Rebirth
Dull pain, dampness, cold.
This was Xu Ruoyan's first impression of her surroundings when she regained consciousness.
She flinched unconsciously. After regaining some consciousness, she tried to open her eyes, but couldn't.
After struggling for about ten more seconds, she finally opened her eyes, but couldn't recognize where she was.
A biting wind was seeping in through the broken windows, lashing her face as if someone were slicing it with a sharp knife. The cold air seeped out from the icy floor, bypassing her thin coat and seeping into her body, gnawing at her bones. All around was utter silence; not a sound could be heard except for the relentless pounding of the howling wind against the windows, a sound that threatened to shatter her eardrums.
Xu Ruoyan frowned almost imperceptibly, her gaze falling on her tightly bound hands and feet.
She was in an extremely unfamiliar environment, unlike anywhere she had ever seen before.
Could they have been kidnapped?
However, Xu Ruoyan clearly remembered that not long ago, she was being harassed by a patient's family because she failed to save him, and eventually fell under the family's fruit knife.
The knife tip struck her heart, killing her instantly. As a professional doctor, she knew clearly the moment she collapsed that she had no chance of survival.
Filled with doubt, she raised her eyes again, quickly scanning the creaking wooden doors and windows, the withered trees faintly visible outside the window, and the old wooden table standing crookedly inside the room.
In an instant, an idea flashed through her mind.
This looks like... an ancient scene.
Could it be that, like in those novels, she time-traveled?
Hesitantly, she raised her blood-soaked hand and placed it on her chest, trying to connect with the faint beating.
It's very light, but it represents the existence of life.
But before she could investigate further, the already precarious wooden door was kicked open with a bang. Startled by the falling snow, her eyes were blinded. In the blink of an eye, a figure flashed in front of her, grabbed her chin, and forced her to raise her head.
Xu Ruoyan's conditioned reflex, honed from years of martial arts training, was to chop off the other man's hand, but she struggled and found she couldn't break free. The burly man in front of her seemed to read her mind, and the next second, a vicious slap landed mercilessly on Xu Ruoyan's face.
Xu Ruoyan had no time to react and took the slap head-on. She groaned and fell to the ground, her neck feeling as if it were broken, unable to lift her head again.
"Still trying to resist?" The man squatted down and pinched the open wound on her body hard. "There's no food left in the house. Even if you don't want to marry me today, you have to marry me!" After saying that, he grabbed Xu Ruoyan's hair and dragged her out of the room.
As they dragged her to the courtyard gate, a woman carrying a tray walked over. The man tossed Xu Ruoyan to the woman's feet, disgustedly dusted off his hands, and said, "Hurry up and clean her up, she's waiting."
Xu Ruoyan slightly raised her head and met the woman's gaze. The woman's eyes met briefly before she hurriedly looked away, lowering her head to help Xu Ruoyan into the nearest room. She frantically pulled off Xu Ruoyan's clothes, muttering something under her breath.
“My son, don’t blame your parents for being heartless. Your brother cries from hunger all day long, and we really have no other choice. Don’t worry, your parents have looked him over carefully. Although the man is blind, he is an honest man. You will definitely have a good life if you marry him…”
Xu Ruoyan's gaze swept over the woman's ashen face, cracked lips, and trembling hands, her heart unmoved. She simply let the woman tear off the tattered rags, still clinging to her flesh and blood, and casually toss her into a slightly cleaner set of linen clothes. Then the woman pushed her out: "Hurry up, or your father will get angry and you'll get another beating..."
Xu Ruoyan remained expressionless as the woman who called herself her "mother" pushed her onto the street. Before she could even see the street scene clearly, she was pushed onto a small carriage.
She blinked slowly, and vaguely heard someone outside the carriage thanking her repeatedly. The cold wind occasionally lifted the curtain covering the carriage window, and through that small gap, Xu Ruoyan saw the woman standing behind her husband with a stiff smile on her face, her eyes glancing in her direction from time to time.
Are you afraid she'll escape? Xu Ruoyan gave a self-deprecating smile. In her current state, any attempt to escape would mean certain death. She couldn't resist anyone, and she didn't even have the chance to kill herself.
She has no other choice but to comply. At worst, she'll just end her life by crashing into a tree again, rather than let others trample on her.
But having finally found a chance to continue living, she didn't want to give up just like that.
The carriage slowly began to move, and the desolate street gradually disappeared from view.
By this time, Xu Ruoyan had roughly figured out her situation. She had inexplicably transmigrated to ancient times while on the verge of death, and was given a new life. Her parents, who were so poor they had nowhere else to turn, sold her a blind man as a wife. It was hard to say which life was more tragic.
After sorting through these things in her mind, she wanted to continue planning her way out, but her body was too weak, and she soon curled up in the corner of the carriage and fell into a deep sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, the carriage had already stopped.
She got up and lifted the curtain, intending to get off the carriage to check the situation, but instead bumped into a face. Xu Ruoyan reacted quickly, stopping abruptly, but lost her balance and swayed twice, about to fall headfirst into the snow.
At the critical moment, the person in front of her steadily supported her and said in a deep voice, "Madam, we have arrived."
"Extremely skilled." That was Xu Ruoyan's first reaction.
Xu Ruoyan stopped in the snow and looked into the eyes of the person in front of her: "Who are you?"
The man's eyesight is good; he's definitely not the blind man she's going to marry.
As expected, the man hurriedly shook his head and said, "My name is Zhuying, and I am my master's guard. You are to marry my master."
As the man spoke, Xu Ruoyan had already surveyed her surroundings. Hearing the man's words, a sense of doubt arose in Xu Ruoyan's heart: living in such a remote mountain forest, and being blind, how could she have a highly skilled personal bodyguard like a wealthy family?
Something is very wrong.
Thinking of this, Xu Ruoyan felt a mix of joy and worry. She was happy because it seemed the man she was going to marry wasn't a good-for-nothing, and judging from Zhu Ying's polite demeanor, his master was unlikely to be a cruel and ruthless person. Perhaps she could have a period of peace here and recover properly. However, she was worried because, regardless of whether Zhu Ying's master was easy to deal with, Zhu Ying alone greatly increased the difficulty of her escape.
An expedient measure is to feign compliance and act according to circumstances.
Xu Ruoyan made a rough plan in her mind, and when she looked up, she found that the other person was staring at her.
She rubbed her frozen arms, frowned, and asked him, "Can we go inside first?"
Before boarding the carriage, she was dragged across a frozen pool of water. With just a fleeting glance at her reflection, she realized she had changed her appearance and was certain that her soul had simply traveled through time.
Following behind Zhu Ying, she pinched her arm. Beneath the skin were sharp bones, without a trace of soft flesh. The protruding bones resembled jagged rocks, making her look unlike a normal person, even somewhat terrifying.
This body was frighteningly thin, and even more frighteningly weak.
This is also a major reason why she doesn't plan to run away for the time being: with this body, how can she fight against Zhu Ying?
It's best to go to bed early.
When she came to her senses, Zhu Ying was already introducing the basic situation of the place to her.
"...The master prefers quiet, so please don't disturb him unless necessary. Your duties, madam, are to clean the courtyard and rooms, go out to buy daily necessities, and boil water and cook meals. Do not enter the master's room unless you have his permission."
Xu Ruoyan nodded nonchalantly, wondering who actually wanted to go in.
Lost in thought, Zhu Ying stopped talking and pointed to a room: "Madam will be staying in that room. Your change of clothes and wound medicine have been prepared." As he spoke, he frowned slightly and examined the wounds on Xu Ruoyan's body: "Before Master calls for Madam, Madam should clean her wounds first. Do not move around unnecessarily here."
"This humble servant takes his leave." With that, he closed the door and left the room.
After leaving Xu Ruoyan's room, Zhu Ying went to report to Pei Jue.
After receiving permission, Zhu Ying entered the room.
The room was simply furnished with only a few plain wooden pieces of furniture, none of which were decorated. Only a piece of calligraphy hung on the cabinet door, the ink still wet, swaying gently as the door opened and closed, presumably written by the owner of the room.
At a table by the window, a man sat upright, his back ramrod straight, holding an ink brush and writing something stroke by stroke on rough paper.
Seeing that her master was focused on his work, Zhu Ying did not dare to disturb him and stood silently to the side.
Whether in the past or present, whenever Pei Jue is busy with important matters, Zhu Ying can feel the suffocating pressure emanating from her master. This pressure does not come from his serious expression, but from his powerful aura. This pressure intimidates everyone, making countless people willingly submit to him and obey his commands.
But he also knew that his master wasn't cruel and heartless; on the contrary, he had a soft heart. Otherwise, why would he have taken him in out of pity and kept him by his side all this time?
Therefore, in addition to having reverence for his master, he also felt a deep sense of gratitude.
Hearing the bamboo shadows enter, the man sitting by the window put down his pen.
"Are you all settled in?"
Bamboo Shadow replied, "Yes, Master. Shall I summon...Madam to see you?"
He was still a little unaccustomed to being called that for the first time.
Pei Jue remained silent for a moment, then raised his gray, watery eyes and looked at Zhu Ying: "We'll be living together eventually, so call her to come see me."
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