Great Shun Dynasty, Tianwu Era, the twenty-first year.
On a moonlit and starry night, a sudden thunderclap resounded in the sky, causing the ridges of the palatial buildings within the Imperial Palace to shudder, yet no rain followed.
The superintendent of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory hurriedly rushed to the Qiankun Hall, dropping to his knees in front of Emperor Tianwu: "Your Majesty, there is an anomaly in the celestial signs, in the northwest direction... the Phoenix Star has descended to the world!"
Emperor Tianwu's hand holding the tea cup trembled slightly: "Northwest…" His gaze followed the half-open window outside, "Speaking of which, it's about time for Ming’er to return."
...
The thunder in the clear skies also boomed in a valley by the northwest border of Great Shun, blasting a female corpse out of the chaotic burial pit.
Feng Yuheng struggled to sit up amidst a pile of corpses. After her head stopped ringing, she finally regained consciousness. But when she opened her eyes, the sight of the corpses gave her a start.
"Holy crap." She blinked, moved an unlucky head resting on her leg, and looked around, "Am I dead or alive?"
She distinctly remembered sitting on a helicopter that exploded. Absolutely sure there was no chance of surviving a fall from that height, being a senior medical officer in the land warfare unit, she remained cognitively clear at the moment of her death. Therefore, Feng Yuheng was certain that she had died.
That's right, she had died, and yet, she was alive again.
She stood up from the pile of dead bodies, moved her arms and legs, when all of a sudden, a strand of unfamiliar memory surged into her mind—Feng Yuheng, 12 years old, the legitimate daughter of Feng Jinyuan, the left prime minister of the Great Shun Dynasty. Three years ago, her maternal grandfather's family was punished and demoted to a barren state. Fearful of being implicated, her father, in collusion with her paternal grandmother, banned her mother from the family and legitimized her stepmother.
But that's not the end of it. Next, some fortune-telling bastard showed up out of nowhere and pointed at Feng Yuheng, exclaiming: "This girl bears a deathly aura in her destiny. If she continues to stay in the Phoenix Mansion, it will undoubtedly lead to its ruin."
As a result, her grandmother, with a wave of her old hand, sent Feng Yuheng, her mother Mrs. Yao, and her newly three-year-old brother, Feng Zirui, to a remote village in the Northwestern mountains, to fend for themselves.
"Damn it." After reviewing the original host's life as through a movie playback, Feng Yuheng finally had to accept reality: "I've time-traveled!"
Different era, different age, different background, different appearance, the only similarity lies in the name.
"Rest assured!" She patted her right hand with her left, comforting, "I understand your grievances. Now that I've come, those who've bullied you will not get away with it. Phoenix Residence, right? I'll settle the score for you!"
Suddenly, a gentle sigh came from her mind, followed by a girl's voice that said only one word: "Thank you." Her nerves twitched slightly as if something was gradually drifting away.
Feng Yuheng lightly laughed, it seemed that the original owner of this body was unwilling to die. She was only willing to leave after hearing her promise. However... With such a father and a so-called family, they should be hated, right?
She was always a person who took her promises very seriously. Since she occupied someone else's body, she naturally had to take revenge.
Feng Yuheng patted the dirty coarse cloth clothes, and nimbly climbed out of the chaotic burial pit, treating the dead like stepping-stones. Not even having time to observe her surroundings, she already heard voices coming over—
"That girl could be sold to the Drunken Flower House in the Imperial City for at least fifty taels of silver. If we pull this business off, we're made. We can not only afford to get a wife for our son, but I could even afford to take in a couple of extra concubines."
"You wish! If you dare, I will risk going to jail to report this to the government!"
"Alright, alright, I was just saying. You old woman, why are you so annoying!"
Feng Yuheng frowned, memories of her previous life started to tumble in her mind— her mother was seriously ill, she went to collect herbs in the nearby mountains, and was suddenly knocked unconscious. Before she passed out, she took one last look back. The man who was still holding a stick and hadn't put it down yet was Wang Shugen, the man from the Wang family who lived to the east of the village.
Eight o'clock in the direction behind her, Feng Yuheng's ability to identify location was precise. As the voices were getting closer, she crouched down, quickly looked all around her and crawled into a spot where the leaves were dense...