Tang Qingning
The winter wind blows fiercely, and the snow is as heavy as a foot deep.
As dawn broke on the horizon, two cooks dressed in coarse cloth jackets deftly carried a roll of straw mat containing a person out of the back door of Yunxian Pavilion, threw it onto a pre-prepared oxcart, and transported it to the mass grave on the outskirts of the city.
Suddenly, howling snowflakes covered the mass grave.
Tang Qingning's eyelashes trembled slightly.
pain......
It hurts so much...
My heart was throbbing painfully, and it wasn't just my heart; my lungs and other internal organs were also cramping terribly.
She had learned some basic pathology and pharmacology from the doctor at the clinic, and a guess immediately formed in her mind: she was probably poisoned.
Could it be that Sun Gu was afraid she would survive after being tortured, so he had someone poison her?
Her eyelids felt too heavy. She struggled to lift them, and a sliver of dim light pierced through the gap. It was as if she were no longer in the howling winds of the mass graves on the outskirts of Beijing...
She was lying on soft bedding, and although she wasn't covered with a brocade quilt, she didn't feel the slightest bit of cold.
So warm.....
It was as if she were now in a warm and peaceful boudoir.
The room was filled with the soothing incense, worth a thousand gold coins per tael in Shengjing (Shenyang)...
Soul-soothing incense?
Something's not right!
On the rosewood canopy bed carved with hibiscus patterns, the young girl lying there suddenly opened her eyes, and what she saw was a series of soft, golden gauze curtains.
She propped herself up in pain, looked around, and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
She was poisoned and needed the antidote. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to die like this, her enemy was still alive!
A white porcelain bottle lay beside her, along with a suicide note.
Turning to the other side, she discovered that a hidden compartment on one side of the canopy bed was half-open, containing not only letters but also another white porcelain bottle.
She stretched out her trembling hand, straining to move her numb lower body, and finally managed to reach the white porcelain bottle.
She picked up the porcelain bottle, smelled it, and after confirming that it was the Ningxiang Pill that could cure all poisons, she quickly swallowed it and then let her weak body lean back.
It still hurts a lot, but it seems like she's starting to regain sensation in her lower body, so the poison should be gone.
The pain gradually subsided, allowing her muddled mind to begin to think.
This body is not hers, this is not her boudoir, and it is certainly not a room in Yunxian Pavilion.
So, is this a case of possession and resurrection?
She let her thoughts wander and drifted off to sleep without realizing it. When she woke up again, it seemed that it was already dawn.
She needed to figure out her current identity before anyone came in. Since she was a reincarnation, she had to pretend to be the original owner of this body, otherwise she would be treated as an evil spirit and disposed of.
After her body had finally regained a little strength, she picked up the suicide note that was beside her and read it word by word. After reading it, she looked at the letters in the hidden compartment—correspondence between her and a scholar named Su Bicheng.
Tang Qingning finally understood the condition of her current body.
The original owner was named Gu Yu, from a wealthy family surnamed Gu in Shengjing. She only remembered one family, which was the ancestral home of the current General of the State, Marquis Wu'an.
Speaking of which, she and this Miss Gu had a brief encounter at the banquet, but the original owner probably wouldn't remember her.
Tang Qingning's father was just a minor official of the seventh rank in Shengjing.
He was sentenced to death by the enraged emperor for falsely accusing someone. All the men were sent to the execution ground to be beheaded, while the women were sent to brothels to serve as government prostitutes.
Her mother died by hitting her head against a pillar on her very first day at Yunxian Pavilion. The complex look in her mother's eyes before she died is something she will never forget.
She knew that her mother could not accept living as a prostitute and would rather die than submit, but she had no right to decide the fate of her only daughter.
While she was being forced by the madam of Yunxian Pavilion to learn those despicable tricks, this young lady of the Marquis of Wu'an was shedding tears for her lover, who came from a poor background.
While she desperately wanted to survive in the brothel to seek revenge, this young lady swallowed poison because her lover had married another.
How can things in this world be so ridiculous?
Tang Qingning—no, she should be called Gu Yu now—smirked sarcastically.
As dawn broke, the wind howled outside, brushing against the plum tree in the courtyard and scattering fallen petals all over the ground.
The room was warm and cozy, and the sweet scent of incense made people drowsy.
She walked barefoot from the bed to the dressing mirror and looked at her own face for the first time.
She had fair skin and black hair, and a slender yet well-proportioned figure.
Her eyebrows were slender as willow leaves, and her peach blossom eyes were filled with tears from the pain, her gaze shimmering.
Beneath her delicate, straight nose were cherry-red lips that appeared naturally without makeup. Together, her appearance was gentle, harmless, and charming, like a lotus flower emerging from the water.
The red mole between her eyebrows added a touch of compassion to her eyes.
She possessed an extremely gentle and beautiful appearance.
Gu Yu smiled with her lips pursed, and the beauty in the mirror smiled too, her eyebrows and eyes curving, revealing dimples on her cheeks.
"I will cherish the body you left me."
Gu Yu looked at her body, becoming more and more satisfied. "I will do everything I can to get rid of that unwanted marriage for you."
From now on, she is Gu Yu, a ghost who has returned from the underworld wearing Gu Yu's skin.
Gu Yu lowered her head and murmured the name "Shen Changqing," a smile playing on her lips.
Her father probably never understood until his death how the evidence in his hands became false evidence, when he had clearly ensured that the test questions were genuine when he confronted Gongsun Li.
The upright and unyielding father had only ever knelt before his sovereign and his parents in his entire life. At that moment, in despair, he knelt before those soldiers for the sake of his wife and children, begging them not to implicate his family...
She understood perfectly at the time why she was sentenced to such a heavy punishment. It was probably because the test questions were indeed real, and the matter couldn't withstand scrutiny, let alone someone trying to overturn the verdict.
Therefore, everyone in the Tang family had to die. The men were beheaded, and the women were forced into prostitution, never able to escape their fate.
She didn't want to accept her fate, but she also knew that the chances of overturning the Tang family's case were slim.
I spent three years at Yunxian Pavilion. I spent the first year in a daze, and for the next two years I tried my best to curry favor with all the powerful and influential people I could.
...After much investigation, she had initially only identified Guan Yiyun and Shen Xiuwen, but she still suspected that there were others behind them.
So she had people stay by Gongsun Li's bedside while he was delirious, waiting for the moment when he regained his senses and his mind cleared before she could determine who her enemies were.
There's Guan Yiyun, who stayed at her house on his way to the capital for the imperial examination but betrayed her; Shen Xiuwen, who bribed Guan Yiyun to do his bidding and then framed Gongsun Li; and Sun Gu, who colluded with Shen Xiuwen to coerce Gongsun Li into changing the exam questions...
Shen Xiuwen is too cautious. She couldn't find any evidence he left in the Tang family's wrongful case three years ago. She could only try to bring down Guan Yiyun and Shen Xiuwen by presenting evidence of other bad things they had done.
But when she struck the Dengwen Drum in Shengjing, which could reach the emperor directly, she did not see the emperor who neglected state affairs, but the Grand Secretary who had held power for many years and was also her patron, Sun Gu.
Before Gongsun Li told her the truth, she did not know that Sun Gu was her enemy.
So how ridiculous is her role as Sun Gu's confidante, having stayed by his side for a year?
It turns out that the person she thought was her benefactor was actually her enemy.
She had so many opportunities to plunge the hairpin into his throat and chest, to watch him die a miserable death, yet she didn't know that he was her enemy!
The high-ranking Grand Secretary must know her identity.
So, is it really that fun to tease her?
She was just a small woman, already destitute in this world. Sun Gu gave her hope, only to push her into hell once again.
In the courtroom, the evidence in her hands was destroyed, and she was tortured and sent back to Yunxian Pavilion covered in wounds. A few days later, she was thrown into a mass grave.
Ultimately, failure awaited her.
Her three years of humiliation and seclusion were seen as a joke by those powerful and influential people.
Her strength was too weak; fighting against Sun's faction and resisting Shen Xiuwen was like throwing an egg against a rock.
She has given everything... and Yuzhu, yet she cannot obtain justice.
When power swept over the Tang family, they were already reduced to dust; their struggles were futile, their suffering was pointless...
No remains of the corpses, not a blade of grass grows.
Hate? How could I not hate?
Gu Yu held the suicide note close to the still-burning candle flame. The flame licked the letter, growing larger and larger, and the ashes swirled in the air.
The flickering candlelight and the scorching flames distorted the scene before me for a moment.
When Gu Yu came to her senses, the flames were about to touch her fingers, and she barely managed to throw the scrap of paper into the copper basin.
The original owner of this body prepared both poison and antidote, truly a cowardly and timid young lady. Even if she wanted to die, she died so timidly and fearfully.
It was a stroke of luck for her, as the ghost who had already returned to the underworld was able to return to the mortal realm.
A maid's voice came from outside the door, "Miss, are you up?"
She hid the porcelain bottle back in the hidden compartment beside the canopy bed, which also contained some gold and silver valuables, as well as letters between her and her lover, surnamed Su.
"Come in."
It's ridiculous. The original owner of this body had a perfectly good life as a rich young lady, but actually thought about eloping with Su Bicheng.
Su Bicheng came from a poor family and was only partially literate, so he had no choice but to take some shortcuts.
Lacking both fame and fortune, why would he prioritize such laughable romantic love? And since he was preparing for the imperial examinations, why would he give up his promising future for a woman?
But the original owner of this silly girl actually couldn't think straight because of such a person. She really thought the original owner was too foolish.
Gu Yu allowed her personal maid to do her hair and makeup.
For the past few days, Gu Yu has been crying in her boudoir every day, and she has not seen anyone. She looks haggard, as if she could be blown away by the wind.
Looking at her mistress's face now, Chun Yue noticed that although she was still sickly, her eyes were no longer dull and lifeless, as if her lost spirit had returned.
Chunyue felt a great weight lifted from her heart.
Her voice carried a hint of joy, "Miss, you've finally stopped thinking about that poor, pedantic scholar."
Qiuju, being more composed, frowned and said with displeasure, "You really know how to bring up the most sensitive topics. What's so great about that person? Miss had finally forgotten about it, why are you bringing it up again?"
"It's alright. Since he has already broken his vow to me, I'll just consider him dead," Gu Yu said coldly.
She completely disdained the original owner's unwanted romantic advances, but if that poor scholar really dared to come to the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion to ask the Marquis to marry his daughter to him, she might look at him with more respect.
This man only dared to correspond secretly with the naive young lady, not daring to do so openly, claiming it was for her reputation. He was so shrewd in his calculations, yet so cowardly and timid in his actions.
Fortunately, the original owner's grandmother suppressed the matter, and the original owner's father and brother were away fighting for many years and were completely unaware of it.
Three days after Su Bicheng's wedding, her elder brother, who had already returned to the capital, arranged for her to marry Shen Changqing, the only son of Shen Xiuwen, the Minister of Personnel.
Gu Yu felt that the timing was somewhat coincidental, but she didn't think much of it.
“Alright, Miss, let’s just pretend he’s dead.” Chunyue happily combed her hair, her fingers deftly tying it into a bun.
Qiuju carried a tray with various hairpins on it, asking her to choose one. "Miss, today Young Master Shen invited you to the lakeside pavilion to enjoy the snow. I thought you would be unwilling, but today is the perfect time."
The two maids were overjoyed to see that she was willing to dress up.
Gu Yu paused slightly as she selected a hairpin. Was she really going to see Shen Changqing today?
Having just been detoxified, her body was still very weak, but this was a good opportunity to understand her current situation, and she didn't want to miss it.
Even the most intense physical pain couldn't compare to the hatred she felt for her enemy.
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