After her transformation and rebirth, she manipulates the innocent and ruthless to overthrow the wor

This was the first time she had met He Wan since the Prince of Yan's rebellion.

He Wan was still as lively and ethereal as ever. She walked slowly with an umbrella in hand. The falling snow made her skin, which was as white as jade, appear even whiter. Her almond-shaped eyes were slightly open, and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned. Just like her name, she was as gentle and lovely as a lotus, as if she did not belong to this world.

Before, she might not have been able to surpass the woman in front of her, but at least she wouldn't have lost. But now...

Xiao Ran looked at her dirty, soaking white clothes, her cut hands, and her whole body trembling, whether from the cold or something else... and at the woman in front of her who was trembling with anger.

"He Wan! What right do you have to be here?" Xiao Ran glared at her angrily.

"Why are you so angry, sister? Wan'er heard that you were divorced by Brother Shao Rong, and I was afraid you would do something rash, so I came to see you," He Wan pouted, feigning grievance.

"Ha, you came to see me?" Xiao Ran scoffed dismissively. "What makes you think you can? Tell me,"

"Have the General's Mansion and Prince Yan ever mistreated you? Even Prince Yan's son, Prince Nangong, disregarded his family's objections and married you, an adopted daughter of the General's Mansion, with great pomp and circumstance. Why would you want to harm them!"

"Wan'er didn't do it on purpose, they were the ones who harbored rebellious intentions first..." He Wan muttered, her voice growing softer as she spoke, as if she were being humble: "Besides, the young master wasn't executed, was he..."

Xiao Ran pressed closer, shouting in a hoarse voice:

"Not executed? A pampered prince who has lived a life of luxury since childhood, losing his beloved and his parents, being exiled to the frontier, what difference is there between him and death?"

He Wan didn't look Xiao Ran in the eye, retreating step by step. When she was forced into a corner, she suddenly found the courage to face her directly: "He deserved it!"

"What a perfect example of 'reaping what you sow'..."

The woman in front of He Wan suddenly laughed, her eyes bloodshot and her appearance disheveled, as if she were about to take He Wan's life at any moment.

But He Wan seemed completely unafraid, and even subtly curled the corner of her mouth.

Just as Xiao Ran was about to confront her, He Wan dodged and ran behind Xiao Ran, her voice trembling with tears:

"Mother, Wan'er is so scared..."

Xiao Ran turned around and saw He Wan rush into the arms of a middle-aged woman.

The middle-aged woman hugged He Wan tenderly, then suddenly looked up and said sternly to Xiao Ran, "Xiao Ran! What are you doing? Wan'er came to see you out of kindness, and you're bullying her! I think you've wasted all those years of learning manners at the General's Mansion."

The middle-aged woman in front of her was He, her father's concubine, who was also her aunt.

Looking at the two of them, Xiao Ran felt wronged and shouted, "She's your daughter! But I'm not! She's just an adopted daughter, why is she more favored than me, the legitimate daughter of a general's family!"

As if she could no longer hold back, Xiao Ran felt a pang of sorrow spread throughout her body, and a crystal tear fell from her eye, disappearing into the thin layer of snow that had already accumulated on the ground.

Seeing Xiao Ran's pitiful state, Madam He felt no pity, but instead smugly pulled her daughter closer to her.

"Ha, you're that bitch's daughter, why should I be nice to you?"

"Besides, Wan'er is my biological daughter."

These two sentences struck Xiao Ran like a thunderbolt, and Xiao Ran suddenly opened her eyes wide to look at the middle-aged woman.

The woman's eyes were devoid of any emotion as she stared arrogantly at Xiao Ran.

That's it...that's it!

No wonder He Shi had become much colder towards her since He Wan entered the mansion. She naively thought it was because she hadn't done a good job and begged for her love like a dog every day.

So when the General's Mansion was in trouble, Madam He stood here unharmed because she was He Wan's biological mother!

Her past is ridiculous.

She had no father to love her, no mother to care for her, and even her own husband treated her like a pawn.

"So you conspired to destroy my family and kill my people? What right do you have to do this?!"

Xiao Ran's heartache, which had been as calm as still water for the past few years, seemed to boil over. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she suddenly lunged at the mother and daughter.

boom--

Snowflakes fell from the trees.

She was already weak, and now she was violently pushed down by Madam He, falling to the ground under the tree.

"Why?"

"Let me tell you why."

With one arm around her trembling daughter, Madam He pointed directly at Xiao Ran with the other.

“You’re just a wild girl from the countryside who lost her mother. What gives you the right to be the legitimate daughter of the General’s Mansion while my daughter has to be raised outside and suffer since she was little? That bitch is dead. Why should I be a concubine when I marry Xiao Mu?”

“Xiao Mu deserved it! As for you…” Madam He stared coldly at Xiao Ran on the ground.

"Your biggest mistake was not dying in the countryside with that bitch."

The snow is getting heavier.

Xiao Ran was pushed against the tree trunk, her back burning with pain, but that was nothing compared to the excruciating pain in her heart.

She had once visited the General's Mansion and enjoyed a brief moment of kinship with this concubine in front of her. Madam He's figure resembled her deceased mother, and she cared for her very much. She always thought that her mother had come back to see her.

But she was never Xiao Ran's mother.

Xiao Ran sat weakly against the tree, her limbs feeling icy cold.

"Get out of here," Xiao Ran said weakly, all her strength drained away.

"You really think you're the young mistress of a marquis's mansion?" Madam He retorted sarcastically, "How long can you stay here..."

Xiao Ran just sat blankly in front of the tree, her eyes empty and lifeless.

Madam He turned her head away, no longer wanting to look at Xiao Ran's disheveled appearance. She considered Xiao Ran to be a pitiful beggar on the roadside, shook her head disdainfully, and gave up, saying, "Alright, Wan'er. Your sister doesn't welcome us, so let's not provoke her. Let's go."

"Yes, mother."

As Xiao Ran listened to the sound of footsteps fading into the snow, she sneered inwardly.

Even though she has nowhere to go, at least she can support herself. Even if she becomes a beggar, it's none of their business to criticize her.

She's so stupid! Stupid enough to compete for affection with her own daughter.

Xiao Ran tried to get up, but her body wouldn't obey her commands. She was in pain and cold, so she slowly got up again.

In that short time, those light and quick steps returned.

Xiao Ran looked up.

He Wan?

"Why did you come back?" she said coldly, staring at He Wan in front of her.

Without saying a word, He Wan squatted down and, taking advantage of Xiao Ran's injury and inability to move freely, stuffed a pill into her mouth.

"What did you feed me! Ugh..." Xiao Ran struggled to spit it out, but He Wan covered her mouth, so she could only swallow it down.

"Sister, you really shouldn't be alive."

This is what they consider a good girl.

"I know you won't die, after all, you're the main character."

"But I must eliminate you in order to obtain the fortune, otherwise there would be no point in me traveling here."

"And here, this is yours."

He Wan threw a pendant at her.

It was a pendant, with a dragon shape holding a phoenix shape in its mouth. There seemed to be a gap in the middle that could separate them, but now they were clearly a pair.

This is……!

"Why do you have my parents' jade pendant!"

Xiao Ran wanted to say those words, but her weakness prevented her from speaking. She could only hold onto He Wan's hand tightly as she tried to leave. But suddenly, a metallic taste rose in her stomach, filling her mouth, and she finally collapsed weakly into the snow.

He Wan broke free from Xiao Ran's hand and left in a hurry.

But it seems she bumped into someone as she left.

Xiao Ran's vision was a little blurry, and what she could vaguely see was a red figure.

Is it Chen Ruonan?

...or is it less tolerance?

He Wan paused slightly, nodded in acknowledgment, and left, leaving only the red figure standing there.

"Help me..." Xiao Ran stretched out her hand, pleading for help from the red figure.

But the man just looked down at her without making any move.

……

Xiao Ran never saw that person come.

Tonight is the first snow of winter. The heavy snowflakes are falling gently into the yard. There is a pear tree in the yard that looks like it is crying. The wind blows and the branches creak.

The snow looked just like the snow on the day her mother passed away, and it also looked just like the pear blossoms fluttering in the courtyard in the countryside.

In the forty-third year of Jinghua, a heavy snow fell in the capital. The snow fell for seven days, a rare occurrence. Some people complained, while others said that the auspicious snow foretells a bumper harvest.

But no one remembers the woman in the backyard of the Marquis's mansion.

Like old stories, they've all faded away with the wind.