Her younger half-sister had been reborn too?

"Lift your legs higher."

"Spread them a little wider."

A cold draft suddenly swept through the gauzy red curtains.

Wen Yunmian woke to pain and abruptly realized that someone was holding her legs.

The position was utterly humiliating, and she was stark naked. She immediately snapped, "How dare you! Who gave you permission to..."

Before she could finish, she felt a pair of ice-cold forceps slide inside her. The pain made Wen Yunmian tremble violently.

The two elderly matrons spoke gently. "Hold on a little longer, Second Miss. It will be over soon."

Second Miss?

Ever since she had married, no one had called her that in a very long time.

She spent her days sitting idly in that gilded imperial palace, surrounded by countless flatterers who addressed her as "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager." How had she suddenly become Second Miss again?

Looking again at the slender, shapely, jade-white legs held in their hands, Wen Yunmian froze in astonishment.

No, my skin doesn't look like this. It's already grown loose and saggy.

Are these my legs when I was young?

Wen Yunmian suddenly came to her senses.

That's right. Isn't this the examination by the matrons our family hired before my younger half-sister and I entered the palace?

So I've been reborn?

Before she could think further, the matrons lowered her legs, cupped her rounded buttocks to examine them, and nodded in satisfaction. "A wasp waist and full hips, as rounded as pearls and lustrous as jade. Truly excellent."

The women of the Marquis’s Residence were already waiting outside.

She heard Matron Zhang tell Madam Meng with a smile, "Second Miss has an excellent figure, graceful and beautifully proportioned. Third Miss is slender and delicate, inspiring tenderness. You are truly blessed. Once these two daughters enter the palace, they are certain to enjoy great favor."

Wen Yunmian became even more certain that she had been reborn after dying peacefully of old age.

Sure enough, once the two matrons left, a maid escorted the now-dressed Wen Yunmian and Wen Leyan, who had emerged from a side room, to the main hall.

Wen Leyan gave her a strange smile.

The marquis was already waiting in the main hall.

After stepping inside, the two bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Father."

Marquis Wen Fu'an sat down. "The matrons examined you today. Both of you are qualified to enter the palace."

"Moreover, our Marquis’s Residence has rendered distinguished service for generations and made a great contribution to quelling the rebellion two years ago. His Majesty has therefore granted you special permission to enter the palace without going through the consort selection."

He sighed, pinning his hopes on his two daughters. "Our family has no sons. If we want to preserve the Marquis’s Residence’s wealth and glory, we can only rely on you to win His Majesty’s favor."

"There is also something I must give you to help you establish yourselves in the palace."

The marquis looked at the steward beside him, who immediately brought out two boxes and placed them before the sisters. "These are exceptional secret medicines developed by our household. One helps you bear children. The other damages fertility but grants breathtaking beauty."

"Make your choices," the marquis said calmly.

"I choose the Childbearing Pill!"

Wen Leyan's voice abruptly interrupted Wen Yunmian's thoughts.

Wen Yunmian looked up in surprise and saw Wen Leyan claim the Childbearing Pill under Madam Meng's astonished gaze.

In her previous life, she had plainly chosen the Beauty Pill.

She had said there was no point in having so many children. Better to remain youthful forever, possess unrivaled beauty, and crush every other woman beneath her splendor, so the emperor would never forget her!

When Wen Leyan first entered the palace, her beauty had indeed given her an advantage.

On the first night the consorts were to attend the emperor, she became the first to be carried to Chanyang Palace.

For the next half month, she alone accompanied him. In just six months, she rose from Second-Class Attendant to Noble Lady, becoming the most celebrated woman in the palace.

Unfortunately, the next consort selection came a year later, and new women entered the palace one after another. However beautiful Wen Leyan's face was, the emperor eventually tired of it, and other women soon took her place.

Her sudden fall from favor left her unable to bear the contrast, and she harmed many consorts.

By the time her crimes were exposed, Wen Leyan had already been driven mad by her own inner demons. She yearned for the emperor's affection, only to end up imprisoned in the cold palace.

After Wen Yunmian entered the palace, however, the Childbearing Pill allowed her to give the nearly infertile emperor the second prince, third prince, and fifth princess in succession after sharing his bed only a handful of times.

She gradually rose from First-Class Attendant to Noble Lady, then Imperial Concubine, and finally Imperial Noble Consort, second only to the empress.

Among all those dazzling women, she was an evergreen tree that never fell.

She lived through the emperor's death and a palace coup, then watched her own son ascend the throne. As the empress dowager, she was lavishly provided for and enjoyed boundless glory.

Her younger half-sister, meanwhile, spewed insults and curses every day, even repeatedly bribing people from within the cold palace to poison her and her children.

In the end, she conspired with palace servants and asked to see her.

Holding on to her last shred of pity for her family, Wen Yunmian went to meet her, never imagining that Wen Leyan would risk her own life to kill her.

A knife plunged straight into her chest. Before the searing pain hit, all she heard was Wen Leyan's furious, resentful shouting. "Why should I be thrown into the cold palace while you become the empress dowager? I'll kill you! If I can't live well, neither will you! Die with me!"

Fortunately, Wen Yunmian was blessed with enough luck to survive, waking after half a month in a coma.

"Father, my sister is healthy, so her fertility should be good. Even if she takes the Beauty Pill, she may still be able to bear children. I am frail and sickly. If I choose the Beauty Pill, I'm afraid I may die here at home before I even enter the palace."

Madam Meng had no idea what her daughter was doing. She signaled her several times, but Wen Leyan ignored her.

Knowing her daughter's stubborn temper, she had no choice but to support her. "Yes, my lord. With the Childbearing Pill, Leyan can bear children to secure her position. Yunmian is already beautiful. If she takes the Beauty Pill as well, surely no one will be her equal. One will have children, and the other beauty. Wouldn't that give both our daughters a firm foothold in the palace?"

Wen Leyan looked pitifully at Wen Yunmian. "Sister, you wouldn't fight me for the Childbearing Pill, would you?"

Madam Meng clenched her handkerchief tightly. His Majesty was nearly infertile and had no children despite having been on the throne for two years. However powerful the Childbearing Pill was, the man still had to have a drop of rain left to bestow. Otherwise, how could anyone conceive?

According to their original plan, the Childbearing Pill was supposed to go to Wen Yunmian.

Wen Yunmian's lips curved. Seeing the mother and daughter's determination to win, mingled with their wary defensiveness, she could not help laughing. At last, she understood everything.

So I'm not the only one who was reborn.

Wen Leyan has been reborn too.

That was why she could hardly wait to steal the fruits of Wen Yunmian's victory in her previous life.

Does she really think bearing the emperor's children is a blessing, that she'll be able to sleep soundly without a care?

How ridiculous.

Since my dear little sister insists on snatching it, I'll let her have it.

Soon, she would understand just how terrifying it was to struggle for survival in the imperial harem while constantly becoming pregnant and bearing children.

In her previous life, Wen Yunmian had not reached the position of empress dowager by relying on her two sons. She had relied on herself!

If women had been allowed to rule as emperor, why would she have settled for the empress dowager's seat?

Besides, the open spears and hidden arrows that came after childbirth, along with the stretch marks on her belly, had repeatedly left her both unfavored and hated. Every night, she had feared sleeping deeply and kept jolting awake from nightmares.

She had no desire whatsoever to live that way again.

Besides, the emperor...