Reborn to Win Over Myself - Chapter 2

Rain dripped from the eaves in a steady patter, and the long wind swept vast and unrestrained.

I walked over, reached out, and held the umbrella above her head.

Huaiyang paused in the middle of eating and looked up at me.

I took out a bowl, bent down to pick up the dirty steamed bun from the ground, placed it in the bowl, and handed it to her.

She stared at that bowl, dazed for a long time.

In the end, she accepted it and hugged the bowl to her chest. Then, afraid her clothes would dirty it, she only dared to carefully support the bottom of the bowl.

The person who had not made a sound when she was surrounded, beaten, and insulted just now now looked at me and said very softly:

“Thank you.”

At the same time, I heard the System notification: [Win-over progress: 5%.]

The System: [Huh?]

The System could not figure it out. [What the heck? Just one bowl?]

Yes. Just one bowl.

Nine mission takers had racked their brains, yet none had thought that fifteen-year-old Huaiyang merely wanted a bowl.

Because back then, I had been tied up like livestock. When they casually threw food onto the ground, I had to pounce over and snatch it to eat.

Vicious dogs watched hungrily from the side too, so I could only fight the dogs for food.

I had to survive.

But when I knelt numbly and mechanically under the table to eat, my gaze would fall upon those exquisite tables.

Those people sat properly on chairs, eating gracefully with bowls and chopsticks.

A secret longing would grow in the depths of my heart.

If only I could have a bowl.

It seemed that only this could remind me that I was not lowly livestock, but a person.

I also wanted to live like a “person.”

Huaiyang was sensitive and suspicious. She had built high walls in her heart and would not trust anyone, let alone the inexplicable goodwill of a mission taker.

So when Huaiyang and I met for the first time, I stated my conditions outright.

“Huaiyang, I can save you, but it depends on your performance.”

I knew she would not accept kindness that came without reason. Only a relationship of mutual use would make her feel safe.

I did not immediately tell her what she needed to do, but I knew she had already begun to think.

She would seize every opportunity to climb upward.

I counted the days, and when the System was growing impatient from waiting, I finally went to find Huaiyang again.

At that time, she was sitting upright before a bronze mirror, dressed in a red blouse, rouge applied to her face.

Huaiyang’s mother was the Deposed Empress who had died in the Cold Palace. In life, she had been a great beauty, so the daughter she bore was naturally beautiful as well.

Unfortunately, after her mother died, no one cared about Huaiyang. She escaped the palace, only to be sold to a brothel.

How could the madam let such a good opportunity pass? Here, beauty was the original sin.

And today was the day Huaiyang would be pushed into doing that for the first time.

I walked over, and she instantly looked at me warily.

But I only gave her a bracelet and put it on her wrist.

She lowered her head and looked at the inconspicuous bracelet on her hand.

I asked, “Do you know how to use it?”

I placed my hand over hers and guided her to feel for a tiny protrusion on the bracelet. Pressing down hard, a sharp blade instantly sprang out, flashing with a cold gleam.

I told her, “Let me see what use you have.”

Huaiyang touched the bracelet. After a long while, she nodded. “All right.”

By nightfall, people finally began their revelry.

The process of waiting was always long. The System asked me worriedly: [Will it really be all right?]

I drank the cold tea in my cup and answered the System: [She can do it.]

After all, back then, I had not had that bracelet, and I had still done it.

At that time, I had been violated by several people. When I was in unbearable agony, I pulled out the hairpin beside me and stabbed it down viciously.

When the other two saw it, they cursed and tried to fight back. Fortunately, they were all drunk, their steps unsteady. My entire body had been trembling then, yet when I drove the hairpin in, my hand was steady.

Because the hairpin was still too blunt, I had to use all my strength to pierce flesh and blood.

If I had had a knife, perhaps it would have been a little easier.

Blood splattered all over me, and at last, I escaped from that place.

I did not know how long had passed. Just as this frail body of mine was growing somewhat exhausted, I finally saw a figure running toward me.

Huaiyang’s red blouse was soaked with blood, its color becoming even more vivid. I looked her over and found that she only had a few minor scrapes on her body. It was not a serious problem.

My tense body relaxed almost imperceptibly, and at last, I revealed a smile.

The imperial guards behind me handed over a torch. I stuffed it into Huaiyang’s hand.

The warm candlelight colored my brows and eyes as I spoke:

“Huaiyang, burn this place clean.”

People I had arranged had already sprinkled oil all over the brothel. All it needed was one torch, and it would ignite at once.

The torch fell onto the red curtains, and the flames spread little by little.

By the time someone noticed, the fire could no longer be stopped.

The crowd fell into panic, shouting for people to put out the fire.

The blaze that night was enormous, illuminating the capital. The exquisitely decorated brothel became ruins overnight.

I was in a rare good mood, a smile at my brows, as I looked at Huaiyang.

“How about making a deal?

“I will help you reclaim the glory and wealth that should have been yours, and you will keep the Shen family safe.”

But she asked me, “What kind of glory and wealth?”

I answered, “How about the Dragon Throne at the highest point of the great hall in the Forbidden City?”

No matter who heard these words, they would think them a wild fantasy, even treasonous and outrageous. After all, this was an era in which men were honored and women were deemed inferior.

Yet Huaiyang’s expression was serious as she looked fixedly at me. “Deal.”

For an instant, I was dazed. It seemed that from her brows and eyes, I glimpsed my former self, once brimming with ambition.