cold clothes

"Miss Ningbi is awake. Your mother wants you to go see her as soon as you wake up," someone said beside Leng Yi as she was lost in thought.

"Where am I now..." Leng Yi propped herself up and looked at the maid who had spoken. She seemed somewhat familiar; she should have seen her a few times before.

"While Miss Ningbi was unconscious, we treated your wounds, cleaned you, and changed your clothes so that you could see your mother clean and tidy," the maid said honestly.

Leng Yi looked herself over and realized that what the maid said was true. Her expression slowly turned cold, and she said, "Then I will go to see my mother now. Please lead the way."

Her wild thoughts were clearly just that – wild thoughts. She had traveled back to ancient times, entered a brothel, caused a lot of trouble, and was now facing imprisonment.

The dream she had was like a replay of her past life, making Leng Yi inexplicably irritable. Her past life wasn't good; her family was broken, her childhood was traumatized, and for the next few years she wandered alone, spending her days either fulfilling her boss's tasks or on her way to fulfilling them. But that's actually the life most people on Earth lead—a monotonous, uninteresting, and apathetic existence. She herself didn't have any suicidal thoughts, so why did she transmigrate?

Leng Yi also read transmigration novels. The female protagonists in those novels were usually incredibly powerful figures—cold-blooded assassins, highly educated elites, heiresses from ancient medical families… Their transmigrations unfolded with incredible power, capable of shaking the fate of dynasties, and they'd encounter incredibly powerful male protagonists who could turn the world upside down. Even ordinary transmigrators would have some kind of cheat code or spatial ability. But what about Leng Yi? She transmigrated as a starving beggar, with nothing special except for her blue eyes. She had no cheat codes, no special abilities, no NPC guidance, and no male protagonist at all! What right did she have to transmigrate? And to make matters worse, she foolishly stumbled into a brothel, as if—something she had always resisted in her past life was now unavoidable after transmigrating, as if it were destiny.

Leng Yi suddenly laughed coldly. Her past life experiences had shaped her moral compass, which held that beautiful women could use their looks to get whatever they wanted from men—it was a woman's innate bargaining chip. Yet, her pride and morality had always thwarted this idea, constantly reminding her not to do it. But now she had transmigrated, to a lowly status, yet strikingly beautiful. It seemed as if some unseen force was manipulating her like a puppet, declaring, "You are a woman born with irresistible allure."

It's disgusting, isn't it?

However, there was no time for her to ponder grand themes like dignity and humanity, fate and resistance. The door of Jingyaxuan opened in front of her, and she saw the imposing Mama Hu and her henchman, Granny Qin, in the distance.

Leng Yi walked up to Mama Hu, knelt down sensibly, and said with her head bowed, "Greetings, Mama."

Madam Hu seemed somewhat surprised by her obedience and looked at Granny Qin, saying, "Granny Qin seems to be right; children only learn to obey after being disciplined."

Qin Mama puffed out her chest with a hint of pride at being praised by Hu Mama.

Cold Clothes's swear words started flooding the screen; child abuse is a criminal offense in modern times!

So this ancient world is such a mess! Are the gods in heaven—if there are any gods at all—trying to send me back to ancient times to experience the super hard mode because they think my life in the modern world isn't tough enough?

“However—” Mrs. Hu changed the subject, “when Ningbi lowers her head, I can no longer see those blue eyes, which is a bit of a pity.”

Mrs. Hu's tone was indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger. Leng Yi silently wondered if her true form was her eyes. Even after Mrs. Hu said that, Leng Yi didn't look up at her.

Mrs. Hu fell silent, and the air grew still, then gradually froze. Leng Yi cursed inwardly, clearly trying to force her to speak. She said in a hoarse voice, "My eyes aren't anything special, so it's better if you don't see them, Mother."

"why would you say so?"

“Because your pupils are black, and mine are blue. Blue is blue, it can’t be hidden, if I cover my eyes I can’t see. I can’t turn black, I can’t bear not being able to see.”

“But you lowered your head,” Mrs. Hu said calmly. “All you could see were your feet, the ground, and the dust.”

Leng Yi fell silent. Even if she had lived for 29 years in her previous life, she couldn't compare to Mother Hu.

Leng Yi raised her head and looked up at the face that was looking down at her.

So what if it's chilling? Leng Yi has never had the resolve to die for dignity and freedom. Just endure it, live on, and do whatever those in power say…

After her usual barrage of criticism, Madam Hu began interrogating Leng Yi: "Tell me in detail how you poisoned Qing Chun?"

Leng Yi pondered for a moment, her eyes vacant. After so many days in the dungeon, she had forgotten some things. Then she slowly recounted her story, a kind of beauty born from a lack of linguistic expression. "That day... what day was it again? I don't remember. I stayed in the Jade Carving Pavilion for a few days and got bored, so I went out for a walk at noon. I saw that hairpin in the bushes of the Butterfly Dance Pavilion and took it for myself. Then I went into the Butterfly Dance Pavilion and saw Qingchun and Yunqiu."

"It should be the seventh day of the ninth month," Granny Qin added.

“Yes, the seventh day of the ninth month,” Leng Yi nodded. “As soon as I entered Diewu Pavilion, I saw Qingchun talking badly about me! I was furious and retorted a few words to her. Then she saw the hairpin in my hair and accused me of stealing it without any explanation. How could I tolerate that? First, she talked badly about me without even having seen it, and then she concluded that I was a thief. I have never seen such an annoying woman! I was so angry that I left. On my way back to Zhuoyu Pavilion, I passed by the herbal medicine hall and impulsively took some poison.”

Leng Yi shrugged, indicating that it was that simple and that was it. But she still added indignantly, "If she hadn't been so aggressive and sarcastic in class the next day, I wouldn't have actually poisoned her. It's just that she's such a nasty person."

"It's clearly your disrespect for your elders and your malicious intentions!" Granny Qin cursed angrily.

Leng Yi had an expression that said, "Don't worry about what I say."

"It sounds like it's just a misunderstanding," Mrs. Hu said calmly.

"Does Mom think I'm up to some kind of scheme?"

"It seems unlikely; you'd probably just run headlong into the enemy and bite them."

Leng Yi almost cursed aloud; Hu's mother had really brought up the most sensitive topic. Just thinking about that despairing, death-filled room made Leng Yi tremble.

"But there's no guarantee that someone won't lead you to poison Qingchun, causing you to fall into a trap step by step."