Reborn of the Rightful

Extra Story: Past Life and Present Life

The official road echoed with the rhythmic clatter of hooves as two fine horses galloped side by side, kicking up clouds of dust in their wake. Pedestrians and oxcarts along the way hurriedly made way.

As the steeds drew nearer, it became clear that each carried a young rider. On the chestnut horse sat a youth of about sixteen or seventeen, with handsome brows and bright eyes, exuding an air of sharp vitality. The white horse bore a boy of only thirteen or fourteen, whose rosy lips and fair complexion gave him a gentle, amiable appearance. Both were exceptionally good-looking, clearly not ordinary young masters.

The younger boy on the white horse pulled slightly ahead by half a horse-length. With a subtle tug on the reins, he slowed his mount, and the chestnut horse followed suit.

"Ayi, ahead is Zheliu Pavilion. Just half a cup of tea's ride from here, we'll see the gates of Yunyang City," the white horse's rider said, turning his head with a cheerful smile.

The youth called Ayi nodded, frowning slightly. "Let's enter the city early. The Prince and Princess Consort returned three days ago. You've lingered outside for three extra days—think about how you'll explain yourself to them."

At these words, the boy on the white horse drooped his handsome face, looking pitifully at Ayi. "Ayi, dear cousin, won't you come back with me?"

Ayi shot his cousin an unmoved glance. "The Prince and Princess Consort are both good-natured. What are you afraid of?"

The boy wore an expression that said, How naive you are. "Let me ask you: are you more afraid of Auntie or Uncle?"

Ayi pressed his lips together and fell silent.

The boy gave him a See, I told you so look. "That's exactly why good-natured people are terrifying! You never know what's waiting for you. Besides, my father has never liked me since I was little. When I was young, I always thought I was adopted."

Ayi rolled his eyes. "The new emperor's ascension brought a general amnesty. You'll turn misfortune into fortune. I'm the one who should worry about how my second uncle will deal with me."

The boy hung his head mournfully, plucking at his horse's mane. "We're thousands of miles from the capital. The emperor's amnesty won't reach me here. I sneaked out to play while he was ascending the throne—if he finds out, my fate will only be worse."

Ayi scoffed. "Knowing that, how dare you run off?"

The boy flared up, immediately becoming animated. "You ran off too!"

Ayi cleared his throat and adopted a serious tone. "Alright, A'xuan, enough. There seem to be people in the pavilion ahead. Let's not stop—we'll head straight back to the city. The sooner we face it, the sooner we'll be reborn."

Xiao Weixuan, his earlier high spirits gone, trailed dejectedly behind Yun Yi on his horse.

"Huh?" Yun Yi suddenly changed expression, reining in his horse and coming to a halt.

Xiao Weixuan frowned, immediately alert and cautious. "What's wrong?"

Yun Yi's voice trembled slightly. "The person in the pavilion ahead... looks like... looks like my second uncle..."

Xiao Weixuan raised a hand to shade his eyes and peered into the distance. His face immediately lit up, and with a natural familiarity, he waved cheerfully, calling out happily, "Uncle Yun, Uncle Yun! Look here, look here! Ayi is back..."

Yun Yi wished he could strangle this ungrateful little rascal, Xiao Weixuan.

But it was too late for Yun Yi to slip away unnoticed now. He could only urge his horse forward.Standing in the pavilion was a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties. Tall and upright, he still retained a handsome appearance despite his age. He looked at Yun Yi with a faint, ambiguous smile, saying nothing.

Yun Yi dismounted, head lowered, and obediently walked up to the man. "Second Uncle."

Xiao Weixuan followed suit, approaching with a grin and calling out cheerfully, "Second Uncle Yun."

The man's gaze swept over Xiao Weixuan, paused briefly, and then he replied with a deferential tone, bowing slightly. "Yun Wenfang pays his respects to the Young Master."

Xiao Weixuan blinked, muttering quietly in a pitiful tone, "I always said I was never loved by my father or my uncles since I was little... I guess I just wasn’t born lucky..."

Hearing this and looking at Xiao Weixuan’s face, which bore a striking resemblance to someone he disliked, Yun Wenfang’s mouth twitched. He pretended not to hear and turned to lecture his nephew instead.

Yun Yi listened with his head bowed, obediently taking in the admonishment. His second uncle had no children of his own, and Yun Yi had spent most of his childhood in Yunyang City under his care. As a result, he wasn’t particularly afraid of his parents, but he was deeply intimidated by his second uncle. He had firsthand experience of what Xiao Weixuan meant when he said that those with good tempers could become even more terrifying when angered. Although his second uncle never hit him and rarely scolded him harshly.

Seeing that he was no longer the center of attention, Xiao Weixuan began hopping around nearby, amusing himself. By the time Yun Wenfang finished lecturing Yun Yi and turned around, Xiao Weixuan was nowhere to be seen, though his horse remained where it was. Yun Wenfang couldn’t help but frown.

Almost immediately, Xiao Weixuan’s voice rang out loudly from above. "Hey, Second Uncle, look up here! Look! I’m up here! There are so many oranges on this tree!"

Yun Wenfang looked up to see the mischievous child had somehow climbed up the tree. He was swinging his legs while peeling a green orange, grinning from ear to ear.

Yun Wenfang’s mouth twitched uncontrollably again. Suddenly, he felt that his own nephew was truly well-behaved and obedient, making it hard for him to punish the boy too severely.

The three of them rode back to the city on horseback, and the gates of Yunyang City soon came into view. A large carriage marked with the insignia of the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion was parked at the city entrance.

At the sight of the carriage, Yun Wenfang involuntarily reined in his horse, momentarily stunned.

Xiao Weixuan saw it too, his face filled with panic as he looked at Yun Yi. "It’s my mother’s carriage! What do we do? What do we do? I’m doomed! Cousin, save me!"

Yun Yi glanced at Xiao Weixuan out of the corner of his eye, sneering inwardly. Hmph! Evil will be punished by heaven!

Just then, the carriage curtain moved. A maid stepped down first, then helped a young woman of delicate beauty out of the carriage.

Yun Wenfang stared blankly at the beautiful young woman walking toward them, feeling as though all the blood in his body had frozen.

He seemed to hear a familiar voice, one that often haunted him in his dreams at midnight, weeping and pleading, begging him to spare her life.

He remembered the first time he met her, at the old mansion of the Ren Family. He watched as she lifted her skirt and hurried along the corridor toward him, drawing closer and closer until he forgot the rest of what he was saying to Qiu Yun. He simply stood there, staring dumbfounded at her.

But her gaze didn’t linger on him. Her lips were slightly pouted, and her eyes were still a bit red, as if she had been wronged. He didn’t know what had come over him at that moment, but he stood there motionless, watching as she stumbled right into his arms.Yun Wenfang still remembered the feeling of his heart stirring at that moment, but at the time, he didn’t know what had gotten into him—he let out a hateful whistle, which earned him a slap from her.

Yun Wenfang had never been slapped by anyone in his life. And after she slapped him, she just ran away without saying a word. He was furious. When he went to see Old Madam Ren, he casually mentioned it, and she was locked in the ancestral hall.

That day was bitterly cold. For some reason, he felt restless, thinking it might be because he wasn’t used to the new place.

"Hey, where is the Ren Family’s ancestral hall?"

When he blurted out the question, Qiu Yun gave him a surprised look. He regretted it as soon as he asked, then added nonchalantly, "Didn’t that girl get locked in the ancestral hall? She offended me, so I can’t just let it go. Take me there—I want to mess with her a bit!"

After hesitating for a moment, Qiu Yun took him there.

As soon as they reached the entrance of the ancestral hall, he heard crying—she was weeping inside.

It was New Year’s Eve, and the outside world was bustling with noise and excitement, but listening to her sobs, he felt a chill in his heart. He didn’t want to admit he regretted it. After all, why bother holding a grudge against a little girl? It was just a slap—it didn’t even hurt.

He thought if she apologized and made amends, he’d forgive her and plead on her behalf.

When he entered the ancestral hall, she was curled up under the altar table, hugging her legs. He tugged at her hair bun and deliberately said with a smirk, "Kowtow to me three times and call me ‘good brother’ three times, and I’ll ask Qiu Yun to plead for your release. How about it?"

He was just teasing her, not really expecting her to kowtow. But if she were willing to call him brother, he’d give her all the fireworks he’d gathered—half a room’s worth.

Before he could finish speaking, she lunged at him like an angry kitten, scratching his face. His neck stung sharply, and when he touched it, his hand came away covered in blood.

Now he was truly furious. He wanted to kick her to death, but as he raised his foot and saw her terrified face, he forced himself to hold back, though his expression remained fierce.

In the end, Qiu Yun, worried things would spiral out of control, dragged him away.

From then on, she avoided him whenever she saw him. He felt both angry and wronged.

Until one day, she leaked his whereabouts in the Ren Family, leading his elder brother to come and take him away. He gritted his teeth in hatred at the sight of her.

So he left her with a harsh warning: "Ren Yaoqi, you’ll regret this! Just you wait!"

She just stared back coldly, her head held high with stubbornness and disdain.

He thought he’d hate her for a long time, but not long after returning, he kept thinking of her. Later, he sneaked back to White Crane Town several times but never entered the Ren Family’s gates. Once, he even climbed their wall in secret, but he didn’t see her.

He heard she’d been confined by Old Madam Ren again. He scoffed inwardly, thinking if only she hadn’t been so stubborn in front of him, he could have protected her, and Old Madam Ren wouldn’t have dared to scold her. What an ungrateful little brat.

Yet it was this little brat he couldn’t stop thinking about for years, to the point of obsession.At the time, he himself didn't understand why he had taken a special liking to this girl. He had seen prettier ones before, and he had never encountered a girl with a worse temper than hers. How could such a stubborn girl ever get married!

Thinking this, for some reason, he felt happy again. He thought, when she grew a little older, he would just marry her—consider it a good deed.

Unfortunately, he rejoiced too soon.

She slowly grew up, becoming more and more beautiful, and eventually, disaster struck.

Her older sister married Zeng Kui, the only son of the Ningxia Regional Commander, and later killed Zeng Kui before taking her own life. The shameless Ren Family planned to offer her to Eunuch Lu, hoping he would protect the Ren Family.

Upon hearing this news, he was furious and went to his grandmother to request permission to marry her. He thought, since the Yun Family was the foremost aristocratic family in Yanbei, that damn eunuch could go to hell.

But his grandmother, who had always doted on him, did not agree to his request. He knelt for a whole day to no avail. Originally, he intended to wear his grandmother down slowly, but the people he had sent to keep an eye on her reported that she was planning to escape.

Upon hearing this, Yun Wenfang could no longer continue kneeling before his grandmother. He went to the stables, took a horse, and set off to chase after her. He couldn't let her escape just like that—if she ran away, where would he find her?

What damn Zeng Family, what damn Eunuch Lu—what was there to fear? His grandmother might be afraid, but he wasn’t. Since his grandmother wouldn’t let him marry her, he would take her away instead. After a few years, his grandmother would surely let them return.

He would take her to the borderlands—he had long wanted to go, but his family had refused. When he left, he didn’t forget to ask the maids for his silver—eight hundred taels, quite a sum.

He indeed intercepted her on the road. She had grown much thinner, her face deathly pale, and it was hard to tell whether she was still beautiful. Yet, he still felt she was lovely in every way—even her fingernails seemed to grow exactly as he liked them.

But before he could tell her he was taking her away, she began to cry, kneeling and begging him to let her go.

He grew somewhat angry, his expression turning grim. Still, he wanted to explain, but just as he was about to speak, he heard the sound of many horses approaching. Looking at her, still crying and making a scene, he couldn’t bear it any longer, so he knocked her unconscious and carried her onto his horse.

Ah, the world was finally quiet. She was finally docile. How wonderful.

He took off his cloak, wrapped it around her, carefully held her in his arms, and turned his horse to gallop in another direction.

At that moment, he felt both happy and tender-hearted, thinking how thin she was. Once she woke up, he would find a place to give her a good meal and fatten her up. He would also work on his own temper, no longer bickering with women—it was too childish to argue every time they met. When she scolded him, he would endure it. After all, she was to be his wife—giving in to her wouldn’t benefit anyone else.

But he didn’t know he would never have the chance to yield to her again.

When two groups of horsemen charged toward him, he knew trouble had arrived. He realized one group was from the Yun Family, and the other was from that Eunuch Lu.He thought it over; whichever group he encountered, he wouldn’t come out unscathed. So, after a moment’s hesitation, he decided to hide her first, lure the pursuers away himself, and then return for her. He believed that with his horsemanship and skills, he could come back quickly enough to ensure she wouldn’t be in danger. So he found a secluded spot to leave her, then rode off on his horse.

As expected, both groups of pursuers were drawn after him. Feeling rather pleased with himself, he was just about to shake them off and turn back to retrieve her when he never expected Eunuch Lu’s men would dare to shoot arrows at him.

As three arrows struck his back and he tumbled from his horse down the slope, the only thought in his mind was: If only he had left the silver he brought with him on her earlier. With money, she wouldn’t suffer no matter where she fled. She was too thin.

Yun Wenfang was still lost in his thoughts when a cheerful voice called out, “Sis—!” and a figure scrambled over in a frantic rush toward the young woman who bore a striking resemblance to her.

The brat’s voice forcibly dragged Yun Wenfang’s thoughts back to reality. He also recognized that no matter how much the young woman before him resembled her, she was not her. And his ties with her had ended in his previous life—only he stubbornly refused to let go.

The young woman smiled gently at the brat. “Ah Xuan, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Do you know what will happen if you don’t come back soon?”

Xiao Weixuan wagged his tail playfully, acting coquettishly. “Sis, I’m the most obedient and well-behaved. Remember to plead for me when we go back. Father has always doted on you; if you protect me, he won’t punish me, right?”

The young woman smiled helplessly and lightly tapped his forehead with her finger. “I’ve told you many times, don’t imitate Silly Girl’s coquettishness! Be careful, or Mother will make you copy books as punishment.”

Yun Yi silently watched the siblings converse. When the young woman glanced his way, he lowered his head in greeting. “Greetings, Your Highness.”

A’wu smiled at him. “We’re all family here, Cousin. No need for formalities.”

Xiao Weixuan’s eyes darted around mischievously as he looked at Yun Yi’s serious expression and flushed ears, giggling uncontrollably.

Ignoring her brother’s antics, A’wu turned to Yun Wenfang and greeted him with the courtesy of a junior.

“Uncle Yun, have you come to pick up Cousin?”

Compared to his coldness toward Xiao Weixuan, Yun Wenfang’s expression softened considerably. He nodded. “Yes.”

After a pause, he couldn’t help but add, “Your Highness, next time you go out, remember to bring more guards.”

Xiao Weixuan, standing nearby, couldn’t help but tug at Yun Yi’s sleeve, feeling wronged, and muttered softly, “See, I told you I was picked up off the street… picked up…”