[Both reborn | Good and evil reversed | Mutual salvation | No woman-on-woman rivalry | A lowborn woman saves herself | A cruel mistress transforms]
In her previous life.
Chen Jiarong was the lofty heir’s wife in the marquis’s household, radiant and aristocratic. As the youngest legitimate daughter of the marquis’s family, she had been born into boundless privilege and was accustomed to holding other people’s fates in her hands.
Her dowry maid, Ruxuan, was dutiful, meek, and humble. But when her striking, pitiful beauty caught the heir’s eye for a moment, she became a thorn in Chen Jiarong’s side.
Coldly turning a blind eye, Chen Jiarong let the servants torment Ruxuan in every way until they drove the meek girl to her death.
Ruxuan died with hatred in her heart. Chen Jiarong merely ordered her buried properly, without the slightest remorse. That splendid funeral even earned her a reputation for treating old servants kindly.
The world saw the mistress’s dignity, but not the maid’s anguish and injustice.
Given another life,
The submissive Ruxuan was dead and gone.
Having experienced a miserable death in the depths of humiliation, she came to her senses: meekly keeping her head down only meant letting others walk all over her.
At first, she had also foolishly dreamed of winning the heir’s favor. She longed to become his concubine and escape the mire by attaching herself to the powerful, desperately grasping at that illusory affection.
But Chen Jiarong, who held her contract of servitude, remained cold and callous. She saw through every one of Ruxuan’s schemes and could crush her like an ant with the flick of a finger.
Then Ruxuan discovered that love was an illusion and let go of her obsession with competing for favor.
She stopped trying to please the heir and stopped hoping for a benefactor’s pity. Instead, she asked Chen Jiarong to let her start a business. Through diligent planning and hard work, she saved up her share of the profits year after year, slowly building her savings and securing her freedom.
