When I was thirteen, the entire Zhao family was slaughtered, and my older half-sister and I fled in a panic. Along the way, the Prime Minister’s household recognized me, and I became the biological granddaughter of the empire’s chief minister. My sister, meanwhile, was taken in by a corpse collector. I rose from humble beginnings to become a phoenix, surrounded by untold riches and betrothed to the Ninth Prince, making me a member of the imperial family with a prestigious status. My sister could only eat meager meals and sleep in a cold, gloomy mortuary, spending her days either collecting or examining corpses. Her life was worse than death. On my wedding day, the Ninth Prince died on the spot. My sister and her master were summoned to examine the body. Seeing me in my phoenix crown and wedding robes, she sent me to my doom, claiming I was cursed to kill my husband. When I awoke again, I had returned to the day our household was confiscated. She left a long scar on my face, stole the identity of the Prime Minister’s legitimate granddaughter, and took the carriage back to his residence first.
“Such a fine family was always meant to be mine. With that dead face of yours, you belong among the dead!”
I smiled as I watched her leave. In this life, I could finally escape the living hell of the Prime Minister’s residence.
