Chapter 3: The Handsome Man and the Golden Bead
On the other side, Xingnong stood there, looking at the bustling street paved with bluestone slabs, crowded with people coming and going, not knowing where to go for a while.
She had some memories that didn’t belong to her, but they weren’t complete; they appeared in her mind before she woke up.
At this moment, a wave of dizziness hit her, and countless memories that didn’t belong to her flashed through her mind like frames of animation.
It turned out that she had transmigrated into a country that didn’t exist in history—the Chu State—and had become a peasant girl in Plum Blossom Village, Futai County, with an unknown father and a mentally unstable mother.
The original owner was raised by her maternal grandmother, Madam Gu, since childhood. Her name was also Xingnong. Because the original owner’s mother became pregnant inexplicably, without knowing who the father was, she took her mother’s surname and her full name was Shen Xingnong, 16 years old.
The old woman who was nailed to the “dingban” just now was Madam Li, the original owner’s great-grandmother, and the young girl who was beaten was Shen Mingzhu, the original owner’s cousin. They were from the eldest branch of the Shen family.
The original owner’s great-grandfather, Old Master Shen, suddenly fell at home a month ago and passed away.
A fortune teller passed by their village and took a look at the Shen family’s “feng shui”. The fortune teller said that a vile bastard living in the ancestral home had ruined the family’s “feng shui” and fortune, disturbing the ancestors, which led to Old Master Shen’s death.
The master also said that if the vile bastard continued to live in the ancestral home, the family would be ruined and their members would die, and even the entire village would suffer bad luck.
Who was the vile bastard?
The original owner’s mother had a child out of wedlock and didn’t even know who the father was. Weren’t she and the original owner the vile bastards?
Madam Li used the excuse that the vile bastard living in the ancestral home would ruin the Shen family’s “feng shui” and cause the family to be ruined and their members to die, and that the entire village would suffer bad luck, to demand the return of the Shen family’s ancestral home and drive out the original owner’s family of orphans and widows.
When the family divided their property back then, the original owner’s maternal grandmother had already bought the house. Then the original owner heard the person she admired say that reporting to the authorities and finding witnesses to testify could save the house, so she took advantage of her grandmother going to town to work for someone and came to the yamen to report to the authorities, accusing Madam Li of illegally occupying their house.
The Chu State law stipulated that a junior suing a senior was a great act of filial impiety, and they had to be beaten with a “banzi” and rolled on a “dingban” before they could sue.
As a result, she failed to report to the authorities and instead lost her life, allowing her to transmigrate.
Xingnong glanced at the blue sky.
So, was she going to live in this dynasty from now on? Did the original owner of this body become herself in the modern world, or did she die?
She thought of the scene before she lost consciousness and had a hunch it would be the former.
If she became herself, could she switch back?
Her intuition told her no.
Xingnong silently looked at the sky for a while and quickly figured it out.
Since she didn’t know what would happen, she would cherish the present and live without regrets! As long as she was true to her heart, to others, and to Heaven and Earth, it would be fine.
Finding the way home from the original owner’s memory, Xingnong lifted her foot and walked onto the street.
From afar, she saw a slender and delicate hand with distinct knuckles resting on the window lattice of a carriage, playing with two beads in its palm, one gold and one white.
What a beautiful hand, the hand of a born artist, she thought.
As Xingnong passed by the carriage, the golden bead suddenly slipped from the palm of that beautiful hand.
Xingnong saw a flash of golden light out of the corner of her eye, then she looked down and found a golden bead bouncing on the ground a few times before rolling to her feet and suddenly stopping.
She almost stepped on it.
Xingnong stopped, looked down at the bead. There were some faint and complex patterns inside the golden bead. Wasn’t this the birthday gift her senior brother gave her in her previous life?
She hadn’t even had time to admire it before the lab suddenly exploded!
Xingnong bent down and reached for the bead on the ground.
As soon as her hand picked up the bead, a tingling sensation came, like being shocked by static electricity in the middle of winter.
Xingnong held the bead, stood up, and looked up to meet a pair of enchanting and beautiful eyes, a face as handsome as a painting.
The man was dressed in black, with deep and delicate features and perfect contours.
He stood there, tall and straight, cold and handsome. Even though the expression on his face was icy, he was still as handsome as a glacier reflecting sunlight, dazzling and breathtaking.
This appearance was simply the peak of beauty, unprecedented and unparalleled.
✿✿✿
At least Xingnong had never seen such a handsome man.
The man in black glanced at her coldly, looked down at the bead in her hand, and his thin lips parted slightly, spitting out two icy words: “Bead.”
His voice was cold, deep, and magnetic, with a hint of divine aloofness.
What a nice voice, Xingnong praised in her heart, and at the same time, she stretched out her hand and returned the bead to him: “Here.”
Although she was a little curious about how this bead appeared here, she did see it fall from his hand just now, proving that it belonged to him.
“What a nice voice,” a voice suddenly rang in Chu Tiankuo’s mind. He was slightly startled, lifted his eyelids, revealing a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, and glanced at the woman opposite him.
He didn’t reach out to take the bead in front of him, but just looked at her, those calm eyes contained coldness, pitch black and deep, making it impossible to guess his thoughts.
“Here,” Xingnong stretched her hand forward again.
Chu Tiankuo lowered his head, his gaze fell on her outstretched hand, and then he saw the bloodstain on her hand at a glance, his brows unconsciously furrowed.
This Creation Spirit Orb required a blood oath for recognition.
He stretched out a slender and well-proportioned hand with delicate knuckles, took the bead from her hand without touching her, his tone polite and icy, without a trace of warmth: “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Xingnong replied indifferently, then lifted her foot and left.
Chu Tiankuo held the bead and returned to the carriage.
Inside the spacious and comfortable carriage, a fixed table held a pot with a plant that had only seven leaves.
There was a faint fragrance in the small space, which was refreshing.
Chu Tiankuo sat upright in the carriage, his long legs straight and properly bent between the table and the seat. He lowered his head slightly, staring at the golden bead in his hand, his long eyelashes covering the enchanting starlight in his eyes.
He looked elegant and refined, yet with an unintentional coldness, noble and extraordinary.
He used his mind to check the contents inside. The items on the antique shelf remained unchanged, and countless glowing fragments were still suspended in mid-air. Everything was the same, but…
“What a nice voice.”
Why could he hear her thoughts just now?
Was it because this Creation Spirit Orb had recognized its owner, and it had recognized two at the same time?
But why did he only hear one thought?
Ren Zilin, holding a large bunch of lamb skewers, got into the carriage and saw him deep in thought. His elegant and refined appearance amazed even him, a man!
“You demon!” he cursed in his heart, then said, “The weather in Futai County is really scorching hot!”
As he spoke, he handed a skewer of lamb to the person opposite him: “Want some? It smells delicious.”
The unique aroma of grilled lamb filled the air, permeating the entire carriage, instantly overpowering the refreshing fragrance.
The plant on the table seemed to have lost its vigor.
Chu Tiankuo put the golden bead into his pouch, put his hands on his knees, sat upright, closed his eyes, and said coldly, “Finish eating before getting into the carriage.”
Ren Zilin grumbled in his heart, then got out of the carriage and sat next to the attendant driving the carriage: “Songbai, let’s go!”
“Yes, Young Master Ren.”
“Giddy up!”
The wheels of the carriage rolled on the bluestone slabs, quickly passing by Xingnong and heading towards the city gate.
A golden bead silently disappeared into someone’s pouch.
~
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