Chapter 3: Reborn

Wake up.

Wake up quickly.

The woman on the bed had a slightly pale face, her eyelashes trembling nonstop, cold sweat on her forehead, as if she were trapped in a nightmare.

Shen Shuangning saw herself dead after death, with A Heng clutching her corpse, trying to rush out of the Prince Yan's Manor, but failing to do so.

"My young lady is already dead; if you don't love her, don't pity her, why, even after her death, do you refuse to let her go?!"

"It's all your fault that killed my young lady!"

A Heng was a martial maid bought by Shen Shuangning from the matchmaker; she had a special constitution, a person who sheds no tears. Having served her for over ten years, not a single tear had ever fallen.

But now, she saw A Heng with tears streaming down her face, her eyes red and frightening.

All around stood people from the Prince Yan's Manor; in Shen Shuangning's eyes, their faces seemed shrouded in mist, utterly blurred.

Only that man, her husband, held an inscrutable expression.

Finally, A Heng bent her knees and knelt before Xiao Jingyuan, begging bitterly.

Shen Shuangning's heart clenched.

Yet Xiao Jingyuan remained unmoved, his face still the familiar cold composure she knew, like an eternal ice sculpture that would never melt.

Shen Shuangning is my wife; in life she belongs to the Prince Yan's Manor, in death she is a ghost of the Manor.

You cannot take her away.

A Heng glared at him fiercely, lifting her head: "The young lady wrote a divorce letter; she is no longer your Crown Princess!"

Upon hearing those words, Xiao Jingyuan seemed to stagger; his usual calm mask appeared to crack inch by inch, even a flash of ferocity, his thin lips uttering three words.

I don't believe it.

He did not believe the Crown Princess would divorce him.

Xiao Jingyuan spat blood.

The Prince Yan's Manor fell into chaos.

The room's windows were flung open; the wind blew in fallen leaves, which fluttered down and landed on Shen Shuangning's neck, feeling somewhat cold.

Shen Shuangning suddenly awoke, bolting upright, her head still throbbing.

As soon as she took in her surroundings, she was stunned.

Wasn't she dead in the Prince Yan's Manor? Where is this now?

The room's furnishings were simple: a table and chairs, a large bed, a few calligraphic paintings hung on the walls, quite elegant.

This was clearly not the Prince Yan's Manor, yet it felt very familiar.

Suddenly, Shen Shuangning's pupils trembled.

This is the Drunken Cloud Pavilion!

But the Drunken Cloud Pavilion had been burned down three years ago in a great fire.

How could...

An unbelievable speculation surged in Shen Shuangning's heart.

She placed her hand on her chest, feeling her strong heartbeat. She was still alive!

She hurriedly got off the bed and rushed to the dressing mirror.

In the mirror she appeared as a male cross-dresser, with a lovely yet youthful face, no makeup, her eyebrows deliberately drawn thicker, making her look like a particularly handsome and refined young man, possessing a unique charm.

She touched her face, utterly astonished.

At fifteen, she had not fully matured, yet one could still glimpse the natural allure and charm in the movement of her brows and eyes.

She gradually accepted the fact of her rebirth.

Shen Shuangning had been reborn four years back, before she had ever met Xiao Jingyuan.

She was no longer the neglected Crown Princess of the Prince Yan's Manor, but the Fourth Young Lady of the Duke Rongguo's Manor, cherished and protected by many; most importantly, her close kin were all alive and well.

Her heart pounded wildly, a surge of excitement about to burst from her chest, making her ecstatic.

Shen Shuangning blinked; in the mirror, the person's eye sockets gradually reddened.

She was fortunate; Heaven pitied her, granting her a second life, so that all misfortunes now had a chance to turn around.

Most importantly, in this life she would not marry Xiao Jingyuan again.

At that moment, footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Shen Shuangning came to her senses, hastily wiping away her tears.

Now was not the time for sentiment; she had to leave quickly, otherwise her second brother would be harmed because of her, and she would feel guilty for a lifetime.

Grandmother always pressed the younger generation on marriage matters, but before Shen Shuangning met Xiao Jingyuan, she was unwilling to marry early, so she thought of ways to evade.

At this time in her previous life, she would pester her second brother to take her out of the manor to play; one reason was that she felt bored cooped up inside, another was to avoid those who came to propose matches.

Shen Er doted on her, yielding to her in everything, and thus allowed her to disguise herself and go out.

But then they accidentally got separated.

At that time she was overly playful and extremely naïve, failing to notice that she had already been secretly watched by villains; in the end she was drugged and brought to the Drunken Cloud Pavilion, almost losing her purity.

Shen Er arrived at the critical moment and fought that person.

Who would have thought that the opponent was not an ordinary noble scion, but the Third Prince, Zhai Ji.

In any dynasty, injuring a prince is a grave crime.

Shen Er, originally an overlooked son of the Duke Rongguo's Manor, broke one arm of the Third Prince; the price was that his legs were crippled, rendering him a cripple, utterly cut off from an official career, and even marriage prospects became difficult.

I still remember her weeping as she leaned on her second brother's legs to apologize; he gently wiped her tears, then comforted her in turn: "Ningning, don't cry, don't blame yourself; it's Second Brother who failed to protect you—I only hate that I didn't kill that bastard back then."

Not long after, Shen Er swallowed gold and killed himself in his room.

To outsiders, Shen Er seemed good-for-nothing, yet he was the brother who loved and protected her most; his death is the pain in Shen Shuangning's heart.

Afterwards, Zhai Ji took advantage of the situation to ingratiate himself with the Duke Rongguo's Manor, proposing to marry Shen Shuangning as his wife.

Not to mention that everyone in the Duke's Manor knows what scheme Zhai Ji is hatching, knows he is not sincere, and Zhai Ji still has that peculiar habit—how could she possibly live in peace if she married into his family?

The Duke's Manor would rather offend the prince than ever hand over their beloved treasure to Zhai Ji to be defiled.

In her previous life, Zhai Ji pestered her for a while, frightening Shen Shuangning so she dared not go out, and the nightmares never ceased. Only after she married into the Prince Yan's Manor and became Xiao Jingyuan's consort did Zhai Ji disappear from her life.

One could say Zhai Ji is Shen Shuangning's nightmare; she despises him, fears him, and hates him to the core.

Two shadows arrived outside the door.

Shen Shuangning came to her senses, quickly snatched the tray used to hold the teacup from the table, then hid behind the carved screen beside the bed, and watched silently.

The door was pushed open from outside with a creak.

A tall figure walked in, his steps somewhat unsteady, reeking of strong alcohol.

"Third Master, please rest well; I'll take my leave first."

When the Third Prince is conducting business, he dislikes anyone eavesdropping; this person understood the rule, closed the door after him, and then left.

Shen Shuangning softened her breath, gazed through the screen at that person cautiously, and a flash of hatred crossed her peach-blossom eyes.

At that moment, Zhai Ji was unaware that there was a second person inside the room.

He still smelled of alcohol, rubbed his forehead, then walked to the bedside and began to undress.

Shen Shuangning silently approached Zhai Ji from behind and clenched the object in her hand.

With a bang—

she hurled it at the man's head.

However, this blow failed to knock Zhai Ji unconscious.

He twisted his body and seized her wrist in one grip; the viciousness in his eyes turned to greed the instant he saw her face, even curling into a dangerous smile.

"So they even prepared a surprise for me. What's your name?" he laughed, frivolous and flirtatious.

The alcohol numbed his sense of pain; right now he felt light as air, and unable to resist, he reached out to encircle her slender waist, pulling her into his embrace.

"Let go of me!"

Shen Shuangning struggled, even biting Zhai Ji's tiger's mouth with her upper teeth.

Zhai Ji winced in pain, loosened his grip, and his tone turned somewhat displeased.

"Now that you're here, why are you still pretending to be reserved? Didn't they teach you any manners?"

He did not realize that the "young master" before him was actually a young lady from the Rong Duke's Manor.

Shen Shuangning tried to flee, but he pressed her down on the bed with a few moves, intending to do something improper.

In the struggle, Shen Shuangning bent her knee and kicked, striking the man's lower body.

Zhai Ji cried out in pain, rolled over to one side, his body arching like a shrimp.

Half-sobered from the alcohol, anger surfaced on his handsome face.

Before he could react, Shen Shuangning struck again from the shadows.

"You......" Zhai Ji, furious, lifted his head and glared fixedly at Shen Shuangning's face.

"Impudent!"

Having said that, his head lolled to the side, his eyes closed—this time he truly passed out.

After confirming he had passed out, Shen Shuangning exhaled in relief, tossed the tray from her hand, and only then noticed her palms were slick with sweat, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst from her chest.

After all, the other party is a prince; under normal circumstances she would keep her distance, daring not to use any underhanded tactics against him.

Fortunately, she had disguised herself when leaving the manor, so Zhai Ji should not recognize her.

She thought, I must not implicate the Duke's Manor.

Having knocked Zhai Ji unconscious, Shen Shuangning rose from the bed, only to find her limbs weak and she collapsed back onto the mattress.

A nameless fire seemed to burn in her chest, her whole body felt hot, an improper desire welled up, and even her breathing grew ragged.

Her face changed!

She had actually been drugged in advance!

Shen Shuangning glared at Zhai Ji, grinding her teeth: "Truly despicable!"

Upon reflection, she actually couldn't recall the details of what happened in her past life; she only knew that her second brother arrived in time, Zhai Ji never truly succeeded, and now she understood this additional factor—no wonder her usually mild‑tempered second brother flew into a furious rage.

If her second brother learned now that Zhai Ji had drugged her, he would likely act just as he did in her past life, recklessly disregarding the consequences.

Things have come to this; further rumination is pointless.

Shen Shuangning bit her tongue until it bled, slightly cleared her head, and immediately left the room.

She did not know what awaited her beyond this door; she had no retreat left, only forward.

The night's chill made her a little clearer.

Fortunately, no one was guarding outside, and she slipped away smoothly.

But the biggest problem now is that Shen Shuangning doesn't know the way; how is she to return to the Duke's Manor?

This place still belongs to the Drunken Cloud Pavilion's territory, but its location is secluded, outsiders cannot set foot here, so all around is quiet and deserted.

But to avoid running into anyone associated with Zhai Ji, she still took a side path.

Shen Shuangning's sense of direction has always been good.

But now, having been drugged, her reason is like a kite with its string cut, her body weak and limp, her steps unsteady as if they cannot touch solid ground, and the distant scenery blurs into a vague haze.

Soon, her snow‑fair complexion flushed with two abnormal patches of red, as alluring as peach blossoms.

She could feel that she would not last much longer.

What should she do, what should she do?

Shen Shuangning staggered forward, unable to discern direction, a wave of despair welling up inside her.

Then, stumbling, she crashed into a man's embrace……

Under the moonlight, the drifting clouds faintly condensed, and the wind's sound ceased.

She hung her head helplessly, clutching the man's chest like a drowning person grasping at a straw, and before she could even cry out "save me," a hand with jade-like fingers seized her throat tightly.