Chapter One: Cloud and Frost

“Brother, mother isn’t moving at all. Is she dead? Boo hoo, I don’t want—don’t want mother to die. Er Ya wants mother…”

What’s that sound?

So noisy.

Yun Shuang frowned slightly, struggling to climb out of the deep darkness. As her eyes first fluttered open, the dazzling morning sunlight stabbed at them, making her wince. Instinctively, she turned her head, closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them again. At last, Yun Shuang could see everything before her.

In the shabby, battered house, the walls were mottled and worn. Aside from a crooked table and chairs, there was not a single proper piece of furniture. By the wall, a few bamboo baskets lay scattered, misshapen and cracked, and—

Two tiny children clinging tightly to each other beside the baskets.

Skinny and filthy, they looked like two little mud monkeys just rolled from the puddles, their eyes wide in terror as they stared at her, as though witnessing a zombie leap from its coffin in broad daylight.

No, she ought to be the one shocked!

Even Yun Shuang, renowned as the Iron-Blooded Policewoman, was stunned for quite a while. She blinked her eyes several times, thinking she must be hallucinating.

Yet, even after the third time she opened her eyes, nothing had changed.

The little girl’s face lit up as if she wished to rush over, but the boy tugged her back, his expression wary and vigilant.

She remembered, only moments ago she was chasing a criminal. Who could have guessed the scoundrel had somehow acquired a gun? As she turned away, he fired, and the bullet struck her right in the chest.

Shouldn’t she be in a hospital now? How could she be here?

Her frown deepened. She tried to sit up, only to realize her body was so weak that even the slightest movement was difficult. Panic and confusion rose within her, and a dizzy spell swept over her. She fainted once again.

This time, she dreamed a long, long dream.

In the dream, she was not the modern-day Yun Shuang, but a young woman of the Great Qi, daughter of a minor official, also named Yun Shuang. Her father was a seventh-ranked county magistrate; her mother hailed from a family of scholars, gentle and refined in temperament. She had a diligent and kind elder brother. Her background surpassed seventy percent of the women in ancient times.

Yet, when Yun Shuang in the dream reached marriageable age, she was bewitched by the honeyed words of a poor scholar. No matter how her family warned that he was vain and insincere, she refused to listen, determined to be with him, and eventually, under his urging, she eloped.

She ignored the elders' advice, and soon paid the price. The scholar, just as her parents had said, was full of cunning schemes. As they fled to the border of Great Qi, he happened to rescue a wealthy young lady, who fell in love with him at first sight. He then tried to abandon Yun Shuang and pursue the heiress.

But Yun Shuang was not so easily bullied. She quickly saw through his intentions, grew furious, and threatened that if he truly left her, she would stand before the heiress’s house and tell every passerby about his heartless betrayal.

That night, she fell into a deep, unnatural sleep. When she awoke the next day, she found herself disheveled by a cave, with the scholar standing over her, accusing her of being promiscuous and unfaithful, claiming she had lost her virtue with another man.

He insisted that her alleged lover was still in the cave, and that he had found Yun Shuang missing that morning, searched anxiously, only to witness such a disgraceful scene. If she denied it, he would drag her into the cave for a confrontation.

Yun Shuang was terrified, weeping and begging him not to spread the story. She remembered nothing of the night before… The scholar, certain she would no longer dare to hinder his prospects, took advantage of her confusion to steal most of her valuables and chased after the wealthy heiress.

Just as he predicted, Yun Shuang had neither the energy nor courage to seek justice. Though she was not foolish and soon suspected the scholar’s trickery, the loss of her virtue was real. She recalled vague impressions from that night—nothing clear—but remembered that, as the scholar pulled her out of the cave, a hand reached for her, grasping only the jade pendant at her waist.

Afterwards, the pendant was gone, the one her mother had commissioned at her birth, engraved with lifelike frost flowers to match her name. She’d carried it all her life and was certain it wasn’t among the items stolen by that scoundrel.

With things as they were, she couldn’t return home, nor did she have the means to do so.

She contemplated ending her life, but could not resign herself to such a fate. Why should the villain prosper while she died alone in misery?

Fueled by this indignation, she wandered to a nearby village and settled there.

Not long after, she discovered something terrifying—she was pregnant.

She managed to give birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, but years of hardship and sorrow left her body frail. The force that had kept her going was spent. Day after day, she wept in despair. It was a miracle the children survived, thanks in large part to the help of the villagers.

As for Yun Shuang, enduring so many years was a miracle in itself. Last night, her weakened body finally gave out, and now the present Yun Shuang had entered it.

When Yun Shuang awoke again, she stared at the roof in a daze.

Though the dream belonged to the Yun Shuang of Great Qi, it felt incredibly real. Even the pain, despair, and regret of those years resonated in her heart, as if she herself had once lived in Great Qi, experiencing that life.

She shared both name and surname, and their habits and preferences were eerily similar. Perhaps, Yun Shuang truly was her former self, and she had come here to make amends for past regrets.

“Mother…”

A timid little voice sounded at her side.

Yun Shuang turned her head to see a small face peeking out from behind the door—her daughter, Er Ya.

Perhaps she was gradually adapting to this body; Yun Shuang managed, with some effort, to sit up and smiled at her. “Er Ya.”

After the original owner gave birth, she had no heart to give the children proper names. The villagers called the girl Er Ya, and the boy, even more absurdly, Gou Dan—Dog Egg.

Yun Shuang couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. She’d have to find time to give them decent names.

Er Ya was stunned, her round eyes wide with surprise.