Chapter 4: Rebirth of the Good-for-Nothing (II)

Looking at her young mistress, who lay pale and breathless, Baihe felt her heart shatter. Having grown up together, their bond was as deep as that of blood kin.

"Mistress, wake up! If you die, how am I to go on living? Mistress—oh, please!" Overcome by grief, Baihe threw herself onto Zhao Erdong and wept bitterly.

"Pfft—cough, cough—cough, cough, cough—"

Jarred by the sudden impact, Zhao Erdong spat out a large mouthful of water and miraculously gasped back to life. Her eyes remained tightly shut as she coughed violently.

Baihe laughed and cried all at once, so ecstatic she didn't know what to say. Moments ago, she had been contemplating joining her mistress in death; thankfully, she hadn't acted on the impulse, or they truly would have been separated by the veil of death.

The surrounding crowd erupted into a buzz.

"Well, she’s alive again? She certainly has a tough life. I heard rumors that she survived a fall from the third-story pavilion of the Prime Minister’s residence, but I thought it was just gossip. It seems her life is indeed tenacious."

"Surviving a fall is nothing! I heard she once accidentally ate a poisonous fruit and foamed at the mouth for seven days straight, yet she still didn't die."

"That’s nothing either. I heard she once wandered into a duel between experts and collapsed on the spot, vomiting blood. Even the legendary Physician Xue said she was beyond saving, yet she recovered just the same."

"So, she really is cursed with a 'stubborn life'?"

"What good is a stubborn life? Her mother was nearly killed by her ill-fated presence, and perhaps..." The young lady did not finish her sentence, but everyone understood her meaning perfectly. Perhaps even her father, the Prime Minister himself, would eventually fall victim to her curse. Naturally, such things were better left unsaid, understood only in silence.

Zhao Erqin’s face twitched uncontrollably. Wasn’t she dead? She had been lifeless—no breath, no pulse. How could she have suddenly come back? No, this was impossible; it must be a dream.

Zhao Erqin pinched her maid, Cuihuan, hard. Cuihuan dared not cry out, her delicate face contorting in pain as she bit her lower lip to remain silent. Seeing Cuihuan’s reaction, Zhao Erqin realized the truth: the plan had failed. Or rather, the plan had failed once again.

"Too noisy! Everyone shut your mouths!" Zhao Erdong suddenly sat up from the ground. She rubbed her aching temples, her eyes snapping open—dark, cold, and filled with annoyance. "What are you squawking about? If you want to argue, go home and do it!"

She had actually been awake for some time. Every word spoken around her had reached her ears, and she had come to accept the reality: she had not died, but had instead been reborn into another world.

Was it mere coincidence or fate that she was still called Zhao Erdong in this new life?

Damn those wretched members of the Zhao clan branch who dared to plot her death. One day, if she ever found a way back, she would make them regret everything they had done today.

A stubborn life? A curse to her mother?

Who was lucky enough to face such endless misfortunes? Hmph! Whether it was bad luck or human treachery, from this day forward, no one would ever bully Zhao Erdong again.

The crowd was stunned by her sudden ferocity.

What? They had just been scolded by a good-for-nothing? And she dared to refer to herself as "this lady"? Had she grown a lion's heart and leopard's gall?

Although she was a young lady of the Prime Minister’s household, she was a talentless waste—someone who couldn't even enter the threshold of martial arts. She was no better than the lowest commoner on the street, yet she dared to berate them, the favored children of heaven?