The autumn wind was chilly.

Jiang Yanyi huddled in a thin blanket, curled up in the dim corner of the room.

Her disheveled hair hung down, covering her face, while the bandage on her forehead had a bloodstain that had spread out, with a faint yellow ring where the blood had dried.

The room was filled with rows of beds, each occupied by ten or so women, who wore nothing more than loose clothing that barely covered them.

There were curtains hanging between the beds, but they were usually left open.

Only when the women in the room received clients did they draw the curtains for some semblance of privacy.

This place was the Western Camp outside the border, and every woman sent here carried a criminal record, with no hope of ever redeeming herself.

Jiang Yanyi was still in a daze.

She had traveled into a book.

As someone who had read online novels for over a decade, she had seen countless stories about traveling into books.

If a protagonist shared her name and crossed over, she would often scoff, thinking, “Can’t they come up with something more original?”

Who could have guessed that she would end up in a cliché herself, transmigrating into a villainess with the exact same name as hers from a novel she had just picked up.

She had become that villainous supporting character who, after plotting against the female lead, was ultimately sent to the military camp to become a prostitute by the male lead as punishment.

Jiang Yanyi was now filled with regret.

Why had she, out of curiosity about a character with her name, clicked on that silly novel recommended by the app?

The sharp pain from the wound on her forehead reminded her of the absurd reality: she was indeed inside a book.

In the original story, the female lead was an illegitimate daughter of Minister Jiang, while the original Jiang Yanyi was his legitimate daughter and the female lead’s sister.

As the evil mother-daughter duo, Jiang Yanyi and her mother, Lady Jiang, were naturally designated to torment the female lead, giving readers plenty of reasons to hate them.

Minister Jiang adored his illegitimate daughter and insisted that Lady Jiang treat her with the same respect due to a legitimate daughter.

Whenever Jiang Yanyi had conflicts with the female lead, Minister Jiang would scold her without question, demanding that she apologize.

When she was younger, Jiang Yanyi had argued with her father, asking why an illegitimate daughter should receive the same treatment as she did, only to be slapped by Minister Jiang.

Over time, Jiang Yanyi grew to resent the female lead more and more.

The final straw that pushed her down the path of darkness was when the second male lead, Lu Linyuan, broke off their engagement.

Jiang Yanyi, the female lead, and Lu Linyuan had grown up together, and she had feelings for him, but he was mutually in love with the female lead.

However, since Lu Linyuan was the legitimate son of a noble family, he couldn’t marry an illegitimate daughter, so his family arranged a marriage between him and Jiang Yanyi instead.

When the female lead found out, she was heartbroken and decided to leave the capital.

On her way out, she encountered the male lead—the Emperor.

With the female lead’s halo, her simple beauty stood out among a sea of garish women, and the Emperor fell for her at first sight, launching into a possessive pursuit.

Upon learning that the female lead had run away from home, Lu Linyuan’s love for her suddenly seemed boundless.

He insisted on breaking off the engagement with Jiang Yanyi, declaring he would marry no one else.

Humiliated by the broken engagement and mocked by the entire capital, Jiang Yanyi’s hatred for the female lead intensified.

In her desperation, she arranged for the female lead to be defiled, only for the male lead to heroically save her, giving him a perfect opportunity to win her heart.

Minister Jiang, upon learning that his daughter had used such despicable means to harm the female protagonist, was so furious that he slapped her twice and even considered divorcing Madam Jiang.

As for the male protagonist, he wasn’t about to let the daughter off either.

He retaliated by sending her to the border military camp to serve as a prostitute.

To prevent her actions from tarnishing the female protagonist’s reputation, Minister Jiang publicly declared that his daughter had died, completely cutting ties with her.

Madam Jiang, unable to save her daughter, eventually went mad.

Jiang Yan, the original owner’s younger brother, who had also bullied the female protagonist in the past, was secretly crippled by the male protagonist, leaving him bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life with no hope of a career in government.

On her first day at the military camp, someone tried to force themselves on the daughter.

Thinking of her mother’s madness and her brother’s broken legs, she was overwhelmed by despair.

Rather than face further humiliation, she bashed her head against the wall, leaving a bloody wound.

When she awoke after three days of unconsciousness, it was no longer the original daughter in that body.

Instead, Jiang Yanyi, who had been hit by a car while rushing to the grand opening event of her family’s hotpot restaurant, had transmigrated into the body.

Realizing her current situation, Jiang Yanyi could only curse the heavens! What kind of grudge did fate have against her?

Her family had just opened their long-awaited hotpot restaurant, and before she even had the chance to become the boss lady, she ended up in a book!

And not just any book—she had become the villainess in an old, over-the-top, dog-blooded novel with such a miserable fate!

Could she bash her head again and transmigrate back?

Jiang Yanyi glanced at the wall made of packed dirt.

The wound from the original daughter’s suicide attempt was still throbbing with pain.

In the end, Jiang Yanyi gave up on the idea of killing herself.

Smashing her head hurt too much, and dying again might not even bring her back to her previous life.

For now, she’d play it safe.

Jiang Yanyi quickly reviewed the storyline of the novel.

The original daughter, as a villainess who died early in the story, ended up with her corpse exposed to the wilderness.

After that, the intense, tragic love-hate drama between the male and female protagonists had nothing to do with her anymore.

The second male lead, Lu Linyuan, whom the original daughter was obsessed with, remained unmarried for life out of love for the female protagonist.

He only ever mentioned the original owner to say she had a wicked heart.

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the original owner.

She ruined herself for a man, only to be remembered as “wicked-hearted.”

Who knew if the original owner regretted her choices in the afterlife?

But it was the original owner’s father, Minister Jiang, that made Jiang Yanyi want to crack open his skull and see what was inside.

In the later parts of the novel, it was revealed that the female protagonist wasn’t actually Minister Jiang’s daughter but the last princess of the former dynasty.

The male lead’s grandfather was the one who led the rebellion that wiped out the female protagonist’s family.

The empress of the previous dynasty was Minister Jiang’s first love.

He risked his life to bring the female protagonist back to the Jiang family, raising her as his eldest illegitimate daughter.

Minister Jiang never loved Madam Jiang.

Their marriage was merely a political arrangement, which is why he never cared about the children they had together.

In the end, Minister Jiang died protecting the daughter of his first love.

Jiang Yanyi felt like awarding Minister Jiang the title of “Best Simp of the Entire Novel.”

His own children either dead or crippled, yet he didn’t care in the slightest.

All he ever worried about was the daughter of his “white moonlight,” just so he could have the face to meet her in the afterlife.

Ugh!

If he were so devoted, why did he even get married and have children in the first place?

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but feel exasperated.

The original character was gone, and she certainly wouldn’t see Minister Jiang, that fool, as her father.

Her top priority now was to survive and find a way to escape the camp.

As she thought about this, the door opened.

Two soldiers entered, carrying a barrel of porridge.

They banged their ladle on the barrel, shouting impatiently, “Dinner time! Dinner time!”

The women who had been lying lazily on their bunks slowly got up, grabbing their bowls to line up for porridge.

The porridge was made from coarse rice, so thin that one could count the grains in each scoop, with the broth clear as water.

Some of the women flirted with the soldiers, tugging down their collars and striking suggestive poses.

In return, the soldiers gave them an extra half scoop of rice.

After distributing the porridge, the soldiers left.

A few women who were more resourceful slipped items into their hands as they left, ensuring themselves a slightly better meal that night.

Jiang Yanyi held a chipped, coarse ceramic bowl, sipping the porridge that tasted no better than plain water.

The rough rice scratched her throat, and since her body was that of a spoiled young lady, the effort of drinking the porridge left her uncomfortable.

Her eyelashes were long, thick, and curled, resembling the feathers of a raven.

Despite her pale complexion and frail appearance, her skin was delicate, and her features were finely chiseled, making her stand out even as she huddled in a corner.

A voluptuous woman across from her glanced over with a sneer, her tone laced with sarcasm, “I wonder who’s to thank for our misfortune. We used to get meat, but now all we get is this watery gruel!”

She wasn’t particularly beautiful, but her figure was alluring, and her words had a seductive, biting edge. “What’s the point of pretending to be so virtuous in a place like this?”

Jiang Yanyi knew the woman’s remark was aimed at her.

She sipped her porridge and ignored her.

The woman’s name was Chunxiang.

Rumor had it she used to work in a pleasure house, but after a government official was found dead there, all the women in the house were sent to the military camp as prostitutes.

Since it was her line of work anyway, Chunxiang quickly made a name for herself in the camp.

All of that, however, was disrupted three days ago when the original owner had tried to kill herself by ramming into a wall.

It happened just as the newly appointed general of the Western Camp was inspecting the grounds.

When he saw women used for soldiers’ amusement and even attempting suicide to escape the shame, he immediately beheaded the officer in charge of the camp’s brothel and ordered one hundred lashes for any soldier who had been indulging there that day.

He then declared that anyone who dared to enter the women’s quarters again would be dealt with under military law.

It seemed this new general was quite the force to be reckoned with.

For three consecutive days, no soldiers came to the women’s quarters for entertainment.

No soldiers meant no business, and Chunxiang, who usually lived the high life, was now out of luck.

While the others only had tattered clothes that barely covered them, she had several vibrant outfits to change into, along with an assortment of cosmetics and jewelry, some of which she had purchased herself, and others gifted by soldiers who had been eager to please her.

To live well, she needed men willing to spend money on her.

Now that no one dared to come by, she had lost her source of income and blamed everything on Jiang Yanyi.

Chunxiang became even more furious when Jiang Yanyi completely ignored her, as if she had punched a cloud.

She stomped over, snatched the bowl of porridge from Jiang Yanyi, and smashed it to the ground.

“Aren’t you so determined to die? Why are you still drinking porridge?”

She glanced at Jiang Yanyi’s snow-white skin, and a trace of jealousy flickered in her eyes.

Seeing that Jiang Yanyi remained silent and crouched down to pick up the broken porcelain shards, Chunxiang assumed she was dealing with a pushover.

Emboldened, she pushed Jiang Yanyi and sneered, “Why don’t you just die already?”

Someone nearby, seeing this, prepared to step in and break up the situation.

But to everyone’s surprise, Jiang Yanyi suddenly stood up, raised her hand, and slashed Chunxiang’s face with a piece of broken porcelain.

“Blood… there’s blood!”

Chunxiang touched her face, and when she saw her hand covered in blood, she panicked and began cursing, “You wretch! How dare you scar my face!”

Jiang Yanyi shot her a cold glance, the blood on the porcelain still fresh in her hand. “Try cursing me again.”

Staring into Jiang Yanyi’s pitch-black eyes, a sudden fear gripped Chunxiang, and the insults that had reached the tip of her tongue were swallowed back down.

Jiang Yanyi’s lips curled into a chilling smile as she leaned in close to Chunxiang’s ear and whispered, “You’ve been spreading rumors about why I was sent here, right? Let me tell you the truth: I was just in a bad mood and killed a few people.”

She pressed the porcelain shard against Chunxiang’s carotid artery, drawing a line. “Cut here, and the blood will gush out, hot and high.”

Chunxiang’s eyes widened in terror, and her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

Jiang Yanyi stepped back, tapping the shard meaningfully with her fingers. “Don’t anger me again, or you might be next.”

At this, Chunxiang shuddered from head to toe.

The other women watching exchanged puzzled glances, unable to understand what Jiang Yanyi had said that scared Chunxiang so much.

Jiang Yanyi returned to her bed, lay down, and ignored Chunxiang after that.

There’s an old saying: the soft fear the strong, the strong fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who have nothing to lose.

By acting like she had nothing to lose, Jiang Yanyi knew Chunxiang, being the type to bully the weak, wouldn’t dare risk her own life.

But a bowl of coarse rice porridge was far from enough to fill her stomach.

Lying down for only a short while, Jiang Yanyi already felt faint from hunger.

Expressionless, she tightened her belt a little, trying to think of something else to distract herself.

It seemed the new general in charge was a strict one, unwilling to tolerate any women in the military camp.

He’d likely have them moved elsewhere soon.

Gaining freedom wasn’t an option, though—after all, they were all criminals in the eyes of the law.

Who knew what fate awaited them?

Just then, the door swung open again.

In walked a small leader clad in leather armor and carrying a sword, clearly someone of some rank.

Behind him followed over a dozen soldiers.

“Out! All of you, get out!” the small leader barked impatiently, his gaze never lingering on the half-dressed women in the room.