Chapter 12 Rebirth: She resolved never to repeat her mistakes.
For the past three days, she has frequently dreamt of memories from her previous life, and she still feels lingering fear every time she wakes up in the middle of the night.
On the first day of her rebirth, after recovering from the shock, Wei Yihua made up her mind.
Since Heaven has given her a second chance at life, she must not make the same mistake again.
She wanted to reverse the tide, to save the lives of all those she cherished, to stop the fratricide within the royal family—and most importantly, to change the fate of the Dongxi Kingdom's destruction.
Wei Yihua remembered that in her previous life, her third brother, Wei Ye, inherited the throne, while she supported her fourth brother, Wei Jing.
As the most favored princess of Dongxi, Wei Yihua was born amidst great splendor. At the age of three, she was bestowed the title "Huiyi," at the age of six, she was granted a fief of three thousand households, and at the age of ten, she was exceptionally promoted to the rank of Grand Princess.
At the age of twelve, her poem at the Hundred Flowers Banquet became famous throughout the capital. She was praised for her talent in writing poetry and her reputation soared. People at the time called her "the most talented woman in Yanjing".
At the age of fifteen, she was granted permission by the emperor to establish her own residence within the imperial city. The princess's residence was built at a cost of ten thousand taels of silver. The residence was filled with jade trees and golden mountains, carved beams and painted rafters. Her coming-of-age ceremony included tributes from all over the world. Countless rare treasures were transported by carriages, flowing like water for a whole day. Even the storerooms in the residence could not hold them all, so three additional side halls had to be built to store them.
Wei Yihua possesses everything: status, wealth, knowledge, and ambition.
She was different from ordinary princesses from the very beginning, and in her previous life she secretly participated in the struggle for the throne between two princes.
The Fourth Prince, Wei Jing, was her elder brother from both parents, so she naturally chose to join his camp. From a young age, she had thoroughly studied military strategy and was confident in her intelligence. She volunteered to become Wei Jing's strategist, helping him build connections within the court.
In this power struggle, Wei Yihua encountered her lifelong nemesis.
Yue Yining.
At only twenty years old, she was already the most famous strategist under the Third Prince, and was also proficient in the Five Arts. She possessed exceptional talent and outstanding abilities. Her wisdom and strategies were profound and unfathomable, far-sighted, and insightful, demonstrating the ability to manage the world.
This man quickly became a highly sought-after figure in Yanjing after arriving in the capital.
Wei Yihua disliked this person intensely. The reason was simple: she despised the current state religion, Yingtianmen, and even more so, she despised the Celestial Masters. In her eyes, these people were nothing more than charlatans.
She never believed that any ancestral being truly existed in this world.
If the Heavenly Ancestor were truly alive, why would there be so many starving people, so much poverty and misery, and so much injustice in the world? She despised this deity. As a god, he could not protect his believers and people. So why would the people still support this god?
Is its aloof observation wisdom? Is its tranquil silence grace? Is its indifferent indifference compassion?
She would not place all her hopes on some ethereal deity; she would rely solely on herself to overcome all hardships.
She could slay gods and Buddhas alike, and with a single stroke of her black gauze hat, she swept away all the suffering in the land, a feat far surpassing the burning of a thousand incense sticks in the heavens.
Those who spout esoteric doctrines and magic are nothing but charlatans, deceiving the public for personal gain. Yingtianmen, as the state religion, siphons large sums of money from the national treasury every year, yet has hardly done anything to benefit the people.
Yue Yining grew up in the Heavenly Temple, where she had no worries about food or clothing and was oblivious to the mortal world. How could she understand the hardships of ordinary people? Now she even wants to bring her mystical arts from the Heavenly Temple into the imperial court and manipulate politics. If she gains power, then the Eastern Xi court will be ruled by evil and wicked people, and loyalty and righteousness will be destroyed!
Wei Yihua was initially proud. Her life was so smooth and fulfilling; how could a fairy who could ride the clouds have the hardship of muddy shoes?
However, her pride as the most talented woman in Yanjing and the most noble princess was completely shattered in her repeated encounters with Yue Yining.
Even though she was unwilling to face it, Wei Yihua had to admit one thing: in terms of strategy and intelligence, she was no match for this Taoist priest whom she looked down upon.
The third prince was named crown prince.
The third prince ascended the throne as emperor.
Yue Yining was appointed as the Imperial Preceptor.
Wei Yihua watched helplessly as she lost more and more completely.
Aside from the shame of being less skilled and the resentment of being subordinate to others, another indescribable feeling lingered.
However, before Wei Yihua could fully savor these inexplicable feelings, the palace coup occurred.
The fourth prince only told Wei Yihua about his plan on the day the troops were to be dispatched. Upon hearing this, Wei Yihua looked at him with disbelief: "Brother, are you crazy? Isn't this a coup? This is a capital offense of treason!"
She still remembers to this day how Wei Jing laughed heartily in front of her, almost to the point of tears.
He said something she couldn't understand at the end: "My dear sister, how could you understand? Perhaps death would be much more bearable than living like this."
Wei Yihua could only watch all of this unfold before her eyes. Faced with the storm, as a princess without real power, there was nothing she could do.
When news of Yue Yining came again, she had become a prisoner, her former glory gone, and she had become a villain hated by everyone.
Wei Yihua has studied history since childhood, and his greatest hope is that people will have discerning eyes to recognize talent and distinguish between loyalty and treachery.
But when that day actually came, she found herself feeling lost.
It's hard to distinguish between the foolish and the wise, or between the loyal and the treacherous.
Perhaps it was this unsettling feeling within her that led Wei Yihua to bribe the jailer and replace the guard who was originally supposed to deliver the wine when Wei Jing ordered that Yue Yining be given a cup of poisoned wine. She then went to see Yue Yining one last time.
The Yue Yining that Wei Yihua saw was even more miserable than she had imagined.
Yue Yining's face was deathly pale, as if she had just been pulled from a bucket of blood. She was wearing a blue robe when she was imprisoned, but now the original color of the fabric was no longer discernible.
Wei Yihua's lips trembled; she was terrified.
She was a pampered princess who lived a life of luxury, where all she saw were clean, spotless shoes and priceless jewels. She had never seen a prisoner subjected to torture during interrogation.
She bent over, feeling a churning in her stomach, and almost vomited uncontrollably.
Seeing her violent reaction, the jailer and palace maid who brought her in panicked. Su Yue held her arm and shouted in a panic, which woke up Yue Yining, who was hanging on the rack and on the verge of death.
Yue Yining slowly opened her eyes and looked at the princess standing in front of her, dressed in brocade and crown.
She was actually smiling. Yue Yining said, "Why is the Eldest Princess here?"
"This place is quite dusty, and I'm afraid it might offend the princess's eyes."
Wei Yihua straightened her back, suppressed the nausea in her throat, and raised her head with utter arrogance: "I came here, naturally to see how pathetic you are now."
Yue Yining smiled and said, "I see."
"So, Princess, you must be quite satisfied now, right? As you can see, I am indeed in a sorry state right now."
Within a few words, blood began to spill from her mouth, as if her internal organs had been shattered.
Wei Yihua couldn't hold back any longer, her lips trembling for a moment: "...Aren't you good at divination? I thought you could foresee your fate today."
The person on the rack had only one breath left; once that breath was gone, her beautiful soul would vanish. From then on, the world would be without the cunning and treacherous female imperial advisor, and without the wolfish ambition of Yue Yining.
Despite looking like an elderly woman nearing the end of her life, she smiled gently: "A doctor cannot heal himself, and a diviner cannot divine for himself."
"However, my master once divined my fate. She said that I had a bad fate and bad luck. If I went with the flow, I could live a peaceful life. But if I deliberately caused trouble, I would die without a burial place. So, I guess I knew my fate."
Wei Yihua: "Then why did you still come to the capital? Were you deliberately trying to kill yourself?"
Yue Yining: "She said it, and I listened, but I didn't do it. Because I don't believe in fate."
Wei Yihua: "...So do you believe it now?"
"..." Yue Yining seemed to have exhausted all her strength. She slowly lowered her head and didn't raise it again. "Do you believe me now?"
The dungeon was filthy, and even the air smelled of it was filled with a lingering stench of decay.
It was at this moment that Wei Yihua suddenly realized something. She could accept anyone else, but she absolutely did not want to hear Yue Yining say the word "accept fate."
Humans are such complex creatures. Wei Yihua once hated Yue Yining so much that she wished she could impeach her day and night, drag her down from her position as the Imperial Advisor, and ruin her reputation so that the world could see through her despicable and scheming nature.
But now, standing in this filthy place she had never set foot in before, she was startled by her own inability to bear it, and felt a deep sorrow in her heart.
Or rather, she once thought that she hated her.
It turns out that's not the case.
Wei Yihua couldn't take it anymore and said, "Untie her."
"But Your Highness, she is a heinous criminal, and the Emperor's edict did not mention her..."
"I said untie her! Didn't you hear me?!" Wei Yihua roared. "No matter how heinous her crimes, she's about to die! Our Emperor is merciful; having already given the condemned to poison, surely he won't allow her to die with some dignity?!"
Wei Yihua watched as Yue Yining drank that cup of poison.
After ingesting poison, most people only have ten breaths left to live before they die from its effects.
Wei Yihua spoke her last words on this trip, asking Yue Yining a question that had puzzled her for a long time:
"Yue Yining, do you regret anything in your life?"
Yue Yining's gaze was gradually becoming unfocused, and the smile on her lips was extremely faint.
She said, "I regret it."
"There's something I've never told anyone. Actually, I don't have any grand ambitions. I don't want to be the imperial advisor, nor do I want to fight for power. My real wish is to have a small courtyard of my own."
"There is a bamboo grove and a roof, warm in winter and cool in summer. I don't ask for much, just enough to shelter me and make a place to live."
She slowly closed her eyes, and her last words were as soft as a sigh, almost inaudible.
"If there is an afterlife... I will definitely not be a strategist again."
After Yue Yining's death, Wei Yihua unexpectedly obtained her handwritten will by chance. It was given to her by Fu Yao, Yue Yining's loyal maid.
The maid said calmly, "Miss once said that this world is difficult and dangerous, full of villains and extremely rare people, but the Princess is one of them. If one day I am destitute and have no relatives or friends, I will entrust my things to her, and she will definitely agree."
Wei Yihua could tell that the maid named Fu Yao was already determined to die.
If she agrees, perhaps tonight, or perhaps tomorrow, this person will become an unnamed skeleton by the river.
After hesitating for a long time, Wei Yihua finally said to her, "It will all pass. Your young lady in heaven would surely want you to live well."
Fu Yao stared at her without moving for a long time before saying, "Miss certainly didn't misjudge anyone."
Wei Yihua was stunned: "What did you say?"
Fu Yao: "I used to hate you. Just because my young lady came from Tianguan, you were prejudiced against her and targeted and slandered her at every turn. Did you ever really understand her life and character? But even though you treated her like that, she never said a bad word about you to me. My young lady once told me that you are kind-hearted, quick-witted and intelligent. If you were to become an official, you would surely bring benefits to the people, bring peace to the world, and achieve great things."
“I didn’t want you to be smug, so I wasn’t planning to tell you, but what you just said to me has made me change my mind.”
"Call me vicious or ruthless, I entrusted Miss's will to you for two reasons: first, because of what Miss told me, and second, because I want to get revenge on you. The best revenge for you is to find out what kind of person Yue Yining really is."
Just as the little maid said.
After reading Yue Yining's suicide note, Wei Yihua wept bitterly all night.
From then on, the name Yue Yining became her nightmare for the rest of her life, appearing in her dreams every night in the dead of night, trying to take her life.
She never imagined that this curse would be so devastating.
She could never forget this person for the rest of her life.
Later, Wei Jing, who had succeeded to the throne, issued an edict, and Wei Yihua was sent back to his fiefdom under duress, where he lived out his days.
After Wei Jing came to power, the court became corrupt, and treacherous officials held sway. He himself spent his days indulging in pleasure, ignoring worldly affairs and living a life of debauchery in the palace. Since arriving in her fiefdom, Wei Yihua's health had deteriorated day by day. By the time bad news from the capital reached her fiefdom, she was no longer able to leave her house.
One day, she heard that some people had risen up in rebellion and led troops to attack Wei Jing, and that they had already stormed the capital.
The country's name has been changed, the royal family is gone, and Dongxi will never exist again.
Upon hearing this, she was heartbroken and had her maid hang a white silk ribbon from the roof beam.
This was her last act of pride. As a princess of the former dynasty, she would rather die than submit to the new emperor.
"Your Highness, the Eldest Princess."
Su Yue's voice roused Wei Yihua from her past memories. Her personal maid came to her side and curtsied, "The carriages for leaving the palace are ready, we can depart."
Wei Yihua nodded, placed his hand on her arm, and stood up from the chair.
As the midday sun set, the clouds shone over the azure waters. The vermilion gates slowly opened, and a white horse, its mane flowing like the wind, pulled a carved and jeweled carriage into the city. Other carriages and horses on the same road gave way, and pedestrians lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at it.
Dust filled the sky, as if history itself was making way for this moment.
Wei Yihua sat inside the carriage. As the carriage swayed, the embroidered gauze curtain parted slightly, and a ray of sunlight, thin as a cicada's wing, pierced through the silk skirt and landed precisely on the violet embroidery, making it look incredibly lifelike.
Perhaps it was because she died with unresolved grievances and lingering obsessions that Heaven granted her a second chance, giving her a chance to start over.
This time, the first person she wanted to find was the one she had been haunted by until her death.
Her rival in her past life, and her comrade-in-arms in this life.
The carriage had already left the city and entered the official road. Wei Yihua summoned a maid and lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.
She gazed at the sky, where the clouds churned, mirroring her anxious heart.
In her previous life, Yue Yining first met her in the capital. Now, for her to come to Jiulian Town to find her ahead of time is an extremely risky move.
She was worried about her upcoming reunion with Yue Yining, and also concerned that her actions would lead everything to an unpredictable future.
The wheels of history keep turning, and human power is so insignificant, yet she dared to conspire with fate.
Will they be able to escape danger and be blessed with good fortune?
Suddenly, a thin thread flashed before my eyes.
Wei Yihua was stunned, thinking she was seeing things, but in a moment, several more transparent filaments fell down.
She was so surprised that she forgot her manners and directly lifted the carriage curtain, extending her hand out.
It was cool to the touch. Water droplets slowly fell into my palm.
It's raining.
Countless raindrops fell in torrents, carrying the determination and power to wash away the heat that had raged for months.
A powerful figure from the capital was taking a pleasure boat to escape the summer heat when he arrived at the window with a look of surprise. Just then, a shower of white raindrops scattered into the curtain.
The talented scholars, filled with excitement, climbed to a high tower and composed poems.
The young lady in her boudoir had just woken from her afternoon nap and, with a smile, sent her maid to the garden to pick a crabapple branch wet with raindrops.
In the countryside, countless people looked up and opened their arms to welcome this blessed rain, running into the rain with tears of joy.
The world is filled with endless regret, and human fortune is finite, all lost to a palace fire, a drought, a heat wave, and a torrential rain.
...
Yue Yining was awakened by the sound of rain.
She woke up groggily, and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the wide-open door.
The entire courtyard was shrouded in rain and mist, with green bamboo swaying and lotus flowers blooming gracefully in the pond. At one corner of the eaves, rolling water droplets flowed down, darkening the color of the ground in the courtyard and converging into a shallow stream, while the grass shimmered like jade.
The oppressive heat of the past few days was dispelled by the heavy rain, and a refreshing breeze swept over us.
Yue Yining was stunned when she saw this scene as soon as she opened her eyes.
The rain really came.
"Miss, you're awake!"
Fu Yao heard Yue Yining get up and peeked out with delight. She quickly went into the room to get her outer robe.
Yue Yining watched her humming a song and swaying her head, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her face.
After the rain, the heavy weight that had been hanging over her heart was finally lifted.
Yue Yining called out "Yaoyao" and said, "I saw it raining for a while, why didn't you wake me up right away?"
Fu Yao: "It was Ayu's idea!"
Yue Yining was taken aback: "His idea?"
Fu Yao: "Yes! He said that Miss is preoccupied with this matter and must be having a light sleep. Why don't we open the doors and windows and let the sound of rain wake her up? The first thing she'll see when she wakes up is the rain, and Miss will be very happy."
Yue Yining was stunned.
She put on the outer robe that Fu Yao handed her and came to the door. It was only a few steps, but her heart was filled with mixed feelings.
Not far away, under the corridor, Ayu, dressed in white, was slowly walking towards the corridor carrying a teapot. Her clothes fluttered gracefully, like a fairy in a painting.
She noticed that the man, across the pouring rain, was smiling at her.
Yue Yining stared intently at him and slowly said, "...Yes."
"I am very happy."
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