Yu Lingxi opened her eyes and returned to the thirteenth year of Tianzhao.

One moment she was floating in the secret chamber of the Regent Prince’s mansion, filled with resentment and panic.

The next moment she fell into darkness, waking up crying in her chamber in the General’s mansion.

The bronze mirror on her dressing table reflected her delicate, weak face, with cheeks so tender they seemed to drip with moisture, displaying the fresh radiance that only a young girl possesses.

She pinched her palm—it hurt.

She had indeed returned to when she was fifteen years old.

After a brief daze, immense joy surged into her heart.

She took several deep breaths, and when her eyes were no longer red, she got up and pushed open the door, rushing eagerly toward the flower hall.

Did she resent Ning Yin? Of course, she did.

Without a grave or tomb, the terror of becoming a wandering ghost still lingered in her heart. She wanted nothing more than to find Ning Yin immediately and bite a piece of flesh from his body!

After all, she had already died once. Seeking revenge had nothing to fear.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know where Ning Yin was at this time.

Even in her previous life, Ning Yin had kept his past tightly hidden. No one knew where he had fled during those five years after being expelled from the palace, or what kind of life he had lived.

People only remembered how he returned from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, step by step, turning the imperial palace into his battlefield of revenge.

Only now did Yu Lingxi realize how little she knew about Ning Yin.

She missed her father and mother, missed this home that had not yet fallen!

The Great General’s mansion was magnificent and prosperous, with autumn colors in full bloom—just as she remembered it.

Yu Lingxi breathed rapidly, her cheeks flushing red, wishing she could fly to her parents’ embrace.

Just as she crossed the courtyard, she heard a familiar, gentle female voice from the flower hall: “When will you depart?”

A deep, strong male voice replied: “In ten days.”

It was her father and mother!

Yu Lingxi’s heart leaped with joy as she lifted her skirt and rushed up the stone steps.

The woman in the hall paused for a moment, then complained: “…Must my husband accept the order to go to war at this time? Our eldest daughter isn’t home, and Suisui is still ill. How can I support everything alone?”

The man comforted her: “The Emperor’s verbal command has been given. How can I disobey? It’s just a small battle, my wife. Don’t worry.”

Like a bucket of cold water poured over her head, Yu Lingxi froze outside the door.

She had nearly forgotten that in the autumn of the thirteenth year of Tianzhao, her father and brother had been ordered to march north, but were betrayed by traitors and died in battle.

Calculating the time, what her parents were discussing… must be about this matter.

Her elated heart had barely begun to soar before its wings broke and it fell back into the abyss.

This northern expedition was the source of all disasters.

If her father and brother had not gone north, the Yu family would not have fallen, and she would not have become an orphaned girl that anyone could bully, mysteriously dying on Ning Yin’s bed…

“Suisui, you’ve just recovered from your illness. Why are you out catching the wind again?” The woman noticed her standing outside the door and hurriedly put down her needlework to stand up.

The familiar childhood name gave her a steadying strength.

Because she had been frail and sickly since childhood, and countless medicines had failed to improve her condition, her mother had gone to Ci’an Temple to seek these two characters for her, hoping she would be “safe and peaceful year after year.”

“Mother!” Yu Lingxi’s emotions overflowed as she tightly embraced this delicate, gentle woman.

Everything seemed to settle like dust.

“What’s wrong, Suisui?” Madam Yu stroked her back, thinking she was just being affectionate.

“I just… missed you.” Yu Lingxi shook her head. The experiences of her previous life rushed to her lips, but she couldn’t speak them. Everything was in the past, and she didn’t want to make her mother sad.

Yu Lingxi then looked at the tall man walking toward her, her eyes growing moist: “Father.”

Her father still looked as she remembered—a rugged face, temples slightly frosted with gray, the lion embroidered on his official robe appearing majestic and imposing.

Behind him, her eldest brother Yu Huanchen wore a teal-colored military uniform with tight sleeves. With his sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, he crossed his arms, smiling at his sister: “After being sick for a while, have you become silly?”

These were the two pillars of the Yu family, Yu Lingxi’s shelter from the storm.

Yu Lingxi’s gaze fell on her father’s index finger, where the beast-headed ring that symbolized the family’s honor gleamed brilliantly in the candlelight.

In her previous life, her mother had given her this ring, instructing her to live well no matter what, but she had failed…

In this life, she was determined to remedy all regrets!

Yu Lingxi gathered her courage and said softly: “Father, Brother, could you not go north?”

General Yu, with tenderness in his tiger-like eyes, coaxed: “That’s not possible, my good daughter.”

Yu Huanchen leaned against the window cleaning his sword, saying in a clear voice: “The Emperor has appointed us personally. It’s a sign of trust in the Yu family. How can we refuse to go?”

Yu Lingxi stepped forward, unable to hide her urgency: “What if it’s a trap? There are many military officers at court, yet the Emperor specifically chose Father and Brother. For a small disturbance, is it necessary to send two great generals from our family together?”

General Yu smiled.

He raised his rough, large hand and stroked his daughter’s hair: “My good daughter is still young and doesn’t understand. The country’s prosperity brings peace to its people. Your father is a military officer. How can I fear death and cherish life?”

This was the expected answer. Yu Lingxi’s heart sank, and her eyes reddened with tears.

Her father and brother had spent their lives in battle, not believing in ghosts or gods, and not fearing villains. Even if she revealed everything about her rebirth, her father and brother would still choose to march north.

That was the kind of men they were—loyal and brave, viewing the Emperor’s command as supreme.

Moreover, before Yu Lingxi could discover who the traitor around her father was in her previous life, she had already died.

She couldn’t provide convincing reasons for her father and brother.

Taking a deep breath, Yu Lingxi pinched her fingers, and when she raised her head, she smiled: “Daughter understands. Then, Father and Brother, take care.”

General Yu said affectionately: “Go back and rest. Take care of your health and wait for your father’s triumphant return.”

Yu Lingxi sweetly said “yes” and bowed in farewell.

The moment she stepped out of the flower hall, the smile in her eyes disappeared, replaced by worry.

At night, as the lamps grew dim, Yu Lingxi sat wrapped in her clothes on the couch, unable to sleep for a long time.

The tragic image of escorting coffins back to the capital in her previous life was still before her eyes. She couldn’t possibly allow her father and brother to accept the order and march to war.

She was delicate and weak, without the impressive skills of her brother and elder sister. She couldn’t go to the battlefield to protect her father.

All she could do was prevent her father and brother from falling into the traitors’ trap.

What should she do?

What method could naturally make her father and brother decline the northern expedition without causing the Emperor’s displeasure?

Yu Lingxi regretted her lack of strategic skills. If it were Ning Yin, he would have a thousand ways…

Pah! Why was she thinking of that madman again?

She patted her cheeks: Yu Lingxi, have you forgotten your fate in your previous life?

“Miss, it’s late. Please wash up and sleep early.”

Hutao entered with a midnight snack, thoughtfully preparing a small lotus leaf plate of pepper powder, fragrant and spicy.

Seeing this familiar condiment, Yu Lingxi felt touched.

Though delicate, she had a strange preference: she loved spicy food and liked to add heavy pepper powder to everything she ate.

In her previous life, when she first entered the Regent Prince’s mansion, Ning Yin ordered her to brew tea, and out of habit, she added a small pinch of pepper powder…

The consequences were predictable. Ning Yin’s eyes had reddened from the spiciness. He smiled coldly and threw her, along with the tea, out of the hall.

From then on, pepper powder disappeared from the prince’s mansion. Every day there was only plain food, making Yu Lingxi feel extremely frustrated.

But now, that madman couldn’t control her anymore.

Yu Lingxi pulled back her wandering thoughts, added half a plate of pepper powder to her chicken porridge, and then drank it all at once, setting the celadon bowl down firmly on the table.

After the spiciness, a long-missed warmth spread throughout her body.

Ah, refreshing!

Yu Lingxi felt her chaotic thoughts becoming clearer, and she decided to pour the remaining half-plate of pepper powder in as well.

Just as she was about to drink, Hutao restrained her hand, advising: “Miss, eat less spicy food. You still need to take medicine later.”

Only then did Yu Lingxi remember that her fifteen-year-old self was a medicine pot, spending all day taking medicine and going nowhere else. She had to reluctantly give up.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Yu Lingxi, and she abruptly sat up straight.

Medicine…

Of course, why hadn’t she thought of it? There was still this method.

She remembered that in her previous life, after entering the prince’s mansion, there was a period when Ning Yin particularly enjoyed concocting “poisons.”

He would work with those venomous creatures and toxic plants in the side hall, while Yu Lingxi would timidly serve tea nearby. He never concealed the formulas from her.

Among them, there was a formula with a strange toxicity. After drinking it, a person would show symptoms of a cold, feel weak all over, and even breathe as faintly as a turtle, unable to get out of bed for several days.

However, it wouldn’t endanger life—

Yu Lingxi was so certain because Ning Yin had made her test the poison.

She remembered that after being forced to drink that bowl of medicine, the strength gradually drained from her body. She was convinced she wouldn’t survive, and with red eyes, she had pitifully crawled onto the bed and lay on her back, waiting for death.

Whether the formula wasn’t perfected or for some other reason, she had slept drowsily for seven or eight days. When she woke up, she saw Ning Yin watching her leisurely, supporting his temple and smiling: “Stop looking. You’re still alive.”

Not only had Yu Lingxi not died, but she had turned misfortune into a blessing. After sleeping for those days, she felt refreshed and didn’t experience a relapse of her old illness for an entire year.

If her father and brother took this medicine, they could certainly use the ruse of illness to decline the northern expedition!

As if a crack of light had opened, Yu Lingxi was extremely excited.

She eagerly got out of bed and ordered her maid: “Hutao, prepare paper and ink! Quickly!”

Yu Lingxi was thankful for her photographic memory. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she had written down the more than twenty medicinal ingredients from the formula.

Her father was a righteous man who ordinarily despised deception. If he knew this medicine was meant to evade his duty to quell the disturbance, he would refuse to drink it.

Yu Lingxi didn’t dare to make it known. She selected only two trusted maids to rush out and purchase the ingredients.

After two days of effort, the medicinal materials were mostly assembled, except for one ingredient called “Nine Abyss Fragrance.” She didn’t know what precious item this was, and her servants couldn’t find it even after searching the entire capital.

In her chamber, sunlight slowly moved across the curio shelf and disappeared at the windowsill.

All the shopkeepers said they had never seen the Nine Abyss Fragrance. Could she have remembered incorrectly?

“It’s impossible that I remembered wrong.”

Yu Lingxi carefully checked the prescription, casually picking up a piece of pastry, dipping it in pepper powder, and putting it in her mouth.

Nine Abyss Fragrance was the catalyst, and Ning Yin had listed it at the very beginning of all the medicinal ingredients. Her impression was vivid.

Since Ning Yin had been able to obtain this ingredient in her previous life, she must be able to get it too.

But where exactly should she go to find it?

Just as she was pondering, a servant reported: “Miss, the Qingping County Lady from the Tang Ducal Mansion has arrived.”

Yu Lingxi was stunned for a moment before remembering who the Qingping County Lady was.

Before she could get up, she saw a girl in red military attire strolling into the courtyard, calling out crisply: “Suisui, I heard you were ill again. Are you better now?”

Seeing this spirited figure, distant memories flooded back, overlapping with the girl before her.

Tang Buli, the only granddaughter of the Tang Ducal Mansion, was a bright girl with a boy’s name. She was Yu Lingxi’s close friend during her maiden years.

In her previous life, after the Yu family fell and Yu Lingxi took refuge in her uncle’s mansion, cutting off contact with the outside world, Tang Buli had still written to comfort her.

However, later, when the old Lady Tang passed away, Tang Buli, who had no father or mother, also became an orphaned girl and quickly married. Until Yu Lingxi died, she hadn’t been able to see her again.

“What are you pondering?”

Tang Buli was naturally friendly and straightforward. She casually picked up the prescription that Yu Lingxi had placed on the table, looked at it, and said, “Nine Abyss Fragrance? Why have you circled this medicine?”

With memories from her previous life, Yu Lingxi trusted her. She sprawled on the table and sighed: “I urgently need this medicine to save someone, but all the major pharmacies in the capital say it’s extinct, available at no price. I’ve been searching for a long time but can’t find it.”

“Is it that precious?”

Thinking of something, Tang Buli’s eyes gleamed. She leaned on the table and said: “There might be a place that has it, but…”

Yu Lingxi’s eyes brightened: “But what?”

Tang Buli stroked her chin, looking up and down at Yu Lingxi’s beautiful and graceful figure, mysteriously saying: “But that place is not somewhere a delicate lady like you can go.”

Yu Lingxi became interested: “Where is it?”

Tang Buli snorted with laughter, crooking her finger and whispering in Yu Lingxi’s ear: “The Realm of Desire, where all wishes can be fulfilled.”

Hearing this name, Yu Lingxi paused.

Beneath the capital city of Luoyang, there was a money-burning den where lanterns never went out, day or night.

It was a place where sunlight couldn’t penetrate, where human life was as cheap as ants, filled with luxurious sounds, colors, songs, dances, bloody fights and duels, and black market transactions that couldn’t be seen in the light of day.

Even during those years when Yu Lingxi was doted upon, her family never allowed her to approach the Realm of Desire.

Because the people who lived there were not good.