24 Chapter 119: Imperial Examination Part 2

The Qin and Lin families had been betrothed since childhood. Disguised as her dying elder brother, Qin Xiang traveled to Luoyang to fetch a bride for him, hoping a wedding would ward off death. Clutching the betrothal token, she asked for directions and entered the "Lin Residence" in search of her kin.

Her sister-in-law was cold to the bone, yet she smiled and said, "We marry in two days. Only marriage—no consummation."

Two days passed. On the wedding night, the sister-in-law asked again, "Do you know how to kiss?"

Qin Xiang did not. They had agreed: marriage only, no consummation! This was not covered under "marriage only."

The sister-in-law said, "I'll teach you."

After the kiss, someone told Qin Xiang that this was the Prime Minister's Residence, not the Lin Residence.

Qin Xiang fled in a panic.

But Yun Qian—fake sister-in-law, real Prime Minister—said, "We've been intimate now. The engagement cannot be annulled."

She couldn't undo the Prime Minister's engagement. So what was she to do about the Lin family marriage?

***

Yun Qian had lived a second life. The moment she woke, she met Qin Xiang—the Empress who, in her past life, had brought ruin to the state and upheaval to the court.

She had expected the Little Empress to be vicious. Instead, she found a beautiful fool so dim she had walked into the wrong house while recruiting a bride for her brother.

Qin Xiang was still young and simple-minded. She could be taught slowly. Yun Qian could watch her day and night, and if the slightest hint of danger appeared, she could strangle it in the cradle.

Later, she schemed with all her might, feigned illness, played weak, and contracted a sickness called "I'll die if I leave Qin Xiang's side."

Incurable.

Later...

"A-Xiang, I'm dizzy."

"A-Xiang, I feel unwell."

"A-Xiang, I'm about to faint."

Qin Xiang: "..." I think I might have a "wife-killing" curse. The woman who was perfectly healthy before marriage has been wasting away day by day. ***

*Both leads are each other's firsts.*