He Yanli, the original owner's childhood sweetheart, was callously abandoned when he fell on hard times. He was trampled in the mud and humiliated at will, simply because Wanyan was furious that her years of effort had amounted to nothing.
In the first timeline, Wanyan turned her attention to the second prince, who had become the crown prince. Unfortunately, the crown prince was deeply in love with her elder sister, Qiao Yihuan.
She sowed discord, poisoned her elder sister, and committed countless evil deeds, willing to pay any price to gain power and status.
But after all that effort, she gained nothing and died tragically at the hands of Qiao Yihuan's admirer.
In contrast, Qiao Yihuan did nothing, yet countless men were willing to go through fire and water for her, and she eventually became the Crown Princess, with a bright future ahead of her.
The Qiao family had two daughters. One of them had all the resources and love, but she squandered her advantages.
The other was an unloved concubine's daughter who played a bad hand of cards to create a wonderful life.
In the second timeline, Wanyan reversed their roles. Wanyan became the final winner. At first, Wanyan had indeed lived up to the storybook ideal. She used every trick and scheme she could think of to win over the Crown Prince, but he only loved Qiao Yihuan and never even glanced at her.
Then she had a dream, a faint voice kept echoing, saying, "Put aside greed, clear your name, be a kind-hearted person, befriend Qiao Yihuan and honestly support her; only then can you live a good life."
Just like what Yanyan experienced when she first transmigrated here. Like the original Wanyan, she also heard that voice, but unlike the original owner, she agreed and made a deal. In return for doing it, after Qiao Yihuan has her happy ending, Yanyan will be sent back to her real world. Life here is really good; Wanyan has a life comparable to a princess. It can be said her life is more comfortable than a princess. A princess can be as willful as Wanyan, but she will have royal responsibilities that she can't avoid, such as having a political marriage. Wanyan can marry or not marry; her father will never force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. But Yanyan still wants to go back. She's also a princess to her parents; she has a loving family. She was also born into a wealthy family and already has a successful business of her own. Her life in the real world is also good.
Yanyan looked at the flames burning in the incense burner and remembered the original owner's ending in the first timeline in the novel. She was tortured and killed by Qiao Yihuan's admirers, dying tragically in a foreign land.
Because the words in the novel were so terrifying, she could recall it vividly.
Her face was slashed and bloody, the tendons in her hands and feet were severed, her tongue was cut out, and her eyes were gouged out. She died from excruciating pain.
Yanyan sighed; actually, Qiao Wanyan's death in the first timeline was truly horrifying. She wasn't a good person, but the way she died in that timeline was too much. No wonder in the second timeline, Wanyan went crazy; anyone would be vengeful after knowing how they died, especially Wanyan, who wasn't a good person to begin with. So when a voice asked her to please Qiao Yihuan, she did the opposite. But this is the third timeline, and she's not the original Qiao Wanyan and doesn't harbor any ill feelings toward Qiao Yihuan. She also doesn't care about being an Empress, so pleasing the original female lead is not difficult.
Yanyan was still lost in her thoughts when a maid's voice rang out from outside the door.
"Miss, Madam requests your presence."
She stood up. "Ziyuan, you don't need to come with me. Stay here."
After dressing, Qiao Wanyan put on a thick white cloak and went out.
She was exceptionally beautiful, her face as lovely as a peach blossom in full bloom in spring, her skin as smooth and white as mutton-fat jade. Even without makeup, her complexion was as radiant as the morning glow reflecting on snow, captivatingly beautiful.
Even the servants who cleaned and swept the mansion often saw her and couldn't help but be inadvertently drawn to her appearance.
The young lady had a face like a goddess, and the new servants in the manor all thought she must be a gentle, kind, and easy-going mistress. But after staying for a while, they realized that she was the most difficult person to serve in the entire manor.
"Keep your voice down; don't let anyone hear you."
"Am I wrong? The eldest young lady is also a mistress. Why should all the good things in the manor be sent to Yongning Pavilion first? The second young lady caught a cold and was treated like royalty in the manor, while my eldest young lady can only use a quilt to keep warm. Why is that?!"