The Saintess was so choked by the woman's scolding that she couldn't speak. Having emerged from the Poison Sect, her most accomplished skills lay in the use of poison.
Years ago, to help Chu Ruoqiao swiftly establish her own influence, she had ruthlessly imparted all her lifelong knowledge to her.
Chu Ruoqiao proved to be very capable, even surpassing her mentor. However, cultivating such potent poison arts came at a price. The more she practiced, the greater the damage to her own body, especially her appearance. Unless she took the Beauty Thread elixir for life, she would transform into a monster that the world could not tolerate!
Hearing him mention her past life again, Chu Ruoqiao's composure began to crack. "You yourself know that this life is different from the past. In your past life, you didn't switch places with the Chu family daughter. In your past life, you were the leader of the Thousand Poisons Sect. In your past life, within two years, Jun Yu gege would have already occupied the no-man's land!"
She looked at the woman on the bed, hovering between life and death, yet continuously consuming the Beauty Thread to sustain her life and appearance. Chu Ruoqiao suddenly felt that her entire life was utterly absurd! "I could have been the only young lady of the Duke's Mansion! Noble and deeply cherished. If you hadn't told me back then that you switched me with the Chu family's daughter, told me that the Chu family would produce a Phoenix Girl in ten years, one who would rule the world as empress. Told me that you could help me become that Phoenix Girl! If you hadn't continuously misled me, would I have ended up in this situation?"
"I distinctly recall when I was fourteen, I was infatuated with Huo Qiyuan. He also had feelings for me, and even refused royal princesses several times for my sake, incurring the displeasure of the former Emperor. He issued a decree that Huo Qiyuan could only marry a village girl. But after you learned of this, you kept telling me he was a jinx, that he wouldn't live past 23 in his past life. The one who would truly unify this land was likely Jun Yu gege, because he occupied the no-man's land in his past life, and the one who unified the world came out of the no-man's land." Although what she said was true—Huo Qiyuan indeed didn't live past 23—Chu Ruoqiao became increasingly enraged, pointing a resentful finger at the Saintess on the bed.
If it weren't for the fact that almost everything she said came true, if it weren't for her knowing the direction of some major events to come, she might have ended her herself long ago! It was this woman, all because of her! Her life had turned into this!
Su Muqing, who had just escaped the Thousand Poisons Sect, stumbled upon hearing this passage and cried out, "Pfft!" before falling forward. Lu Yuzhi, seeing her about to fall, quickly reached out to support her.
Su Muqing looked at Lu Yuzhi, who was heavily wrapped, with a complex expression. She couldn't help but think, "Good heavens! What a huge revelation! This happened? I never imagined Big Brother Lu liked this type of woman! The information is overwhelming!"
Lu Yuzhi found Su Muqing's gaze peculiar, thinking she hadn't progressed smoothly. "What's wrong? Why did you take so long? I was already preparing to go find you."
Su Muqing reached out and covered Lu Yuzhi's mouth, gesturing for him to be quiet. She then pointed to the earring she was wearing and continued walking ahead with large strides, ignoring him. She eagerly continued eavesdropping on the mother-daughter's dramatic confrontation.
"Mother, can you dare to tell me the truth today? I bet! You probably don't even know who would ultimately unify the world yourself, do you? Because back in your past life, you were probably long dead, weren't you? Hahahaha..." Chu Ruoqiao burst into manic laughter, perhaps at something she recalled.
Tears streamed down her face, stinging her eyes. Yet, she seemed devoid of pain, letting the tears soak the wounds on her face as if to remind herself how foolish she had been all these years!
Seeing her daughter on the verge of madness, the Saintess pursed her lips. Chu Ruoqiao guessed correctly; according to the timeline of her past life, the entire no-man's land would fall within two more years.
She had once overheard Monk Bujie and Tianji Elder discussing how the Chu family daughter's fate was different. He had also calculated that the king and queen who would protect everyone in this land would ultimately come from the no-man's land.
At the time of her death, the one who had occupied the no-man's land was the Crown Prince Jun Yu of Wa Country. At that time, in the Holy Capital, there was also a renowned Chu family daughter. She had rallied various righteous individuals to resist the invasion from the enemy country. Adored by the populace, she was honored as the Phoenix Girl! She showed great promise of becoming a queen.
Therefore, when she discovered she had been reborn, the first thing she did was break her Saintess's virginity. She had to have a child of her own.
This was also why, in this life, she could only be the Saintess and not the Sect Leader.
The Thousand Poisons Sect had a rule that the Saintess must remain a virgin when being promoted to Sect Leader. This was essential for cultivating the sect's highest-level chilling poison arts, ensuring the Thousand Poisons Sect's invincibility.
After becoming pregnant, the Saintess fled to the Holy Capital to await childbirth. Ten months later, she gave birth to a daughter, Qianyi. Upon seeing that she had successfully had a daughter, the Saintess felt as if even Heaven was helping her.
Indeed, not long after, the Duke's Mansion's illegitimate son also had a daughter, born just two days after Qianyi. This was the real Chu Ruoqiao from back then. Everything was unfolding as it had in the past life, which made the Saintess even more confident in her plan to raise a king.
So, in the dead of night, she sneaked into the Duke's Mansion and switched the two newborn infant girls. To completely alter the course of history, she personally silenced the real Chu Ruoqiao, lest her daughter's strong Phoenix Girl destiny, should she grow up, interfere with her own daughter's path to becoming king.
The Saintess thought everything was settled. However, when Qianyi was three years old, she heard that the Chu family's legitimate son had another daughter. This one was of legitimate birth.
She tried hard to recall her past life, but couldn't remember the name of the famous Chu family daughter. Considering that this infant might affect Chu Ruoqiao's status in the future, the Saintess decided to kill her as a precautionary measure.
Then, she spread the word that a daughter of the Chu family possessed the destiny of a dragon. It became known throughout the land. She then found someone to tell Chu Yingzhong that if he wished for peace in his household, it would be best to send the two granddaughters away to another place and bring them back after the storm had passed.
Chu Yingzhong fell for it, arranging for heavily guarded escorts to send the two granddaughters back to their ancestral home. The Saintess had ambushed that very route. By administering poison and smoke, she incapacitated the guards.
During the operation, to prevent suspicion from falling on the Chu family's illegitimate son, thus leaving a negative impression on Qianyi, she personally pushed her own daughter onto a rock, causing her to hit her head. This was to clear her adoptive parents of suspicion.
After ensuring the injured Qianyi had been rescued by the Chu family's private guards, she then pushed the infant Chu Ruoxi, only a few months old, along with her two wet nurses, off a cliff.
However, what Du Qianqian did not know was that while she was harming her own daughter, Chu Ruoxi's wet nurses had also split into two groups. The infant she had thrown off the cliff was actually a bundle of clothes.
Meanwhile, another wet nurse, carrying the infant Chu Ruoxi, rolled down a slope. She was rescued and taken in by a kind-hearted man, where she recovered for several months.
After spending months together, the wet nurse and the man fell in love. They decided to first send Chu Ruoxi back to the Duke's Mansion, and then return to get married.
Just as they were approaching Qingmu Prefecture City, they encountered bandits on the road, and both lost their lives. Only Chu Ruoxi remained, who was then found and adopted by Su Mingyuan, becoming Su Muqing later.
Seeing that Chu Ruoqiao was not only ungrateful but also hated her, the Saintess found it unacceptable. "I... did... all this... for you..."
Upon hearing her words, Chu Ruoqiao felt her stomach hurt from laughter. "Hahaha... This is hilarious! You say you did all this for me? How dare you put on this loving mother facade! You must know that in your past life, you didn't have me! You had me because you could no longer be a Chu family daughter yourself! You had me because you knew the Phoenix Girl could only come from the Chu family! Furthermore, you never asked for my consent and began manipulating my face when I was only a few years old."
Calming herself, Chu Ruoqiao raised her delicate hand and brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead. "Look! You were never doing it for me."
At this moment, Chu Ruoqiao picked up the medicine bowl beside the bed and adopted a gentle tone again. "Mother, the world is always changing. From the moment you plotted to switch me with Chu Ruoqiao, from the day you killed the Chu family's legitimate daughter, all of this deviated from the course of the past life! So, how can you expect me to abandon everything I've meticulously planned for so long just because of a minor disruption or change? Since you are so certain that Chu Ruoqiao and Chu Ruoxi have both been silenced by you, you must continue to believe it!"
Looking at Chu Ruoqiao with a smile, the Saintess knew that no matter what she said, she wouldn't listen. Forget it! Perhaps she was right; perhaps she was just too suspicious.
The world changed every day. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? What if Ruoqiao would have succeeded, but her own suspicion hindered her great undertaking? Then her life would have been lived in vain, wouldn't it?
Su Muqing, who had returned with Lu Yuzhi, suddenly stopped and stood with her arms crossed. "Heh! So that's how it is! No wonder you were so eager to get rid of me the first time you saw me."
"What are you talking about? Who do you say wanted to get rid of you?" Lu Yuzhi didn't understand why she was angry. Weren't they getting along just fine a moment ago?
Looking at the clarity and innocence in Lu Yuzhi's eyes, and his abundant concern, Su Muqing didn't know what was wrong with her, but she was inexplicably furious.
With her hands on her hips, she said unreasonably, "What am I saying? I'm talking about that crazy girl you wanted to marry in your previous life! And that wicked old woman who almost became your mother-in-law! Those two silly brats!"
Su Muqing, using a not-so-standard Sichuan dialect, reprimanded Lu Yuzhi fiercely before feeling a bit better. Then, she took out two motorcycles, leaving one for Lu Yuzhi. Under Lu Yuzhi's surprised and bewildered gaze, she twisted the throttle and sped off with a roar.
Lu Yuzhi watched Su Muqing ride away, standing alone in the darkness, utterly confused. What was she talking about? Couldn't she just speak in standard Mandarin? He hadn't understood clearly...
Crush? Wasn't his crush none other than Su Muqing herself? What was this "crazy girl" business? What did "guniang'er" mean? And "mother-in-law," what was that? "Guapi," what was all this?
Seeing her getting farther and farther away, Lu Yuzhi couldn't dwell on these thoughts anymore. He quickly got on his motorcycle and chased after her.