Chapter 1: Finished a Surgery, Yet Became a Substitute Bride

Ziling opened her eyes and found herself lying on a shabby bed.

Wait—wasn’t she in the middle of performing a surgery? Why was she on a bed instead? And this place… it wasn’t the two-bedroom apartment she had just bought with three years of hard-earned savings.

What was going on?

A wave of dizziness washed over her, and suddenly, memories that weren’t hers flooded in. The original owner of this body was the legitimate daughter of a Marquis’s household, only fifteen years old, also named Ziling. Because she was unwilling to accept her stepmother and scummy father’s arrangement to marry her off to a crippled young general, she had thrown herself into the river in despair.

So… she had transmigrated?

She, a modern-day medical PhD, had crossed over only to become a bullied young lady who drowned herself at the start of the story?

Her stomach gave a loud growl. Ziling sighed—this original owner was really foolish. Even if you want to die, shouldn’t you at least eat your fill first? She hadn’t eaten for two days.

Ziling got up, intending to find something to eat. Just then, a faint glow flashed across her wrist. It was the bracelet her late mother had left her—astonishingly, it had followed her into this world!

A thought crossed her mind—

And suddenly—

What the heck?!

She was standing inside a modern supermarket, filled with everything imaginable.

Could this be the legendary “space”? Would these things really come out with her? Ziling grabbed her favorite self-heating hotpot, willed herself back into the shabby room, and—

Sure enough!

It worked!

Grinning with satisfaction, she said to herself, “Let’s eat my favorite hotpot first, regain some strength, and then sleep. I refuse to die on the very first day.”

Ziling had just drifted into sleep when—

Creak! The door was pushed open from outside.

A plump, gaudily dressed middle-aged woman stepped in, glancing at the maid behind her. She sneered, “Hmph, since she’s still alive, hurry up and put her in the wedding dress. The bridal party will be here soon.”

Ziling’s new memories stirred. This woman—was her vicious stepmother.

In the original owner’s memory, this marriage had originally been arranged for her half-sister, Zi Yan, the daughter of the stepmother.

How could a prestigious marriage into the General’s household possibly fall upon her—a motherless, unloved daughter? It was only because her scummy father had gotten word that the General’s family was about to be framed, stripped of their titles, and exiled. Not wanting her own daughter to suffer, the stepmother forced the legitimate daughter to take her sister’s place as the bride.

Ziling rose from the bed and stepped up close to her stepmother. “If you want me to marry, that’s fine. But what about the dowry my mother prepared for me? Why haven’t I seen it?”

A figure darted out from behind her stepmother, blurting angrily, “You still want a dowry? Father said all those things were meant for me. Don’t you dare ask for even a bit of it!”

The speaker was a girl about 160 cm tall, dressed in a lake-blue belted gown with wide sleeves. She looked delicate and refined. This was Zi Yan—the half-sister who usually delighted in bullying the original owner.

Zi Yan opened her mouth to continue, but—

Slap!

Ziling’s palm landed hard across her cheek.

Hmph! The original owner had been timid and weak—but she was not. This slap was for the original owner, to vent her grievances. Since she had taken over this body, she would stand up for her predecessor.

The blow was swift and ruthless. Zi Yan was stunned, her cheek swelling red at once. She clutched her face, staring at Ziling in disbelief. “You—you dare hit me?!” she shrieked, rushing forward to retaliate.

But her stepmother quickly pulled her back, her eyes dark with venom. “Well, well! You wretched girl dare to raise a hand against my daughter? You will marry into that family today, whether you like it or not!”

Ziling crossed her arms over her chest and sneered, “If you want me to marry, it won’t be that easy. I demand my mother’s dowry. Without it, I won’t go through with the wedding. At worst, I’ll make a scene for everyone to see. Let them all witness your shameless faces!”

The stepmother and Zi Yan froze. They hadn’t expected the once-cowardly Ziling to suddenly become so bold.

After weighing her options, the stepmother clenched her teeth and said, “Fine! You’ll have the dowry. But you must put on the wedding dress immediately and leave with the bridal escort.”

Ziling’s lips curled into a triumphant smile. “That’s more like it. But I’ll need time to dress up properly. I won’t go off to be married so casually.”