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Alternative
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Yan Zhining married in place of her elder brother.
She died on her wedding night.
She was only seventeen years old.
When she opens her eyes again, she finds herself standing on a bustling street. Ahead, two groups are locked in a fierce confrontation.
Inside a carriage sits the Empire’s Left Chancellor a woman of unmatched status and authority. Clad in frost-colored robes, she is elegant, distant, and untouchable, her cold beauty sharpened by years of political power.
Yan Zhining stares at her in surprise.
Isn’t that her newly married sister-in-law?
Excited, she runs over and greets her.
“Why are you here?”
Under everyone’s shocked gaze, she climbs directly into the Chancellor’s carriage.
The people fighting nearby are dumbfounded.
“Wasn’t she dead?”
“Hasn’t the Left Chancellor been a widow for five years?”
Yan Zhining carefully scoots closer, her eyes bright.
“Why are you looking at me like that? We saw each other just last night. We just got married.”
The Chancellor says nothing.
Because Yan Zhining has been dead for five years.
She died in a devastating fire.
And now, somehow, she has returned.
A World Full of Lies
After returning, Yan Zhining discovers that something strange has happened.
A small bell has appeared in her mind.
Whenever someone lies to her, the bell rings.
Her mother embraces her and weeps, saying how desperately she missed her.
Ring.
In reality, her mother resents her return because it threatens the family’s ambitions.
Her childhood friend swears that Yan Zhining has always been her only best friend.
Ring.
She has already found a new closest companion.
Her younger sister cries and says she missed her terribly.
Ring.
Her sister has secretly fallen in love with the Left Chancellor and wishes to take Yan Zhining’s place.
Her father clasps her hand and tells her that her brother will soon return, and that she should give his wife back to him.
Ring.
Because her brother is already dead.
Everyone lies.
Everyone hides something.
And the bell exposes them all.
The One Person She Wants an Answer From
Eventually, Yan Zhining asks the person she cares about most.
“After all these years… did you miss me?”
The Left Chancellor shakes her head.
Ring.
That night, Yan Zhining climbs onto the Chancellor’s bed.
The Chancellor frowns.
“I don’t wish to share a bed with you.”
Ring.
Only then does Yan Zhining fully understand.
Everyone lies to her.
Including the woman who spent five years mourning her.
Especially her.
