Chapter 1 Rebirth
On New Year's Eve, the entire palace was filled with singing and dancing.
Liu Xi, still smelling of alcohol, lay down on the soft mat and closed her eyes to rest.
There was a noise coming from the door. Liu Xi didn't open her eyes, but spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Just leave it there."
The gleaming knife stabbed straight at Liu Xi. When she opened her eyes, the realization came even faster than the pain.
Liu Xi looked up, her terrified eyes meeting those of the emperor before her.
"Ayan?"
"Don't call me Ayan!"
The emperor's expression was ferocious, with a half-smile playing on his lips, and his eyes filled with madness and determination.
"I am your twin sister!"
Liu Xi didn't know where the strength came from, but she almost shouted those words.
Unfortunately, the constant singing, laughter, and firecrackers outside drowned out her pain.
"So what!"
Liu Yan suddenly laughed, a laugh that sent chills down one's spine.
"You are nothing more than a pawn left to me by my mother!"
"But you lack the awareness of being a pawn, interfering in my life at every turn!"
"You know I love Zhaozhao, yet you force me to marry the daughter of the Imperial Censor!"
"You know perfectly well that my mother died at the hands of the Imperial Concubine, yet you force me to acknowledge this traitor as my mother!"
"Xiao Niang is right! You've never treated me like a younger brother at all!"
Liu Xi coughed and choked on a mouthful of blood.
"Fine, so you still listened to that slut's instigation..."
The pain belatedly began to spread from Liu Xi's chest. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether it was the pain from her wound or the pain from her ungrateful younger brother.
She laughed shrilly, blood tears streaming from her bloodshot eyes.
This is the younger brother she protected with everything she had, and this is the emperor she supported to the throne with all her might!
Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, she does not seek power or status, but only secures the position of the eldest princess for herself, living a secluded life in the harem.
Only now did she realize that Liu Yan had always hated her, her elder sister.
How tragic, how lamentable!
Liu Xi was in so much pain that she lost her speech, and the world before her eyes gradually became a crimson blur.
In her final moments, a surge of determination welled up within her, prompting Liu Xi to pull out her hairpin and thrust it at the emperor with all her might. But fate intervened, and her hairpin only grazed Liu Yan's neck, leaving a shallow scratch.
Liu Yan grabbed Liu Xi by the neck, the bones cracking violently as he forced Liu Xi to look him in the eye.
"You...will be punished..."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The emperor grinned maliciously, as if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Retribution? Maybe in your next life."
With a forceful shove, the emperor sent Liu Xi, completely powerless, sprawling onto the blood-soaked couch. The sharp, piercing laughter grew fainter and fainter until the world plunged into endless darkness.
I never imagined that this would be the way I came to my end.
Liu Xi's soul seemed to be struggling in the darkness, silently protesting the resentment and hatred in her heart.
Why? By what right?
She devoted the first half of her life to her younger brother, pouring her heart and soul into him.
She never blamed her mother for being biased, and even willingly became a pawn in helping Liu Yan rise to power.
Now that she was drained and no longer needed, she was killed by her younger brother!
In the end, instead of receiving gratitude from Liu Yan, she was met with his hatred and betrayal.
If she could do it all over again, Liu Xi would make that ingrate Liu Yan pay a thousand times worse price!
After yet another painful struggle, Liu Xi broke free from the shackles of darkness.
She sat up abruptly, and when she opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was a plain-colored quilt.
Hearing the noise coming from inside, the person outside quietly pushed the door open and entered.
"Princess, you're awake?"
Liu Xi's face still showed fear and hatred. The maid Zhi Xiang was startled and quickly stepped forward.
"Are you having a nightmare? Let me help you clear your mind."
Everything around her felt incredibly real. Liu Xi touched her chest; the skin there was smooth and without a single scar.
She quickly grabbed Zhixiang's hand and asked, word by word.
"Where is the emperor now?"
"Your Majesty, His Majesty is probably making preparations for the hunt..."
"Princess, don't scare me! What's wrong?"
As Zhixiang spoke, her voice trembled.
Liu Xi noticed that Zhi Xiang in front of her was dressed in the most ordinary palace maid's clothes, with a light and cute young hairstyle, and her face was without a single fine line.
This is the incense from when he was young. This place is not the Laifeng Palace, but the royal villa where the emperor would lead his princes and ministers to hunt every autumn!
She's back?
Liu Xi could not hide her joy. She even stepped barefoot on the ground, wearing only her undergarments and with her long hair loose, and pushed open the window, leaning half of her body out of the window.
"Zhixiang, how old am I this year?"
Zhi Xiang held the clothes in her hands and knelt down with a thud.
"Her Highness just completed her coming-of-age ceremony three months ago, and will be sixteen years old after the New Year."
"Princess, please get down from the window. This is improper."
At sixteen, this marked the beginning of her and Liu Yan's life-changing journey in their previous life!
That same year, Liu Yan regained the emperor's favor and embarked on his path to a better life!
My dear brother, life is unpredictable. Who could have foreseen that I would not die and would be reborn at the very beginning of the story?
Liu Xi raised her arm and held up the rising sun on the horizon with her hand. Her fingers slowly closed, as if she had made a firm decision.
Liu Xi always keeps her word.
Now that heaven has given her a second chance at life, she will risk everything to make everyone who has wronged her pay the price.
Liu Xi sat down in front of the dressing table and asked Zhi Xiang about today's arrangements.
It's already the fifth day, and the autumn hunt is nearing its end.
Liu Yan had made thorough preparations, sparing no expense to buy assassins from outside the palace to impersonate him, all in order to bravely save the emperor.
Liu Xi couldn't help but laugh. His younger brother Mi Bao, who couldn't even master riding and archery, actually thought of showing off his martial prowess in front of their father.
She stopped Zhixiang, halting her hand as she combed her hair.
"Go and ask the Imperial Concubine for leave on my behalf. Tell her that the princess has caught a cold and is worried about disturbing His Majesty."
Zhi Xiang paused in her movements.
"Princess, today is the opportunity you've been looking forward to for so long to participate in the hunt, why are you asking for leave?"
Liu Xi couldn't hide the smile on her lips. She stared at herself in the mirror, a chilling killing intent flashing in the light.
"Who said that? This is a rare 'hunting opportunity' that I will never miss."
Zhixiang was even more confused now, but she had been following the princess since she was eight years old, and she always obeyed the princess's orders without question.
So she quickly left the room and ran away in a flash.
Liu Xi didn't sit idle. Following her memories from her previous life, she successfully found Liu Yan, who was secretly plotting with a fake assassin in the back mountain.
Upon seeing that despicable face again, Liu Xi hid behind a tree, clenching her teeth to restrain the urge to rush up and tear his throat apart.
Liu Yan deserved to die, but he shouldn't have died now, and he shouldn't have died so easily, leaving his hatred unresolved.
Liu Xi waited patiently until Liu Yan thought the plan was going smoothly and left triumphantly. Then, she used a stone instead of an arrow, aimed at the assassin's neck, and threw it forcefully, knocking him unconscious with a single blow.
Liu Xi learned archery from General Huo when she was young. Although she could not hit the bullseye from a hundred paces, she was still comparable to the soldiers in the army.
While the fake assassin was unconscious, Liu Xi changed his clothes and dragged him to a convenient spot to go down the mountain.
If this person is lucky enough to wake up, he can escape the villa in the chaos. If he doesn't wake up or is captured by the Imperial Guards, then that is fate.
After finishing everything, Liu Xi, carrying arrows, arrived at the place that the autumn hunting party would inevitably pass through.
Fifty steps up from the spot where Liu Yan originally planned to have the fake assassin make his move, this place is more concealed and easier to escape from.
Hidden in the grass, Liu Xi was like a leopard patiently waiting for its prey to take the bait. At this moment, her mind was filled with the hideous and despicable face of Liu Yan from her previous life.
Even though there were no wounds on her chest, the intense pain continued to irritate Liu Xi's nerves.
With a mix of emotions swirling in her heart, Liu Xi's hand, which was drawing the bow, was almost unsteady.
Finally, the sound of hooves came from afar. The emperor's horse led the way with its head held high, followed closely by the second prince Liu Cheng and the fifth prince Liu Yan.
Look at Liu Yan's eager look; he's looking around, utterly foolish.
Liu Xi laughed inwardly and muttered to herself.
"Don't rush, little brother. Compared to putting on a fake show, a self-inflicted injury is much more convincing."
The first arrow struck the armor on the emperor's horse, the metal striking metal with a dull thud that startled the entire imperial procession.
"An assassin!"
"Protect His Majesty!"
Liu Yan was taken aback; this was not quite what they had agreed upon beforehand.
But if the Imperial Guards rush forward and surround the Emperor, he will lose his chance to show off his skills!
So he rode forward and solemnly declared to the emperor.
"Father, do not be afraid! With your son here, I will make sure that assassin has nowhere to escape!"
The next second, another arrow came hurtling through the air.
Liu Xi avoided a fatal blow. This arrow wouldn't kill Liu Yan, but it would give him a taste of the pain and fear of near death.
In her past life, Liu Xi's hairpin was off-center by half an inch.
In this life, the arrow she shot struck Liu Yan squarely in the left abdomen, knocking him off his horse.
Liu Yan, in this lifetime, I, Liu Xi, will be your retribution!
The Imperial Guards had already surrounded them, and it was not safe to stay there any longer. Just then, a north wind suddenly rose, and Liu Xi quietly withdrew from the swaying bushes, doing everything flawlessly.
Behind her, Huo Lin, the youngest son of General Huo, was staring intently in the direction she had left.
Liu Xi circled back to the villa's sleeping quarters, took off all her clothes, and soaked in the ice water that Zhi Xiang had prepared in advance.
During the time she was away, Zhixiang obediently lay in bed in her place, enduring the bitterness of drinking a bowl of medicine meant to treat typhoid fever.
Hearing a noise from the back door, she immediately jumped out of bed and quickly threw Liu Xi's clothes into the charcoal brazier in the room.
Liu Xi sank into the water, and even the icy cold water couldn't calm her extremely excited heart.
This was just the first step in her revenge.
She vowed that from then on, every day Liu Yan spent in the palace would be like walking on thin ice, filled with unbearable pain.
"I'll make him wish he were dead!"
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