, for her to neither interfere nor torment them, and for them to stay away from her.

Let her quietly be a beautiful, exquisite, and delicate wife who doesn't need to think about anything, big or small.