Transmigrated into the body of the vicious first wife of a fallen prime minister

The next morning, Qi He was awakened by the sound of a maid knocking on the door.

Last night, after finishing that legendary "masterpiece," "The Pretty Sister-in-Law Steals Her Brother-in-Law," her brainwashing power was truly astonishing, causing her to have nightmares all night.

In his dream, Qi Lanlan was sitting in her room wearing her nightgown, and Shang Jue hugged him from behind, asking, "Why are you wearing Qi He's clothes?"

She happened to be there right in front of him.

In the dream, Qi He was extremely shocked. She pointed at the two of them and said "you, you" twice before fainting from anger.

The more I thought about it after waking up, the more familiar the scene seemed. Wasn't the next line supposed to be "You're so sexy!"?

Qi He rubbed her forehead, secretly resolving to warn Granny Wang to read less popular folk tales in the future.

The maid was still knocking on the door. Qi He sat up groggily and heard the steward, Uncle Liu's voice from outside: "Second Miss, the bidding for the construction of a commercial building in Qingshan Stream is starting today. There are only two hours left before the bidding opens. We haven't been able to find Young Master Shang. Do you think we should set off earlier?"

Bidding for the market in Qingshanjian?

Upon hearing this word, Qi He snapped out of her daze, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Good heavens, Green Mountain Stream!

That's not the mountain valley where Qi He was thrown into the snake pit in the original story!

Qi He instantly recalled the identity of the messenger.

Uncle Liu, the former manager of the shop, was a reliable and meticulous middle-aged man.

Qi He remembered him because this person had been keeping a low profile and hiding his talents in the early stages, but later he took all his shops and connections to Shang Jue and became Shang Jue's right-hand man. He was also an important pawn in Shang Jue's ability to quickly bring down the Qi family.

The shop that the old master left her was originally intended for her to manage together with Shang Jue.

But given the original owner's personality, he simply handed the shop over to Shang Jue.

This gave Shang Jue enough time to secretly cultivate his own manpower.

However, the shop was long gone, not only did it not make any money, but it also required investors to put money into it, and it couldn't make a single penny of profit.

Shang Jue had a high fever last night, and since Uncle Liu couldn't find anyone else, he came looking for him instead.

Qi He was amazed when she thought about this.

Shang Jue is only seventeen years old, isn't he?

At only seventeen years old, she was able to manage to undermine her shop to such an extent.

What kind of logic is it that a manager can't find a second-in-command, so he comes looking for the top leader?

However, if the male lead wants to create a fictional world, so be it; Qi He's only concern right now is her own life.

As for bidding or not bidding, she's about to lose her life, why would she compete for a market? She'd be more interested in competing for a coffin shop!

After receiving the reply, Uncle Liu withdrew.

Qi He lay back down on the bed, tossing and turning, trying to figure out a way to escape.

She remembered that in the original story, the cannon fodder wife was pushed off the cliff in Qingshanjian by Shang Jue himself.

To avoid repeating the same mistake, Qi He had an idea. She suddenly sat up in bed and ordered, "Wang Mama, I'm going out today. I won't see anyone who comes looking for me!"

......

Shang Jue woke up from his daze and saw Qi Lanlan as soon as he opened his eyes.

The other person had been lying by the bed for who knows how long, and when they heard the noise, they raised their sleepy eyes and looked over.

From a business perspective, it could be considered a painting of a gentle and beautiful woman.

"Are you feeling better?" Qi Lanlan's voice was gentle, just like his handsome face.

Shang Jue glanced indifferently at the medicine bowl on the table, then pushed it away expressionlessly, spilling a few drops of dark medicine: "Where's Qi He?"

He didn't understand why Qi Lanlan always did things that crossed the line.

If people find out they're sharing a room, there's bound to be a lot of gossip.

Qi Lanlan paused, her expression slightly unpleasant.

He had been anxiously waiting for most of the night, but when Shang Jue woke up, the first thing he asked was Qi He.

"Second Sister left early this morning." Qi Lanlan forced a smile. "Song He went looking for her but couldn't find her."

Upon hearing Song He's name, a flash of bloodlust crossed Shang Jue's eyes.

"You've only just recovered, don't rush to get up," Qi Lanlan said considerately. "Your second sister probably had something urgent to attend to, that's why she didn't come to see you. Don't worry about it."

Shang Jue picked up the wooden sword on the table, which was half burned. His long, raven-feather-like eyelashes drooped, obscuring the expression in his eyes.

But his tightly clenched fingers betrayed him.

Just as Qi Lanlan was about to offer some words of comfort, she saw Shang Jue release his grip and indifferently toss the wooden sword into a pile of junk in the corner.

As someone who has been reborn, Qi Lanlan naturally knows how important this small wooden sword is to Shang Jue.

Upon seeing this, she almost lost her composure: "Shang Jue, it's only partially burned; it can still be used with some repairs!"

"What's the point of keeping something that's broken?" Shang Jue's face remained completely expressionless.

If Qi He were here right now, she would have already noticed that something was wrong.

In the original story, throwing away his sister's wooden sword was the first step in Shang Jue's transformation.

This signifies that he has completely severed ties with his former weak self, and incidentally, brings him one step closer to the death of that scumbag cannon fodder.

......

By the lotus pond in the back garden, Qi He shivered for no reason.

She looked up at the pond full of withered lotus leaves and thought that from this day forward, she, Qi He, would undergo a year-long survival training here.

Last night she tossed and turned, trying to think of a way to escape, but she still had no clue.

She cannot place all her hopes on making amends through meritorious service.

She needed to leave herself a way out.

If you can live, who wants to die?

Qi He had no intention of sitting idly by and waiting to die. Her primary goal was to improve her physical fitness and learn some survival skills.

She plans to start by learning to swim, so that at least she'll have a chance of survival if she falls into the water.

In the garden, a sturdy old woman was already waiting there. When she saw Qi He arrive, she stepped forward and bowed.

Before he could speak, Qi He asked directly, "Can you swim?"

To be honest, whether in her past life or this one, Qi He is a landlubber who can't swim.

"Yes, I will." The old woman patted her chest. "When I was young, I often went out to sea with my father, and I'm an excellent swimmer!"

Qi He asked with a serious expression, "How far can a swimmer go?"

The old woman thought for a moment and said, "Swimming three or five miles isn't difficult."

Qi He made a conservative estimate and calmly asked, "What about twenty li?"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

The old woman swallowed hard. "Second Miss, are you going to swim across the Yangtze River? It's not that I'm afraid your health... might not be up to the task."

"Don't underestimate a young girl's strength. She may look thin, but she's got a good foundation." Qi He coughed lightly. "By the way, will you teach me martial arts?"

Now the old woman was even more perplexed: "This... this old servant is only strong, how could I possibly know any kung fu?"

"I see..."

Qi He didn't hesitate for long and summoned a guard based on the original owner's memories.

The guard demonstrated his martial arts skills briefly, and Qi He nodded and allowed him to stay.

"Teach me some kung fu, the kind that makes me strong enough to withstand blows and run away, ideally to the point where three or five strong men can't get close to me."

The guard hesitated, then asked, "Second Miss... have you offended someone? I can—"

"It's just for self-defense," Qi He waved her hand. "You just teach me."

The guard hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I know of a newly opened martial arts school that many distinguished people like you have visited. Miss, you might want to consider it."

"Martial arts school?"

"Yes, I heard that the masters there are all highly skilled!" the guard enthusiastically recommended.

He dared not teach Qi He any kung fu; if she got hurt, he would be finished.

"Okay, we'll talk about it later."

Qi He spent the whole morning practicing swimming in the back garden, and finally managed to paddle along on a piece of driftwood, moving forward more than ten feet in the water.

The old woman praised her for her quick understanding.

Her already fair skin appeared even more radiant in the pool. Although Qi He was a pampered young lady, she had exceptionally beautiful features and a bright and flamboyant aura between her brows and eyes.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been arranged to be the male lead's first wife.

If she is merely a pretty face, then she is a rare and precious gem.

Looking back on the more than ten years of this Miss Qi's life, she spent her time either listening to music in teahouses or picking out pearl flowers in jewelry shops, spending her elder brother's money and lying in a brocade nest piled with silk.

The only unpleasant thing in my life was marrying a son-in-law who lived with my family.

The pond water was drawn from hot springs, and soaking in it felt so warm that Qi He had the illusion of soaking in a hot spring.

If it weren't for the butler, Uncle Liu, coming to find her, she would have almost thought that transmigrating into the book was just a dream.

After Qi He changed her clothes, Uncle Liu stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Second Miss, the eldest young master sent word that you should not forget to kowtow to the old lady on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and he also instructed that you must bring Young Master Shang along."

Qi He then remembered that she still had to deal with a difficult old lady.

In the original story, Qi He's parents died early, and his grandfather passed away suddenly half a year ago, leaving only his second uncle Qi Zhen and his grandmother as the only direct descendants in the family.

After the old master passed away, the old lady's health was not very good, but she was extremely fond of Shang Jue, her son-in-law who had come from elsewhere.

Although Shang Jue hated the Qi family to the core, he always held the old master and old lady in high esteem.

This is also the main reason why the original owner could not drive Shang Jue out of the Qi family no matter how much he humiliated him.

Not only that, every time they went to visit the old lady, the original owner had to pretend to be a loving and harmonious couple with Shang Jue, which really disgusted the two of them.

Half an hour later, Qi He and Shang Jue rode in the same carriage towards an elegant little villa in the eastern suburbs of the city.

Perhaps because of what happened last night, the atmosphere between the two was more somber than usual.

Shang Jue's expression was unreadable; he simply gazed indifferently out of the carriage curtain.

Or rather, having endured too much humiliation, he had become accustomed to facing Qi He the next day as if nothing had happened.

Only Qi He remained, still brooding over what happened last night.

Qi He glanced at the several frostbitten wounds on the back of Shang Jue's hand, and then squeezed the box of frostbite ointment in her sleeve.

She felt somewhat guilty about what happened with Song He, but she couldn't bring herself to speak up.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally managed to squeeze out a single word: "You..."

"No need for further words." Shang Jue's voice was somewhere between a boy and a young man, carrying a cold detachment. "I know what to do; I won't give myself away in front of the old lady."

Qi He: "..."

Okay, since the male lead has said that, what else is she worried about?

After getting off the carriage, Qi He finally understood what Shang Jue meant by "knowing how to do it".

The old lady heard the commotion at the courtyard gate from inside the second room. She first called out "Xiao He" and then "A Jue," and was helped out by her maid.

Just as Qi He was about to respond, she suddenly felt a tightness around her waist as a hot hand firmly embraced her waist.

The unspoken response turned into a short, curt "Um—uh?"

Her waist was slender, and Shang Jue wrapped one arm around it tightly.

He was a few years younger than her, but a head taller.

This was the first time in Qi Hesheng's life that she had acted so petite and dependent, even nestled in the arms of a young man. Instantly, the hair on her body stood on end, and her body stiffened so much that she almost moved her hands and feet together.

As the old lady stepped out of the courtyard, Shang Jue's face broke into a bright, clean smile, a stark contrast to his usual gloomy demeanor: "Grandmother, Happy New Year! Your grandson-in-law and Xiao He have come to wish you a Happy New Year."

Even the most critical person wouldn't see anything wrong with that attitude.

Qi He: "..."

Honey, you're such a good actor!

Also, there's no law protecting minors here...

I always feel a sense of guilt.