Chapter 1

The sun was setting in the west, and the wind had picked up outside. Dry, hot air blew in through the window cracks, mixed with distant, sporadic noises. Occasionally, a few glances swept over, prompting Su Ci to close the window immediately.

After extinguishing the stove fire, she lifted the heavy wooden lid. The water in the pot was still boiling. She waited for a while until the scalding steam dissipated a bit, then stepped forward with a sieve. She picked up the needles and tweezers from the pot using wooden tongs and placed them on the thoroughly boiled and sun-dried white linen. She wrapped the items in the white linen, picked them up, and left the kitchen.

Her father, Su Di, supported by her mother, walked out of the room. He wiped the sweat from her forehead with his uninjured hand and said gently, “Hurry up, Yi Chu has already brought the water over.”

“Yes, I know.”

Su Ci took the handkerchief and responded, “Dad, you and Mom should go inside. It’s sweltering outside.”

In this kind of weather, it’s best for those with external injuries to sweat as little as possible. Knowing the importance, Su Di gave a few more instructions before returning to the room.

It was scorching outside. Although it was already August and technically autumn, it still felt like the peak of summer. The sun poured down heat like fire, and even in the evening, the outdoor temperature hadn’t dropped at all. The wind blew scorchingly and carried the smell of yellow dust. But overall, it was still better than the kitchen. Su Ci wiped her sweat with a handkerchief. After her father returned to the house, she glanced sideways at the small west wing opposite, noticing a shadow flickering behind the door curtain. She ignored it, withdrew her gaze, stood in the shade for a while to cool off, and then walked through the narrow courtyard along the eaves and mud walls towards the front yard.

Currently, the two families were living in this small two-entry house on the edge of the military town. The house had mud walls and a tiled roof, half old and half new. In the front yard, two young men in their early twenties were standing guard. Hearing the sound, they turned their heads. Su Ci smiled and greeted them, “Second Brother Yang, Third Brother Yang.” After exchanging greetings, she carried the cloth bag into the main house.

Standing outside the main house, she knocked on the door with her knuckles and then pushed it open.

The room was tranquil and somewhat dim. The eaves blocked the sunlight, making it feel several degrees cooler. In the inner room, a man was half-sitting, half-lying on a couch. There was a faint smell of blood in the air. This man had thick, dark eyebrows, a broad forehead, and thin lips. It was said that men with thin lips were unfeeling, though she didn’t know if it was true. But his indifferent gaze was honest. His high brow arches and handsome yet cold appearance, dressed in a gray round-collared robe, lying diagonally on the couch, with a faint flush on his face, did not diminish his imposing presence. When Su Ci entered, she instinctively held her breath. He was indeed a very oppressive man. He didn’t speak or move, and his face showed no expression. Even though the couch wasn’t in the brightest spot, no one who entered could ignore him.

Su Ci held the cloth bag and called out, “Eldest Young Master.”

The man on the couch nodded.

After greeting him, Su Ci didn’t say much more. She stepped forward, sat on the edge of the couch, placed the white linen cloth bag down, and unfolded it.

A long table was placed beside the couch, and everything needed was prepared. Su Ci dipped her hands into the first copper basin, lathered them with soap, and washed them three times with boiled and cooled water. Then she rinsed them in the second copper basin. Finally, she stood up, untied a cloth bag on the table, took out a headscarf, tied up her hair, and put on a coat. She rewashed her hands, this time more carefully, lathering them several times with soap. All possible sterilization measures were taken. After finishing, she laid a clean linen cloth and signaled the man to place his right hand on the table. She quickly unwrapped the linen bandage on his wrist. It was a gruesome wound. The tendon in his right hand had been completely severed, leaving a gaping, bloody gash with white tendons visible among the red flesh. To any modern doctor, this once strong and powerful hand was undoubtedly ruined.

Su Ci scraped off the ointment with a boiled bamboo strip and carefully examined the wound. Fortunately, it was still fresh, saving her a lot of trouble.

“This is going to hurt a lot. I’ll be quick,” she said.

Without any anesthetics, the pain would have to be endured. She repeatedly washed the wound with boiled and cooled herbal decoction. Then, using her elbows, she pried open the cork of a porcelain bottle. The strong smell of alcohol immediately filled the air. She lifted the bottle and poured the clear liquid onto the wound. As soon as the liquid touched the wound, the exposed flesh contracted violently. Su Ci glanced at the man; his jaw tightened, but his eyebrows didn’t move.

Impressive, she thought. He’s quite tough.

She quickly looked away and continued to clean the wound with her fingers, using the alcohol. The man’s breathing grew slightly heavier, but he didn’t make a sound, and his extended right hand didn’t move at all.

Once the wound was clean, Su Ci picked up a short dagger from the white linen, examined the wound for a moment, and then pressed the blade against it. With a calculated force, she made a precise cut, causing fresh blood to flow. She observed for a moment, then tied a cloth around his upper arm to slow the blood flow. She quickly picked up a small curved sewing needle from the white linen, poured out the remaining liquid from the bottle, and used wooden tweezers to pick up the soaked thread, threading it through the needle eye. Her technique wasn’t very refined, but she was meticulous with the details. The tendon had been cleanly severed by a sharp blade, making the suturing process much easier.

Before long, Su Ci had completed the tendon suturing. Next was the muscle suturing. Layer by layer, Su Ci worked with full concentration. The room was silent except for the sound of the needle and thread.

The man watched intently. When she finished the last layer, Su Ci cut the red thread, carefully placed the remaining piece back in the bottle, and took out a black silk thread from the white linen. The silk thread was thick and strong, ideal for the outer skin sutures that could be removed later. After quickly finishing the final layer of sutures, she untied the cloth from his upper arm. Observing for a moment, she saw no bleeding. The surgery was successful. She opened the lid of a white porcelain bottle, used a bamboo strip to apply a suitable amount of healing ointment to the wound, and then wrapped it layer by layer with boiled white linen.

“The tendon will take at least a month to heal. Try not to move your wrist during this time to avoid breaking the sutures. I’ll put a splint on it later.”

The sutures inside were made from catgut, one of Su Ci’s hard-earned achievements after months of effort. Catgut was a significant invention in surgery, being the first type of suture that didn’t need to be removed and could be absorbed by the body. However, it had drawbacks, such as lower strength and durability, and the body’s absorption process could cause discomfort.

However, this was the only surgical suture Su Ci could make herself. Compared to its advantages, its drawbacks were negligible. After finishing the bandaging, Su Ci washed her hands while quickly packing up the needles, tweezers, and other items. She didn’t bother with the copper basins.

“The sutures inside will be absorbed on their own, which will take about twenty days. By then, your tendon will have started to heal. The absorption process might cause some discomfort, such as swelling, pain, and fever.” Su Ci finished packing her things as she spoke. She stood up, implying that she was leaving.

Yang Yanzong raised his right hand, slightly moving his upper arm. He was examining the freshly bandaged wound and nodded at her words. He looked up at Su Ci and said, “Thank you for your hard work.”

His voice and gaze were as cold and indifferent as his appearance, naturally making him hard to approach. Su Ci glanced at him, and just as she finished speaking, she heard footsteps outside. She nodded and smiled, then got up to leave.

Before stepping out, she glanced back inside. The man was still half-sitting in the dimly lit room, half-lying on the couch. The half-new, half-old curtain partially covered him, revealing a small part of his calm and indifferent jawline. She lifted the curtain and quickly left.

The man just now was Yang Yanzong, a formidable figure who holds the rank of fourth-grade Pacification Commissioner and Mingwei General.

Don’t be fooled by the seemingly modest title; this position is equivalent to a provincial military district commander in a border province. Additionally, the Pacification Commissioner is responsible for “pacifying and stabilizing the border,” which involves some political duties, making his authority even greater than that of a provincial military district commander. He is only twenty-four years old. Based on his military achievements and personal merit, Yang Yanzong rose to his position. The Yang and Su families only started their military careers in the previous generation, so their foundation was still shallow, and they couldn’t provide much support. He ascended through his own military accomplishments and hard strength. At a young age, he surpassed his predecessors, and now both of their fathers (*) serve as his deputy generals. Yang Yanzong is the new leader of the Yang and Su families’ new generation, and both families now look up to him. Such a person, if not for the current political turmoil, would probably continue to rise rapidly, wouldn’t he?

T/N : Su Ci and Yang Yanzong’s father

Su Ci returned to the backyard, where a young girl with thick eyebrows and bright eyes was crouching by the stove. This was her sister, Su Yan. Su Yan had already lit the fire on the other side of the stove and was boiling half a ladle of water from the water tank. Before the sisters could speak, they heard the sound of urgent hoofbeats in the distance.

Su Yan darted out like a rabbit, peered over the wall for a moment, and then came back to tell Su Ci, “No, we can’t get any grain.”

The sisters exchanged glances, and Su Yan said, “I’ll go pack up.”

After saying this, she quickly returned to the east wing where she and her sister lived and began folding and packing the luggage that had only been unpacked a few days ago, repacking it into a large bundle. This was the third time they had sent someone to the provincial capital to request military grain supplies, but they had failed to secure any. The military town’s food supplies were completely exhausted. If they didn’t want to starve, they would have to abandon their post and relocate.

Su Ci didn’t stop Su Yan because she knew that this was indeed how the story would unfold.

—Only a few days ago, when her father brought her home, she overheard someone in the military town privately discussing something called the “Qixi Ghost Drought.” This peculiar term triggered a memory in her mind, and she realized that she had somehow entered a book!

After struggling through the great drought, living in fear for half a year, and finally seeing her family’s situation settle down—though her father had been demoted to a low-ranking military officer and exiled to a border military town, at least the family was safe—she thought things were looking up. But before she could fully relax, she discovered she was actually in a ridiculous book!

The book was titled “Overcoming Hardship: The Rise of a Concubine’s Daughter.”

Su Ci: “…”

To summarize, the plot was about an ordinary but clever concubine’s daughter who, by marrying the right person, rode the wave to the pinnacle of life. The male lead was a formidable figure, somewhat like Zhu Yuanzhang. He came from a humble background as a minor rural gentry, and at the age of twenty-four, he surpassed the older generation of both families, becoming the superior of his two fathers and the leader of both families. His combat skills and strategic abilities were top-notch. During a fierce political struggle for power, he was once sacrificed and abandoned, having his right hand tendon severed and being exiled to a small border military town.

The story essentially began from there. The ambitious man never gave up. After overcoming this low point, he rose to power, carving out his own territory, transitioning from a powerful minister to a dominant ruler, and ultimately laying the foundation for the future unification of the country.

In short, he was incredibly formidable. He was cold, ruthless, and merciless. The only thing that could soften him was tenderness. The clever female lead discovered this and hid all her sharp edges, entangling with him for half her life. This heartless, indifferent man tormented her emotionally, and it wasn’t until their twilight years that she finally won his heart. To sum it up, the more impressive he was, the harder he was to deal with!

He was undoubtedly the most difficult male lead Su Ci had ever encountered in a novel.

Alright, back to reality.

By now, it’s clear who the male lead is. However, this actually has little to do with Su Ci because she wasn’t the female lead; she was just a disposable tool. Her only role in the story was to give the female lead a less-than-ideal background and add some twists and uncertainties to her marriage. As the original fiancée of the male lead, Yang Zongyan, she was gorgeous and considered the most attractive character in the book. But unfortunately, she had beauty without brains. Despite being engaged to the male lead, she had another lover. Not only did she secretly communicate with him, but she also went out to meet him during the military town’s relocation, only to be discovered by the male lead’s arch-enemy. This incredibly beautiful but ignorant girl was directly raped in the wild, then dragged away and tortured. After her identity was discovered, she was used as a tool to insult the male lead by his enemies, and she eventually died in humiliation. After her death, her dignified and prudent half-sister, Su Rong, took over the deeply intertwined marriage contract between the two families.

Su Ci: Seriously, this setup is too vicious. Doesn’t the author feel any guilt?!

Moreover, the original character’s sister, mother, and father all met tragic ends. The sister died trying to save her, the mother fell ill and eventually committed suicide during a transfer, and the father, overwhelmed with grief, was injured and later died from his wounds. His last words to the female lead, Su Rong, were, “Father is sorry for you.”

The legitimate family was portrayed so darkly that it was utterly tragic, and even Su Di, who had always favored the legitimate family, met a bad end.

Ugh, yuck!

If Su Ci ever found the author, she would definitely use the “Dragon Subduing Palm” to smash their head!

…

After Su Yan hurriedly left, Su Ci scooped up the last bit of yellow rice from the jar, rinsed it briefly, and then put it into the boiling small clay pot.

She thought for a moment. The timing of her arrival wasn’t too late or too early. The lover had already been seduced, but fortunately, it hadn’t been discovered yet. The crucial plot of the military town’s relocation was about to begin, and the wolves outside hadn’t noticed her beauty. There was still time.

There’s no need to worry about her sister and parents—after all, as long as she’s fine, her sister won’t need to save her and won’t die, her mother won’t fall ill, and her father won’t be heartbroken. The rest can be dealt with later.

So, the most urgent task is to quickly change the original relocation route of the two families in the plot!

—Originally, the two families were relocating with the main group. All the plots mentioned above and accidents happened on this basis. She touched her chin. So, as long as the two families change their route and don’t move with the main group, wouldn’t everything be resolved?

Whether it’s the lover or the wolves, they can all be avoided. Avoiding these two would sidestep everything. Solve the problem at its root.

Perfect!

Su Ci snapped her fingers. As for the rest, she would deal with it after handling the current situation.

Su Ci wiped her sweat with a cotton towel. The water in the jar reflected a face as fair as snow, bright and beautiful, radiant like a rose. The girl’s eyes were particularly striking, with clear black and white, slightly upturned corners, carrying a hint of fox-like charm, as if naturally filled with emotion, yet with an innocent clarity in the depths, sparkling like pearls and jade.

Su Ci never knew a person’s eyes could be so beautiful, shining with brilliance. Even in simple clothes, with a somewhat disheveled appearance, her beauty was undeniable.

Tsk.

Su Ci was stunning in her previous life, too, but not as much now. But who wouldn’t want to be a bit more beautiful?

So Su Ci was in a good mood. She stirred the yellow rice porridge in the clay pot with a spoon and hummed. The heroine was unlucky to meet her.

Su Ci had no interest in being a foil for others. As for being a disposable tool, whoever wants to be one can go ahead—she certainly wouldn’t!

Ugh, no way!