Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Turns out, you’re a villainess just like me! Part II

“I am Bai Hua. Blessings to Empress Dowager.” She clasped her hands at waist-high and curtsied in a noble manner, then stood up. Her back was straightened gracefully as her face was slightly lowered.

“I heard that the third daughter of the Bai’s family was born from a concubine. How could she even dare to come to a high banquet like this?”

“Even if she has the chancellor’s blood, she still doesn’t possess the glamour of the noble. She’s just a worthless woman.”

“But her manners are undoubted of a noble.”

“Bai Furen and Miss Bai Yu are so generous. They even went through the trouble of raising a worthless woman into a lady.”

“And yet she harms her own sister. Look at that guqin! The first miss’s maid said it was in her carriage.”

.....

A stream of chatter and gossip ensued as soon as ‘Bai Hua’ appeared. Still, she maintained a light smile which made her pretty face looked even more delicate. Despite the calm fa?ade, both her hands were squeezed tightly. She looked worth protecting, just like the meaning of her name.

‘Hua’ meant a beautiful and delicate flower. Useless, but so dear!

While ‘Yu’ meant an exquisite jade. Highly sought-after, but not to be cherished!

Internally, Yoknapha sneered. Oh, Bai Yu...turns out, you were a villainess just like me!

“No need for such formality.” As soon as Empress Dowager Wei said, the talking stopped.

Hmm, at least the aristocrat in this period had some manners.

“The guqin was in your carriage, was it not?”

“That is right, Your Majesty.”

Bai Hua answered the Empress Dowager with no trace of uncertainty nor fear. Yet such insolence was forgotten when she lifted her small face. The peach blossom eyes showed sweetness that was also imbued with stubbornness. Her egg-shaped face, small nose, full lips, and slender, willow-like brows...

If one claimed that Bai Hua possessed such devastating beauty that could inspire war, no one would think to oppose.

But for Yoknapha...she only felt hatred for that beautiful face! Because it was the face of the woman who had driven her to take her own life!

“Ugh!” The tumultuous feeling came back to her again. Her heart was so full of frustration that, at one point, she wanted to yank that figure down and hit her again and again until that woman died by her hands!

This...this must be Bai Yu’s resentment toward Bai Hua. These two women had been at odds for a long time, so it was of no surprise that the owner of this body would hate her own sister so much. And in the future, these two half-sisters would fight against each other until one of them died!

This was the high-budget Chinese TV series ‘This Life, the villainess will win against all odds’ which had been adapted from the novel. In her previous life, Yoknapha had starred as ‘Bai Yu,’ the villainess of this story. This character had helped her to be well-known as an internationally famous villainess.

What was unfolding in front of her was the first scene in the series...

Bai Hua used to be a tractable girl. She was relentlessly bullied by Bai Yu and Yue Mei. This time the mother and daughter pair wanted her dead, so they devised a plan to borrow the Empress Dowager’s power to do so. But Bai Hua’s personality suddenly changed and she somehow resolved the situation, to the shock of Bai Yu and Yue Mei.

In the end, Bai Yu was exposed and her reputation was damaged, all without knowing that Bai Hua who stood up to her was actually ‘Padma’, a woman from the 21st century who transmigrated into Bai Hua’s body. She put up a fight against the evil stepmother and sister, as expected of a villainess in the body of a miserable protagonist.

What was different from the original series here was that the one who transmigrated here was not Padma in Bai Hua’s body, but Yoknapha in Bai Yu’s. She couldn’t believe how this could be real...but the pain in her fingertips confirmed to her that this was not a dream.

But then...this Bai Hua in front of her was the ‘old’ one, or the ‘new’ one?

Yoknapha closed her eyes and tried to think. She was a professional actress, so she was familiar with and could very well understand the character Bai Yu. To continue ‘acting’ was easy, but that was not the problem here; the problem was the fact that she really was in the body of Bai Yu!

To be honest, Yoknapha did not have any grudge against Bai Hua. But if she had to continue being Bai Yu and lost to Bai Hua here...the one who had to bear the shame would not be Bai Yu, but Yoknapha herself!

I’m sorry Bai Hua...If this truly is fate, then as the ‘new’ Bai Yu, I have to take care of myself first!

The transmigrated villainess smiled to herself despite the dire situation. Fine, she would play along with fate’s little game.

The royal doctor came to take care of Bai Yu’s wounds before Bai Hua could explain anything else. An orange aura emitted from the doctor’s hand stopped the bleeding, but the wounds were still open. He stared at it for a moment before hurriedly turned to the Empress Dowager.

“Your Majesty, Miss Bai’s wounds are caused by poison. My magic is too weak to completely heal her without an antidote. I beg for Your Majesty’s permission to grant me half a shichen* to brew the potion.”

“Hurry to it then.”

The doctor bowed to Empress Dowager before hurrying away.

“Grandmother, I have heard that tribes in the south have a poison that can make strings and ropes turn sharp,” the man in red said. His gaze toward Bai Hua was openly flirtatious.

If she was not mistaken, this was Da Yang’s crown prince, ‘Ouyang Yongxian’. The villain who had a hobby of collecting beautiful women and one of the characters who made Bai Yu’s life hell.

“Your Majesty, certainly I am not the one who harmed my sister. Hua-er does not have the ability to acquire such poison...”

The meaning of Ouyang Yongxian’s words was clear to everyone. But Bai Hua still firmly insisted on her innocence.

“You lack ability, but what about your maid!” Yue Mei did not let the daughter of a minor wife she hated make excuses any longer. She immediately fanned the flame. “...Your maid is from the south!”

Suddenly, the crowd’s chatter began again. The reveal made it even harder for Bai Hua to get out of the accusation. Empress Dowager Wei ordered the soldiers to bring Bai Hua’s maid to interrogate.

“Miss! It was not me! This servant did not do it!” the maid wouldn’t stop crying. Her reaction was opposite to her master who was still calm despite being trapped in a predicament.

“Lin mama, search them!” The head of Empress Dowager’s personal maids gave other servants a look, ordering them to search Bai Hua’s maid.

“I found it.” One of the royal maids took a small case out of the maid’s fragrant pouch and immediately presented it to the Empress Dowager, who passed it to a man wearing black next to her. He considered it for a moment before nodding to her.

It was practically confirmed that the case contained the poison that Ouyang Yongxian spoke of. Empress Dowager Wei’s face was filled with anger.

Bai Yu took advantage of the commotion in front of her and took out a damp handkerchief, pressing it on the guqin’s strings. Her action, hidden behind the elegant drapes of her clothes, went unnoticed to the people who did not pay any attention to her.

“That was not mine! I did not do it!” Bai Hua’s maid knocked her forehead against the floor, begging for mercy.

“A maid like you would never dare to do such thing. Speak! Who ordered you?” Empress Dowager looked at Bai Hua.

“Your Majesty, please give me permission to prove innocence.” After realizing that she could not escape, Bai Hua kowtowed to the Empress Dowager. In her head, she deliberated over her newly thought-out plan.

“How?” the man in black attire asked. Bai Yu sneaked a glimpse of his face, and her heart pounded uncontrollably.

Strangely, this body’s memory did not seem to have this man in it. But Yoknapha was sure that he must be one of the princes. The problem was, which one? While there were numerous princes in this series, the most prominent ones are ‘Qin Wang*’, the male lead, and ‘Wei Wang’, the secondary love interest.

“If my servant was truly the one who applied the poison to the guqin, then that poison would still remain on the strings. Your Majesty, please allow me to examine the guqin.” Even while lowering her head and hiding her gaze, Bai Hua’s voice was filled with determination and confidence.

“Go ahead,” this time Ouyang Yongxian who had the title of Taizi* answered.

Bai Hua did not waste a moment to go straight to the pair of mother and daughter. The accused glanced at Bai Yu before sitting down in front of the guqin in question. Under the gaze of every guest in the banquet, Bai Hua pressed her fingers on the strings, and...there were no cuts on them.

So the poison was not on the guqin!

“Your Majesty, if I was the one who applied the poison to these strings, then why are my fingers not hurt at all?”

Plunk!

To confirm her words, Bai Hua plucked at the strings again. She moved to confront Bai Yu with a pleased smile, then pulled Bai Yu’s hand up to show to the crowd’s curious eyes.

Damn your mother! My wounds still hurt!

“It is true that my sister’s wounds are caused by poison. But the poison was not applied to the guqin in my carriage...” Bai Hua looked at Yue Mei, then slowly moved her gaze to Bai Yu. “...It was applied to my sister’s fingers!”

Correct answer!

In the series, Bai Yu was caught by Bai Hua this way too...so right now, this Bai Hua was really Padma who had transmigrated here!

“You mean...” Ouyang Yongxian raised his brows at the female lead.

“Answering Taizi...Miss Bai Yu poisoned herself!”

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* Shichen : Ancient Chinese timekeeping measurement. 1 shichen = 2 hours

*Wang / Qin Wang : The first rank of the prince in ancient Chinese nobility rank. Normally those who receive the title Qin Wang are the sons or brothers of the emperor. *Qin is a name received at the same time as the title, for example, Qin Wang (Qin Qin Wang), Wei Wang (Wei Qin Wang)

*Taizi : Crown prince who is designated to be the heir to the throne.