Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Reborn on My Wedding Night, Sent to the Wrong Bridal Chamber “Bride and groom, bow to each other. Escort them to the bridal chambers!” Amid the deafening cheers and laughter, Fang Yao was pushed and shoved into the bridal room. As everyone hurried outside to drink and celebrate, the door closed behind them, and the noise from the courtyard finally became less grating. Fang Yao steadied herself against the bed curtains. Her body swayed a few times. Through the red veil covering her head, she lowered her eyes to the red jacket she was wearing and touched her flat, empty belly. That confirmed it. She had been reborn in 1982, on the very day she was supposed to marry Xu Manjiang! “Heh… hehe…” The hatred filling her chest made her let out a bitter, almost crazed laugh. In her previous life, she married Xu Manjiang but remained unable to conceive for a long time. His family was convinced that something was wrong with her body. They forced her to take medicine and tried all sorts of folk remedies, tormenting her for five whole years. Finally, she became pregnant. But when she was nearing her due date, she discovered that Xu Manjiang was having an affair with his cousin’s wife, Li Xuemiao—and that Li Xuemiao was pregnant too. Only then did Fang Yao learn the truth. Her five years of infertility had all been caused by Li Xuemiao secretly putting contraceptive drugs into her food! The reason was that Li Xuemiao’s husband, the man she had once loved, had been injured during a mission and permanently disabled in both legs. Li Xuemiao despised him and couldn’t stand living a lonely life, so she secretly began an affair with Xu Manjiang. She even wanted him to divorce his wife so she could take Fang Yao’s place! And Xu Manjiang was even more shameless. While he deceived Fang Yao into taking care of and supporting his parents, he also planned to have Li Xuemiao’s child call his disabled cousin “Dad,” allowing him to openly seize his cousin’s property! After learning the truth, Fang Yao stormed into their room to confront the adulterous couple, intending to expose them. She never expected Xu Manjiang, after being incited by Li Xuemiao, to beat her mercilessly for the sake of the so-called “son” in Li Xuemiao’s belly. The beating caused her to suffer a difficult labor and eventually die from massive blood loss. Thankfully, heaven had not abandoned her. She had been given another chance at life! Fang Yao clenched her fingers so tightly that her nails dug into her palms until they bled. Then the bridal room door opened. In that instant, her breathing stopped and her blood seemed to freeze. A pair of steady, powerful footsteps approached her. Fang Yao immediately sensed that something was wrong. Xu Manjiang loved smoking and drinking. He always carried the heavy smell of tobacco and alcohol on him. But the man walking toward her carried a completely different, clean and refreshing scent. Even his footsteps were unmistakably different. She immediately realized— This wasn’t Xu Manjiang! Fang Yao pulled off her veil without hesitation. Their eyes met. The man had a pair of cold, stern eyes. Xu Qingzhou was dressed in a brand-new grass-green military uniform. The medals on his chest glittered brightly. Against the large red wedding flower, they added a hint of celebration to his handsome, rugged features. Yet his jaw remained tightly clenched, and surprise flashed across his slightly raised eyes. “You?” “Why are you here?” Fang Yao and Xu Qingzhou spoke almost simultaneously. Only after looking around at the unfamiliar furnishings did Fang Yao realize what had happened. The four of them had completed the wedding ceremony together, but the brides had been sent to the wrong bridal chambers! “It seems the bride was sent to the wrong room. I’ll go tell them in the front courtyard.” Xu Qingzhou looked at the “younger sister-in-law” standing in his bridal room. His handsome face flushed awkwardly. He immediately turned around, opened the door, and walked out. Fang Yao didn’t follow him. Instead, she began thinking. She was supposed to marry Xu Manjiang today, so why had she been sent to Xu Qingzhou’s room? She remembered that when she entered the main gate, Li Xuemiao had deliberately shoved her. Then Fang Yao looked down at the red veil in her hand—the one that clearly did not belong to her. A bold guess surfaced in her mind. Li Xuemiao had been reborn too! Because she knew Xu Qingzhou would soon be injured and become disabled, she had deliberately switched the bridal chambers with Fang Yao so that she could marry Xu Manjiang instead! Xu Qingzhou’s mother, Wang Hua, hurried into the room after learning that the bride had been sent to the wrong bridal chamber. She was so anxious that she tripped over the threshold and fell hard onto the ground. “Auntie! Are you alright?” Fang Yao quickly helped her up. Wang Hua grabbed Fang Yao’s arm and patted her hand anxiously. “I’m fine. Hurry! Qingzhou has gone to the front courtyard. You should go too. We need to switch you and Xuemiao back as soon as possible.” The two cousins getting married on the same day should have been a double celebration. But now the brides had been sent to the wrong bridal chambers. If word got out, wouldn’t the whole family become a laughingstock? Fang Yao knew Wang Hua was anxious. But she knew better than anyone that Li Xuemiao had deliberately arranged this mistake to make the marriage swap permanent. Even if she went over now, it would already be too late. She firmly supported Wang Hua. “Auntie, your leg is badly hurt. Let me help you over there. No matter how urgent it is, we won’t lose anything by taking a little more time.” “Alright. Then let’s hurry.” Wang Hua had taken quite a hard fall. She limped as she walked, and Fang Yao could feel the cold sweat covering her hand. When Fang Yao and Wang Hua arrived at the front courtyard, they saw Xu Qingzhou standing there with an icy expression. Xu Manjiang, meanwhile, had been dragged out of bed by Wang Cuilian. His clothes were disheveled, and the strong smell of alcohol clung to him. Wang Cuilian shoved him repeatedly. “You drank yourself stupid and couldn’t even recognize your own bride! What the hell did you do?” Xu Manjiang met Xu Qingzhou’s cold, intimidating gaze and guiltily pursed his lips. “Good grief! Today is my wedding day. If I don’t do anything on my wedding night, am I even a man?” Xu Qingzhou heard Li Xuemiao sobbing from inside the room. His fists tightened. Just as he was about to make a move, an even sharper voice filled with intense hatred rang out from behind him. “Xu Manjiang, you bastard!” Fang Yao rushed in front of Xu Manjiang. Looking at his face brought back memories of his cruelty and hypocrisy. She raised her hand and struck him across the face with all her strength! **Slap!** Her arm went numb from the impact, and her palm stung as though countless needles were pricking it. But with her enemy standing right in front of her, she couldn’t care about anything else. She only wanted to release the hatred that had been buried in her heart. Before anyone could react, she raised her other hand. **Slap!** **Slap! Slap! Slap!** Fang Yao struck him from both sides, beating a grown man like Xu Manjiang until he could only cover his head and stumble around desperately. Everyone else in the courtyard was frightened by her furious, almost reckless attack. They stood frozen in place, completely stunned. Finally, Wang Cuilian rushed over and grabbed her. “Fang Yao, it’s already happened! Even if you beat Manjiang to death today, it won’t change anything!” Fang Yao was completely blinded by rage. If Wang Cuilian hadn’t stopped her, she would have killed Xu Manjiang herself! Even so, she managed to land two more slaps while Wang Cuilian struggled to pull her away. Only then did she stop, breathing heavily. Because of the commotion at the Xu family home, guests who had not yet left after the wedding feast, along with neighbors from nearby houses, gathered around. People crowded the courtyard and even stood along the walls outside the gate. While pointing and laughing at the spectacle, they also teased that the new bride from the Fang family was far too fierce. Old Madam Xu, who had always cared deeply about the family’s reputation, was furious and humiliated. She slammed her cane against the ground and ordered everyone to go to her room. Then she had the main gate shut. Before long, the entire Xu family had gathered in the old lady’s room. That included Li Xuemiao, who had already slept with Xu Manjiang. She had put her clothes back on and was brought over by Wang Hua. Wang Hua was already displeased with her. As soon as she brought Li Xuemiao into the room, she released her arm and stood beside Xu Qingzhou with an icy expression. Xu Manjiang stood together with his parents. Fang Yao and Li Xuemiao, the two new brides, stood in the middle of the room. “You Xu family are all a bunch of fools! You actually managed to send the brides to the wrong bridal chambers! You ruined the purity of a perfectly good unmarried woman like me. I don’t want to live anymore!” After deliberately switching the bridal chambers herself, Li Xuemiao shamelessly played the victim. She turned toward a pillar and slammed herself against it.