Luo Xueyao wanted to curse.
She wanted to use the kind of profanity so foul it wouldn't pass any censorship.
She had already died three times. Was there no end to this?
In her first life, she was an ordinary university student who chanced upon a Spatial Dimension that connected to a parallel universe. She spent her days hoarding supplies to pamper an ancient general, while simultaneously making a fortune selling the antiques and jade the general gifted her. Just as the general rose to power and their romance blossomed to the point of marriage, she had died in a car accident.
When she opened her eyes again, it was her second life. She started twenty-four hours before the apocalypse. Her parents had been schemed against and killed by her cousin, her aunt and uncle had seized the family estate, and her cousins were plotting to finish her off. Fortunately, her Spatial Dimension was still there. Luo Xueyao snatched every valuable item in the house, pawned them for cash, and spent every remaining second hoarding supplies. When the apocalypse arrived and zombies besieged her home, her general descended like a god of war, fighting through the chaos with her in an exhilarating escape. She thought this life would be perfect, but—just as she watched her uncle’s family meet their deserved ends at the hands of the zombies, she developed a fever. She died before she could even get the medicine into her mouth. From falling ill to passing away, it took less than a minute. To die so inexplicably despite having a Spatial Dimension? Heh. Truly, heh.
When she opened her eyes for her third life, heaven finally granted her a normal world. Although she was born into a remote village, the girl who had been an orphan for two lives finally had a family. Her parents doted on her, her brothers were kind, and her sisters-in-law were harmonious. With the endless supplies in her Spatial Dimension, she raised children and built a new house, living a blissful, cozy life. At fifteen, she met the newly appointed magistrate, who looked exactly like her general. It was love at first sight. By sixteen, the magistrate proposed, and their millennium-spanning love was finally ready to bear fruit.
But heaven is never kind. On the day of her wedding, a massive earthquake buried her entire family.
Three lives. Each time, everything ended just as she felt the happiest. In the final seconds of her previous life, Luo Xueyao had murmured, "Forget it. I never want to do this again..."
Yet, heaven never plays fair. With one blink, Luo Xueyao was reborn once more.
Lying in bed and staring at the aquamarine silk canopy, Luo Xueyao just wanted to curse that damned heaven. Was there no end to it?
"Yaoyao, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
Hearing the voice of her Spirit Pet, Luo Xueyao knew her Spatial Dimension was still with her. But her lover, her family, and her friends were all gone. What was the point of doing it all again?
She turned over, closed her eyes, and covered her ears. "The bad one."
Luo Xueyao had resigned herself to her fate. Good things never lasted for her; whenever they arrived, she would end up dying. She might as well wallow in this life's misery—she was done working in vain!
"The bad news is that your family will be raided and exiled in three days."
"Oh."
Seeing she remained unresponsive, Mengmeng—her Spirit Pet, who usually liked to present itself in the form of a Ragdoll cat despite actually being a giant, striped tiger—had to take the initiative and offer the good news.
"The good news is that your family from your previous life has traveled with you to this world!"
"What!"
Luo Xueyao bolted upright. Her heart raced and her hands trembled; she wanted nothing more than to run out and hug her parents. But as soon as she stood up, the world went black.
"Crash!"
The next second, Luo Xueyao collapsed to the floor.
Outside, the maids Xiangtao and Cuiping heard the commotion and rushed in, frantically pulling her up.
"Miss, why have you fainted again? Quickly, call for the physician!"
A second-class maid in the courtyard immediately ran to the front to inform the Master and Mistress and summon the house physician.
In a haze, Luo Xueyao absorbed the memories of this life. This was the Dayu Dynasty, and she was the only daughter of the Prime Minister, Luo Jingran. Her mother, Lin Yue, had three sons and one daughter. The eldest, Luo Qingshan, was thirty-six, a top scholar who had served as a high official in the Ministry of Revenue for fifteen years. His wife was Gu Fang, the only daughter of the General of Liaobei, and they had a son and a daughter. The second son, Luo Qingyu, was thirty-two, a military official serving under Prince Pingxi, married to Xia Lan, the daughter of the Minister of Personnel, with whom he had one son. The third son, Luo Qingchuan, was twenty-seven; though he lacked academic or martial prowess, he was a brilliant businessman. Lin Yue was desperate to marry her niece, Lin Zhiyan, to her youngest son, but Luo Qingchuan always wore a cynical expression—neither refusing nor accepting. And she, Luo Xueyao, was the cherished "late-life" daughter of the Prime Minister, the darling of the Luo Family, sixteen years of age.
After absorbing all the memories, Luo Xueyao let out a long sigh. The good news was that not only were her parents and brothers here, but her sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews were too. The people she cared about most were by her side again. How wonderful—it was best for a family to be together.
The bad news was: she had transmigrated into a book! Specifically, a political novel she had read right before dying in her second life. And her family were nothing but tragic, cannon-fodder supporting characters!
Luo Xueyao couldn't help but want to curse again, but before she could, she felt a hot tear drop onto the back of her hand.
"My precious daughter, the Fourth Prince is by no means a good man. Why must you insist on him? Which man in the royal family doesn't have a harem of wives and concubines? You are kind-hearted and gentle; if you truly enter that house, how could you ever survive? Mother just wants to find you a simple family, somewhere you won't be trapped within high walls for the rest of your life..."
"Mother—"
Luo Xueyao couldn't bear to hear any more. Fighting through the headache, she forced her eyes open. Seeing her mother’s loving face and remembering how her mother had shielded her during the earthquake in her previous life—suffering a broken spine so that she might live—Luo Xueyao felt a lump in her throat and called out with profound emotion:
"Mother..."
But her tears only convinced Lin Yue that her daughter was deeply in love with the Fourth Prince. Everyone in the capital knew the Fourth Prince, Murong Fu, was cruel and violent. His manor had no legal wife or concubines, yet the housemaids were replaced every month, and from time to time, a corpse mangled beyond recognition was carried out. Thinking of her daughter, whom she had raised in the palm of her hand, longing for such a piece of trash—a piece of trash the Luo Family couldn't afford to provoke—Lin Yue felt a surge of sorrow and wept even harder.
Luo Xueyao had wanted to comfort her mother, but seeing that familiar face and remembering her mother’s final act of sacrifice, the words caught in her throat. The two held each other, gazing through tearful eyes, unable to speak.
"Ahem!" Mengmeng had no choice but to interject. "I hate to break this up, Yaoyao, but if you don't hurry and get to business, I’m afraid you and your family will have plenty of days left to cry."
Luo Xueyao’s tears stopped instantly. She hurriedly took Lin Yue’s hand to soothe her. "Mother, I know you are heartbroken, but please, stop for a moment. I have something very important to tell everyone!"