The Rebirth of an Orphan

The Sun Family in Yuncheng County, China

Zhao Xihua was lying on a damp and musty wooden bed. She tried hard to move her stiff body, but she couldn't move at all. The long-term severe pain had made her body numb. Now she didn't even have the strength to speak. She couldn't eat anything for many days, and she didn't even have the strength to swallow water. Her eyes became more and more blurry.

Three years ago, she married into the Sun family, the largest wealthy family in Yuncheng County, with a grand ceremony despite the reputation of being a doomed orphan. She had the wedding alone in a hotel. When she returned to the bridal chamber after the wedding, she saw that the person she was going to spend the bridal chamber with was a silent and lifeless vegetable lying on the bed.

She was married to the eldest son of the Sun family by the eldest branch of the Zhao family who adopted her. When they got married, the eldest son could still sleep quietly in his bed, but he died not long after entering the house.

After the eldest master passed away, the Sun family placed her under house arrest in a deserted basement. Although she was still called the eldest lady, her life was actually worse than that of the dog raised by the second lady of the Sun family.

For three whole years, she suffered in despair, staying in this dark basement every day. It was so hot in the summer that it was hard to breathe, and in the winter it was so cold that she felt like being trapped in an ice cellar. She could not get any sunlight or fresh air. When she opened her eyes, she saw the black ceiling and the dirty black thing that scurried around and made a squeaking sound.

"I just left for a while and you guys went to slack off? Where's the medicine for the eldest young lady? Where did you throw it away?"

It was Pingshui's voice. She was the maid she brought from her mother's home specifically to take care of her. In the past few years in the Sun family, she was the only one who took care of her sincerely. At this time, in the stairwell outside the basement, she started quarreling with the Sun family's maid again.

"Tsk, why are you so arrogant? She's going to die anyway. It's better to let her lie there and waste money for charity."

"Get out! Get out! Get out! You bastards, you guys look down on others. You don't have to worry about this place. Get away from here, you bastards!"

"Pingshui, why are you so fierce? Sooner or later, the Sun family will belong to the Second Young Master. When the First Young Madam died, she didn't leave any sons or daughters. All the family property will be inherited by the Second Young Master. When the time comes, he will pack you up and throw you out. You will cry one day."

"That's right, that's right. This sick girl is really unlucky. Let's ignore her and go watch the fun."

"Today is the day when the eldest daughter of the Zhao family is getting married. I heard that she is marrying the head of the Mo family, one of the four major families in Kyoto. The whole county is celebrating for them. The wedding is going to be grand."

"Yeah, who would have thought that the youngest son of the Mo family would become the head of the family one day? Before..."

"Sh ...

The sound of footsteps on the stairs faded away.

The wooden bed that Zhao Xi had drawn creaked and suddenly sank. Pingshui lay beside her bed and burst into tears.

"Sister, why is your life so miserable? Everyone in the Sun family hopes you die. Even though you are so sick, they still won't let you go. Not only do they not send you to the hospital for treatment, they even stopped giving you medicine. Sister, what do you think I should do?"

Pingshui is Zhao Xihua's only playmate since childhood. She is not only a maid but also a sister who is as close as siblings, so they usually call each other sisters.

The only thing she couldn't let go of now was this close friend who was as close as a sister. Listening to her heart-wrenching cry, her cracked lips opened and closed, but no sound came out. So she tried her best to raise her hand to put it on her and comfort her.

But her head was dizzy, and the handsome and elegant face of the young master of the Mo family kept flashing in her mind.

At that time, he was being chased by bad guys and almost died, but she happened to meet him and saved him inadvertently.

He gave her the necklace he had worn around his neck since childhood, with curved eyebrows and deep eyes.

"Sister, one day I will marry you to repay you for saving my life today."

Zhao Xihua looked at her arms that she couldn't lift, her palms felt empty. The necklace had been taken away by her elder sister, and she was left with nothing. She was powerless to get it back.

Zhao Xihua now just wanted to die early and end this endless torture. The breath he had been holding on to was finally exhausted at this moment. His whole body was too weak to move. He could no longer hear or see. There was only darkness in front of his eyes.

Before he died, he was in a trance. In the distance, he heard the sound of Yuncheng's grand fireworks and salutes, as well as people's laughter and joy.

-

"Sister, sister, wake up quickly, it's time to take medicine."

Zhao Xihua only felt a loud noise in her ears. She closed her eyes gently, then slowly opened them. The scene in front of her was no longer the hellish basement, but a scene that she was very familiar with. Everything was exactly the same as it was before she married into the Sun family.

Near the windowsill was a pine desk, clean and tidy, with a small vertical bookshelf on it, on which were neatly placed several classic masterpieces and some of her favorite classical literature books.

On the windowsill stood a long-necked vase with plum patterns, exuding a fresh and clean atmosphere from inside to outside. In the vase was a wintersweet with brown branches and yellow flowers, and the fragrance floated in the room. On the desk was an open volume of the Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine.

"elder sister--"

Zhao Xihua shifted her gaze to the girl holding a tray. The girl had a round face, almond-shaped eyes, and two chest-length black braids.

"Pingshui?" Zhao Xihua sat up suddenly, but felt dizzy. She bit her lip and pulled Pingshui to her side, hugging her tightly and refusing to let go.

The tray in Pingshui's hand slipped to the ground, the boiled Chinese medicine splashed all over the floor, and the bowl containing the medicine was also broken.

"Sister, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me." Pingshui was a little frightened. Her sister had been ill for a while and had been sleeping in bed. She finally woke up today and suddenly became so excited. She looked strange, which made her heart beat fast. She didn't know what to do for a while.

"Pingshui, Pingshui, I will never allow them to hurt you, never, never--" Zhao Xihua's voice was hoarse. She held Pingshui's hand tightly, trembling all over, as if she was afraid that someone would attack Pingshui.

Pingshui looked at her like that, her eyes were red with heartache, and she lowered her voice and comforted her softly, "Sister, I'm fine, no one wants to hurt me. Doctor Qin said that your illness needs to be treated with Chinese medicine, and you have to take several doses to recover. Now that the medicine has been spilled, I have to make another bowl for you."

Doctor Qin? Zhao Xihua was startled, and suddenly she felt panic in her heart. She looked at Pingshui in disbelief, "Which Doctor Qin?"

Pingshui smiled faintly, "Sister, you have been ill for too long. You even forgot about Doctor Qin? He is our Zhao family's family doctor. When someone in the family is sick, he is the one who is consulted?"

Could all this be true? She was reborn, to the time before she married into the Sun family. The room she lived in before her marriage remained the same, and the faint scent of jasmine in the room remained the same.

She took a deep breath, let go of Pingshui, and slowly lay down.

Pingshui finally breathed a sigh of relief, pulled up the thin blanket covering Zhao Xihua, tucked in the corners and said with a smile: "Sister is finally awake, it's great, I'll go tell the head of the family and the first wife now."

Hearing this, Zhao Xihua hurriedly stopped him: "Pingshui, wait, don't be in a hurry, let me think about it first." Zhao Xihua's mind was in a mess now, and she really wanted to calm down. She thought she was free once and for all, but who knew that fate would treat her like this, and let her be reborn and return to the Zhao family three years ago.

She is in her youthful and beautiful prime years, without any old or haggard face. Now she has skin as white as jade and a graceful figure. This is the best stage of her life, and she can start over.

Zhao Xihua closed her dark eyes and swallowed the last drop of tears in her heart. Since God had mercy on her, she would take this opportunity to take control of her destiny again and live a good life again with this great blessing.

"Sister, what's wrong?" Pingshui was a little confused. Isn't this a good thing? Why did her sister stop her?