21 I'll Take Her

Yuxi had closed her life in the real world only to open her eyes in the dreamworld. She was experiencing the nightmare of being sold again.

Standing before her eldest Uncle, Zhao Yueluo, Yuxi was taken to the events that eventually lead to her death. To her left was her cousins and aunt, and to her right was her eldest Uncle.

Yuxi bit her tongue to prevent herself from voicing her discomforts. It was the coldest winter Houling had ever experienced, and Yuxi was wearing the most revealing hanfu her aunt could find. It showed off all of her assets, or whatever was left of it.

Yuxi remembered her age when she was married off to a government official that was older than Commander Moyao. Yuxi was only eighteen.

Her eldest cousin smirked at the disgracing sight of Yuxi.

Yuxi was a fourth-ranked Princess - the title was personally given by the Empress herself - but she was beaten and starved, then sold like a common servant. Dressed in skimpy clothes made of seductive red that revealed her long legs, swan neck, and breasts, Yuxi looked no better than the workers in the red lantern district.

Yuxi looked around the room, her eyes centering on the expensive jewlery that belonged to her mother. Her aunt and cousins were flaunting it on their neck and hands, as if it belonged to them.

In order to not say anything, Yuxi bit her tongue very hard.

The day her eldest Uncle was appointed guardianship, he had shipped all of her parents' treasures into his house. He displayed it to his guests, marking the objects as his.

All of Yuxi's mothers clothes and precious jewelery was either sold or given to her cousins and aunts who greedily took all of the expensive ones. Her uncle had taken all of her father's swords, armor, and battle equipments.

Yuxi would never forget the day her Uncle destroyed what remained of her parents. Her aunt and cousin had dragged her onto the ground, forced Yuxi to kneel and watch as they destroy the badges of her father's achievements and the portraits of her mother.

Yuxi could feel her nails dig into her palm.

Her previous house, filled with happy memories, was barren and torn down.

Her uncle sold off the land without hesitation and swindled Yuxi of her inheirtance. Yueluo's pockets was brimming with money that wasn't his.

"I like her, I'll take her." The elderly government official greedily licked his lips. He had been watching the woman for a while now.

Though she was sickly thin and ghostly pale, it wasn't enough to diminish her beauty.

"She resemble a woman I used to favor." The elderly man said with a smirk. His eyes took in the gorgeous woman before him.

Yuxi's eldest Uncle laughed. "Many people tell me she resembles her mother, Chen Xiyue. She was my brother's wife."

Men wanted her as a wife, the women envied her, fathers and mothers wanted her as a daughter-in-law.

Stubborn in mind, but soft at heart, she enjoyed to tease people. Especially many of the men that pursued her.

When many of the suitors came running to the Commander for her hand in marriage, he rejected them all. Commander Moyao was never the type to force his daughter to marry a man she didn't want to.

"Ah yes, that's her name. I couldn't buy her from her father, but now I most certainty can buy her daughter!" The government official laughed, rubbing his big belly.

"Did you bring what you promised?" Yueluo asked with a cunning smile.

The government official laughed and waved his hand. A few servants came forward barring treasure chests filled with gold.

"This is the gold I promised. If she can bare me a few sons, I will bring you more."

Yueluo's greedy eyes shined brighter than the gold before him. The government official didn't mind. As a matter of fact, he also shared a similar greed. But it wasn't for money, it was a greed of lust at the idea of deflowering a woman young enough to be his granddaughter.

"Come now, little wife. I will treat you well." The man said as he reached for her with his fat fingers.

Yuxi tried to resist but her body wouldn't listen. Instead, her body remained still and lifeless, like a doll ready to be played with and then tossed out.

The man was able to grab her hand and forcefully drag her to his side.

Yueluo picked up a gold coin and inspected the authenticity of it. It was pure and solid gold. Her eldest Uncle smirked and flipped the coin in his hand.

"My little niece is used to bad treatment. You don't even have to give her an official wedding ceremony. Just throw her into a room befitting of a servant and she'll be fine." He commented with a cunning smile.

"She will make a perfect bed warmer and when you're done, just toss her back into her room." Yuxi's aunt added on.

"My oh my, and here I thought she was your favored niece." The government official laughed at her words. His leering eyes shifted to Yuxi's still body. She was starring at the floor, biting her tongue to not say anything rash.

"Hm, what an obedient woman." The man commented.

"Don't you think so, son?" He turned to his son, a tall and handsome man.

"The more obedient they are, the easier it is to break them." Yueluo said with a bright smile.

"Has she already been broken?" The government official's son, Ling Qiuan, asked.

Yuxi's head snapped up at his voice. She felt her blood boil with so much anger and hatred, she began to see red.

Ling Qiuan was a lavishing and cunning man. He may be handsome, but his heart was crueler than any man Yuxi knew.

Yuxi's soul clearly remembered him. Qiuan had tricked the naive and innocent Yuxi into falling for him. When Yuxi never allowed him to touch her in fear of going against the government official, Qiuan had framed her for adultery.

He was the man that pulled the strings in the Ling household. Twenty years her senior, he was the next-in-line for the Ling fortune.

After being falsely framed by him, accused in front of the official's other wives, she had been beaten and then thrown into the dirty, mice-infected room.

Glaring at him, Yuxi had taken him by surprise. This was the past and the soul resided in Yuxi had already seen the future.

Using her anger as a fuel, Yuxi could finally move her body. Blinded by hatred, Yuxi lunged at the man.

But she didn't get very far, when the floor beneath her suddenly collapsed and crumbled into nothing. The people in the room had disappeared and soon, Yuxi felt into a pit of darkness.