Fragrant Isle Arc: Soul Transmigration to Another World — Chapter 2: Heartless and Ungrateful—Are You Feeling Put Upon?

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A sharp silver needle grazed Ye Qiaoqiao’s ear. She felt a surge of relief at having escaped death.

But when she raised her head again, her gaze had turned icy. “I kindly warned you, yet you repay my kindness with malice!”

Her thoughts seemed to return to the time she had read a man’s fortune. She had merely told him that he was destined to suffer a bloody calamity, and he had immediately held a knife to his own neck, telling her that the calamity would come true upon her instead—before killing her and sending her soul into another body.

“You were the one shouting first, causing me to misjudge the situation afterward. A mere maid, yet you dare act so recklessly before His Highness the Crown Prince.” Rising into the air with him through the use of light-footed martial arts was Shen Jianz
hou’s guard, Zuo Wenshan.

“The Crown Prince?” Ye Qiaoqiao seized upon the key words. She then looked at Shen Jianz hou and smiled coldly. “It’s not frightening when the powerful have no authority. What’s frightening is when a dog borrows the might of its master.”

“You!” Zuo Wenshan nearly spat blood at her words.

This was the first time anyone had dared call the Crown Prince of the Southern Li Kingdom—the master he had served all his life—a dog.

“What is it? Does being called heartless and ungrateful hurt your feelings?” Ye Qiaoqiao asked with a radiant smile.

Under the moonlight, the man’s gaze grew colder and colder. Ye Qiaoqiao noticed that although he was dressed entirely in white, wisps of black aura occasionally scattered from him, vanishing into the undulating mountain range.

She lifted her head toward the night sky. The Ziwei Star, which had once shone brilliantly, was now dim and lusterless.

Ye Qiaoqiao extended her five fingers, grimy with dirt, and calculated according to the date remembered by the original owner. Something was wrong. Today was the day the Ziwei Star presided over the heavens. By all rights, its radiance should have been at its strongest. How could it possibly have fallen and become trapped on earth?

Unless…

Ever since Hanxiang had heard the words “Crown Prince,” she had instinctively known that the two men were not people they could afford to provoke. Besides, the pair had nearly sent them straight to meet the King of Hell. She tugged at Ye Qiaoqiao’s clothes and whispered, “Miss, we can’t afford to offend them. Let’s sneak away.”

Shen Jianz hou raised a hand and made a gesture behind him. Zuo Wenshan silently withdrew.

He had come to Xiangzhou City because the astrologers had told him that the Taiyin Star would shine over Xiangzhou, and that a legendary woman would appear—one capable of helping him achieve the unification of the realm.

Yet the moment he arrived, he had encountered such a predicament.

How could it not infuriate him?

“Tell me. How would you like to die?” Shen Jianz hou asked impatiently as he looked at the two disheveled women.

More importantly, they now knew his identity. They could not be allowed to live.

Ye Qiaoqiao had always possessed an innate defiance toward imperial authority. She especially loathed those who stood high above others and casually held their lives and deaths in their hands. Thus, she merely smiled. “Do you really think that just because you’ve flown into the sky, you’ve become the sun? I’m still standing shoulder to shoulder with the earth! Just wait until the next full moon and see whether the backlash leaves your whole body in agony!”

Zuo Wenshan had already witnessed the woman’s vicious tongue. He wished he could send a single silver needle into her and seal her mouth shut.

Shen Jianz hou’s brows drew together slightly at her mockery. He snapped his fingers lightly and called, “Wenshan.”

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Without hesitation, Zuo Wenshan sent several silver needles flying like a rain of arrows. “Go to hell!”

He had initially been astonished that the woman knew of the pain that wracked his entire body during the full moon. But now that she seemed to possess some ability, he decided to use the needles to make her disappear from before their eyes for the time being.

If they met again, however, she would not be so lucky.

“You!” Ye Qiaoqiao cried in alarm as she looked at the two men hovering above a nearby mountaintop.

The instant the silver needles shot toward them, she seized Hanxiang’s hand without hesitation and leaped into the pit below, using it to evade the storm of needles.

Seeing the two noisy women vanish from sight, Shen Jianz hou ordered, “Let’s go.”

“Yes.” Zuo Wenshan followed respectfully behind him.

“Call me Young Master next time.” Shen Jianz hou’s eyes turned slightly cold. He did not want others to know his identity.

“Yes, Young Master!” Zuo Wenshan replied.

After jumping down, Ye Qiaoqiao could not help grumbling. When other people came to see her, they asked whether a twitching left eye meant they were about to get rich, or whether a twitching right eye meant disaster was approaching.

She, on the other hand, had truly jumped into a pit.

“Miss.” Hanxiang sobbed miserably.

“Come on. We’re going to deal with that scoundrel and that vile woman!” Ye Qiaoqiao declared with fighting spirit as she pulled Hanxiang upward.

The two of them used every ounce of strength they had before finally climbing out of the pit. The silver needles had all struck the spirit money. After some thought, Ye Qiaoqiao ordered Hanxiang, “Take all this spirit money with us.”

“All right, Miss.” Hanxiang did not ask why. She simply chose to obey.

From childhood to adulthood, she had always remained at her mistress’s side. Even after her mistress married a poor scholar and acquired property, Hanxiang continued to call her “Miss.”

There was only one reason: she had once believed that her mistress had truly married into happiness, only to discover later that she had married into ruin.

Hanxiang would rather continue serving her as her mistress forever.

After gathering their belongings, the two women made their way from the mountains into Xiangzhou City.

Relying on the original owner’s memories of the present world, Ye Qiaoqiao first assembled a group of hired fighters before returning to the Chen residence.

The Chen family estate had actually been a wedding gift from the original Ye Qiaoqiao’s parents, given to celebrate their daughter’s marriage. Although Ye Qiaoqiao’s father had opposed the match at first, he could not withstand her pleas and had reluctantly bestowed one of the residences under his name upon her.

Over the past three years, Ye Qiaoqiao had furnished the estate with countless possessions. Yet her long wait through three years of an empty marriage had ultimately been repaid with Chen Bailei bringing Xiang Linger into the household.

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He had also dismissed every trusted aide and servant who had once belonged to her.

That was why, when Hanxiang resisted, Xiang Linger’s people had been able to lock her in the latrine, leaving her no way to escape.

Since Ye Qiaoqiao intended to reclaim her property and punish the treacherous man and wicked woman, her first priority was to solve the shortage of manpower. Otherwise, striking a stone with an egg would only injure herself.

Using her knowledge from the modern world and the original owner’s memories, Ye Qiaoqiao calculated that the former servants had recently been struggling to afford food and clothing and had reached the point of near starvation.

She and Hanxiang went to the courtyard of Uncle Zhang, a former servant. The moment she opened her mouth, the answer was exactly as expected.

Uncle Zhang, a stout and honest-looking man, said, “The eldest young mistress never treated us poorly. Now that she is in trouble, we will follow her to the death.”

When the former servants saw Ye Qiaoqiao and heard Hanxiang recount what had happened—especially after seeing Ye Qiaoqiao covered in dust—they all echoed him.

“Yes. We will follow her to the death.”

They had had nowhere to go since Chen Bailei dismissed them.

Now that they had heard Ye Qiaoqiao was recruiting people to reclaim her debts, they were naturally delighted to help.

“Good. Once the matter is accomplished, I will divide half the money among all of you,” Ye Qiaoqiao promised at once as she looked at those willing to follow her.

Hanxiang’s face also blossomed with joy.

At last, they would no longer have to fight alone.

In the main courtyard of the Chen estate, Xiang Linger lounged in the sunlight, sipping hot tea. Looking at everything in the Chen household now under her control, she felt warm and content.

“Even if you are Ye Qiaoqiao, you will still have to submit beneath my feet,” Xiang Linger muttered with a cold snort.

By coincidence, Ye Qiaoqiao had just entered through the gate and heard her. She gave a soft laugh. “Don’t indulge in that dream for too long. It’s time to wake up.”

“Ah!” Hearing the newcomer’s voice, Xiang Linger instantly tumbled from her chair onto the ground, her face blanching in shock.

“What is it? Are you so frightened to see me?” Ye Qiaoqiao asked with a smile that held no warmth.

At the same time, Hanxiang carried all the spirit money back into the Chen estate.

“Bailei!” Xiang Linger screamed.