Reborn: The Return of the Legitimate Wife

In her previous life, she was the principal wife of a Yanbei household, virtuous and generous, a model daughter-in-law whom everyone praised. But who knew she was deranged and obsessed, plotting to have her second uncle’s wives and concubines put to death, then smiling as she fed her husband the lethal medicine, spoonful by spoonful? At eighteen, in the bloom of youth, she became a widow. She served her second aunt as if she were her own mother and treated her late husband’s posthumous child as her own, managing everything so well that the older women of Yanbei envied her. Who could have known that resentment and twisted feelings filled her heart, that she had aborted her own child and slept with her second uncle? In the end, everyone wanted her dead. She was the wicked woman whose life was snuffed out beneath the spit of a furious crowd. A plot to switch husbands led to tragedy, making her kill with her own hands the only man in the world who had ever cherished her. She played right into the schemes of her smiling, worthless husband and her venomous aunt. Reborn, Gong Qinglan came to her senses and reflected on her past. She despised the foolish, wretched woman she had been! In this life, she would keep her eyes open, protect her husband, and live happily with him. But no matter how much she tried to avoid them, the demons from her past kept coming back. Her second aunt wore a kind smile but hid a serpent’s heart, feigning benevolence as she stole the family’s property and claimed she was “helping” her. Her second uncle was a wolf in human skin, ambitious and ruthless. He used her to climb the social ladder and gave her away as a gift. Her third younger sister acted like they were close, then turned on her without a second thought, plotting to kill her behind her back. She came to visit only to climb into her brother-in-law’s bed. If they gave her no way to live, she would cut off their escape routes. One by one, she would send those mongrels who coveted her husband’s life and fortune straight to the underworld! Then she could finally enjoy some peace and quiet. But many things had changed from the way they were before. Her husband, a gloomy, aloof invalid who rarely smiled, said, “Lan’er, Second Aunt sent over a few distant nieces today. They’ve taken up half our courtyard. I’m useless. I’ve left you to manage the household, and I can’t even keep our own courtyard clear.” “As long as you can keep yourself respectable, that’s all I ask.” Gong Qinglan’s fingers flew over the abacus, clicking away as she kept her eyes fixed on the accounts. “Plays always say that three women make a tiger. I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist. How about... I give my virtue to you instead, my lady?” “...”