Chapter 1: Carrying a Blade to the Door

Summer is at its peak, and the scorching heat is overhead.

Outside Jindu City, a young man in white robes and a golden crown stands tall, a look of slight impatience on his handsome, jade-like face.

"Cheng Xi, you have no talent as a Talisman Master; the next matriarch of the State Duke Mansion cannot be a good-for-nothing."

"The marriage contract between the State Duke Mansion and the Cheng Family will not change, it is simply being transferred from you to Feng Lan; this is also the final shred of dignity I can offer you."

"You had best be sensible and not spout nonsense outside, ruining Feng Lan's reputation."

Cheng Xi is squatting before a crude grave, burning paper; the firelight illuminates half her face, and upon hearing this, her lips curl into a mocking sneer, "Having an affair with your fiancée's stepsister, and to cover up your illicit deeds, you swap the bride but keep the marriage—what a brilliant idea!"

Jiang Weiran's expression falters at these words, and he immediately sneers, "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being useless!"

Cheng Xi's hand, busy burning the paper, pauses; the flames instantly climb up her sleeve and scorch her palm.

She clenches her five fingers, and the flames extinguish silently in her palm.

Cheng Xi looks up at Jiang Weiran; he is jade-like and elegant, handsome and tall, carrying the vibrant vitality unique to a youth and the arrogance cultivated by a prestigious family.

It was precisely because he came to break off the engagement yesterday that the original owner was angered to death, and then she transmigrated here.

Jiang Weiran pulls an envelope from his chest, "This is the marriage contract of the two families; since we are breaking off the engagement, return the token the Jiang Family gave you, and we shall be even."

Cheng Xi tosses the marriage contract casually into the brazier, where it is instantly swallowed by tongues of fire and turned to ash; she then unfastens the jade pendant from her waist and throws it over.

Seeing that Cheng Xi threw the marriage contract into the brazier to burn without even looking at it, Jiang Weiran's expression turns ugly at once. He grips the jade pendant she threw tightly, feeling suddenly uneasy.

He was unhappy that she wouldn't break off the engagement, but now that she has done so with such alacrity, he is even more unhappy.

With a dark face, he says sarcastically, "Cheng Xi, don't be too sad; just find an ordinary person to marry in the future and live a quiet, contented life."

The last flicker of flame in the brazier dies out, and Cheng Xi slowly stands up.

"The marriage, I agree to break it off; the marriage contract is burned, and the token is returned."

Jiang Weiran looks at Cheng Xi's gradually chilling face; for some reason, a trace of fear surges in his heart, and he subconsciously takes a step back, yet he still blusters, "Consider yourself sensible."

"There is one thing you haven't returned to me."

Hearing Cheng Xi's words, Jiang Weiran looks blank, "What thing?"

No sooner have Jiang Weiran's words fallen than he feels a flash of silver light before his eyes; he watches in horror as his left arm falls to the ground, and a scream follows, "Cheng Xi... I will kill you..."

Cheng Xi pays no heed to his screams and curses; she grabs Jiang Weiran with one hand and throws him before Du Shi's grave.

"Do you remember why the two families set up this marriage in the first place?" Cheng Xi asks, stepping on Jiang Weiran's back.

Jiang Weiran is sprawled on his knees before Du Shi's grave, and his face turns deathly pale upon hearing this.

"Because my mother saved your life, and the Jiang Family set up this marriage between you and me to repay the debt of gratitude."

"Since you want to dissolve the engagement, then let's dissolve it completely; return your life to my mother, and only then will we be truly even."

Jiang Weiran struggles violently, "Cheng Xi, are you crazy? If you dare to kill me, the Jiang Family will not let you off!"

Cheng Xi sneers, "All that talk about me having no talent as a Talisman Master—it was nothing more than you and Cheng Fenglan having an affair and colluding in lechery."

Jiang Weiran is in pain and terror, trembling all over as he curls into a ball; hearing this, he shakes even more violently.

"Tell me, if you become a cripple, will Cheng Fenglan still want you?"

Jiang Weiran is convulsing with pain; Cheng Xi is mad. He begs with a pale face, "Let me go, I will give you whatever you want, I won't break off the engagement, I won't!"

"Not breaking it off?" Cheng Xi kicks Jiang Weiran over like a turtle on its back, "That won't do; how could a cripple like you be worthy of me?"

Jiang Weiran vomits a mouthful of blood.

Cheng Xi sheathes her Long Blade, "Killing you here would dirty my mother's grave. Taking an arm from you settles our score."

She wants to see if Cheng Fenglan will still be deeply devoted to Jiang Weiran once he is a one-armed cripple.

Killing him with one stroke would be letting him off too easily; she wants him to taste the bitterness of being betrayed and abandoned—the pain of the original owner must be repaid ten, a hundred times over.

Cheng Xi leaves Jiang Weiran behind and returns to the city, carrying her blade.

Cheng Zhouxing has just been promoted to Minister of Personnel, and Cheng Fu is located in the most prosperous and wealthy area of Jindu.

The eaves are upturned and the architecture is magnificent and imposing.

When she walks into the main hall, the Cheng Family is eating breakfast, and the atmosphere in the room freezes instantly.

Everyone in the room looks at her, their gazes varied, carrying undisguised malice in their shifting expressions.

Lady Tai, sitting at the head of the table, speaks first, saying coldly, "Since you have returned, you must behave yourself; your father and mother have also been worried about you."

"My mother was long ago driven to her death by you people; where would I have a mother? Oh, are you talking about that Li Shi who had an affair with my father long ago and gave birth to a child just half a year after they married? She is hardly worthy!"

The expressions of everyone in the room are quite spectacular; Cheng Fenglan is the first to lose control, standing up abruptly, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Cheng Xi raises her eyes to look at Cheng Fenglan, "Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the son of a rat will dig holes; your mother had an affair with my father, and you collude with Jiang Weiran—you are truly mother and daughter."

Li Shi's facade instantly crumbles, "I see you have gone mad because the Jiang Family broke off the engagement, spouting nothing but gibberish."

"Someone, drag her to the ancestral hall to reflect properly! No one is to let her out without my permission!" Lady Tai shouts, her face livid with rage.

Cheng Xi's Long Blade leaves its sheath instantly, and the massive dining table is split in two!

The room falls into silence!

"Someone, go quickly and invite the master and the eldest young master!" Lady Tai shouts, her body trembling, "You wicked creature, I should have strangled you when you were born, to avoid staining the reputation of my Cheng Family."

"What reputation does your Cheng Family have? Oh, that's right, although Cheng Zhouxing was a minor official back then, it did count as an official position; a minor official's reputation, what a glorious sight indeed."

Cheng Fenglan shouts in a rage, her face livid, "Cheng Xi, how long are you going to keep acting like this? Father is now a Minister; he walked his own path step by step!"

"Without my mother's dowry to pave the way, where would he find such glory today? If you hadn't seduced Jiang Weiran, why would he have broken off the engagement with me? When it comes to ingratitude, you are all cut from the same cloth."

"Cheng Xi, I will tear your mouth apart!" Cheng Fenglan prides herself on her status and has always acted with decorum, but today she is truly driven out of her mind by Cheng Xi's sharp tongue, throwing all rules and etiquette to the wind!

Cheng Xi kicks the clawing and screeching Cheng Fenglan to the ground, "Is this the skill of someone with talent as a Talisman Master? It doesn't seem like much."

"What do you know? A Talisman Master is not some vulgar person who fights with others!" Li Shi says, heart-stricken as she helps her daughter up; she should have killed Cheng Xi years ago to avoid this nuisance today! "A good-for-nothing like you, who lacks talent, naturally wouldn't understand."

"A good-for-nothing?" Cheng Xi flicks the tip of her blade and rests it against Li Shi's neck.

"Wicked girl! Stop! What are you doing?" Cheng Zhouxing walks in with hurried steps and a face full of rage, accompanied by Cheng Yunjian.