Double Rebirth: The Scumbag Heroine is Terrified of the Yandere Prince! - Chapter 1

The dungeon was dim, the walls moldy, and the nauseating stench of blood hit her full force.

“I beg you, give my child back to me!”

Shen Ruoli, who had just given birth, was shackled tightly with iron chains. The placenta, forcibly torn away, lay on the ground, and fresh blood spread and flowed beneath her.

Gone was the pride and nobility of the Duke’s daughter. Covered in scars and in a state of utter wretchedness, she knelt on the ground, pleading bitterly. “Tomorrow is the grand ceremony to invest the Crown Prince. I’ve done everything you asked! Please, spare my child!”

The man let out a chilling sneer. “Do you take me for a fool? Why would I raise a tiger only to let it cause trouble later?”

He gripped the infant’s neck in his arms and applied slight pressure. After a few weak cries, the child stopped breathing.

“Besides, I just told your dear husband, Xie Xuanyin, that his fall from grace was all thanks to you. I told him his child would grow up calling his enemy ‘Father.’ Who knew he couldn’t handle it? He coughed up blood and died on the spot. How fragile.”

Shen Ruoli trembled, lunging toward him in a frenzy. “Xie Xuansong! Xie Xuanyin is your brother! You promised me you wouldn’t hurt him! You animal!”

She had loved this man since she was old enough to remember. For him, she had approached Xie Xuanyin without hesitation, helping him steal the position of Crown Prince. But the very day Xie Xuanyin was deposed, Shen Ruoli was imprisoned in this dungeon by Xie Xuansong, and the Shen family was thrown into jail one after another.

While pregnant, she had endured torture daily. Her child was born premature, only to be murdered by him the moment it entered the world.

Shen Ruoli’s eyes were bloodshot; the heartbreak made it impossible to breathe. “Kill me if you have the guts! Kill me! Otherwise, I will make you pay a hundred times over!”

“Kill you? I can’t bring myself to do that.”

Xie Xuansong leaned down slightly, holding the dead child. His tone was gentle, yet it made her skin crawl. “Since you’ve truly fallen for Xie Xuanyin… I will deliver the corpse of one of your blood relatives to you every day. Once everyone you care about is dead, I’ll send you to join them.”

Seeing him turn to leave, Shen Ruoli knew that if she didn’t get her revenge today, she never would.

She used every ounce of strength to break free from the chains. Even as a layer of skin was ripped from her wrists by the iron, she chased after him, seemingly unable to feel the pain.

But Xie Xuansong seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. As he turned, the sharp blade in his hand pierced Shen Ruoli’s heart without hesitation.

“I wanted to let you live a few more days, but since you’re seeking death, don’t blame me for being unkind. Shen Ruoli, you are too clever. That is exactly why I cannot keep you alive.”

He pulled out the dagger. Blood splattered across his face, making him look sinister and terrifying.

Looking at the lifeless child in his arms, Shen Ruoli mustered her last bit of strength. The shackles on her wrist smashed heavily into Xie Xuansong’s right eye!

After a scream of agony, both Shen Ruoli and the child were sent flying by a heavy blow.

“Don’t be afraid, my baby… Mommy will protect you. Mommy will stay with you…”

Shen Ruoli hugged the child tightly. She couldn’t feel the pain as her body hit the ground. At that moment, she had only one thought: Even if I become a vengeful ghost, I will make Xie Xuansong pay with his life!

…

“Shen Ruoli, have you made up your mind?”

Her chin was gripped tightly. A voice, cold to the bone, startled Shen Ruoli awake. That familiar, noble, and handsome face was inches away!

Shen Ruoli froze for a moment—it was Xie Xuanyin!

Hadn’t he been killed by Xie Xuansong? Hadn’t she and the child also died at Xie Xuansong’s hands?

Before she could even rejoice over her rebirth, she saw the hatred in Xie Xuanyin’s eyes—cold and unmistakable.

She snapped into focus instantly!

Logically, Xie Xuanyin shouldn’t yet know that she entered the Crown Prince’s manor for Xie Xuansong’s sake. Why did he hate her so much?

“Xuanyin…”

The moment she spoke, Xie Xuanyin withdrew his hand in disgust. “Since when are you allowed to call me by my name?”

Only then did Shen Ruoli realize her feet were dangling in the air! She was actually hoisted high up, suspended from the edge of the city watchtower.

She had always been afraid of heights. Looking down slightly, she estimated she was seventy or eighty feet up. If she fell, she would be smashed to pieces!

The wind whistled past, whipping her long hair and skirt into the air. The world was filled with a biting chill.

Before she could process the confusion of her rebirth, the sword in Xie Xuanyin’s hand sliced through the rope on her left wrist!

Her body dropped abruptly, and her right shoulder nearly dislocated from the jerk! Having finally gained a second chance at life, she couldn’t die like this before getting her revenge!

“Your Highness!”

She looked at Xie Xuanyin in a panic. “Just now, didn’t you ask if I was willing to do anything for Xie Xuansong, even give up my life?”

Xie Xuanyin aimed his sword at the rope on her right wrist, a dark undercurrent swirling in his eyes. “So, your answer?”

“I won’t!” Shen Ruoli replied with a trembling voice. “I didn’t enter the Eastern Palace for Xie Xuansong. I did it for you, Your Highness!”

A crack appeared in Xie Xuanyin’s cold expression. He didn’t believe her.

Since they were children, Shen Ruoli had chased Xie Xuansong all over the capital. She had even threatened to end her life for him. Xie Xuanyin knew she was terrified of heights; he was certain she was only telling these lies to save her skin.

He gritted his teeth. “Heh. Shen Ruoli, is there a single word of truth in your mouth?”

“I swear to Heaven! If I am lying, let me fall from here and be crushed to pieces!” Shen Ruoli struggled to raise three fingers in an oath.

As a person who had lived once before, she had so much she wanted to tell him, but this man was naturally cold and suspicious. If she said the wrong thing, it would only fuel his doubt.

She had once approached him for gain, but they had also been the most intimate of partners. Shen Ruoli endured the heartache, speaking from the bottom of her soul. “Crown Prince, I was blind in the past! Xie Xuansong betrayed my heart, so I hate him to the core! I want nothing more than for him to die!”

Only by resolving the current crisis could she have a chance at vengeance. She was cold and terrified; her blood felt frozen. Tears blown away by the wind made her look exceptionally pitiful.

Xie Xuanyin’s heart twitched, and a piercing pain surged within him. He hated seeing her cry most of all. He had doubted her before, but because of a single “oath to Heaven,” he had stopped his suspicions—and it had led to his tragic end!

Seeing him look away, Shen Ruoli thought her words had moved him. But in the next second, the man’s sword pointed directly at her heart. “Glittering words! Shen Ruoli, do you think I will ever believe your lies again?”

Shen Ruoli’s eyes widened. A bold suspicion flashed through her mind—Could it be that Xie Xuanyin has also been reborn?!

If that were true, she was as good as dead today!

“Your Highness!”

At this critical juncture, Shen Ruoli’s voice overlapped with that of a guard who appeared just in time. “Your Highness! Prince Chu has arrived!”

Looking at the sharp blade less than an inch from her heart, Shen Ruoli’s heart pounded wildly.

Xie Xuanyin withdrew his sword. Instead, he reached out and gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His gaze was incredibly tender, but his voice was chillingly dark. “Let him up.”

Having narrowly escaped death, Shen Ruoli was pale and trembling. Cold sweat clung to her body; the wind made it feel like countless vengeful spirits were clinging to her, chilling her to the bone.

Xie Xuanyin was fickle; no one could fathom his thoughts. In her previous life, it was only by risking her life to save his that she had managed to open his heart. She didn’t know if he believed her words just now, but Xie Xuansong’s sudden arrival made her heart clinch again.

Revenge could wait, but she was afraid Xie Xuansong would say something he shouldn’t and provoke Xie Xuanyin, dragging her down with him!

“Your Highness! Can you let me down?” Shen Ruoli quickly came up with a plan. “And… may I borrow your sword?”