Yuzhu was just like her name: fair as jade, with a figure as round and lovely as a pearl. In her previous life, she had a sickly mother and a younger brother preparing for the imperial examinations. As the eldest daughter, she shouldered the burden of supporting the family and spent her whole life as a canary kept in a cage.
The first time she became a canary, Yuzhu chose her cousin, Pei Xiuzhu. But the Pei family soon fell into decline, and her cousin, trying to save himself, sent her to the emperor's bedchamber. Yuzhu waited and waited, but the emperor never came. Instead, she received his corpse, and a cup of poisoned wine sent her to her death.
When she awoke, she had returned to the age of sixteen, just after arriving in Shengjing. Everything was yet to begin.
Before she could decide how to live this life, her family sat down to eat. Their eyes met, and they all thought the same thing: this was bad.
It turned out everyone had been reborn!
Her mother regretted not seizing her chance to become a canary, which had left her in dire straits later on. So this time, her mother wasted no time in choosing to become one.
Her younger brother regretted not taking the chance to attach himself to a powerful minister, which had left his career in the doldrums. So this time, he wasted no time in ingratiating himself with the powerful.
And her?
Yuzhu thought that since she had managed to live again, she might as well see if she could survive by relying on herself. She would never again be Pei Xiuzhu's canary.
Mountains may crumble, and people may run away. If she relied on herself... well, if she couldn't afford to eat, she could always write a book called The Art of Being a Canary.
In any case, things couldn't be worse than they were in her previous life.
**
Pei Xiuzhu was reborn at a time when the Pei family was still at its peak. As for his previous life, aside from setting Yuzhu up at the end, he could say he had a clear conscience. In this life, he wanted to change the Pei family's declining fortunes. As for Yuzhu, he hadn't given her much thought. His cousin would come crawling back to him on her own anyway.
But he waited and waited. Yuzhu never came. Instead, news arrived that Yuzhu was to marry the Duke of Zhenguo.
Pei Xiuzhu: ?
After being reborn, Yuzhu hated one sort of man above all: the kind who relied on their lofty status and acted as if the world revolved around them.
Unfortunately, Xiao Shu was exactly that sort of man. No matter how she looked at him, Yuzhu couldn't stand him.
Duke of Zhenguo Xiao Shu hated one sort of woman above all: the kind who clung to others like a parasitic vine, using her beauty to climb the social ladder.
Unfortunately, Yuzhu was exactly that sort of woman. No matter how he looked at her, Xiao Shu couldn't stand her.
But when the young woman looked at him with shimmering eyes, jade-like tears rolling down her fair cheeks as she confronted him, the parts of him that should have softened remained hard, while his normally cold expression softened instead.
Yuzhu taught him a lesson:
Don't judge people by their looks.
Theme: Never say women are not made for greatness
