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Chapter 336 A Lament in a Dream (Part 5)

After giving the instructions, it was already late at night.

Chu Lu returned to his palace from the prison, his expression quite grave. He sat down at the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and thought to himself, "Qin Su, do you think that after arresting the spies and their contacts, there will be someone else on the other end? Could this be like a nested doll, layer upon layer, never-ending?"

“It’s possible, but unlikely,” Qin Su explained. “In the original work, the organizational structures of other forces are relatively simple, so Tian Shu shouldn’t be too complicated either. Most likely, after capturing this contact, we can follow the clues and find Tian Shu’s whereabouts.”

"I hope so," Chu Lu sighed.

He stood up, changed into his nightgown, and was about to lie down when his gaze fell on the soft pillow, and he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Qin Su asked.

Chu Lu pursed his lips and said, "It's nothing, I just think I'll have that dream again later."

He added, "Thinking back to the timing of the previous dreams, it seems that the dream specifically came when I had just solved a big problem and was at my most relaxed."

"Understood." Qin Su's tone immediately turned serious. "I will be on high alert, closely monitoring your mental fluctuations at all times. If I detect anything unusual, I will immediately..."

“I didn’t mean that…” Chu Lu interrupted her, but then he thought that having someone watch over him was better than having no one at all, so he said, “But it’s fine anyway, thanks.”

After saying that, he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

He soon fell into a deep sleep, and then the familiar feeling of weightlessness returned.

Chu Lu opened his eyes and found himself floating in a pitch-black space.

"I was right," Chu Lu said.

Since he was already familiar with the process, he didn't struggle or resist, letting his consciousness drift and waiting for the dream to unfold.

A point of light appeared ahead, quickly expanding until it became a clear image.

It's still that same bedroom, and it's still from the perspective of the doll Xie Mingshu.

However, this time it seemed to be a seamless continuation of the ending of the last dream. So, in the room of the fake Xie Mingshu, Xie Chengyuan, who had been soaked in the rain all night, had just been carried away. Ling Shi was overjoyed like a dog for gaining the approval of the fake Xie Mingshu.

At this moment, the fake Xie Mingshu continued to stroke Ling's cheek and commanded, "Mother, since you no longer have him in your heart, then you should no longer stay in the Xie family. Go and divorce him immediately."

Ling's eyes were bloodshot; she hadn't slept all night, but her face showed no sign of fatigue, instead displaying a morbid excitement. She gripped the fake Xie Mingshu's hand tightly and agreed without hesitation: "Alright! Shu'er, Mother will listen to you! Once he wakes up, I'll go find him and ask for a divorce!"

Seeing that the fake Xie Mingshu's expression was indifferent, she was afraid that her daughter was not satisfied, so she hurriedly added, "If Shu'er is not willing to wait even a moment longer, let's leave now! Let's move back to the Ling family first!"

"No rush." ​​The fake Xie Mingshu's voice was devoid of emotion. "Mother has also been exhausted all night. Let's go back and rest first. I'm fine here."

Ling wanted to stay and take care of her, but when she met the fake Xie Mingshu's eyes, a chill ran through her, making her shudder. Like a slave who had done something wrong seeing her master, she dared not say another word and immediately left obediently.

Only two people remained in the room.

The doll Xie Mingshu slowly walked out from the corner. She stood in front of the fake Xie Mingshu, her single, intact eye filled with sorrow and complexity.

"You turned my mother into your slave," she accused softly.

The fake Xie Mingshu sat on the edge of the bed, composed and self-righteous, and corrected, "No, I only awakened her."

The doll Xie Mingshu's eyes were filled with undisguised hostility. She coldly repeated, "Awakening has made me your slave."

The fake Xie Mingshu let out a disdainful sneer: "Fine, I'm too lazy to waste my breath on a fool like you. Say whatever you want."

"Now that you've succeeded and gotten everything you wanted, shouldn't you be done playing around?" The doll Xie Mingshu tried to remain calm, but her voice involuntarily trembled and pleaded, "Can you please spare my family?"

Upon hearing this, the fake Xie Mingshu revealed a meaningful smile: "Not yet. The divorce is still the hurdle. If your good father could be so quick-witted as to sign the divorce papers readily, they could suffer less. What a pity..."

She drew out her words, her smile both mocking and malicious: "I guarantee he absolutely won't."

Three days passed in a flash. The fake Xie Mingshu claimed that she was cured and acted as if nothing had happened, going to the study in the front yard to study every day.

The Ling family kept their word and actually confronted Xie Chengyuan.

The outcome was as expected. Xie Chengyuan was shocked, heartbroken, and confused, but he did not agree. Instead, he used various excuses to avoid and delay, hoping to calm his wife down.

This news quickly reached the ears of the fake Xie Mingshu.

She slammed the doll onto the table with a thud, her voice dripping with undisguised sarcasm: "See? This isn't me doing this; it's your father who's asking for it."

The doll Xie Mingshu's heart leaped into her throat. Fear, like a cold, venomous snake, instantly coiled around every bone in her body. She almost screamed, "What are you doing?! Don't touch my father! I beg you, you've already harmed my mother, don't harm my father too!"

The fake Xie Mingshu scrutinized her terrified appearance, a wicked smile playing on her lips, and slowly uttered a few words: "Don't be afraid, the one I'm planning to torture isn't your father."

The doll Xie Mingshu was completely bewildered.

It was late at night, and the surroundings were so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The fake Xie Mingshu, like a ghost, slipped out of the courtyard silently and headed straight for the dilapidated hut where Xie Lingxiao lived.

The door creaked open. In the corner, the boy, as thin as a bean sprout, was fast asleep. Because of lack of food and clothing, and the drafty windows, he slept restlessly, his brow constantly furrowed.

The fake Xie Mingshu looked at him, her eyes as cold as ice. She calmly pulled a gleaming small knife from her bosom and walked over, step by step.

"what!"

A scream had just ripped through the night when it was forcefully suppressed by a hand, leaving only a muffled groan. Xie Lingxiao struggled frantically, but his small body seemed to house a demon, possessing terrifying strength.

The knife sliced ​​through the flesh, making a sound that sent chills down one's spine.

The doll Xie Mingshu was tucked into her arms and forced to witness the bloody scene clearly, her eyes filled with desperate fear. She wanted to scream, to run away, but she didn't have the strength to move a single finger.

It's unclear how much time passed before the fake Xie Mingshu finally stopped, satisfied. She admired her masterpiece—the bloodied and mangled face—her eyes gleaming with an almost obsessive pleasure.

"What...what exactly do you want to do?" The puppet Xie Mingshu's voice trembled uncontrollably.

The fake Xie Mingshu chuckled: "Why don't you just keep watching and you'll find out?"

She then turned and left without doing anything to clean up the mess.

The next day, the situation in the mansion was very strange and eerie. Despite making such a commotion, not a single drop of water was splashed. The servants all became mute and blind, no one dared to say a word or ask a question. They just hurriedly summoned a doctor, who haphazardly bandaged Xie Lingxiao's wounds.

Only Xie Chengyuan, who returned home the next day, turned deathly pale upon seeing Xie Lingxiao's ghostly face, and trembled like a leaf. Despite his trembling, his mouth seemed sewn shut, and he dared not utter a single word.

It was late at night again, and the candlelight flickered in the study.

Xie Chengyuan was rubbing his temples, worrying about the mess in the mansion, when suddenly a small shadow appeared at the door.

He looked up and saw his daughter standing at the door. He was taken aback for a moment, then forced a gentle expression: "It's Shuer? It's so late, why aren't you asleep yet? Did you come to see your father for something?"

The fake Xie Mingshu ignored his question and walked in on her own, climbing onto the table once more. The candlelight flickered, illuminating her dark eyes, which were empty and devoid of any childlike innocence, resembling two bottomless black holes.

This time, Xie Chengyuan didn't dare let her get down.

"Yes, I'm looking for you." She spoke, her tone condescending, as if she were talking to a subordinate. "It's about Xie Lingxiao's face."

Xie Chengyuan's heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran straight to the top of his head. He had just opened his mouth, and before he could ask a question, the fake Xie Mingshu dropped a sentence that sent shivers down his spine: "I did the slashing on his face."

Xie Chengyuan was completely dumbfounded, his mouth agape, speaking as if he had suffered a stroke: "You... how is this possible..."

"Why not?" The fake Xie Mingshu tilted her head, her innocent expression sending chills down one's spine. "Or do you think I don't have that ability?"

Now that things had come to this, the fake Xie Mingshu no longer pretended to be an obedient child. Xie Chengyuan, recalling everything that had happened before, became increasingly uneasy. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he clung to his last hope and said, "Shu'er, what do you mean by saying these things? Did some bad person teach you to say them?"

"Lord Xie, do you want me to be more blunt?" The fake Xie Mingshu's voice suddenly became mature. "I already know Xie Lingxiao's true identity."

Xie Chengyuan's heart skipped a beat, but he forced himself to remain calm and vehemently denied it: "Didn't I tell you that Ling Xiao is my illegitimate son, he is..."

"He is the emperor's son." The fake Xie Mingshu's words shattered all his pretense.

Xie Chengyuan's expression hardened, and he shouted in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense!"

He lowered his voice and looked at his daughter nervously: "Children shouldn't ask about adult matters! How did you know about this? Where is your mother? Did you tell her, or did she tell you?"

"Whether she knows or not depends on whether you listen to her or not," the fake Xie Mingshu said with a smile.

The blatant threat in her tone sent chills down Xie Chengyuan's spine. He looked at the fake Xie Mingshu in front of him and felt increasingly unfamiliar with her: "Shu'er, what exactly do you want to do?"

Seeing his nervousness, the fake Xie Mingshu said softly, "It's simple, I want to become Xie Lingxiao."

Xie Chengyuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Xie Lingxiao's face is disfigured," the fake Xie Mingshu continued. "Once his identity is exposed, do you think the emperor will let you off? His son was turned into this in your hands. If the emperor won't let you off, will he let the entire Xie family off?"

"So that's why you ruined his face?" Xie Chengyuan was shocked and bewildered, still unwilling to believe that his daughter would do such a thing. He murmured, "I don't understand, Shu'er, you are my daughter, you are the apple of your mother's and my eye. Your father would give his life for you, why, why—"

"Why are you so ambitious?" The fake Xie Mingshu picked up where he left off, answering naturally, "Because you won't give it to me, so I have no choice but to take it myself."

Xie Chengyuan said, "What do you want? Didn't your father give it to you?"

The fake Xie Mingshu looked at him with a mocking gaze: "What will you give me? Food and clothing, a roof over my head? That's not what I want."

"Then what do you want?"

“If you truly love me, you should plan everything for me without hesitation. All your wealth and power should be handed over to me. What you have, you should give me; what you don’t have, you should steal or rob to give me. But you haven’t done a single one of these things.” The fake Xie Mingshu said this with remarkable naturalness, as if she were asking for pocket money.

Such a young child… what is she talking about in her sleep? So selfish, so blind, so self-serving, so foolish, has she gone mad? Xie Chengyuan wondered if there was something wrong with his ears, or perhaps all of this was an illusion, and he had simply fallen asleep and was having a dream?

“You haven’t fulfilled your responsibilities as a father,” the fake Xie Mingshu’s voice was cold and clear, “so I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands.”

"Who are you?" At this moment, Xie Chengyuan finally realized what was happening. He stared intently at the girl in front of him. "You are not my daughter, you are not Shu'er! Who are you?!"

"Don't worry about who I am, just do as I say." The fake Xie Mingshu winked at him, her smile both innocent and malicious. "After all, you know that Mother listens to me a lot, and right now, she only has me in her heart."

Xie Chengyuan was horrified and stood up abruptly, saying, "What do you want to do? I won't allow you to hurt her!"

"That depends on whether you obey me." The fake Xie Mingshu raised her chin, her eyes arrogant. "And whether you are useful to me. Is loyalty to the emperor and love for the country more important, or is your wife more important? Think about it carefully."

Looking into his daughter's eyes, which were not those of a child, Xie Chengyuan felt as if all his strength had been drained away, and he slumped into a chair in despair.

After leaving the study, the fake Xie Mingshu went to Ling's bedroom and woke her up.

Ling was initially startled, but relaxed after realizing it was an imposter Xie Mingshu.

"Why are you here so late at night instead of sleeping? Did you have a nightmare?" Ling asked sleepily, her tone full of affection.

The imposter Xie Mingshu lowered her eyes, feigning a troubled expression. Having lost her husband, mother, and in-laws in succession, her daughter was now Ling Shi's everything, and she immediately became anxious: "What happened?"

"I just went to see him," the fake Xie Mingshu said sullenly.

Madam Ling quickly realized that her daughter was referring to Xie Chengyuan, and she immediately sat up: "What are you doing going to see him? What did he say? Mother will go and teach him a lesson right now!" The fake Xie Mingshu reached out and grabbed her, saying: "I was outside the window and heard him talking to someone. I heard him say that Xie Lingxiao is the emperor's child."

Ling was stunned. After a moment, she suddenly realized what was happening and almost screamed. It took her a while to control her voice and ask in a low voice, "What did you say? Xie Lingxiao is..."

The fake Xie Mingshu nodded: "I heard it with my own ears, it can't be false."

Madam Ling placed absolute trust in her daughter. Since Xie Lingxiao was the emperor's child, did that mean Xie Chengyuan hadn't betrayed her? Did he have his reasons? This thought had barely formed in her mind…

He's lying to you.

The fake Xie Mingshu's icy voice rang out at just the right moment. Ling's attention instantly shifted from "My husband didn't betray me" to "Xie Chengyuan lied to me."

"He didn't even explain such an important matter to you, which shows he doesn't trust you," the fake Xie Mingshu added insult to injury.

Ling felt a chill run down her spine. How could they not tell her about such an important matter? Wasn't that a sign of distrust?
"And if he doesn't tell you the truth, you'll treat Xie Lingxiao like a mistress and take your anger out on him," the fake Xie Mingshu said, looking at Madam Ling with a filthy malice in her eyes. She seduced her, "If he ascends the throne one day, Xie Chengyuan will have been kind to him, but Mother, think about what will happen to you? If you are convicted, will the Ling family be hated as well?"

Ling was immediately misled by her and felt a chill in her heart, thinking to herself that Xie Chengyuan wanted to kill her.
The fake Xie Mingshu's voice rang out again, low and menacing: "His current status is inseparable from the help of the Ling family. Once someone gains power, why would they look down on old acquaintances?"

Ling's face was frighteningly gloomy; her mind was completely blank, unable to even consider the trivial matter of whether Xie Chengyuan had betrayed her. The fake Xie Mingshu leaned close to her ear, her words hissing like a viper's tongue: "That's not all, Mother. I also overheard Father plotting that Xie Lingxiao's face is completely ruined and beyond saving, so they might as well make the best of a bad situation and use me to replace him."

"He dares!" Ling screamed sternly.

“But this is precisely our opportunity,” the fake Xie Mingshu said. “Once we succeed, that immense power will be ours. Before the supreme imperial power, the Xie family is insignificant. Of course, this path will not be easy, and I'm afraid… I'll need my mother to give me a push.”

Two balls of mad fire suddenly ignited in Madam Ling's eyes, and without thinking, she gritted her teeth and said, "I'll give you my life! For my Shu'er, I'll kill any member of the Ling family who stands in my way, let alone the Xie family!"

The fake Xie Mingshu smiled smugly.

After the discussion, the fake Xie Mingshu left satisfied, leaving Ling Shi tossing and turning in bed, chewing over those crazy thoughts until she was exhausted and finally fell into a dark dream.

As soon as she got back to her room, she threw the doll Xie Mingshu, which she was holding, onto the bed as if it were a rag.

The doll Xie Mingshu looked at the fake Xie Mingshu, staring at the face that clearly belonged to her. Recalling the scene of the fake Xie Mingshu bewitching Ling Shi, her anger burned so fiercely that even her wooden body felt hot. She said in a stiff tone, "You are lying to your mother again."

"She deserves it." The fake Xie Mingshu crossed her arms, curled her lip, and looked as self-righteous as if she were a saint who had brought down divine punishment. "Who told your good father to keep it from her? He didn't even trust the person next to him in bed. Isn't this retribution? If he had just told the truth, would it have been like this? If you ask me, you should hate him."

"And what about you?!" Xie Mingshu's voice suddenly rose. She knew this would only invite more terrible retaliation, but that face that twisted the truth, that disgusting double standard to the bone, made her unable to tolerate it any longer!
She screamed shrilly, “What makes you any better? Isn’t what you’re hiding the truth? Why don’t you tell Mother that you’re not me at all! What you’ve done is no different from what my father did! No! You’re far worse than him! Father did it for us, but what about you? You just want to see us suffer! Why don’t you deserve it? Why don’t you get your retribution?”

The smile on the fake Xie Mingshu's face seemed to be wiped away instantly by an invisible hand. The last trace of feigned warmth in her already cold eyes vanished completely, leaving only icy shards of anger and insidious rage.

The doll Xie Mingshu's heart sank suddenly, and a warning bell rang loudly in her soul.

“It seems,” the fake Xie Mingshu slowly reached out and lifted the broken doll up to her eyes like a kitten, her icy fingertips circling over its hollowed-out wooden eye, her voice terrifyingly soft, “that gouging out one of your eyes still didn’t teach you a lesson. That mouth of yours is still so noisy.”

Before she finished speaking, her other hand swiftly grabbed Xie Mingshu's intact right leg.

Fear instantly filled the doll Xie Mingshu's single eye; she could feel an immense force tearing her apart from her legs.

Click!

The sound was crisp and loud, so sharp it hurt your eardrums.

An indescribable, excruciating pain, as if exploding from the depths of her soul, surged through every inch of her wooden body like lightning. Her wooden mouth opened to its limit in silence, a piercing scream stuck in her throat, ultimately turning into a desperate whine.

Her body convulsed violently, and her severed leg twisted at a bizarre and horrifying angle, with jagged wooden splinters standing upright at the break, like a mocking mouth.

The instigator, the fake Xie Mingshu, admired her masterpiece. The crisp sound of breaking was like heavenly music to her. Looking at the broken and miserable state of the doll Xie Mingshu, an extremely pleased smile bloomed on her face.

# # # # # # #
Then, under the coercion of the fake Xie Mingshu and the cooperation of Xie Chengyuan in his despair, the scheme of switching the prince with a cat began to be carried out in an orderly manner.

Soon, everything was ready, except for the last and most crucial step—secretly entering the palace to meet the emperor and transform her from a fake into a real person.

Before leaving, the fake Xie Mingshu, carrying the even more broken doll, spoke as casually as if discussing the weather: "I'm going to see the Emperor. Not only will I make him acknowledge me, but I'll also make him appoint me as Crown Prince. Just you wait and see, when that time comes, with the Emperor's authority, Xie Chengyuan won't be able to avoid a divorce."

The doll Xie Mingshu felt as if she had been plunged into ice water. She knew this monster was capable of anything, and she would succeed. But unwilling to grow wildly like weeds, she still mustered all her strength and stubbornly cursed, "You can't fool His Majesty! You'll be exposed! You will definitely fail!"

The fake Xie Mingshu chuckled lightly, her laughter filled with confident arrogance: "Is that so? Then you'll just have to wait and see."

After saying that, she tossed the doll Xie Mingshu back onto the bed as if it were trash, then turned and left without looking back.

The doll Xie Mingshu was left in the empty room. Time seemed to stand still. The light outside the window moved slowly, from bright to dim, casting long shadows on the tables and chairs in the room. Everything was eerily quiet, a quiet that made one's heart race.

As dusk approached, the door was pushed open.

The fake Xie Mingshu returned. She stood at the door, backlit, with a victor's smile on her face.

“I have succeeded,” she said. “I am now the crown prince.”

The doll Xie Mingshu remained silent.

With the status of the crown prince and the authority of the emperor, there were no more obstacles to the divorce. A single document was issued, and the matter was resolved swiftly and decisively.

Inside the room, Madam Ling was flushed with excitement. Holding the fake Xie Mingshu's hand, she dreamed of the future: "Great! Shu'er, we're finally free! We'll move out right away, stay at the Ling family's house for a few days first, and then move out once your mother has bought a house outside. It'll just be the two of us, and no one will be able to bother us again!"

The fake Xie Mingshu was quite satisfied with this and said, "Now that we're divorced, Mother should use her own name again. Being called Ling Shi or Madam is a symbol that your true nature has been taken away!"

“That’s right! That’s right!” Madam Ling nodded repeatedly, excitedly agreeing, “I want to take back my own name! To be my true self again!”

The fake Xie Mingshu asked her encouragingly, "So what's your real name?"

A long-lost radiance appeared on Madam Ling's face. She straightened her back, as if brushing away the dust accumulated over the years as 'Madam Xie,' and said solemnly, "My name is Ling Yurou. Yu as in language, Rou as in gentleness. Shuer, does it sound nice?"

The encouraging smile on the fake Xie Mingshu's face froze instantly. Her expression darkened, and contempt welled up in her eyes. She seemed to have seen something filthy, and said coldly, "Yu Rou? It is indeed a good name. Speak softly, act gently, learn to be docile, learn to shut up, and then you can better please a man? What a good name. Are you actually smug about this name?"

Startled by the sudden rebuke, Madam Ling turned pale, her face instantly losing its luster. She instinctively took a half step back, looking at the anger on her daughter's face, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word, only able to subconsciously shake her head.

Seeing her meek and submissive demeanor, the fake Xie Mingshu nodded in satisfaction. She spoke in a savior-like tone, "That name no longer suits you. It represents your past. But you have been reborn, and I will give you a true name."

Seeing that the fake Xie Mingshu hadn't continued her attack and was even going to name her, Madam Ling felt an overwhelming sense of relief, as if she feared the fake Xie Mingshu would become angry again. She fawned over her, putting on an exaggeratedly excited act: "Yes! Yes! Shu'er is right! Mother was wrong! Mother was so confused! That name is a disgrace! A shackle! Mother doesn't want it anymore! Luckily, Shu'er reminded me, otherwise I almost had to live with this filthy thing for the rest of my life!"

A fervent, adoring smile spread across her face: "Shu'er, come and give me a true name! A new, powerful name that belongs to me!"

After a moment's thought, the fake Xie Mingshu said, "From now on, your name will be Ling Feizhu."

Ling listened blankly to this unfamiliar name, silently pondering it for a moment: "Ling Feizhu..."

The next second, as if she had grasped some supreme truth, she trembled with ecstasy.

"No killing...no killing!" she repeated loudly, her emotions escalating. "Yes! This is me! This is the name I should have!"

She grabbed the sleeve of the fake Xie Mingshu and exclaimed incoherently, "I understand! Mother understands completely! From this day forward, there will be no more Ling Yuru, only Ling Feizhu!"

The fake Xie Mingshu looked at her and nodded in satisfaction. Behind the fake Xie Mingshu, the protagonist's halo was shining brightly.

Xie Mingshu, the doll in the corner, watched this absurd scene and felt deep sorrow for her mother.

After choosing a new name, there was nothing else to do but pack their bags and move out of the Xie family home.

The fake Xie Mingshu would never do this, and Madam Ling didn't trust the servants to pack her daughter's things, so she happily packed them herself.

As she was tidying up, she saw the doll Xie Mingshu that had been left aside, so she picked it up and asked, "Shu'er, should we take this doll with us?"

The fake Xie Mingshu walked over, took the doll, and looked it over.

The doll Xie Mingshu remained expressionless, without even a flicker of emotion in her eyes.

She naturally didn't fantasize that the fake Xie Mingshu would suddenly have a change of heart and let her go. No, the monster in front of her would never do that. She would only continue to drag her along, forcing her to witness her mother's brainwashing and tormenting her relentlessly.

The doll Xie Mingshu was expressionless because she was completely desperate.

Unexpectedly, the fake Xie Mingshu only glanced at it a few times before casually saying, "No, I'm already tired of it."

With that, she loosened her grip and casually tossed the doll onto the ground.

The doll Xie Mingshu was stunned.

It wasn't until the door closed and the footsteps of Madam Ling and the fake Xie Mingshu faded into the distance that she came to her senses. She got up from the ground, went to the window, and stared blankly at the empty courtyard.

I'm...free now?

The next moment, a thought suddenly flashed into her mind. She could go to her father! She could tell him the whole truth!

The doll Xie Mingshu was overjoyed.

However, just as she was about to step out with her intact leg, everything suddenly went black, and the whole world was plunged into endless darkness.

Sight, sound, touch… all her senses were stripped away in an instant, leaving only her consciousness to be thrown into a thick, warm void. She was no longer a puppet, nor even a physical form. She became a wisp of floating thought, enveloped by a soft yet resilient force, unable to move.

She wanted to scream, but found she had no throat. She wanted to struggle, but couldn't find her limbs.

In the pitch blackness devoid of all five senses, she couldn't even perceive the passage of time. Her consciousness began to become chaotic, her body switching back and forth between lucidity and confusion, as if she were being waterboarded.

Someone pushed her head underwater, occasionally letting her surface for a glimpse, only to pull her back into the suffocating water. In those fleeting moments of clarity, the only change she could perceive was that her surroundings seemed to be becoming crowded and warm, as if she were locked in a small cage.

The doll Xie Mingshu was panicked and confused, not understanding what had happened or where she had ended up.
She was at a loss and could only silently endure it.

How much time passed like this, I don't know. Suddenly, in that seemingly eternal darkness, a needle pierced through, a needle that was glowing.

Immediately afterwards, the cage that had been sluggishly enveloping her suddenly came to life, writhing and contracting wildly, pushing her toward the light with an unyielding force.

The squeezing sensation was like crushing her, and the light was getting brighter and brighter, almost blindingly so.

Finally, in a spinning motion, she was violently pushed out.

A biting cold instantly enveloped her, and her vision was filled with a blinding white light. Instinctively, she wanted to curl up into a ball, but was astonished to find that she had new, delicate limbs.

She grew increasingly frightened, anxiously trying to open her eyes, see her surroundings clearly, and figure out what was going on.

However, her eyelids felt as heavy as if they were weighed down by two weights, and she struggled to open them even a crack. She looked around with difficulty, and the whole world appeared as a jumble of enormous, swaying blocks of color. The next second, a pair of large, rough, sandpaper-like hands lifted her up, and a deeply lined old face came close to her eyes, its mouth opening and closing, muttering something in a low, indistinct voice.

Amidst the chaotic noise, a familiar figure squeezed into her blurry vision.

It was her father, Xie Chengyuan.

The old man's face immediately broke into a wide grin, and he turned to his father, his voice finally clearer, full of fawning joy: "Congratulations, sir! Congratulations, sir! It's a daughter!"

—A thousand pieces of gold?
Xie Mingshu's consciousness shuddered within this new body. She stared intently at her father's face, a face filled only with unfathomable weariness and an almost overflowing sorrow. She saw not a trace of joy at the birth of her beloved daughter.

At that moment, accompanied by a loud, uncontrollable cry bursting from her throat, she finally understood, and had no choice but to understand.

She was reincarnated once again.

(End of this chapter)