Chapter 1: Mistakes of a Past Life

Smoke curled through the room, carrying the faint scent of sandalwood. Gauze curtains hung draped around the bed; this was a young woman’s boudoir.

A few rays of sunlight streamed in through the window, warm and gentle, a picture of quiet, peaceful days.

Yet the woman on the bed frowned deeply, her fingers clenched so hard around the covers that her knuckles had gone white.

She jolted awake, eyes snapping open as she sat upright, staring at the furnishings of the room while catching her breath.

The woman lowered her head and looked at her own hands, a trace of bitterness curling at the corners of her mouth.

It was that dream again…

And in the dream, once more…

That cold, ruthless face was still fresh before her eyes. She raised a hand to her neck, where the phantom ache of old pain seemed to linger.

On that famously beautiful face there had been nothing but indifference. She had stood there, gazing down from on high, as if looking at an ant beneath her foot.

Then the scene shifted to that person from her youth, disheveled and dirt-streaked… yet with eyes like stars fallen from the heavens.

Qi Yunchu.

The woman closed her eyes, murmuring the name in her heart. The hatred would not fade, and the bitterness only deepened.

It no longer mattered, she told herself.

In her last life, that person had used her family’s influence to climb to the throne. All the sweet words and whispered promises were forgotten the moment she ascended. For the sake of another woman, she had personally dragged her down into hell.

This life… she had already found this person while she was still young…

Everything had already changed.

“Is the Young Lady awake?” The curtain at the doorway was lifted, and a maid in a jade-green dress asked softly.

The woman lowered her eyes. The darkness within them had already settled into calm, and she answered with a quiet murmur of assent.

The maid smiled and came in to help her dress.

“Since you’re awake, Young Lady, why not go to the main hall? There are guests there right now!”

The woman paused mid-motion as she rose from the bed, asking flatly, “Who?”

The maid hurried to support her, smiling. “It’s the person the Young Lady has been wanting to see!”

“Qing’e, what nonsense are you spouting!” Another maid entered from outside, carrying a washbasin, her brow furrowed as she scolded her.

Qingsu shot Qing’e a glare and stepped forward to arrange her lady’s hair and cosmetics herself.

Qing’e knew she had spoken out of turn. Sticking out her tongue, she went to tidy the bedding.

Her hands stayed busy, but she did not forget her lady’s question, and answered softly, “It’s General Qi.”

General Qi…

Qi Yunchu…

The darkness in the woman’s eyes deepened.

【Host, how do you plan to handle this?】

Qi Yunchu was in the main hall, trading empty pleasantries with a pack of old foxes, when the System’s icy mechanical voice suddenly rang out. Her expression never changed.

【Shh. Just sit back and watch…】

【But Qin Youning has memories of your past life. She probably hates you to death after what you did to her…】

【Hate?】

Qi Yunchu continued exchanging polite formalities with the old foxes, leading them in circles, while inwardly she smiled with amusement.

【Is that really hate?】

【If it isn’t hate, then what is it?】 the System asked, pausing in confusion.

Qi Yunchu’s gaze slid sideways. Her eyes and face were already rehearsing an expression ahead of time.

And so everyone saw the Young General who had been effortlessly playing diplomatic games with them since the moment she entered suddenly turn to look at the doorway, her eyes lighting up.

In those pupils, black and white so clearly defined, it was as if a river of stars had poured in, brimming with joy and anticipation.

The proud, aloof chill that had shrouded her brows and eyes melted away in an instant.

She stared intently at the doorway, utterly abandoning the old foxes, deaf to their repeated coughs.

The old foxes of the Qin Family exchanged a glance, a hint of a smile surfacing in their eyes.

One was their most prized disciple, the Young General who in recent years had swept through nine cities like a storm, her fame spreading far and wide.

The other was the finest young lady of their household.

If these two could truly come together… it would be a blessing upon the entire Qin Family.

Besides, with Qi Yunchu looking so deeply smitten, and the two of them childhood sweethearts on top of it, they could not have been more satisfied.

Qi Yunchu watched the girl in azure robes approach. She was elegant and ethereal, her features exquisite. Though her expression was subdued, she carried a natural grace and quiet dignity.

And so Qi Yunchu smiled. The battlefield edge she had accumulated over years of war melted away completely. Her brows and eyes held an inherent touch of cold allure and heroic spirit, and when she smiled, it was like the sun breaking over the horizon, a beauty that seemed too fine for the mortal world.

The woman’s image filled Qi Yunchu’s eyes entirely. Rising to her feet, she gazed at her with total focus, bowing with the utmost respect in greeting: “I hope the Female Lord fares well?”

Qin Youning had naturally noticed her gaze, along with the joy she had never once dared to hope for… and that cautious, careful love.

She lowered her eyes and calmly returned the greeting, her face betraying nothing.

That person seemed afraid of overstepping, not daring to let her gaze linger too long. She had already quietly taken her seat.

After paying her respects to her grandfather, father, and elder brothers, Qin Youning sat down as well.

【She wouldn’t even look at you!】 the System couldn’t help but blurt out.

Qi Yunchu lifted her teacup and took a light sip, smiling faintly to herself.

【Little System, watch closely. This isn’t hate. Not entirely hate, anyway.】

【Strip away four parts hatred, and what remains is three parts unwillingness, two parts regret… and one part love.】

What kind of nonsense is that?

The System’s tiny body radiated enormous confusion. You treated her like that in your last life, and there’s still love left over?

【Hate is born from love, resentment from hate, and the unwillingness that comes from loving without attaining.】

【In my last life, though I killed her, I provided generously for her clan and kin.】

【So the hate she bears me falls far short of a blood feud.】

Qi Yunchu swirled the cup in her hand, making a guess.

Let me think. The one beside me plans to take revenge on me how, exactly?

Hmm. She probably wants to use me, destroy the foundations I spent over a decade building through war, and take the throne for herself?

Ha. How interesting.

Yunchu had been a bounty hunter from the Main Plane, picking and choosing her missions, with a particular love of danger and challenge.

One day, while she was browsing missions at the Mission Hall in the Plane’s central city, she received a designated commission:

Fifty Star Currency for eight unforgettable, bone-deep love stories.

Commissioned by: Yunchu.

Ha, fifty Star Currency. That was ownership of fifty minor planes. Generous indeed.

Besides, making up stories was her favorite thing to do~

This first world was set in an alternate era: imperial power in decline, great clans at their height, feudal lords locked in endless warfare, the land ablaze with war beacons.

Her identity there was that of an orphan in a remote village.

And her designated target was the legitimate daughter of the Qin Family, one of the great clans.

Even more interesting, the target of this mission would live through two lifetimes.

This was practically spelled out for her: two lifetimes of Predestined Love!

Yunchu understood.

And so she began clawing her way upward. She found a chance to enter the army and rose through the ranks bit by bit, reaching the position of Commandant within a few years.

Not enough. Still not enough. She seized her chance, killed the General, and declared herself Grand General, taking command of the armies and launching campaigns on all fronts.

This alternate world was fascinating. Men and women stood on equal footing, marriage between any pairing was legal regardless of gender, and the question of offspring between same-sex couples was solved entirely by means of a fruit called the Childbearing Fruit.

Utterly delightful. Yunchu loved it.

She was having a wonderful time.

When her conquests were nearly complete, she arranged a “chance” encounter with the famous daughter of the Qin Family, the one whose name shook the world: Qin Youning.

The mission was to play out across two lifetimes with her. If they simply lived peacefully together, what kind of bone-deep, unforgettable love would that be?

Yunchu had a bold idea.

And so she set out to seduce this dignified, ethereal daughter of a great clan.

How utterly innocent she was. With barely any effort at all, Yunchu saw admiration bloom in her eyes.

Riding on the Qin Family’s power, she ascended to the throne with even greater ease, unifying the Nine Provinces.

Her Grand Wedding to Qin Youning soon followed.

On the day of the wedding… Yunchu started stirring up trouble again. She ran off to a side hall to play with another girl, one who had followed her back when her fortunes were still low.

She grew ever more flamboyant, showering that girl with favor while coldly neglecting Qin Youning. In the end, a single sword stroke ended the first of Qin Youning’s two lives.

Which brought things right around to the second life.

When that daughter of a great clan, whose pride she had trampled into the dust, showed despair and agony before her for the first time, eyes red and streaming with tears, the System asked her, “Yunchu, do you have a heart?”

How could you bear it?

Yunchu answered it: “I was born without a heart. My only purpose is to complete the mission, by whatever means necessary.”

“In my eyes, she is nothing more than a string of data, a character in a game, marching along the path I set for her, smoothly walking toward the future I designed for her.”

“I have no heart. Why would I hold any feelings for her?”

Sympathy, pity, love. Those were the gravest sins a bounty hunter could commit.

Their kind, human or otherwise, had survived in the Main Plane for longer than anyone could say, drifting through the vast myriad worlds, living through countless lifetimes.

If she let emotion into her heart every single time, then those lives that had fallen and perished among the stars would be her fate as well.