“Slap!”
A crisp slapping sound suddenly rang out in the silent courtyard.
Xie Zhaofan felt a burning pain on half of her face. The force of the strike sent her staggering back two steps, nearly causing her to tumble back into the lake behind her.
She instinctively raised a hand to cover her face, her mind a total blank.
What was going on? Hadn't she just finished staying up late to revise a proposal and gone to sleep in her rented apartment?
Why did she wake up to a slap?
And... why were so many people surrounding her?
Xie Zhaofan slowly raised her head.
Before her was an ancient-style courtyard with bluestone paving, upturned eaves, and exquisite palace lanterns hanging under the corridors. It was crowded with maids and elderly servants dressed in period costumes.
The middle-aged man standing in front of her made her heart sink.
The man wore purple official robes. His face was majestic, and his brow carried the pressure of one who had long held a high position. At this moment, he was staring at her with irrepressible fury.
“Xie Zhaofan, have you lost your mind?”
The man’s voice was low, carrying an uncontrollable anger.
“She has only just returned to the manor, yet you've sought trouble with her time and again. Today, you even pushed her into the lake. Just what else do you want to do?”
Xie Zhaofan opened her mouth.
“I...”
She didn't even know who the man was.
But in that instant, a massive flood of memories suddenly surged into her mind without warning.
The Great Zhou Dynasty. The capital. The Prime Minister's residence.
Her current identity was the Second Young Miss of the Prime Minister’s residence.
Xie Zhaofan, fifteen years old.
The man before her was her titular father, the current Prime Minister, Xie Chongshan.
As for the richly dressed woman beside him with reddened eyes, she was her mother, Madam Shen.
Xie Zhaofan's breathing gradually quickened because those memories told her an even more absurd fact.
She wasn't the biological daughter of the Prime Minister’s residence. She was a fake!
Fifteen years ago, a baby girl was born in the residence. Because Madam Shen was weak from a difficult labor, a wet nurse had secretly swapped the infants.
From then on, the true legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s residence was lost among the commoners, while she had been raised as their biological daughter for fifteen years.
A little over a month ago, the true Eldest Young Miss, Xie Jinyi, was finally found and brought back.
To maintain the reputation of the Prime Minister’s residence, the family announced to the outside world that Xie Jinyi was a twin sister who had been physically weak since childhood and was raised elsewhere to recover.
But in reality... she was the fake daughter who had occupied another's place for fifteen years.
Xie Zhaofan felt a buzzing in her head. Had she transmigrated into a vicious female supporting character? And the kind who had already offended everyone right at the start?
Before she could digest this information, a soft voice came from the side.
“Father, please don't blame Sister anymore.”
Xie Zhaofan looked up and saw a young girl standing under the corridor.
She wore a moon-white long dress, her black hair cascading over her shoulders. Her skin was fair, and her features were almost impeccably refined.
Having just fallen into the water, her face was still somewhat pale, making her look all the more pitiful and moving.
Even without the original host's memories, Xie Zhaofan would have recognized her.
Xie Jinyi! The true Eldest Young Miss of the Prime Minister’s residence.
She was also the person the original host had been most jealous of and targeted since her return.
“Sister just...”
Xie Jinyi bit her lip gently and said softly, “She's just feeling a bit troubled and couldn't control her emotions for a moment. I'm sure she didn't truly mean to harm me.”
The words were gentle and considerate, but they made Xie Zhaofan’s scalp tingle.
From the original host’s memories, she knew that Xie Jinyi wasn't lying. She truly thought that way. Although the original host's previous actions had wronged Xie Jinyi, the latter had never truly retaliated. Even every time a conflict occurred, she was the one who proactively yielded. Yet, it was precisely such a person that drove the original host into a state of increasing madness.
Because everyone was praising her. Her father praised her for being sensible, her mother praised her for being gentle, her elder brother praised her for being tranquil, and her grandmother praised her for being filial. The maids and servants in the manor praised her for not having the arrogant air of a lady. Even the noble young ladies of the capital praised this true daughter of the Prime Minister’s residence for being both talented and beautiful, with a gentle temperament.
And the original host? Only two words remained for her—vicious.
Xie Zhaofan suddenly understood why the original host had reached this point. Facing such a perfect opponent, her loss wasn't unfair at all.
“Father, I really didn't mean to push her.”
Xie Zhaofan took a deep breath, trying to explain and clear her name. She hadn't actually pushed the girl, and she couldn't accept this unjust blame.
But as soon as she spoke, Xie Chongshan coldly interrupted her.
“Enough! You’re still making excuses even now?”
Xie Zhaofan’s heart sank. Only then did she notice that besides the two sisters, there were several maids and servants by the lake.
One of the maids immediately knelt down and said in a trembling voice, “Lord Duke, this servant saw with her own eyes the Second Young Miss reaching out to push the Eldest Young Miss, which caused her to fall into the lake.”
“I didn't!”
Xie Zhaofan instinctively retorted, but as soon as the words left her mouth, a scene of the original host arguing with Xie Jinyi flashed in her mind.
The original host had indeed reached out. It seemed she really had wanted to deal with this true daughter once and for all, though her methods were rather foolish.
She couldn't help but complain internally. “Sister, if you're going to strike, why not use your brain? Can someone actually drown in such a shallow artificial lake?”
Now, even explaining was difficult. Xie Chongshan's expression grew increasingly grim.
“Jinyi has only been back for half a month, yet how many absurd things have you done?”
“Ruining her dresses, breaking her jewelry, intentionally embarrassing her at the Old Madam’s birthday banquet, and now pushing her into the water.”
“Xie Zhaofan, just when are you going to stop making such a scene?”
Listening to these words, Xie Zhaofan felt her chest becoming increasingly stifled.
She really wanted to tell them that she hadn't done those things, that she was just a corporate workhorse who had just transmigrated. But who would believe her? In everyone's eyes, she was the vicious fake daughter who had enjoyed wealth and honor for fifteen years and was now jealous of the true daughter's return.
“Mother...”
Xie Zhaofan turned to look at Madam Shen.
For some reason, she instinctively wanted to get some help from this mother who had always doted on the original host, even if it was just a single word in her defense.
But Madam Shen avoided her gaze.
“Zhaofan.”
The woman’s voice was very soft.
“You truly went too far this time. Apologize in front of your father and promise that you will never do such things again.”
Xie Zhaofan naturally couldn't empathize with the original host's tragic emotions, but she wasn't about to admit to a mistake she didn't commit so easily. She was just thinking of how to deal with the predicament before her.
Just then, an announcement suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.
“The Heir of the Ningyuan Marquisate has arrived!”
Xie Zhaofan looked up. Soon, a young man in a brocade robe walked in.
He was handsome and had a noble temperament. This was the original host’s fiancé since childhood—Pei Shaohuai, the Heir of the Ningyuan Marquisate.
Xie Zhaofan could already guess that this man's arrival today would definitely not be for anything good.
Sure enough, Pei Shaohuai first glanced at Xie Jinyi to ensure she was fine, then walked over to Xie Chongshan.
“Greetings, Lord Duke! This junior came today to discuss something with you.”
Xie Chongshan glanced at him.
“Please speak, Heir.”
Pei Shaohuai was silent for a moment.
“Regarding my engagement with the Second Young Miss...”
Xie Zhaofan suddenly felt like laughing. As expected, he was here to break the engagement.
She wasn't a love-brain like the original host, so she wasn't angry. Instead, she had the sense of watching a melodramatic drama unfold live.
Rate on N.U.
