Transmigrated into a Novel

Xia Wanwan had been blown to death by her own ancestral master's ashes!

What a disgrace she was to the Metaphysics Ancestress of the twenty-first century!

When she woke again, she felt as though she had just been born. Before she could open her eyes, she heard an old woman whisper,

"Madam passed out during the birth. It's a girl. Switch the babies as planned!"

Xia Wanwan felt light all over. She wanted to open her mouth and ask what was happening, but a soft wad of cotton was stuffed deep into it.

She kicked her legs in terror and heard the women urge, "Quick, switch this baby girl before Madam's medicine wears off. Where's the boy Miss Xu gave birth to? Bring him here."

Another maid said, "He's waiting at the back gate. I'll fetch him now."

The woman on the bed had pale lips and lay unconscious from sheer exhaustion.

The older woman continued, "Liu Wan, I'm sorry. Switching your child was the heir's idea, too. This boy is also his flesh and blood. Only under your name can he be the legitimate son of Jing'an Marquis Manor and rightfully inherit the title."

"You have only yourself to blame for giving birth to a useless girl."

Xia Wanwan's eyes widened, and her two plump little hands struggled desperately.

What? Liu Wan? Jing'an Marquis Manor?

And a boy and girl being switched at the beginning-this was exactly the male-oriented novel she had read! She had transmigrated into a book!

In the novel, when Liu Wan, the mistress of Jing'an Marquis Manor, gave birth, her husband, Xie Jin'an, secretly arranged to swap her newborn daughter for the son he had fathered with his mistress.

Poor Liu Wan had always believed the boy was her own. She poured her heart and soul into raising him for sixteen years while managing the Marquis's Residence day and night, until she finally fell ill from exhausting every ounce of herself.

Yet on the joyous day her "biological son," Xie Huaishan, passed the examination that opened his path to officialdom, he welcomed his birth mother, his father's kept mistress, into the Marquis's Residence with great fanfare.

Liu Wan died of sheer rage. All her lifelong toil had merely sewn another woman's wedding gown.

After Liu Wan died, Xie Huaishan took a fancy to the Liu Family's legitimate daughter. To rob her of her chastity, he framed Liu Wan's birth family for murdering a princess.

Every member of Liu Wan's birth family was executed.

Xia Wanwan had now become Liu Wan's newborn daughter. The originally healthy little girl was about to be swapped for a boy, and then Liu Wan's tragic life would begin.

Suffocation and helplessness overwhelmed her. She waved her little hands desperately, but with cotton stuffed in her mouth, she could not make a sound.

Mother, wake up!

Mother, I don't want to be thrown into the Abandoned Infant Pagoda... I used my ancestral master's ashes to refine pills and got blown sky-high. I don't want to die again now! Mother, wake up!

Waaah...

The faint, milky little voice made Liu Wan's eyelids twitch as she lay on the bed.

Hearing the maid push the door open with a baby basket in hand, Xia Wanwan closed her eyes in despair.

Just then.

A wisp of spiritual energy drifted across Liu Wan's forehead. She suddenly opened her eyes and asked weakly, "Where is my child?"

The matron and maid panicked and moved faster, but Liu Wan still saw them.

Mother, I can't breathe! Save me!

Liu Wan's eyes reddened. She sat up and demanded, "Is that my child? Bring her to me at once!"

She had no idea where the strength came from. Her reddened eyes fixed on the child in the matron's arms, startling everyone present.

"Pan Chun! Pan Chun!" Fortunately, she had not listened to the midwife and sent her personal maid, Pan Chun, away.

Hearing her voice from outside, Pan Chun quickly pushed the door open. At the sight before her, she hurried forward to snatch the child from the matron's arms.

"Madam, the child-the child can't make a sound!" Pan Chun cried when she saw the cotton, hastily carrying the infant over to Liu Wan.

Liu Wan hurriedly dug the cotton out of the baby's mouth, and the little infant immediately began wailing.

Furious, Liu Wan ordered the matron and maid restrained.

"Spare me, Madam! This old servant was thinking of your welfare. If you had a boy under your care, you would surely be held in greater esteem. If you give birth to a girl, others will trample all over you. Girls ought to be thrown into the Abandoned Infant Pagoda!"

The matron knelt on the floor, trembling with fear as she tried to justify herself.

The maid was seized as well. The basket in her hands was opened, revealing a baby boy inside. "Spare me, Madam! Spare me!"

Mother, don't let them go! They were going to throw me into the Abandoned Infant Pagoda! I'd die! It's so scary...

Hearing the trembling little voice, Liu Wan looked down at the child in her arms. The little girl had cried until she passed out from lack of oxygen.

Terrified, Liu Wan checked her breathing before finally letting out a sigh of relief. Was this her child's inner voice?

"Who gave you the nerve to switch my child? So what if she's a daughter? I gave birth to her, and she is the flesh of my heart. How dare you!"

Liu Wan gritted her teeth. Though weak now, she had lost none of her authority as mistress of the household.

"We were doing it for your own good. We acted on our own, Madam. Please, for the sake of our devotion..."

The matron tried to keep begging for mercy, but Liu Wan ordered her dragged away to be dealt with.

Liu Wan collapsed onto the bed. Pan Chun asked, "Madam, what should we do with this little boy?"

Thinking that the infant was innocent, Liu Wan had him sent to the old madam to decide his fate.

After resting for an unknown length of time, Liu Wan felt a little better and picked up her daughter. The baby was fair and clean, with large, bright, watery eyes. She sucked on her own chubby finger, looking especially adorable.

Such an adorable child had nearly been switched right before her eyes. If she had not woken in time, she dared not imagine...

Wow, is this my mommy? Mother, give me a kiss...

Liu Wan smiled, lowered her head, and kissed that soft, plump cheek before asking,

"Pan Chun, can you hear someone speaking?"

"Huh? Who's speaking?" Pan Chun looked puzzled.

Liu Wan's smile grew even brighter. She tapped the infant's little nose. "What a clever little thing."

She spoke only for Mommy to hear.

Thank goodness Mommy saved me and avoided that lifetime of toiling for others, only to die with her eyes unable to close...

Xia Wanwan sighed with a little grunt, her eyes blinking.

Liu Wan frowned, and her hand trembled.

Poor Mommy. The baby boy they tried to switch me with is Daddy's son with his mistress. They want him raised under your name so he can inherit the title. Oh dear, the whole family is hiding it from you. You poor thing.

Now that the switch failed, they'll definitely find another way to make Mother raise that baby boy. Heaven, please don't let my mommy go softhearted!

Her mommy was so beautiful and gentle. Xia Wanwan felt a pang of regret; she did not want her mother raising a bad child.

Hearing this, Liu Wan began trembling uncontrollably.

The servant had confessed that the boy was an infant found outside. How could he be her husband's son?

She looked at Pan Chun and asked, "What did the old madam do with that baby boy?"

"Well..." Pan Chun lowered her eyes and stammered, "The old madam said the child was pitiful, and that she would hire a wet nurse for him in a few days and keep him for now."

A measure of certainty settled in Liu Wan's heart. Dejected, she asked, "Where is the heir?"

"The heir always spends some time away each month. He should be back in a couple of days."

After hearing this, Liu Wan's heart turned to dead ashes. Her lips trembled, and she even forgot to nurse her child.

No wonder her husband had not come during the birth. Had he been plotting the baby switch with his mistress? Was that baby boy truly her husband's child with another woman?

Her heart felt as though knives were twisting through it. A suffocating sensation surged up, leaving her unable to recover for a long time.

She thought of the five years since she had married into this family, of constantly drinking medicine and desperately trying to give the Marquis's Residence new branches and leaves despite the damage to her health. What had any of it been for?

"Madam, what's wrong?" Pan Chun asked with some concern.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." Liu Wan came back to herself, clinging to a hopeful possibility. Her child's inner voice might not necessarily be telling the truth. She had to find a way to verify it.

But just then.

The old madam arrived at her room with the boy.

Liu Wan tried hard to steady her emotions, but her expression remained cold.

The old madam said, "Wan'er, I thought it over again and again after I went back. This baby boy is so pitiful, with no parents to be found. If you had a son under your care, it would be excellent for your standing as well."

"Why don't we place this child under your name for you to raise?"