What's it like to transmigrate and become the crown prince of the current dynasty?
As the sign-in System described her new identity, Li Zhaoxi thought she was about to start a wonderful new life. No more miserable days of working overtime, then working some more!
Then she opened her eyes to find herself soaking wet by a small river. Her new life came with a thatched hut, a revoked position as crown prince, and a wife.
Li Zhaoxi froze. Wait, I have a wife too?!
The original owner was the former crown prince, deposed for treason. On the way to exile, a mysterious person rescued her and entrusted her to another mute woman they'd saved, leaving behind a large sum of money before hurrying away.
Though the original owner survived, the failure of her rebellion left her utterly defeated.
Having grown accustomed to luxury, she couldn't adapt to life as a commoner. She spent her money on drinking and gambling, and repeatedly took her anger out on Chen Shan, sometimes cursing her and sometimes beating her, abusing her without restraint. Chen Shan was terrified of her, but wanted to repay her for saving her, so she forced herself to keep caring for her.
At last, one day, the original owner drunkenly slipped into the water and died.
Li Zhaoxi: Good riddance!
System: Haha, Host, in Chen Shan's eyes, you're the original owner now.
Li Zhaoxi: ?
The sign-in System gave transmigrated Li Zhaoxi two instructions:
One: Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west! Take back everything that belongs to you!
Two: Take good care of your wife!
Li Zhaoxi was full of questions. Rebel? Me?
She decided to give up and do nothing. Whoever wanted to rebel could go ahead. It had nothing to do with her. How was she supposed to take everything back, with the power of her mind?
But then she saw Chen Shan, who couldn't speak and was bullied for it, whose body was covered in injuries from odd jobs. Chen Shan was huddled in the corner of the room, trying to avoid her, silently applying herbal medicine to herself and drinking cold water to stave off hunger. Li Zhaoxi gritted her teeth and chose to check in for the first time.
So what if it meant rebellion? Let's rebel!
System: Ding! Congratulations, Host, you've successfully checked in. You've received two heads of Chinese cabbage!
Li Zhaoxi carried the cabbages over to Chen Shan. Wife, I'll give you a good life!
Chen Shan had no idea why the violent woman she'd always known had suddenly changed.
The woman who didn't even know how to hold a hoe had started working in the fields. If Chen Shan did a little too much, she would stop her and tell her to rest. When Chen Shan was bullied, she would fight back with every ounce of strength she had, until the other person fell to their knees begging for mercy.
Their life gradually improved. Before long, they had slowly saved up some money, and their love had gathered like streams flowing into a river.
Chen Shan had thought they would go on supporting each other like this for the rest of their lives, living out their quiet little life together.
But then, one day, Li Zhaoxi announced that she was leaving. Before she went, she gave Chen Shan all their money, house deeds, and land deeds, telling her to find a better home for herself. She was going to join the rebel army.
Chen Shan clung tightly to her. Li Zhaoxi looked back in silence at her tearful wife, who was still frantically signing the sign language Li Zhaoxi had taught her:
"Don't leave me... Aren't I your accomplice?"
Theme: Where there is oppression, there will be resistance.
