Chapter 1 Rebirth
"You wretched slut! I bought you for a tael of silver back then and raised you for over ten years. Your life is mine! Now, if I want to sell or kill you, it's all up to me! You think you can run away?"
As soon as Ye Wanning opened her eyes, she saw a whip lashing out at her!
The woman wielding the whip wore a coarse cloth top stuffed with reed catkins for warmth, making it look bulky. In particular, her two arms were thick and strong, almost bursting open the sleeves.
Ye Wanning was lying on the ground when she saw this and suddenly rolled over to dodge. The whip cracked on the yellow earth, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The act of turning over allowed her to see where she was.
Before us were two rammed earth houses, their roofs thatched with stones, and a shed next to them was filled with messy farm tools and firewood.
She knows where she is!
Being pushed into the water is something from a past life.
She was reborn! Back to the day she was crippled by her adoptive mother and sold into a brothel!
Early spring of the 18th year of Daqing! February 16th!
Ye Wanning gasped for breath, ignoring the fact that her hands were tied behind her back with thick hemp rope. She curled up, used all her strength to leap up from the ground, and ran away!
"Stop right there!" Ye Wanning shouted angrily from behind. Ignoring everything, she rushed into the house and immediately saw the cleaver on the table.
She turned around, grabbed the knife, and quickly cut the ropes binding her hands. As Zhu Cuihua rushed in, she picked up the knife.
He suddenly slashed at the opponent!
"Ah! You dare lay a hand on me? I've raised you my whole life! You wouldn't survive without me! You—"
Ye Wanning pursed her lips tightly and ran out without saying a word.
But she was covered in injuries and couldn't run at all!
The short jacket and skirt were made of tattered cloth, with patches of various colors piled together, washed until they were white, and in some places they were even rotten.
His body was almost entirely covered in bruises, purple and blue marks from pinching, and red welts from whipping. His hair was dry and yellow, scattered like straw, making him look like a little madman.
The town was just beyond the bamboo grove not far away, and Ye Wanning ran towards it as fast as she could!
Seeing the woman behind her about to catch up with a whip, she steeled her heart, suddenly stopped, not caring that her straw sandals would be ruined! She smashed the knife in her hand at the woman!
She was lucky; the knife tip pierced Zhu Cuihua's instep, and blood gushed out immediately!
"ah--"
She screamed and crouched down, clutching her foot and cursing. Ye Wanning took the opportunity to run again, rushing straight into the bamboo forest.
She ran for an unknown amount of time until the village was no longer visible in the distance, then she stopped, panting heavily. Her body was so exhausted that she could no longer control herself and collapsed to the ground.
There was a stream not far away. She used her arms to support herself as she crawled across, scooped up water and drank it little by little, then wiped her face.
When she was four years old, she was kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to Zhu Cuihua's family for one tael of silver.
This family treated her like a servant, giving her endless chores to do every day. They called it adoption, but in reality, they just gave her food and then provided her with free labor.
In her past life, Ye Wanning endured it all.
When she turned sixteen, Zhu Cuihua sold her to an old bachelor in the same village for two taels of silver.
Fortunately, the old bachelor drank too much on his wedding day and died before even entering the bridal chamber.
She returned to Zhu Cuihua's family, but because of her reputation as a jinx, she could no longer be sold. At the age of eighteen, she was sold again to a brothel for one and a half taels of silver.
Ye Wanning also wanted to run away at that time, but unfortunately she failed.
She was sent to Chunhua Alley with her legs broken, but she was beautiful and smart. She was sold from Chunhua Alley to Zuihualou, and then to Zhuangyuan Pavilion. Her price rose from two taels to twenty taels, and then to two hundred taels, making her the top courtesan.
Until one day, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review selected her.
The other party saw that she looked like an old friend and brought Minister Ye to see her.
She was finally found and taken back by her biological father.
But she was, after all, a daughter brought back from a brothel. With her birth mother gone and Minister Ye promoting his concubine to his principal wife, the Ye family had a new eldest daughter. She was disliked, and even though she treated them with all her heart, she still couldn't fit into the family...
Fortunately, in this life, she will never have to suffer those torments again. All she has to do is run faster! Faster!
But she couldn't run anymore!
My chest was burning with pain, and my vision was blurring!
Just then, a figure appeared not far away.
The man was dressed smartly in a blue robe with tied sleeves, carrying a bamboo box on his back. He walked briskly toward her, clearly a scholar on his way to the capital for the imperial examinations.
"Help me..."
Ye Wanning managed to call out for help, biting her tongue to keep from fainting!
"Hey!" The man was startled and rushed over, kneeling beside her. "What's wrong with you?!"
"Help! Can you... take me with you...?"
Ye Wanning struggled to prop herself up halfway from the ground, but her heart sank when she met the man's face.
What a coincidence! In this desolate mountain forest, she actually encountered her husband from her past life.
After returning to the Ye family, she was bullied openly and secretly by the two children born to the new Minister's wife. Just when she was about to reach her breaking point, her father arranged a marriage for her.
Her husband was a newly appointed third-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations, but he came from a poor family and had no family background.
He didn't know Ye Wanning's past, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.
After all, even if you married a pig, plenty of people would be happy to be the son-in-law of a high-ranking official.
Ye Wanning breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she could finally live a peaceful and comfortable life until the day before her wedding.
She saw her younger sister, Ye Jingshu, embracing her future husband, Xue Lin'an, and whispering sweet nothings to each other.
It turns out they had been in love for a long time.
She was so shocked and saddened that she couldn't help but step forward to question them, but the two men turned around and pushed her into the water!
The lotus pond in the dead of winter was icy cold, and she froze instantly, her body sinking like a stone.
As she lay dying, she heard her father and brother's voices on the shore. Ye Jingshu cried and said that she had fallen in by herself. Then her brother said that she always acted recklessly and deserved to die now...
The father she was most grateful to remained silent when the housekeeper asked if she wanted to go down and rescue the people...
Ye Wanning had no strength left to struggle and sank to the bottom of the pond.
In her past life, she was just too soft-hearted and couldn't bear to fall out with her family. She only wanted them to accept her. It wasn't until she was on her deathbed that she realized how naive she had been. Unfortunately, it was too late.
She will never have any kindness towards those people again in her life.
But at this moment, because she was caught off guard and saw the murderer who killed her, her heart was pounding so hard that her chest started to hurt.
"ah……"
Looking at Xue Lin'an, she called out softly, her head lolled to the side, and she fainted.
"Girl! Girl?"
Xue Lin'an was startled and awkwardly nudged Ye Wanning. He had come all the way from the south and was almost broke. He didn't want to get involved, but seeing how shabby she was dressed, he thought she might be a crazy woman running around and was afraid of getting entangled with her.
But after taking a closer look at her face, he changed his mind.
Even though she was dressed like a beggar, her face was like that of a fairy descended from heaven; it would not be an exaggeration to say that she was so beautiful that she could topple kingdoms.
He swallowed hard, picked up Ye Wanning, and walked forward step by step.
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