Reborn As The Wicked Little Sister-in-Law - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dying Right at the Start?

In the early spring of April, when the grass grows and the orioles fly, it was the perfect season for an outing. The Marquis of Pingyang of the State of Tang took his entire household out of the city for a scenic excursion.

The emerald surface of the lake was draped in a thick, veil-like white mist. Beneath the quiet water, a woman was being dragged into the abyss by the icy depths. She forced her eyes open, but she was surrounded by nothing but darkness.

No way, I’m dying the moment I get here?

Qiyun, did you give me the wrong script?

Not at all. This is the world of the novel Yunhua Pavilion. You are a minor supporting character, Lü Guiyan, the ninth concubine of the Marquis of Pingyang. Your mission here is to facilitate the “blackening” of the female antagonist, Wei Chengyan.

If you successfully cause her to turn evil and kill you, your next life will be as the daughter of a billionaire family—living a life of luxury and hedonism as a wealthy socialite.

As a modern woman who had died prematurely from overwork, she had spent fifty long years working diligently in the Underworld to earn a slot for a wealthy reincarnation. The prerequisite was that she had to complete missions assigned by the higher-ups. Only by reaching 100% completion could she be reincarnated.

Before coming here, she had already been to two other worlds. The first time, she died before Chapter 10, failing the mission entirely. The second time, she was a romance heroine, but halfway through, her character persona collapsed. Decades of hard work vanished in an instant, and she was sent back to square one.

This time, she had spent all her savings to specifically pick a minor role—one who worked in the shadows and didn’t have much screen time. This character died early, was a consistent villain in the book, and committed misdeeds without a conscience. It seemed like a role impossible to “break.”

She never expected to drown the second she arrived.

She’d been scammed! When she got back, she’d definitely make that ghost spit her money back out.

When her consciousness finally returned, the sun was setting. The afterglow of the dusk spilled over the pine branches, coating them in a layer of warm, rosy light.

Where am I?

Lü Guiyan pinched the back of her hand hard, but she felt no pain. Having worked in the Underworld for fifty years, she knew exactly what this meant.

With a heavy sigh, she felt her heart go cold. “I can’t feel any pain from the pinch. Qiyun, I’m dead again.”

“You pinched me, of course it doesn’t hurt.”

A voice, deliberately disguised as a raspy male tone, rang out by her ear. Lü Guiyan looked toward the sound.

A girl of about seventeen sat there, soaked to the bone just like her. She was wearing a navy blue male robe with silver “auspicious cloud” patterns and a moon-colored jade hairpin in her hair. Her features were delicate but sharp, with a hint of heroic spirit between her brows.

This was the female lead of Yunhua Pavilion, Wei Chengyan—the one who, in the early stages, preferred men’s clothing over red dresses, loved martial arts, and appeared bright and optimistic on the surface while secretly murdering innocents behind the scenes.

To think she was saved by her. Fine, better not be too arrogant right at the start.

“Thank you for saving me.”

These words made Wei Chengyan frown. she reached out to touch Lü Guiyan’s forehead, wondering, “You’re not sick, are you?”

Lü Guiyan: “…”

At that moment, the previously lagging Qiyun came back online to remind her: The plot here is that you saw Wei Chengyan secretly instigating Concubines Five, Six, and Seven to harm you. You went to confront them and ended up being pushed into the river.

Holy crap, no wonder she’s looking at me like I’m an idiot.

Exactly. What you need to do now is give them all a good scolding.

Lü Guiyan snapped into character instantly. She stood up briskly, patted the water off her clothes, and raised her hand only to lower it again.

Qiyun, will it look bad if I start cursing people out the moment I arrive?

You’re here to be a vicious female supporting character, not to fall in love. Why do you care about your image?

True. She had already failed twice; she couldn’t fail this time.

Lü Guiyan cleared her throat and said with a face full of resentment, “You’re the one who’s sick! Pushing me in and then saving me.”

Wei Chengyan looked like she had seen a ghost.

Are you a primary schooler? Lü Guiyan knew her words lacked intimidation, but she had just arrived and was unprepared; she really didn’t know what to say.

Run first, think of the insults on the way.

Without waiting for a response, Lü Guiyan turned tail and bolted.

How embarrassing! It turned out being a villain wasn’t that easy after all.

As she jogged along, the memories lost during her drowning slowly returned. She was from a distant branch of the Lü family. Her parents were country folk, she had two lazy brothers, and her parents heavily favored sons over daughters.

She had been made to do farm work and all the household chores since childhood, while her brothers were considered heroes just for picking up some firewood. Three years ago, she was brought to the city by the Lü family under the guise of “enjoying life.” They changed her name and made her a concubine for the Marquis of Pingyang.

However, she was forbidden from getting pregnant. Her purpose in the estate was to help the Marquis’s favorite, Auntie Lan, become the primary wife so that Lan’s son could become the heir.

Auntie Lan’s surname was Lü; she was actually Lü Guiyan’s third cousin. It was Lan who had changed her name. Originally named Lü Xiaojiu, she was renamed because the Marquis’s late wife was surnamed “Yan.” The Marquis loathed his original wife, so Auntie Lan chose a homophone for “Yan” to ensure the Marquis would dislike Lü Guiyan from the start.

Lü Guiyan had lived up to expectations. In three years, she hadn’t spent a single moment alone with the Marquis. She only ever saw him when she was in Auntie Lan’s courtyard.

Lü Guiyan didn’t care about any of that. As long as Auntie Lan became the legal wife, she would have endless wealth. She didn’t want a man’s love anyway.

Because Auntie Lan was favored, the other concubines didn’t dare touch her. They could only target the low-status, neglected Lü Guiyan. Even without Wei Chengyan’s instigation, Concubines Five, Six, and Seven would have eventually made their move.

After sorting through these messy relationships, Lü Guiyan felt like she was having a heart attack. She thought this was a “God’s-eye view” villainess power trip, but instead, everyone was waiting to push her down.

She sighed helplessly. “Sigh~ Being a bad guy is a tough job these days.”

Suddenly, she collapsed. It felt as if a giant boulder was pressing against her chest. Her internal organs throbbed with intense pain, and her throat felt as though it were being strangled, making it impossible to breathe.

After a brief moment, her body returned to normal.

Qiyun, what was that?

You only have three chances at reincarnation. You’ve wasted two. You cannot fail this time. That was a backlash from the ‘Azure Glaze Red Fire.’ Luckily, it was only a minor one.

What is the Azure Glaze Red Fire?

It is a curse seal used to supervise your mission. If your behavior deviates from the original character setting, it will ‘remind’ you, just like it did just now.

What!

If you fail this mission, you will become like me—an ‘Artifact Spirit’ waiting for the next person to take on a task.

Lü Guiyan hadn’t known any of this. If she had, she would have chosen her script much more carefully. Fortunately, the completion requirements for this role weren’t hard—as long as she caused trouble and got killed by the villain Wei Chengyan, she could peacefully become a rich woman. But…

Qiyun, if I succeed, what happens to you?

Qiyun was silent for a moment before replying: Once you become an Artifact Spirit, you stay one forever. There are no more chances. So you must complete the mission. I don’t want you to end up like me.

Lü Guiyan remembered a sentence Qiyun had said to her when she first chose her: “Sooner or later, you will become like me.” At the time, she didn’t understand. Now she did.

It seemed she really had to harden her heart this time.

Lü Guiyan’s clothes were soaked, and she had just tripped in the mud, making her look absolutely pathetic. She walked toward the Wei family’s campsite. The three concubines and Wei Chengyan had already returned.

It was time for the midday meal. The Marquis and Auntie Lan sat in the primary seats, Wei Chengyan sat in the secondary seat, and the other twelve concubines sat in two rows according to when they entered the estate.

The moment Concubines Five, Six, and Seven saw Lü Guiyan, they all began to sob quietly, as if they were the ones who had suffered a great grievance.

Lü Guiyan hadn’t originally wanted to clash with them—her target was Wei Chengyan, after all. But her previous failure was due to that exact mindset. This time, she had to follow the character setting perfectly.

Concubine Five stood up with teary eyes and approached Lü Guiyan. She took her hand with fake concern and said, “Ninth Sister, you’re finally back. We were worried to death.”

And so, it begins?