After being reborn, her aloof ex-husband and her crazy deceased husband got into a fight.

Gan Cai'er forcefully pulled Mei Wanqing out of the pavilion. She thought Mei Wanqing would struggle and protest, so she used considerable force.

To everyone's surprise, Mei Wanqing remained silent and obediently followed her out. The others in the pavilion, however, were quite astonished to see the two of them emerge hand in hand, and then began to murmur amongst themselves.

Walking to the red plum tree, Gan Cai'er broke off two branches of red plum blossoms. She held one in her hand and played with it, while handing the other to Mei Wanqing.

"This is for you," Gan Cai'er said.

"For me?"

A glint of light flashed in Mei Wanqing's eyes—an unexpected surprise, tinged with a touch of caution.

Gan Cai'er's heart ached slightly. She seemed to see her past self, the one who had just arrived in the capital, in Mei Wanqing.

Yearning for friendship, yet cautious and humble.

"Why would anyone say you're 'unlucky for family and friends'?" Gan Cai'er asked in a soft voice.

“Because I really brought bad luck to a lot of people.” Mei Wanqing lowered her eyes, her expression downcast, and she looked somewhat sad.

So, Gan Cai'er heard Mei Wanqing's story from her.

Mei Wanqing's first victim was her mother, Lü Qin. When Mei Wanqing was two years old, she was playing with her mother one winter when she accidentally fell into the water. The servants who were with her were all stunned and unable to rescue her.

Extremely anxious, Lü Qin resolutely jumped into the lake and personally rescued Mei Wanqing. However, Lü Qin contracted a cold and tuberculosis as a result, and after returning home, she fell seriously ill and died not long after.

Mei Wanqing's second widow was her wet nurse, Granny Sun. After Lü Qin's death, she entrusted her care to Granny Sun. However, less than half a year later, Granny Sun also fell seriously ill and passed away.

Granny Sun was not old, not even forty, and had always been in good health. When she suddenly fell ill and passed away, rumors began to circulate in the household.

Mei Wanqing said her third "nemesis" was her dog, Yunduo. Yunduo was a very cute, snow-white poodle. Yunduo was a playmate that Lü Qin gave her for her first birthday.

After Lü Qin's death, she became extremely dependent on the little dog, taking it everywhere she went, even sleeping with it in her arms. But one day, Yun Duo suddenly went berserk, biting people everywhere and scratching Mei Qingru.

Then, Yun Duo was beaten to death by the servants and thrown out of the Prime Minister's residence. She also fell seriously ill as a result.

Later, a Taoist priest came to the mansion. He spent a long time calculating her birth date and time, and finally said that her birth time was bad, that she was cursed, and that she was born with a destiny that "brings misfortune to relatives and friends." He said that she needed to go to a temple or Taoist monastery for quiet cultivation every year in order to resolve this. Otherwise, anyone who was close to her would either suffer bad luck or even lose their life.

Therefore, starting from the age of three, she would spend half a year each year in a temple or Taoist monastery, chanting scriptures, copying books, and cleaning the temple or Taoist monastery every day.

As Gan Cai'er listened to Mei Wanqing recount the past, she couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Sure enough, the current Madam Mei was Mei Wanqing's stepmother.

"Oh, and who is the current Mrs. Mei?" Gan Cai'er asked.

“My current mother is my mother’s younger sister, and also my aunt. Her name is Lü Zhi,” Mei Qingwan said.

"After Granny Sun died, my father saw that I had no one to take care of me, so he married my aunt as his second wife. Actually, after my mother passed away, my aunt moved into the mansion and took care of me all along."

“My aunt is very gentle and treats me very well. She always gives me the best things in the house first. And no matter what I do wrong, she never scolds or punishes me.”

Upon hearing this, Gan Cai'er glanced at Mei Wanqing silently. She felt that with Mei Wanqing as a benchmark, she couldn't be considered the dumbest, most foolish, or most blind person in the entire capital.

Having witnessed too many demons and monsters in her past life, and too many underhanded schemes in the inner quarters of the household, Gan Cai'er could easily guess where Mei Wanqing's reputation for "harming relatives and friends" truly came from.

But if even she could see the truth so easily, how could those shrewd matriarchs not see it? They must all know perfectly well, they're just taking advantage of Mei Wanqing being an orphan who has lost her mother.

Who would offend the matriarch of the Mei family for the sake of an orphan girl?

It seems that Madam Deng's cold treatment of Mei Wanqing was either at Lü Zhi's behest or an attempt to curry favor with Lü Zhi. If Mei Wanqing were to actually marry into that family, who knows how much suffering she would endure. In the end, she might simply blame her bad luck.

Gan Cai'er sighed inwardly.

“I also don’t have a mother.” She grasped Mei Wanqing’s hand.

Mei Wanqing stared at her in great surprise.

“My mother also died of illness,” Gan Cai’er continued.

Mei Wanqing's eyes widened even more, her gaze round and filled with disbelief.

“However, my stepmother is not my aunt. In that respect, I am different from you.” Gan Cai’er smiled.

“She was someone my father met after my mother died. She was very good to me and doted on me.”

“I don’t have much of an impression of my mother. I only remember that she was a very gentle person. She passed away from an illness when I was three years old. I remember crying every day back then, and I almost cried myself blind,” Gan Cai’er sighed softly.

She doesn't remember her mother very well anymore, but she always remembers herself back then, crying her heart out, crying herself to sleep every day, and waking up crying again.

“I don’t have a nanny, only a personal maid who has been with me since I was a child. Look, she’s over there, lively and energetic.” Gan Cai’er pointed to Xiao Hong not far away.

"However, many of the cats and dogs I've raised have died. Some died of illness, some drowned, some fought with other cats and dogs, and some died of old age... In short, all sorts of ways they died."

“But in my family, no one has ever said that I ‘bring bad luck to relatives and friends.’” Gan Cai’er smiled and looked at Mei Wanqing with clear and sincere eyes.

“Look, there are so many people in this world who are similar to you, so where does all this talk of ‘being a jinx to relatives and friends’ come from?”

"They say you were born at an inauspicious time, that you were cursed. Does that mean you were the only person born in the entire capital at that time, or the only person born in the entire world?"

Mei Wanqing was stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

“If you ask me, that Taoist priest should have been beaten out with sticks. He was obviously trying to extort money from your family,” Gan Cai’er said.

“Oh, he was indeed kicked out by my father,” Mei Wanqing said honestly. “However, his words spread, and no one dared to get close to me or be my friend anymore.”

"So, that's why you're still unmarried?"

Mei Wanqing nodded bitterly, then gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Who would dare to marry me? For others, getting married is a joyous occasion, but if they were to marry me, it might turn into a funeral.”

"Actually, I didn't want to get married. Living a life of quiet contemplation in a temple wouldn't be so bad. But my mother said that if the eldest sister in the family didn't get married, there was no rule that the other sisters should get married first, as it would be against etiquette."

"Moreover, my second younger sister has already found someone. So, everyone in the family is urging me to find someone for her."

"But..." Mei Wanqing stopped speaking at this point, unwilling to continue.

Gan Cai'er thought for a moment and asked, "How many brothers and sisters do you have in your household?"

"I have two younger sisters and three younger brothers."

Now the numbers match up. As far as Gan Cai'er knew from her previous life, Mei Wanyin had one younger sister and three younger brothers.

So, where did Mei Wanqing from the previous life go?