Reborn: The Poisonous Woman Returns

[Taking down scum + household battles + power plays + adorable child + strong heroine + cunning hero, a devoted one-on-one healing romance] Before she was reborn, Xia Mu was the legendary Left Chancellor of Western Qin, and the first woman ever to hold the post. She wielded immense power and stood proudly at court. With one hand, she overturned fate; with the other, she restored order to the world. In three years, she took the ailing Fourth Prince Gu Qian, whom no one believed in, and raised him to the position of Crown Prince, stunning the world. On the day he was invested as Crown Prince, Gu Qian asked the emperor, in front of everyone, to marry him to Jing Wanbai, the Third Miss born to the Right Chancellor’s second wife. Xia Mu had waited years for Gu Qian and never married. Now, under everyone’s gaze, she became a laughingstock. Then Gu Qian joined forces with the Right Chancellor and produced a mountain of evidence that Xia Mu had plotted treason, sending her straight to hell. In the end, the brilliant and cunning Xia Mu saw her entire family executed, their property confiscated, and their bodies mutilated. After borrowing another person’s body to return to life, Xia Mu was reborn as Jing Se, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Right Chancellor’s household, who had given birth to a child outside marriage. Because the original Jing Se was frail, her father sent her to Wangyou Valley to recuperate when she was little. On her way home, her stepmother framed her for having an affair, leaving her pregnant. In his fury, the Right Chancellor sent her to a country estate to fend for herself. When Xia Mu woke, she saw the five-year-old boy before her. His features were finely sculpted, but years of malnutrition had left him sallow and gaunt. She swore she would get back everything he had been denied! * In this new life, Jing Se’s greatest wish was to take down the scum, exact revenge, and earn enough to raise her son. Instead, she accidentally picked up an ethereal, “dim-witted” apprentice who followed her around all day calling her Master. Everyone said Jing Se had struck gold by picking up such a handsome man from a distinguished family, a powerful backer who would keep her well-fed and worry-free for life. “Pah!” Jing Se gritted her teeth in frustration. The world only knew that this ethereal beauty was gorgeous and a little slow-witted. They didn’t know that the moment he realized he was the child’s father, he stopped acting foolish, sprang into action, and took charge. Cunning and domineering, he was like a ravenous wolf that could never be satisfied. He tipped up Jing Se’s chin and smiled with warm tenderness as desire smoldered in his eyes. “Be good. Once my teacher, my wife for life.” [Scene One] On a snowy winter day at the execution ground, Jing Se nestled in the arms of a certain ethereal beauty. Her phoenix eyes narrowed as she looked at the man barely clinging to life on the platform. Her red lips curved into a radiant smile. “Your Highness, Crown Prince, do you remember Xia Mu, the female chancellor who once wielded power over the court, was peerlessly cunning and never made a miscalculation, helping you ascend step by step to the Eastern Palace, only for you to repay her with such treachery and send her to her death with your own hands? Heaven has been kind. I borrowed another person’s body and lived again. I climbed higher step by step on your back, and at last I’ve had my revenge. How does it feel to have your arms chopped off, your eyes fried in oil, and your kneecaps removed? Is it even more satisfying than watching Xia Mu be executed with your own eyes?” [Scene Two] After a certain ethereal beauty successfully lured Jing Se into his residence. One day, her mother-in-law came to find her. “A Se, all the young noblemen in the capital are waiting outside for Jingzhi to go horseback riding. Go hurry him along.” Jing Se said despondently, “I already did.” Her mother-in-law asked, “And?” Jing Se replied solemnly, “He said horseback riding is childish and doesn’t suit his aloof image, so he’s not going.” Her mother-in-law pressed on. “Then what’s he doing?” Jing Se answered with a straight face, “Playing in the mud with Xiaobao.”