The dawn was breaking, and it was the most beautiful sight Su Lan ever laid her eyes on. She stood in the middle of a large field in a purple sports bra and black leggings. She was holding a wooden sword and gazing at the sun peeking out of the clouds like a shy lady.
Every morning, Su Lan practised swordsmanship, archery, and horse riding as she watched the sun rise above the horizon for the past twenty years. It had always been the same routine.
" Hmmnnnn…"
She waved the wooden sword in the air , her movements fast and fluid. With each extension of her sword exuding great talent. Her skills were sharpened to perfection and she was moving so gracefully fast without missing a step.
After hours, she finished her swordsmanship training, and looked at the sun that casted warm rays on the grass. A bird flew past and for the first time, Su Lan felt peace. She had grown up in her grandmother's care, and lived alone after her grandmother's expiry.
A twenty year old girl with no ambition was a rare finding in the 21st century.
After riding the horse, Su Lan went back to the house and took a cold shower. The shower not only washed away her exhaustion, but also her worries. She sat on the large island in the kitchen and stared at the window.
This was Su Lan's daily routine. Wake up, practice martial arts, take a cold shower, sip cold mugicha tea, and drown herself in novels. Su Lan stopped seeing humans since she was thirteen and lived her life in silence.
Except, this day was different. Su Lan wanted to clear the attic and dispose off the remnants of her mother and grandmother. Unexpectedly, she stumbled upon a locked box. The box was made of antique wood and was covered by a thin layer of dust.
Su Lan put the mysterious box aside and cleared the attic. Her curiosity finally got the better of her, and she pried the box open. Inside the box was a rolled paper tied by a red thread.
She unknotted the thread and opened the paper. Inside, was something she never expected: The original copy of her mother's bestselling poem, Royal Intrigue.
Su Lan's expression after reading the poem was that of a sad and pitiful girl. This was the only poem her mother had written that the border war didn't end in victory and the brotherhood rivalry was a total mess.
What was she thinking when she wrote the poem?
Tears streamed down Su Lan's eyes. Was this the poem billionaires relentlessly fought over? If they had known this was how sad the poem would make the reader, no one would want to read it, or would they?
That night, Su Lan couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. The first six years of her life she had spent with her parents. Her mother had never written a poem of this kind. Moreover, her mother had no worries, so why would she write something like this?
Was she trying to pass a message?
Su Lan's head hurt as she tried to decipher the meaning of the poem, and why her mother had written something like that. She turned and lay on her left side.
Hours passed, yet the sweet release of sleep refused to appear. Su Lan got up and walked to the drug cabinet in the kitchen. She wasn't a fan of sleeping drugs, but she really needed to sleep.
She swallowed the pills and collapsed on her bed. She was sure this time that she would sleep.
Hours passed and only Su Lan's soft snoring could be heard in the room. The sun peeked from behind the clouds casting its warm glow on Su Lan.
After what felt like five hours to Su Lan, a body depleting pain furiously tormented her body.
She opened her eyes abruptly,only to find herself staring directly at the sun. Her mind processed for a while and she just lied down there like a dead fish.
What in the world was going on?!
Did someone steal the roof or something?
Didn't seem like it though.
She looked around and found out she was lying on a path in a forest.
The hell?!
"What the—?" Her body refused to obey her commands.
Just as she was struggling to move , a white horse stopped in front of her. A man got down from the horse and walked towards her. The man was wearing a plain black woolen hanfu. His black hair was packed in a ponytail with a few strands falling over his charcoal grey eyes.
He squatted and looked at the girl lying like a lifeless fish on the ground. Su Lan didn't bat an eyelid and just stared at him with jade green eyes. Her plain white silken ruqun was covered with blood and dirt, but she didn't seem to understand her own situation.
Su Lan's small white slender hand was on her stomach—the place she felt a stinging pain. The suspicious sticky fluid exuding a strong metallic scent covered the entirety of her hand.
Su Lan sighed hopelessly, she knew what the suspicious fluid was. Of course, what else has a metallic scent but blood!
All she ever wanted was a peaceful life in the suburbs away from people. Now, a strangely handsome man just stared into her eyes like he was mesmerized. And she had her life hanging on a thread to top it all!
' Why was he just staring at her ?! Is her face that bewitching???!'
The man's eyes widened in recognition.
"I recognize you," he said as he carefully lifted her up from the ground and held her wobbly body that couldn't stand on its own onto his horse, before mounting and sitting behind her.
Su Lan was silent. She had read books like this before. Someone transmigated or was it reincarnated? Her head was buzzing like a thousand bumblebees had their base deep in it.
"Let me take you back," he said and pulled the reins, causing the horse to gallop forward. Her vision was blurry, perhaps because she was losing blood, or she was seeing something she didn't expect to see. Her consciousness kept slipping in and out.
Someone's whole life played before her. This person was none other than the owner of the body she entered, Su Lan. Strangely, they both shared the same name.
The original owner of the body was a calm and gentle person. She had an easygoing persona, yet she was more stubborn than a mule. She had grown up in her cold mother's mansion.
Her mother, Su Zetian, was a cold and detached person who only cared about how many drugs she made in a day. She was someone who had many scars, yet proudly exhibits them.
[Su Lan] was in love with the general and so much wanted to marry him. Su Zetian was furious. She was strictly against her daughter marrying into the twisted royal family, but her daughter was more strong willed than she was. Despite all the red signs, she still went ahead with the marriage.
She did get married to the general, but at a high price. She lost her mother. The empress's daughter, princess Xiao Huya, was a white lotus who was against [Su Lan's] marriage to the general.
The consummation night, [Su Lan] spent alone. The general never talked to her, and she didn't remember what he looked like.
She was treated worse than a maid, and made to do a lot of strenuous jobs not meant for a noble and delicate woman. Her life was a living hell, and she had no backers. Her mother too had forsaken her.
She had no one . She died alone ,after experiencing torture and humiliation from princess Xiao Huya. There was strangely no regret in her heart only emptiness remained.
Would there be someone looking for her ? Perhaps…her heartless mother? The probability of that ever happening was zero. No one cared about her.
Was the pain, humiliation, and torture she had gone through worth it?
If she had listened to her mother, she would now be a cold and detached medical genius respected by everyone. Someone that cared about nothing else but medicine.
Or … she would be doing something that interests her . Either way she would have lived peacefully even though she wouldn't be happy.
That was better than the years of torture and pain she was subjected to. All this…because she was inlove?!
' Love really makes people do crazy things, huh?' That was the last thought Su Lan had before she completely blacked out.