Severing ties with family to marry the young marshal, his whole family chases me to the crematorium.

Shen Qingyao never imagined that one day she would be abandoned by her closest relatives and instead choose to save someone who had usurped her life for twenty years.

26, the outskirts of Nancheng. [Fictional setting]

Shen Yanming placed the suitcase heavily on the ground, stood up, and stood facing a group of bandits with a tense expression.

The bandit leader opened the suitcase and his eyes lit up when he saw the whole suitcase full of silver dollars. He then looked at Shen Yanming with a mocking expression.

"Young Master Shen, five thousand silver dollars can only redeem one person. You may choose one. Do you want this biological sister... or this adopted sister?"

The bandit leader brandished his gun at Shen Qingyao and Shen Yuanyuan's heads, a cruel smile on his face.

“They are both my sisters, and I must redeem them both.”

Shen Yanming was filled with anxiety. When the bandit leader's gun was pointed at their heads, his heart was in his throat.

"That won't do. You only have five thousand silver dollars, so I can only release one."

"I'll go back and get it right away. You mustn't hurt them."

Shen Yanming's eyes were bloodshot, filled with anger but helpless.

"No need. Who knows if you'll bring the police? You can only take one of these five thousand dollars today. As for the other one, well... bang! Hahahaha."

A group of bandits laughed arrogantly and evilly. When Shen Yanming saw the bandit leader gesturing to fire a gun, his face turned ashen.

Shen Yanming clenched his fists tightly, his hands bulging with bruises, as he tried to suppress the anger in his heart.

The bandit leader removed the rag from Shen Qingyao's mouth, then leaned close to her body and sniffed hard, a perverted look of ecstasy on his face.

Shen Qingyao shuddered, a chill running down her spine from head to toe.

"Third brother, don't trust them. They were all hired by Shen Yuanyuan to get rid of me. They also have a conspiracy against the Shen family. You can't trust them."

Shen Qingyao had barely uttered a sentence when her mouth was gagged again, leaving her only able to make anxious whimpering sounds.

Shen Yuanyuan shook her head, crying. She burst into tears as soon as the bandit took off the rag.

"No, Third Brother, I'm framing you. How could a weak woman like me possibly collude with bandits? You've watched me grow up since I was little, you know me best, don't you? Third Brother, I know I'm the Shen family's biological daughter, please save her, I'm fine!"

Shen Yuanyuan cried pitifully, her eyes revealing endless despair and loss.

The doubts that had just arisen in Shen Yanming's heart vanished instantly, leaving only heartache for Shen Yuanyuan and anger towards Shen Qingyao.

"Qingyao, you and Yuanyuan are both my sisters, I will save both of you. How can you be so selfish as to say these things to slander Yuanyuan in order for me to save you?"

Upon hearing Shen Yanming's words, Shen Qingyao was stunned. He actually thought that she was slandering Shen Yuanyuan in order to save herself.

That's right. Over the years, neither the rest of the Shen family nor Shen Yanming have ever believed her. They only thought she was unruly and a disgrace to the Shen family.

"Young Master Shen, I'll give you three numbers. If you still don't choose, I'll kill them both. It would be such a waste for two such beautiful girls to die."

As the bandit leader spoke, he reached out and touched Shen Yuanyuan's face, his face full of evil lewd grin.

"I choose Shen Yuanyuan!"

As soon as Shen Yanming finished speaking, the bandit leader stopped what he was doing and instead signaled to his underlings to untie Shen Yuanyuan.

Shen Qingyao stared at Shen Yanming in astonishment, her eyes filled with disappointment and resentment. Overwhelmed by guilt, Shen Yanming lowered his head, tears streaming down his face, unable to look at Shen Qingyao.

The next moment, the bandit leader pressed a gun against Shen Qingyao's head and pulled the trigger right in front of Shen Yanming.

A gunshot rang out, and Shen Qingyao collapsed to the ground, blood pooling around her. Her consciousness gradually faded.

……

“Shen Qingyao, Yuanyuan is still lying in the hospital because of you. If you have any conscience at all, go to the hospital and apologize to Yuanyuan right now. Don’t think you can get away with it by pretending to be sick.”

While still half asleep, Shen Qingyao felt her arm being roughly pulled. Just as she was about to open her eyes, a strong wave of dizziness hit her head, and a buzzing sound filled her ears. The person speaking seemed to be right next to her, yet also seemed very far away.

Who is it? Who is speaking in her ear?

"Shen Qingyao, if anything happens to Yuanyuan, I will never let you off the hook!"

Shen Yanming frowned, looking at Shen Qingyao on the bed as if she were an enemy.

"Third Young Master, Miss Qingyao is really sick."

The maid, Amei, mustered her courage and shielded Shen Qingyao behind her. Although her body was trembling slightly with fear, she stubbornly stood in front of Shen Qingyao.

"You brat, get out of here right now!"

Shen Qingyao's head was about to explode from the noise, so she slowly opened her eyes and weakly raised her hand to rub her throbbing temples.

When she saw the scene before her, she was overwhelmed with emotion, and for a moment she even ignored her own discomfort.

Her third brother, Shen Yanming?

And...her maid, Amei?

Wasn't Ah Mei killed while trying to save her?

Could it be that she didn't die?

Or did I say I was reborn?

Seeing Shen Qingyao's shocked and bewildered expression, Shen Yanming thought she was just putting on an act, pretending to be weak and pitiful. He turned away angrily, leaving behind a resentful Amei by Shen Qingyao's side.

"Miss, why is this happening? It was clearly... it was clearly Shen Yuanyuan who fell down the steps on her own, why won't they believe me?"

"You've suffered so much injustice these past two years, how come they just can't see it? Miss, you're so pitiful..."

As Amei grew younger, her voice gradually cracked with tears as she spoke, large tears streaming down her face. Seeing Amei still crying, Shen Qingyao slowly began to understand the situation.

She was reborn, returning to a time more than two years after she was found by the Shen family.

She was originally the biological daughter of the Shen family, cloth merchants in the south of the city, but she was switched at birth and abandoned by the roadside to fend for herself.

Her master took her in and raised her until the Shen family found the Taoist temple to recognize her and brought her down the mountain.

When she returned to the Shen family, she learned that there were three older brothers and a fake daughter named Shen Yuanyuan.

Shen Yuanyuan struggled to accept the sudden change in her identity, leading her to run away from home, attempt suicide by cutting her wrists, and eventually be diagnosed with a mental illness.

From then on, the Shen family focused all their attention on Shen Yuanyuan.

She had no intention of competing with Shen Yuanyuan for anything; she simply wanted to coexist peacefully with her and keep to herself.

Perhaps the Shen family felt guilty because they thought she was sensible and wanted to make amends, but this behavior made Shen Yuanyuan feel threatened and she started to cause trouble and frame her.

Each time, they would choose to believe Shen Yuanyuan because of a few tears and a few words, which led the Shen family to hate Shen Qingyao more and more and to verbally abuse her many times.

Shen Qingyao also felt very wronged. Since the Shen family did not welcome her, why did they go to find her and bring her back?

Although life on the mountain was tough when she was with her master, she was pampered by her master and fellow disciples and had never suffered such grievances.

If it weren't for the fact that her fate was problematic and could only be resolved within the Shen family, she would have left long ago.

The world is in decline, many people are displaced, and some are forced to become outlaws, making a living by robbery.

The Shen family was the largest cloth merchant in the southern part of the city, so they naturally became the target of the bandits.

The events of her previous life still lingered in her mind; she could almost feel the pain of a bullet piercing her head.

Shen Qingyao couldn't explain why such a bizarre thing happened, but since she had studied esoteric arts since childhood, she quickly accepted it.

She vaguely sensed that something had changed about her, but the fortune teller wasn't predicting her fate, so she could only suppress her doubts.