Chapter 1: Surviving After Falling Off a Cliff
Translator: Flying Lines
In the mountain behind the Hanshan Temple on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, Xie Mengxuan was fleeing in a great flurry under the chase of several people in black. Her clean clothes got ragged and dirty in her desperate escape. After a long time of struggle, she was finally driven close to the cliff edge.

Staring at the bottomless cliff, Xie Mengxuan stopped and turned around in a sudden with the bravery to face a possible death. With a slight frown and deep anger in her eyes, she didn’t show a bit of fear to the murderous look of those in black.

Perhaps shocked at her determined eyes, those people in black ceased to press on towards her. The head, with a steel knife in his hand, said in a low voice: “Lady Xie, there’s no way to escape. You’d better go back with us.”

Xie Mengxuan slightly turned her head to look at the cliff behind her. Then she responded with a sneer, “No way! It depends on your ability whether you can bring me back or not.”

She was just at the age of fifteen while under the hopeless situation, she burst with the momentum of a young lady from a noble family, which overwhelmed those people on the opposite side.

The head was an experienced one who had ever been to all corners of the country. He only felt amused about her words. “Is Lady Xie scared out of her wits?” taunted he.

“Tut! Each one in the Xie Family would rather go to death than being imprisoned,” said Xie Mengxuan while quickly retreating a few steps.

With a jump, she fell down at a startling speed. Hit by scattered stones on the head, she swooned with pain.

“Ouch…”

When Xie Mengxuan was awake, there was only the chirping of cicadas mingled with the bark of a dog outside. She managed to open her eyes only to see the darkness. After a while, when she started to get used to the dizziness caused by the strikes, she sat up and clearly felt the pain on her head.

Xie Mengxuan looked at her hand and pinched her cheek in surprise. Her warm hand, and the pain she felt, all these showed the fact that she didn’t die.

She won! She bet her life, and finally won!

When Xie Mengxuan realized that she was still alive, she immediately thought of the news she had received at the Hanshan Temple. In any case, she was bound to go home as soon as possible to hand over the things to her father. The success or failure of what they had planned for many years hinged on this one action. But where was she? And who saved her?

Xie Mengxuan, sitting on the bed, looked around, but found no one, only to be aware of how dilapidated the house was. There were holes in the doors and windows, and the house was quite empty. Only the quilt was clean and scented.

As she was about to call someone, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door and then a loud voice full of reproach, “Geng Zhishan, hand over the girl you saved! Otherwise, don’t blame us for being rude.”

Hearing those merciless words, Xie Mengxuan felt a sting in her heart. Looking at the window above the bed, she carefully moved over and watched out through the hole in the window.

In the courtyard, a strong man took a hoe and ran to the front of the house. Although she failed to see clearly his face, she knew that the man was keeping strict guard over the house.

On the opposite side were a lot of his countrymen with anger. Some people even held a hoe or stick, which made them look fierce.

“Geng Zhishan, what do you mean? You are going to oppose us, aren’t you?”

“With our help, you could grow up here. Have you forgotten that? Will you be against us for the girl from an unknown place? Are you going to discard the village?”

One after another words of reproach upon him followed. The man stood still, but his body trembled. Xie Mengxuan saw he shake his head.

Although she could only saw his back, it was apparent that he was in a dilemma and had no choices but to endure others’ scolding. Then someone went forward to persuade him with soft words. “Silly man, hand over the girl you saved, and we’ll absolutely not push you. We belong to the same village after all. Look at these people around you. You’ve ever received help from all of them. Since you saved the girl, our village is no longer calm. Either some of the livestock died or someone got injured. According to the fortune teller, this girl isn’t in harmony with our village in Eight Characters (in four pairs, including the year, month, day and hour of a person’s birth, each pair consisting of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch, formerly used in fortune-telling). She must be driven away. Do you want to see all of us involved in danger and disaster due to her?”

When he heard these words, the man couldn’t help lowering his head. Xie Mengxuan frowned. At first she wasn’t sure whether they were talking about her. But she found that these people were inclined to glance at this house every time they spoke. And there was only one person inside. Therefore, it was obvious that they were talking about her.

She could understand that these people living in so small a village believed in such superstitious things. She thought that since she woke up, there was no need to bother the man who saved her. After taking a deep breath, she lifted the quilt and tried to get off the bed.

To her surprise, in a sudden, the man said loudly, “No, I can’t! She is still injured and not fully recovered. I can’t hand her over to you.”

“The kindness of uncles and aunts, I will always keep it in mind. But! She is a living life. If we send her away, she might die!”

“What an idiot! That girl is from an unknown place. Even if she dies outside, it’s her destiny. Are you going to bet the lives of all the villagers on her life?”

“She…She isn’t from an unknown place. She…” The man was so anxious that he stumbled over his words. It seemed very hard for him, a person who had never told lies, to continue what he was intended to say.

Villagers knew the bottom of each other. Since he was too shy to speak it out, it was easy to find that he had made up a lie. In order to stir him, someone said loud, “Who was she on earth? Why not speak it out? If you fail to say it clear, we must drive the girl away.”

Everybody was trying to get a word in, aiming to force him to speak it out.

Geng Zhishan was so anxious that he hit the ground with the hoe. With his eyes closed, he burst out, “She’s my wife!”

“Bang…”

As Geng Zhishan finished his words, Xie Mengxuan who was ready to go out fell to the ground.

The villagers outside were also frightened by his words. They looked at each other and none of them spoke a single word. It was beyond their imagination that this plain and honest man should have made up such a big lie for that girl.

Soon someone responded to his words and came forward. “Geng Zhishan, the hoodoo is your wife? Why have you never mentioned that? And why have you never held any banquet for your wedding? Well, Geng Zhishan, you dare to lie?”

“We all thought you were plain and honest. But it seems that it’s also easy for you to be seduced by women. That girl can’t stay here. Absolutely! She has enticed a man when she isn’t awake. Who knows what she will do after she wakes up?”

The woman who just spoke was the wife of the head of the village. She was also the chief of all women in the village. She tended to engage in many things. Since she expressed her opinion, other women agreed with her as well. What a scene! It seemed that people in the whole village agreed on what she had just said.