When Xiang Wan woke up again, she was sitting in an octagonal pavilion drinking tea. A maidservant was fanning her while chattering incessantly in her ear.
“Miss, Young Master Wu is a very learned man in our county. He has a great figure and good looks. He and you are a match made in heaven. Why are you still not happy?”
Xiang Wan's head was throbbing. The person fanning her was probably her personal maid, who kept nagging in her ear. It seemed the original owner didn't agree to get married. Xiang Wan was puzzled; why was she always getting married or about to get married in every world? This 007 system was just too unreliable.
Speaking of 007, Xiang Wan was also filled with anger. She died of anger at him in the last world, which was the first time Xiang Wan had left that world in such a frustrating way, and she always had a knot in her heart.
"Alright, alright, that's enough. Go get me a plate of snacks, I'm a little hungry."
The maid obeyed and left. Xiang Wan rested her chin on her hand, putting the 007 matter aside for the moment, and began to receive the plot.
The original owner's name was Jiang Xiangwan. Born into a scholarly family, she received an excellent education from a young age. She was of above-average talent and appearance, which made her extremely proud and unappealing to ordinary men. She was approaching marriageable age, but still couldn't find anyone she liked.
This was during the late Republican era, a time of warlordism and extreme instability in the country. Wu Ziyu, the son of the Wu family, returned from studying abroad, and his father arranged a marriage for him with Jiang Xiangwan.
Two people who were originally unrelated were brought together like this. Although the original owner was extremely unwilling, she reluctantly agreed in order not to worry her parents.
On their wedding day, a grand sedan chair carried the original owner to the bridal chamber, but they did not consummate the marriage. After Wu Ziyu lifted the veil, he left the original owner standing there. The original owner, ever since seeing Wu Ziyu's face, had devoted her heart to him. After the marriage, she showered him with care and attention, never neglecting to serve him tea or water, yet she still failed to win his heart.
Less than a month after the marriage, Wu Ziyu joined the army to fight. The original owner of this body was left at home to serve her parents-in-law. Her mother-in-law was quite formidable; she managed to transform a proud and arrogant young lady into a submissive wife in the inner quarters, who dared not utter a single word in front of her parents-in-law.
The original owner believed that as long as she behaved herself and served her in-laws diligently, Wu Ziyu would surely fall in love with her. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Five years after Wu Ziyu left, the county town was captured by a warlord, and the original owner and the Wu family elders became prisoners.
The warlord, having learned of the original owner's and her companions' identities and backgrounds, treated them well, hoping to persuade Wu Ziyu to come and redeem them. The original owner was overjoyed, only to discover at this point that Wu Ziyu had become the leader of a warlord. Thinking that she, as his first wife, had served his parents for years, he reasoned that even if not out of spousal affection, she should be saved because of her service to his parents.
However, after the Wu family elders were taken away, the original owner of this body remained imprisoned. Although she was constantly fed and drunk, she never heard of Wu Ziyu sending anyone to visit her. Until one day, a drunken guard broke into the cell and attempted to rape her.
The original owner struggled desperately, but could not escape her fate. After the guard finished, he sneered disdainfully, "You think you're still the daughter-in-law of the Wu family? Let me tell you, Wu Ziyu is getting married today, and the bride is our commander's daughter, Nangong Pei. If it weren't for not wanting bloodshed on the wedding day, we would have executed you long ago. Now that Miss Nangong has taken pity on you and let you go, you should be grateful. Go now, or we'll make you a military prostitute."
After hearing this, the original owner was furious. She had lost her virginity and her husband; how could she let it go like this? Dragging her broken body, she walked out of the prison cell. She dared not return to her parents' house, so she disguised herself as a beggar and begged along the streets, inquiring about Wu Ziyu and Nangong Pei along the way.
Everyone said that Nangong Pei and Wu Ziyu were a perfect match, a match made in heaven. Who would have thought that he once had a wife who was sought after by many men in the county town? But times have changed. She wasted her years in the Wu family, her edges were worn down, and she was no longer the spirited woman she once was. She was just a beggar who had been abandoned and lost her chastity.
She had approached Wu's parents, but they claimed she was a beggar who had appeared out of nowhere and nearly had her beaten to death. Wu Ziyu and Nangong Pei were figures she could only dream of. The original owner had once encountered Wu Ziyu traveling alone, but he claimed he had never been married and didn't know Jiang Xiangwan.
Having suffered a mental breakdown, the original owner lost control and wanted to grab Wu Ziyu, demanding to know if he knew how much she had toiled for the Wu family all these years, and that even a dog deserved a peaceful end. Without a word, Wu Ziyu turned and left, while the original owner was arrested and thrown into prison.
His beautiful wife, Nangong Pei, told her in the prison cell how she had accompanied Wu Ziyu all these years to become a warlord leader, and how she had helped him clear all obstacles to successfully take power. She said she was grateful for everything Jiang Xiangwan had done for the Wu family over the years. She had originally wanted to spare her life, but ultimately did not want to leave any hidden dangers, so she had the original owner of this body forced into prostitution by the army.
The original owner of this body suffered endless torment in the military camp, clinging to life just to see her parents. But what she saw in the end was a withered old woman, looking like a beggar.
Jiang's parents told the original owner that they had given away all their wealth to rescue their daughter from the Nangong family. However, they were unaware that their son-in-law was Nangong Pei's husband, and that they had given everything the Jiang family owned to a ravenous wolf who had stolen another woman's husband.
After being rescued, the original owner spent her last days with the elderly couple in a destitute courtyard. Then, relying on her last obsession, she traded her body for a bomb and lurked at the entrance of the Nangong family, wanting to send this family of unfaithful people to their deaths.
However, fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke on her; the bomb she had painstakingly found turned out to be a fake. Nangong Pei ordered her men to secretly imprison the original owner, telling her that it was all a scheme she had set up, and even her husband was someone she had obtained through underhanded means. Faced with such a vicious Nangong Pei, the original owner was consumed by rage and ultimately shot between the eyebrows by a guard, leaving this world.
Her soul was extremely unwilling and full of resentment after death. Even if it meant being scattered, she wanted to make this family pay the price so that her parents could enjoy their old age in peace. That's how Xiang Wan came to be.
Xiang Wan rubbed her temples, which were throbbing slightly. The difficulty of the mission had increased as she had expected, but at least it wasn't some unknown era. She took a sip of tea to moisten her throat, and looked up to see a man standing before her.
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