The morning breeze carried the sound of rustling bamboo and soft birdsong.
Rouyuan sat quietly, sipping warm tea from a small porcelain cup, watching Bai Yanyu chase butterflies across the courtyard.
Her face covered with Miànjīn veil, a snow-gauze veil covers her face due to scar she gets while drowning.
Unbeknownst to her father and brothers, she already knows the precise herbs capable of erasing fresh scars completely.
The scar she had is gradually fading over time.
Soon her true beauty emerged once more, revealing the face that once stunned the manor—gentle, pure, and exquisitely lovely.
A week had passed since she awoke in this small body.
A week of confusion, silent fear, and quiet observation.
A week of slowly stitching together the memories of Bai Rouyuan, the little girl whose life she now inhabited.
The Bai Clan manor was beautiful on the outside, but beneath its carved beams and painted lanterns, it was full of poison.
Today, she was about to learn just how deep that poison ran.
The Confrontation in Bai Clan Hall
The Bai Clan's ancestral hall was cold that morning.
Too quiet.
Too clean.
Everyone knew something was coming.
Bai Yunchen walked in first—tall, young, cold as ice.
Behind him, Bai Longyuan entered like a storm barely restrained, his eyes burning.
Between them, dragged by two guards, was the trembling maid Hua Mei—the servant who had witnessed the drowning incident, but had been forced to keep silent.
Inside the hall, Patriarch Bai Zhenhai sat on the main seat, his wife Sun Rongyi beside him, face painted with false gentleness.
On the right stood the second brother, Bai Zhenglu, smug and pretending to be concerned.
His wife He Lanying hovered behind him, eyes sharp and wary.
Their children were lined up:
Bai Zhenyu — the elder cousin brother, who pushed Bai Yanyu. Bai Zhenying — the cousin sister, best friend of the Prime Minister's daughter. Bai Yuxin — Bai Zhenglu's daughter, arrogant and pale.
As soon as they saw Hua Mei, all three went stiff.
Bai Longyuan's voice cut the room like steel.
"Today, we clear the truth." Bai Zhenhai forced a smile.
"Longyuan, Chen Er, we can talk calmly—"
Bai Yunchen slammed a scroll onto the table.
"We brought witnesses. We brought evidence. There will be no 'calm talk.'"
Hua Mei fell to her knees, shaking.
"Patriarch… Madam… forgive this servant… I cannot hide anymore…"
Bai Zhenying snapped.
"You dare—"
Bai Yunchen's glare silenced her instantly.
Bai Longyuan stepped forward, voice trembling with restrained rage.
"Hua Mei. Tell them what happened."
The maid sobbed.
"Y-Young Master Zhenyu push Young Master Yanyu into the pond..."
"Young Miss Rouyuan was trying to save Young Master Yanyu…"
"Young Miss Rouyuan looked trouble and almost drowning so we tried to help her…"
"But… but the Young Master Zhenyu and Young Miss Zhenying blocked the maids…"
"They told us to stay silent…"
"Young Miss Yuxin pushed logs into the pond…"
"One hit the Young Miss's Ruyan face…"
"The…There was also Young Master Yunxiang and Young Miss Shaoqin."
"They were all there seeing what happened."
Bai Longyuan's fists clenched so hard his knuckles went white.
Bai Zhenhao stood abruptly.
"Silence! Our Bai children would NEVER—"
Hua Mei cried harder. "Patriarch… I swear… I saw it with my own eyes…"
"Young Master Zhenyu ordered it!"
"Miss Zhenying told me to shut up!"
"Young Miss Yuxin called for other maids to stop rescue efforts…"
Gasps filled the hall.
He Lanying's face turned ugly.
Sun Rongyi staggered back slightly, feigning shock.
Bai Zhenglu pretended outrage. "This maid speaks nonsense!"
But Bai Yunchen stepped forward, cold and merciless.
"We found other signs near the pond."
"Broken wood..."
"Footprints..."
"Trampled stones..."
"Everything matches her statement."
He turned toward the patriarch, eyes blazing.
"So, Patriarch. What will you do?"
Bai Zhenhai's face twitched.
He forced a long sigh.
"I will… punish them of course."
He turned to his children and niece.
"Zhenyu, Zhenying, Yuxin…You will each receive twenty whips."
He Lanying gasped.
Sun Rongyi cried dramatically.
The three guilty cousins trembled.
But Bai Yunchen's expression did not soften.
Bai Longyuan's voice dropped—cold, low, deadly.
"That is all?"
Bai Zhenhai stiffened.
"What more do you want? They are still children—"
"Children?" Bai Yunchen's voice cracked with fury.
"They almost killed my sister!"
"And your punishment is a few whips?"
"Whips they won't even receive properly because you will protect them?"
Bai Yunchen's eyes burned into the patriarch.
"You want us to accept this?"
Bai Zhenhai swallowed.
"It is enough."
Bai Longyuan stepped forward.
"No. It is not."
Silence fell like a blade.
All four members of the Bai Clan manor froze, utterly speechless.
Bai Longyuan bowed stiffly.
"Thank you for your decision, Patriarch."
Then his face turned hard.
"But I will not let my children stay under the same roof as those who tried to kill them."
Bai Yunchen turned and walked out first, his steps cold and decisive.
Bai Longyuan followed him without looking back.
Behind them, Bai Zhenhai shouted desperately.
"Longyuan! Chen Er!"
"Where are you going?!"
Bai Longyuan did not stop.
"To protect my children," he said without turning.
"Something you have never done."
The doors slammed shut behind them—
leaving the Bai Clan manor shaken, furious, and humiliated.
Bai Yunchen's Return
Bai Yunchen walked into the courtyard, his steps steady and cold.
He held a bamboo slip tightly in one hand, the veins on his arm showing the strength he was trying to restrain.
His usually calm eyes were storm dark.
"Ah Yuan," he said gently as he knelt before her,
"We've finished questioning everyone. We've confirmed what happened that day."
Rouyuan's fingers tightened around her teacup.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Bai Longyuan entered then — broad-shouldered, armoured, and simmering with a fury barely concealed.
The healer, Master Shen Liang stood respectfully behind him, silent.
Bai Yunchen exhaled slowly, then began.
"Ah Yuan… the people who hurt you were not strangers. They were family," he said.
Rouyuan blinked.
Bai Yunchen's jaw tightened.
He continued, voice trembling slightly with rage,
"Xiao Yu was pushed into the pond by Zhenyu."
Rouyuan felt Bai Yanyu stiffen beside her, his small hands gripping her sleeve.
"And when you jump in after to help him, almost drowning" Bai Yunchen said, jaw tight,
"Zhenying, stood there watching."
Bai Longyuan's fist cracked against the table, splintering the wood.
"That girl," he growled, "My brother's daughter, dared to watch my child drown."
"Make your face scarring like that."
Master Shen Liang closed his eyes, shaking his head.
Bai Yanyu burst into tears and clung to Rouyuan.
"Meimei… I'm sorry… I'm sorry...they pushed me first…"
"I fell... I couldn't help you…"
Rouyuan pulled him into her arms.
"No, Yu Ge," she whispered.
"It wasn't your fault."
But Bai Yunchen wasn't finished.
His voice darkened further.
"They were not alone."
Rouyuan looked up, dread curling under her ribs.
"Standing with them," Bai Yunchen said,
"were Zhao Shaoqin — the Prime Minister Zhao Jinming's daughter, and her brother Zhao Yunxiang, your supposed fiancé."
Rouyuan froze.
Her fiancé.
The boy she had been promised to.
He had watched her drown.
Bai Yunchen nodded grimly.
"They laughed," Bai Yunchen said quietly, bitterness lacing his tone.
"They mocked."
"They enjoyed watching you struggle."
Rouyuan's breath hitched.
She felt cold all over.
"And the worst," Bai Longyuan snarled, anger turning his voice into thunder,
"It was Yuxin who shoved the broken wooden panel toward you, the jagged edge slicing across your face and leaving those scars."
Rouyuan remembered the name faintly from the original girl's memories —
the cousin who always mocked and bullied her and Bai Yanyu her behind fans because they don't have mother.
Bai Yunchen clenched his fists.
"They blocked the servants, Ah Yuan," he said.
"They ordered them not to help you and Xiao Yu."
"And they threatened them to remain silent."
Xiaoya, the little maid, began to sob.
"I—I saw it, Young Miss… I saw everything…"
"But Young Miss Zhenying said she would have us beaten if we spoke…"
Bai Rouyuan felt a cold, deep hatred stirs inside her tiny chest — something fierce and protective.
Her new family…
Her little brother…
Had suffered so much.
And she — the girl whose body she now lived in — had died in terror, watching people laugh as she drowned.
Bai Longyuan's Decision
Bai Longyuan's voice broke the heavy air like thunder.
"We leave this wretched place today."
Bai Yunchen stood taller, ready to follow without hesitation.
The courtyard fell silent.
Xiaoya gasped.
Rouyuan looked up, startled.
Bai Yanyu clung tighter to Rouyuan.
The general's voice roared through the courtyard, shaking even the leaves on the trees.
"Not one more day will my children stay under the same roof as snakes who want them dead."
His eyes burned with fury and grief, the pain of a husband who had lost a beloved wife, and a father who nearly lost his daughter and son.
"These poisonous wolves," Bai Longyuan growled, "will not touch my children again."
Rouyuan swallowed hard.
Her father — this fierce, cold general — had tears trembling in his eyes.
"Your mother died in this house because of these people," he said softly.
"And now they tried to take you too."
Rouyuan felt tears prick her own eyes.
In her past life, she had only Grandpa Wen after tragedy struck.
In this life…
she had a father who would turn the world upside down for her.
Preparing to Leave
Servants loyal to Bai Longyuan rushed to pack.
Xiaoya packed Rouyuan's clothes with trembling hands.
Bai Yanyu bundled his books and ink pens into a small bag, whispering quiet promises to study harder.
Bai Yunchen supervised everything, sword at his waist, ready for trouble.
Bai Yanyu refused to let go of Bai Rouyuan's hand, terrified she might disappear again.
Rouyuan watched all of it with quiet awe and a tight chest.
This family—broken, wounded, struggling—wanted nothing more than to survive.
Just like her grandfather in her past life.
A new life.
A new family.
And new love she never expected.
Tears welled up unexpectedly.
She wiped them quickly, but Bai Yunchen saw.
"Ah Yuan," he said softly, brushing her hair behind her ear the way an older brother should,
"We will be all right. I promise."
She nodded, even though her heart ached.
Leaving the Bai Mansion
By dusk, the family stood at the grand gate of the Bai manor.
Behind them, hidden behind screens and pillars, watched, Bai Zhenhai and his wife, Sun Rongyi, acting sad; Bai Zhenyu and Bai Zhenying, their expressions smug; Bai Zhenglu with his wife, He Lanying, acted as if in disbelief; Bai Yuxin and Bai Yulan mockingly smile; and servants who had been ordered to silence.
None dared step forward.
Not with Bai Longyuan's killing aura filling the mansion like an enraged war god.
He turned his back on them without a word.
The heavy gates slammed shut behind the family.
Rouyuan looked back once.
The mansion loomed grand and cold, filled with deceit and death.
"Goodbye," she whispered.
Goodbye to cruelty.
Goodbye to fear.
Goodbye to her first death.
She turned away, tightened her grip on Bai Yanyu.
Taking Bai Yanyu's hand forward.
Bai Yunchen carried their bags.
Rouyuan looked back once.
The path ahead was uncertain.
Full of danger.
Full of hidden truths.
But it was hers.
Ahead of her was a new home.
New hope.
A new chance to rewrite fate.
Together, the family walked into the twilight.
Leaving the past behind.
Her new life had begun.