Chapter One: The Second Miss Returned to the Mansion and Hanged Herself
Qin Zhining was an esper in the interstellar era, but she was tortured to death in an interstellar mental hospital by her jealous relatives.
"Quickly—hurry up, put her handprint on!"
The old woman's shrill scream shattered the deathly silence of the mental hospital: "Old men, what are you all standing there for? If you don't hurry, it'll be too late."
"While she's still breathing, press this handprint on her. Then all of that little bitch's assets will belong to Ah Zhe. Hey, everyone, grab her arms!"
The excruciating pain in my bones was a side effect of being given the interstellar ability dismantling drug.
In her grief and anger, Qin Zhining was held down tightly, powerless to struggle and unable to break free.
She watched helplessly as her relatives pressed her finger against the property transfer document. Before her consciousness faded into darkness, she heard their triumphant laughter.
The next moment, when she opened her eyes again, she had become Qin Zhining, the legitimate daughter who had been abused to death by her relatives.
Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Zhining left the fiery pit where the original owner of the body was killed under the cover of darkness after regaining consciousness, heading straight for Lincheng County to settle accounts with her biological father, Qin Youming.
Her supernatural abilities had not yet fully recovered, and it took her nearly twenty days to travel hundreds of miles from her ancestral home to Lincheng County, enduring wind and rain.
It was early spring in the Great Qi Dynasty, with a chill in the air and constant wind and snow.
The vermilion gate of the Qin County Magistrate's residence was tightly shut in the wind and snow.
Standing in front of the mansion gate, Qin Zhining's thin and frail figure looked like a bean sprout, as if she could be swallowed up by the wind and snow of early spring at any moment.
Her coarse cloth dress was so short it couldn't even cover her ankles; it was patched in layers, and the hem was covered with a hard crust of dark brown mud, making her look like a ghost crawling out of a swamp.
"Ha... God is kind, giving me a second chance at life."
She gave a self-deprecating sneer, and beneath her dry, tangled hair, her eyes shone with a venomous brilliance, shooting out a chilling light in the wind and snow.
"But the script you gave me still made me become family with a bunch of awful people. God, you're being unfair, so don't blame me for making a huge scene this time!"
As she spoke, she subtly circulated her supernatural energy, the Small Heavenly Circuit, through her fingertips to dispel the cold.
In just a few breaths, the unique temperature of the warm-type ability revived the small body that was almost frozen.
"Xiaoxiao, bang on the door for your sister."
With her physical functions barely recovered, Qin Zhining's voice already carried an undeniable air of authority as she raised her voice to give orders to the figure in front of the mansion gate.
"The noise has to be loud enough to shake a person's soul out of their body."
Looking at Qin Xiaoxiao's slender yet sturdy back, Qin Zhining felt a warmth in her heart.
This was the only sister who had shared hardships with the original owner of her body in Qin Family Village.
The eleven-year-old boy possessed extraordinary natural strength, but he was abducted by human traffickers to Wangzi Town and given a drug to make him mute, thus losing his voice.
When Qin Xiaoxiao escaped to the back mountain, she was on the verge of death. It was the original owner who stuffed the half of the life-saving pancake he had saved into her mouth and named her Qin Xiaoxiao.
Because of this favor, the girl was determined to protect "Miss" to the death.
Little did she know that the original owner of the house in the woodshed of the old house in Qin Family Village had long since passed away, and the one standing here now was herself with a new soul.
All the way from the countryside back to the county town, the child stayed by my side the whole time and always listened to my every word.
Sure enough, upon hearing the order, Qin Xiaoxiao's dark face instantly lit up with energy, and without hesitation, she bent down and picked up a half-sized bluestone from the side of the door.
The muscles in her arms were taut, clearly showing she was using her undeniable natural strength, as she swung the stone and smashed it against the vermilion gate—
"Bang! Bang!"
The dull, deafening roar made one's eardrums vibrate; each blast carried a fierce, piercing force.
The mottled vermilion lacquer on the door panel was shaken and fell off in a flurry, rotten wood chips mixed with accumulated dust flew everywhere, and even the door knocker was shaken and made a loud "clanging" noise.
The old door swayed precariously, as if it were about to slip off the frame at any moment, making one's heart clench with anxiety.
This isn't just smashing the door; it's clearly an attempt to uproot this obstacle in their path.
Zhang Er, the gatekeeper, was dozing off while hugging the hand warmer when he was startled and almost jumped up.
"Which damned bastard is courting death?"
He shuffled towards the side door in his slippers, cursing incessantly, "Sounding the death knell so early in the morning, are you tired of living and want a beating?"
The moment the side door opened, a vicious curse stuck in his throat.
In the wind and snow, a little girl turned her head and looked at him, her cold gaze falling on his face.
"Go tell Qin Youming,"
Qin Zhining's voice was like snowflakes, cold and devoid of warmth, "Tell him that Qin Zhining, the eldest daughter of the Qin County Magistrate's family, has returned from her ancestral home."
She emphasized the words "eldest daughter" very heavily.
Zhang Er was momentarily stunned and didn't react. "The eldest daughter? No—my eldest daughter is at home, she hasn't gone out."
“I said…” Qin Zhining raised her voice, her voice carried by the wind and snow as she spoke to Zhang Er, “I am Qin Zhining, the eldest daughter of the legitimate wife. I have returned from my ancestral home and asked Qin Youming to come out and see me.”
Zhang Er understood this time.
Seeing her ragged clothes, like a beggar, he couldn't help but be a little suspicious. He lowered his voice and kindly reminded her, "You...you really are the Second Miss back?"
Little girl, do you know that impersonating the county magistrate's daughter is a punishable offense?
I see you're pitifully thin and can't take a beating. I advise you to leave quickly and not cause trouble here.
Qin Zhining didn't speak, but slowly raised her left hand.
In the wind and snow, she steadily carried a long wooden bench with a missing leg, the pitted surface of which was stained with dark brown marks.
Those were the bloodstains splattered from when Zhou, the eldest daughter-in-law of the old house, hit the original owner with this stool.
Zhang Er didn't understand.
What's that girl doing with that broken stool? Is she looking for trouble with the county magistrate's office?
Oh dear, she looks like she could be knocked down with a single finger. Where did she get the courage?
Qin Zhining slowly raised her right hand again.
A piece of hemp rope, polished smooth by being rubbed, swayed in the cold wind, with a knot prominently displayed at the end.
"Let him come out and identify the person,"
Qin Zhining's gaze pierced the red gate like an icicle. "Otherwise, I'll hang myself with this rope at the gate."
"And let everyone in Lincheng County know that Qin Youming is not only shameful to have a concubine as his wife and a concubine's daughter as his legitimate daughter, but he is also violating ancestral laws!"
Zhang Er was dumbfounded. "Are you really my eldest daughter?"
Qin Zhining twitched the corner of her mouth: "Zhang Er, have you ever seen a child who would mistake their ancestor for their father?"
A cold gaze swept over the silver gourd pendant at his waist, instantly flashing with a dangerous gleam.
This silver gourd pendant was part of her mother's dowry, and Qin Zhining recognized it at a glance, based on the original owner's memories.
Seeing the unfriendly look in the young lady's eyes, Zhang Er's legs went weak with fear. "Miss, don't worry, I'll go and inform her right away, I'll go right away."
As he passed the screen wall, he almost bumped into a pillar in the corridor, and the hand warmer in his hand rolled off, the sound of which was particularly clear in the wind and snow.
"Madam, Madam, something terrible has happened!"
Zhang Er rushed into the inner courtyard in a panic, shouting, "Second Miss is back! Second Miss is back, Madam! She's at the door preparing to hang herself!"
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