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

The sun was shining brightly, and a barefoot girl was lying by the pond, teasing the lotus flowers with great interest. Suddenly, a dragonfly flew out from among the lotus flowers, startling the girl.

However, the girl didn't give up. She saw a lotus seedpod and tried to pull it out. But the moment she pulled it out, she suddenly lost her balance.

"Ah—" The girl's exclamation had barely left her lips when a pair of strong hands grabbed her tightly, helping her regain her balance.

"Phew, thank goodness..." Xiao Ran looked at the intact lotus pod in her hand and smiled. Then she handed the lotus pod to Duan Li, who had just grabbed her, and said, "Here you go, you can use this to fill your stomach."

The crowd that had gathered around when Xiao Ran shouted earlier immediately turned their disdainful gazes upon hearing this.

What era are we living in? Who would still eat this on the outskirts of Beijing?

Looking at these two men dressed like rustic country bumpkins, they're probably just beggars. And these kinds of people are still loitering around the city gates? Do they even think they can get into the capital?

But Duanli seemed oblivious to the gazes of these people. He simply reached out, took the lotus pod, gently peeled it open, took out the lotus seeds, and ate them.

"Is it good?" Xiao Ran looked at him expectantly.

Duanli swallowed the lotus seed in his mouth and replied, "Delicious."

"What are you two arguing about by the city gate?!" Suddenly, a guard came over with several of his men and demanded.

Xiao Ran's lips curled up slightly, almost imperceptibly.

It became.

She quickly put on a smile and said, "Sir, we both want to go into the city."

Upon hearing this, the guards immediately began to scrutinize the two of them carefully from head to toe.

Seeing their disheveled appearance, he looked at them with disdain and said contemptuously, "You two? The capital is not a place where just any vagrant can enter."

Xiao Ran's eyes darted around, and she immediately put on a pitiful look, her voice slightly choked as she said, "Sir, we are not refugees. We were originally siblings, but unfortunately our family fell on hard times..."

"Look, that's our carriage parked over there." She pointed towards the carriage as she said this.

Then, she wiped away two non-existent tears and continued to sob, "My poor parents! Last year, in the first half of the year, they were caught in a shipwreck in Jiangnan and both of them tragically died. Now we are truly desperate and have no choice but to come to the capital to seek refuge with relatives. Your Honor, please have mercy on us."

As she spoke, Xiao Ran secretly slipped a beautiful piece of jewelry into the hand of the leading guard.

That was the one Xiao Ran wore when she was at the Summer Palace.

The leading guard was taken aback at first, then looked around warily. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he coughed a few times, cleared his throat, and said, "Alright, you can go in now."

Xiao Ran thanked him and pulled Duan Li toward the carriage.

Suddenly, a woman blocked their path, pointed at the guards, and began to curse them:

"Why!"

"My son is still imprisoned, while I am trapped at the city gate. Is there any justice in this world?!" the woman cried out hoarsely.

The leading guard chuckled, picked at his ear, then spat and said, "Zhang, don't blame me for being nosy, but you've been causing a ruckus here for days. Even livestock know they should take a break."

“Me? Livestock?” The woman pointed at herself and said, “In the eyes of you lackeys of the officials, we are probably not even worth as much as livestock!”

After saying that, she and several others rushed forward, intending to bypass the guards and enter the city.

However, her mere physical body was no match for the weapons in the guards' hands, and she was stopped in an instant.

The head guard said, "Don't waste your energy. Go and stay in the dirty street."

She was then dragged to another place outside the city along with the troublemakers.

The guard noticed that Xiao Ran and the others hadn't left yet, and said, "What, do you also want to go and have a look at Dirty Street?"

Xiao Ran smiled apologetically and said, "No... let's go now." With that, she pulled Duan Li onto the carriage and headed towards the city.

As they traveled, Xiao Ran gently pulled back the curtain and whispered to Duan Li, who was driving the carriage, "That's the situation now. The officials deeply resent the refugees, so..."

Xiao Ran casually picked a lotus seed and put it in her mouth to chew.

so bitter.

"We need to be careful."

……

Xiao Ran and Duan Li's carriage slowly drove into the city, and the noise surged in like a tide.

The market streets were lined with all sorts of shops. The vermilion doors were wide open, and shop assistants stood at the entrances, holding up signs and shouting their wares.

Not far away was a silk shop, where bolts of colorful silk, like clouds on the horizon, swayed gently in the breeze, attracting many wealthy women to stop and watch.

Xiao Ran seemed to have seen something and said to Duan Li, "Stop the car."

The carriage stopped immediately upon hearing the sound.

Xiao Ran jumped down lightly, and was instantly surrounded by the bustling crowd. The crowd was so dense that she stumbled a little.

He quickly steadied himself, then pointed to the place next to him with the sign "Yuelai Inn" and said, "Let's stay here tonight."

Duanli nodded, then led the carriage away and parked it to the side.

Stepping into the inn, the lobby was filled with the faint aroma of wine and food. The tables and chairs were neatly arranged, all made of thick sandalwood, and several landscape paintings hung on the walls. Although they were not by famous artists, they added a touch of elegance to the inn.

The waiters, dressed in blue cloth shirts with white towels draped over their shoulders, moved nimbly among the guests.

Suddenly, a waiter noticed Xiao Ran and his companion and greeted them warmly, "Sir, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"

"Waiter, bring me room number one, the highest tier," Xiao Ran said, rummaging through her purse.

The waiter looked at Xiao Ran's actions with disdain. In his eyes, she was just a country bumpkin pretending to be wealthy. He lazily walked forward and said in a drawn-out tone, "Oh, young lady, this top-class room is not cheap. Are you sure you want to stay here?" As he spoke, his eyes kept looking Xiao Ran up and down, his gaze full of suspicion.

But the next moment, he swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He saw Xiao Ran take out a gold and glass hairpin from her purse and hand it to him.

"Is this place suitable for accommodation?" Xiao Ran asked unhurriedly.

The waiter had never encountered such a valuable item before, and his eyes widened in surprise. He quickly said, "Yes, yes..."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to suddenly remember something, and a troubled look appeared on his face. He said, "However, all the 'Heaven' rooms are fully booked... Now only the 'Earth' rooms are left."

Are all the top-tier rooms fully booked? That's quite a rare occurrence.

Xiao Ran immediately became interested.

"No problem, let's have two rooms then. And prepare some good wine and food." Xiao Ran pulled Duan Li to sit down at a table by the window.

"Yes, we'll go right away!" The waiter smiled broadly, immediately put the hairpin into his pocket, and ran off to find the shopkeeper.

As soon as she sat down, she was about to tell Duanli about things to be careful about in the capital when she suddenly heard people talking amongst themselves.

"Have you heard? The one who died on the tenth day was the beloved son of the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat."

"Indeed, it is unexpected that within just one month, the sons of two high-ranking officials have perished. Could it be that the court is about to undergo a dramatic change?"

Xiao Ran was not surprised by what happened on the tenth, since she already knew about it in her previous life. She just wondered who the other person was.

So she asked, "Excuse my ignorance, but may I ask who the other person is?"

The people looked at Xiao Ran with slight surprise. Seeing her dressed as a village woman, they assumed she was from out of town and said, "You don't know her? She's the daughter of the Great General Who Protects the Nation—"

"Xiao Ran".