Chapter 43: Chapter 43: This Dark History Isn’t Mine, So Why Keep Using It to Smear Me?

That’s right. Jiang Wanwan’s original surname was Lin. After her father seduced the Empress, her mother was forced into a peaceful Contract Termination under immense pressure from the Empire.

Afterward, that man brought her to live in the Rose Palace, and she changed her name from Lin Wanwan to Jiang Wanwan. From that day forward, she became the person Jiang Yunnuan despised and loathed, yet also envied and coveted the most.

Si Xie held grudges.

Bai Luo’s earlier taunts had been humiliating and infuriating, but they were all true, leaving Si Xie with no way to retort.

’Since he couldn’t get back at Bai Luo, he couldn’t be blamed for exposing Jiang Wanwan’s dirty laundry.’

’After all, Jiang Wanwan was Bai Luo’s precious treasure. Humiliating her would hurt Bai Luo more than any direct insult.’

"Is this how you always twist people’s good intentions? No wonder my sister has become like this. If you ask me, it’s because you incited her and led her astray..."

Jiang Wanwan’s expression was grim. After saying her piece to Si Xie, she turned to Jiang Yunnuan, her face a mask of feigned concern.

"Sister, this Contractor of yours is deliberately twisting my good intentions and trying to sow discord between us. He clearly has malicious motives. You should teach him a lesson, or else there’s no telling how he’ll embarrass you in the future."

"And if you can’t discipline him, you might as well perform a Contract Termination and pick a new one who is obedient and sensible."

"Ling Ze has said for a while now that this Contractor is devious and has incited you to become more and more unreasonable. And because you’re always letting him provoke you, Ling Ze has come to dislike you."

She knew Jiang Yunnuan was obsessed with her pride, yet she deliberately claimed he would embarrass her and even brought up Ling Ze at a time like this.

Si Xie’s expression shifted. ’I could kill this scheming bitch,’ he thought. His face grew incredibly grave as he looked at Jiang Yunnuan, a hint of nervousness flickering in his eyes.

Jiang Wanwan had often said things like this in the past. And the old Jiang Yunnuan, who worshipped Ling Ze like a god, would fly into a rage and torture her Contractors every time she heard them.

’What about today? Will she fly off the handle just like before?’

"Do you think you’re in any position to tell me what to do?"

’This woman still thinks I’m Ling Ze’s bootlicker, deliberately bringing him up to cloud my judgment.’ Jiang Yunnuan was absolutely furious.

’It’s not like I’m the one with that embarrassing past, so why does she keep using it against me?’

"Does that mean whatever you and Ling Ze say is right? What are you two, the arbiters of truth? One says I’m wicked, the other says I’m unreasonable. Heh. If you ask me, you’re both like a monk’s wooden fish—just begging for a beating."

"And another thing. If you think Si Xie will embarrass me, then I’m sorry to say you and Ling Ze are utterly shameless. Instead of advising me on Contract Termination, why don’t you terminate your contract with Ling Ze first?"

At her words, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

Si Xie, Fu Yuan, and Ming Ye stared at her for a long moment. Only when they saw no sign that she was about to fly into a rage and take it out on them did they slowly release a breath of relief.

’It seemed she really was different now.’

The corner of Si Xie’s mouth curled into a smile as he watched Jiang Yunnuan with open admiration.

’Tsk. How did I never notice how sharp-tongued this woman was? With just a few words, she’d angered that pretentious fraud Jiang Wanwan until her face turned pale.’

Seeing Jiang Wanwan’s foul expression, his mood instantly soared. He didn’t even feel the pain from his wounds anymore.

"I was only trying to help you, Sister. If you don’t want to hear it, I’ll stop. There’s no need to be so aggressive."

Jiang Wanwan put on a wounded expression, as if she’d been gravely misunderstood—as if the entire world were wrong and only she was right.

"Since I’m clearly not welcome, I’ll just leave. But you are Mother’s daughter, after all. Even if you haven’t awakened your abilities yet, and your appearance is... Er, my apologies. I misspoke."

"What I meant to say was, please come to my birthday party, Sister. I’m sure Mother would be overjoyed to see you."

She walked up to Jiang Yunnuan and placed an ostentatiously ornate invitation in her hand.

Jiang Yunnuan raised an eyebrow. Her fists were itching for a fight.

’This woman is on another level. She didn’t refute a single thing I said, instead just relentlessly slandering me, blaming me, and slinging mud.’

’First, she called me petty and quick-tempered. Then she claimed I was led astray and was unreasonable. And now, she’s calling me aggressive, implying I have no awakened abilities, and calling me ugly.’

She finally understood why the original owner of this body had such a terrible reputation.

’With this woman slandering her so viciously, even if the original owner had been a model student, she would have eventually been dragged through the mud until her name was ruined.’

’The original owner had only just come of age. After being constantly gossiped about behind her back, it wouldn’t be surprising if she’d just given up, let things fall apart, and decided to live up to her terrible reputation.’

"Since you insist on inviting me to your birthday party, I hope you don’t regret it later!"

Jiang Yunnuan reached out, took the invitation, and let out a short laugh.

For some reason, a bad feeling suddenly welled up inside Jiang Wanwan. But she quickly suppressed the baseless panic.

’Damn it, why am I getting such a bad feeling?’

’It must be my imagination!’

’In this life, of all the men who were supposed to be Jiang Yunnuan’s, I’ve already taken every single one, except for *him*.’

’In contrast, look at the men Jiang Yunnuan has now. In our past life, they were either crippled or died young—all of them were cannon fodder. What does she possibly have to compete with me?’

With that thought, her confidence instantly returned!

"I will be waiting for you at the Rose Palace, Sister."

Soon, they left.

As they departed, Bai Luo was already unconscious on the ground and covered in wounds. Wen Yanchen had to carry him away on his back.

His opponent, however—the noble, handsome man with golden hair and tiger ears who carried himself like an emperor—was completely unscathed, aside from some slightly messy hair.

Jiang Wanwan glanced at him, not particularly surprised by the outcome.

’In their past life, this man had been terrifyingly powerful. His talent and Cultivation were in no way inferior to the men Jiang Yunnuan had then. It was just a shame he had no luck on his side, and his death was a miserable one.’

’She never expected that in this life, he would be assigned to Jiang Yunnuan.’

’Oh, I forgot. In our past life, this man didn’t have a Contract Master, and neither did the other three. I have no idea why they were all assigned to Jiang Yunnuan this time.’

’Could this be a sign that Jiang Yunnuan is also fated to die young?’

At this thought, Jiang Wanwan’s mood improved immensely.

"Nice work. I’m giving you major credit for today."

Once they were gone, Jiang Yunnuan walked over to Jun Yao, patted him on the shoulder, and praised him with a grin.

Jun Yao’s brow twitched. "Bai Luo is young and not that strong," he said. "If Ning Xiu, Shen Yu, and Shen Yi come next time, I might not be able to defeat them. And don’t forget, there are also Ling Ze and Wen Yanchen."

Jiang Yunnuan was speechless.

"Hey, don’t build them up by putting yourself down! It’s just six guys, right? That’s only two more than we have. What’s there to be afraid of? Starting today, we’re all going to train hard!"

’When she thought about the men at Jiang Wanwan’s side—how, aside from Wen Yanchen, all the others were supposed to have belonged to the original owner of this body, how they were the male leads of this world—Jiang Yunnuan’s confidence wavered.’

’But things had already come to this. She couldn’t just admit defeat.’