Chapter 1: 001 Rebirth

 **Chapter 1: 001 Rebirth**  

November 3, 2020  

“Miss, have some pear soup.”  

The maidservant, Liu Li, lifted the curtain and entered with a bowl of steaming soup, speaking to the young girl by the window.  

Chu Qianchen sat silently by the window, seemingly oblivious.  

She was dressed in a lilac robe embroidered with branch and hibiscus patterns, paired with an inner shirt of white with cloud motifs and a pale green pleated skirt. The skirt's hem revealed embroidered shoes adorned with tassels.  

Golden sunlight streamed through the dense foliage outside the window, casting a warm glow on her porcelain-white face, making her skin appear smooth as jade, radiating a lustrous sheen.  

On the small square table beside the window sat a white porcelain fish tank with blue patterns. Black-and-red goldfish swam gracefully among the verdant water plants, rippling the water's surface.  

Chu Qianchen gazed at the tank, seemingly admiring the fish. In truth, she was using the water as a mirror to observe her reflection.  

The young girl in the water had thick, jet-black hair styled into two buns, adorned with bright red garnet hairpins.  

Her small oval face, with slightly upturned almond-shaped eyes, sparkled like a starry summer night, bright yet gentle.  

Her nose was straight and delicate, her rosy lips petal-soft. Even when pressed into a faint smile, her lips curved ever so subtly.  

This was her at thirteen—both familiar and unfamiliar.  

Instinctively, Chu Qianchen raised her right hand, her slender fingers gently brushing her cheek. The smooth and tender sensation felt like a dream.  

She hadn't seen this face in a long time.  

It was radiant yet demure, exquisite yet lively.  

Like wisteria in full bloom during spring—graceful but not overpowering.  

Now, she was in her prime, unlike in her previous life when her beauty was ruined beyond recognition.  

In her past life, her face had been utterly destroyed. Despite her remarkable healing abilities later, the adage still rang true:  

"A healer cannot heal herself."  

She had saved countless others but could never restore her own face.  

Recalling the events of her previous life, her gaze deepened, becoming dark and unfathomable.  

She never expected to be reborn.  

Reborn in her most beautiful years.  

Reborn before all the tragedies began...  

She had returned! Returned to the Chu family!  

Chu Qianchen's fingers slowly traced the corner of her right eye, down to where scars once marred her face.  

“Cough, cough...”  

A sudden itch in her throat made her cough lightly.  

Liu Li hurriedly set down the soup and gently patted Chu Qianchen's back. “Miss, are you alright?”  

Chu Qianchen gestured slightly with her hand, her voice hoarse. “I’m fine.”  

Looking at her young mistress’s now-gaunt face, Liu Li fumed, exclaiming, “Miss, Third Miss went too far!”  

“The marquis clearly intended to betroth you to His Highness the Second Prince, but Third Miss shamelessly inserted herself into His Highness’s circle and caused you to fall into the water. You've been sick for so long because of her!”  

“She must have deliberately pushed you into the water! She doesn’t respect you as her elder sister at all!”  

The anger on Liu Li's delicate face grew with each word.  

The marquis Liu Li referred to was Chu Qianchen’s father, Marquis Yongding, Chu Lingxiao.  

The Chu family had four branches. Marquis Yongding and Chu Lingyu of the second branch were the legitimate children of the marquis’s matriarch, Jiang Shi. The third and fourth branches consisted of the illegitimate sons, Chu Lingting and Chu Lingtao.  

For generations, the Chu family had served as warriors. From the first Marquis Yongding, Chu Yao, who fought alongside the founding emperor, to the present, their military achievements had upheld the family's glory for over a century.  

Chu Lingxiao's elder sister was an imperial concubine who bore the emperor’s second prince. Over the years, the emperor had shown unwavering favor toward Concubine Chu.  

Now fifteen, the second prince was nearing marriageable age. Concubine Chu, seeking to strengthen ties with her natal family, proposed selecting a suitable girl from the Chu family as the second prince’s concubine.  

As the second daughter of Marquis Yongding’s household and an illegitimate child, Chu Qianchen was the ideal candidate in terms of both age and status.  

However, the third daughter of the Chu family, who had been infatuated with the second prince from a young age, fiercely opposed the arrangement. During an altercation, Chu Qianchen was pushed into the water, resulting in a high fever that left her unconscious for an entire day and night.  

When Chu Qianchen opened her eyes again, she realized she had been reborn.  

From twenty-seven years old, she had returned to over a decade earlier, to the most radiant years of her youth.  

Chu Qianchen turned her head and met Liu Li’s eyes. Her beautiful phoenix-shaped eyes, dark and clear as water, shimmered.  

In a calm voice, Chu Qianchen said, “Liu Li, such matters are for Father to decide. Do not speak of them again in the future.”  

Liu Li raised her hand and lightly slapped her own mouth, quickly apologizing, “You’re right, Miss. It’s my clumsy tongue. I just feel wronged on your behalf. After all, His Highness the Second Prince clearly favors you...”  

She cut herself off, not daring to continue.  

To the reborn Chu Qianchen, the Second Prince was someone both familiar and distant. Memories of her past life flashed rapidly through her mind.  

More than ten years had passed!  

Indeed, everything had started with the Second Prince—or rather, with the struggle over the position of his concubine.  

Chu Qianchen’s gaze turned cold.  

She lowered her eyes halfway, concealing the chill in them, and elegantly resumed eating the pear soup.  

Liu Li twisted the handkerchief in her hands. Ever since her young mistress had woken up after falling into the water, she felt there was a subtle change about her.  

The young lady no longer played the qin she once loved. She often sat silently by the window for half a day, appearing to be lost in thought—or perhaps contemplating something deeply. At times, there was even a fleeting moment when Liu Li felt as though her mistress had become someone else entirely.  

What am I thinking? Liu Li shook her head and hesitated before saying, “Miss, when I went to the kitchen just now, I heard that His Highness the Second Prince is here. Third Miss has taken him to the garden.”  

“Would you like to go see them?”  

The exact same words, no different from her previous life.  

The spoon in Chu Qianchen’s hand paused mid-air. She looked at Liu Li again, her gaze profound.  

Her large phoenix eyes, with slightly upturned corners, framed by long, thick lashes, were strikingly beautiful.  

Her jet-black pupils gleamed like polished onyx—extraordinarily bright, extraordinarily clear.  

Even though Liu Li saw Chu Qianchen every day, she couldn’t help but marvel at her mistress’s exceptional beauty. Those eyes alone were enough to inspire envy.  

Liu Li lowered her gaze submissively, but a faint flicker of light flashed through her pupils.  

Chu Qianchen set down her spoon and elegantly dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief before standing up. “Liu Li, let’s go and take a look.”  

Hidden behind her handkerchief, the corners of her lips curled into a mocking and icy smile.  

In her previous life, she had gone.  

And then her face was ruined!  

The misfortunes of the latter half of her life had begun with the destruction of her face, leading her step by step into an abyss...  

For many years afterward, even after leaving the Chu family, she couldn’t let it go.  

She had always wondered—was that incident truly an accident, or was it a meticulously planned trap?  

She thought she would never get the answer, but unexpectedly, she was given another chance—another chance to uncover the truth herself!  

Of course, she had to go this time.  

 

*(End of chapter)*