A familiar dizzying sensation followed, and Shi Lan opened her eyes to find herself above a wooden, carved, openwork bed canopy.

Shi Lan turned her head and quickly scanned the room. The bright red brocade quilt and curtains on the bed, along with the "double happiness" characters all over the room, clearly indicated that this was a bridal chamber, and the original owner of her body must have been the bride.

Shi Lan tried to get up, but a sudden, sharp pain shot through her head. A throbbing pain in her heart and a general feeling of weakness made her arms give way, and she slumped back onto the bed. A flood of memories, mixed with overwhelming resentment, surged into her mind. After a long while, she gave a bitter laugh, moved her groggy head, and slowly got up.

The owner of this body was also named Shi Lan. She was the legitimate daughter of Master Shi of Pingding Town. Due to a congenital illness, her health had never been very good since childhood. She also had an older half-brother named Shi Ming. Although he was born out of wedlock, the Shi family was small, and he was educated like a legitimate son. His mother, who only had one daughter, doted on him.

Because of her frail health, Shi Lan's father was always worried about her getting married, so he had not arranged a marriage for her until she was fifteen years old. That is, until Shi Ming brought back a handsome and refined gentleman from outside.

Pingding Town is a necessary stop on the way to the capital. This fair-skinned young man was a student passing through this place on his way to the capital for the imperial examination. He was robbed by thieves in the willow forest outside the town and lost all his belongings, but was rescued by Shi Ming.

Mr. Shi was always charitable and generous, so he naturally wouldn't stand by and watch a student fall into misfortune. He gave the student, Cao Xiuwen, fifty taels of silver to help him go to the capital to take the imperial examination.

After some initial refusals, Cao Xiuwen took the silver and set off again. However, Shi Ming insisted on escorting Cao Xiuwen to the capital because the journey was too dangerous, and the two traveled together.

Time flies, and the day of the results announcement arrived in the blink of an eye. Cao Xiuwen topped the list and was appointed to a post in the capital. Shi Ming also returned home after the results were announced, bringing back the good news of his younger sister's passing.

According to him, out of gratitude for the Shi family's help, Scholar Cao sincerely sought to marry Miss Shi after learning that she had not yet been engaged due to poor health. He vowed to have only one wife in his life and never take a concubine.

Shi's father loved Shi Lan dearly. Knowing that she was physically weak and unlikely to have children in the future, he planned to raise his daughter indefinitely. However, he still wanted his daughter to experience what other women had gone through. Seeing Cao Xiuwen's sincere attitude and the oath he had made, Shi's father relented and agreed.

Shi Lan learned of Cao Xiuwen's sincerity through her mother and was grateful for his efforts. In addition, she had always lived in the inner courtyard and had never seen any men outside the palace. From then on, her heart was devoted to Cao Xiuwen.

Soon, Shi Lan married into the Cao family in grand style with a generous dowry. She thought this was the beginning of her happiness, but little did she know that it would be the beginning of her death.

In order to meet the auspicious time, Shi Lan was busy dressing up in the early hours of the morning. By nightfall, her body could no longer hold on. Therefore, when Cao Xiuwen did not show up that night, she thought that her husband was considerate and wanted her to rest early.

The next day, Shi Lan arrived at the hall and found only Cao's mother there.

Following custom, Shi Lan served tea in the main hall. However, Cao's mother disliked her delicate and frail appearance and deliberately made things difficult for her, forcing the newlywed to kneel in the main hall for a full half hour before she could accept the teacup. Shi Lan was already weak, and she hadn't recovered from the fatigue of her wedding the day before. Coupled with Cao's mother's deliberate torment, she collapsed on the bed as soon as she got home and fell seriously ill. Cao's mother became even more dissatisfied with her as a result. Shi Lan remained ill for more than a month, and she never even saw her new husband.

Having finally recovered from her illness, Shi Lan, thinking of her husband whom she hadn't seen since the wedding ceremony, forced herself to go to the study. There she saw her beloved, to whom she had entrusted the rest of her life, with a flushed face and a dreamy expression. The person embracing him from behind was none other than her brother, Shi Ming, who had been the one to push for the marriage.

At that moment, Shi Lan was stunned. Having grown up in seclusion, she did not know what this meant, but she knew that this situation was abnormal. So she lifted her skirt, turned around and ran away.

She thought the two people, engrossed in their conversation, hadn't noticed, but little did she know that her light footsteps betrayed her whereabouts.

That night, Shi Ming came to the cold and smelly new house and told him the truth.

It turns out that Shi Ming was reborn. Back then, the Shi family had helped Cao Xiuwen. He had spent a few days with Cao Xiuwen at that time. After Cao Xiuwen went to the capital to take the imperial examination and left the Shi family, he felt lost and confused, but he didn't know why. Later, when Cao Xiuwen became the top scholar and married his beautiful wife, he suddenly realized that he had fallen in love with someone he shouldn't have.

He resisted this forbidden love. After their hasty engagement and marriage, the emptiness in his heart was not filled, but instead grew stronger, eventually becoming a black hole, leading to his lonely and melancholic death. He thought his life would end like this, but unexpectedly, fate gave him another chance. This time, he tried every means to follow Cao Xiuwen to the capital, and during the journey, he subtly became close to him. Finally, after a drunken night, he forced himself on Cao Xiuwen.

Cao Xiuwen lost his father at a young age and was raised by his widowed mother. Since his rebirth, Shi Ming has diligently practiced martial arts, developing a muscular physique and exuding masculine charm. Initially, Cao Xiuwen resisted, finding this taboo too strange. However, he couldn't resist Shi Ming's combination of soft and hard tactics and his various seductions. Cao Xiuwen eventually softened, and the two gradually became lovers. When they arrived in the capital, they were unwilling to be apart for even a moment.

Cao Xiuwen's fascination and closeness to Shi Ming filled him with joy, but he had an unspeakable heartache.

That is, when Cao Xiuwen becomes the top scholar in the imperial examination, a high-ranking official will marry his daughter to him. If that happens, the two of them will inevitably be separated. This is something that Shi Ming cannot tolerate. He believes that being reborn is Heaven's mercy on his infatuation with Cao Xiuwen. Cao Xiuwen belongs to him, so he sets his sights on Shi Lan.

In his view, since his younger sister would die in two years anyway, it was her good fortune that she was able to marry the top scholar of the dynasty because of him. She should even thank him for finding her a burial place after she died. In addition, she occupied the position of the wife of the man he loved and received the blessing of others that he longed for but could not obtain. She should be content.

Shi Ming frankly stated that if she wanted to live, she should stay obediently in the courtyard; otherwise, he would kill her immediately to prevent his beloved from being criticized.

Seeing her brother acting so self-righteously, even as if he were doing her a favor, Shi Lan was filled with anger and couldn't help but curse him a few times. But she never expected that Shi Ming would be so heartless and cruel as to drag the sick and weak Shi Lan and throw her into the lotus lake in the garden. Her soul was gone just like that.