Xiang Ling, the precious blue star, cultivated for ten thousand years and finally faced her heavenly tribulation to ascend to the position of an Immortal. Unfortunately, her tribulation occurred the very night when the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Realm was undergoing Nirvana. While Xiang Ling passed her tribulation, the heavenly thunder disturbed Nirvana, and the Crown Prince failed to ascend. In her rage, the Heavenly Empress punished Xiang Ling and sent her to the Mortal Realm to face life tribulation. When Xiang Ling opened her eyes in the Mortal Realm, she found herself inside the body of an eighteen-year-old girl who shared the same name as hers. It didn't take long for Xiang Ling to realize just how harsh her punishment was. The original owner of the body was the only daughter of the County Magistrate of Dongzhi Province and was famous throughout the province for her shameless, unfilial, and overbearing attitude. She was known to create trouble for her parents and siblings. She was famous for bullying the young ladies and masters of other families. She tortured the servants. She regularly visited brothels, pawn shops, and other places where a girl should never go. But if all these weren't already enough, she was also famous for bullying her husbands. Right! Xiang Ling was married and not only to one man but to five men in total. Now, it was not only the entire province and her family that hated her, even her husbands despised her and wanted to get rid of her. Could Xiang Ling possibly survive in the Mortal Realm when every other person seemed to hate her to the core? * * * Warning: Mature content in the story! This is a Reverse Harem novel. ----- This story is part of the WSA 2024 contest, so please show your support for the story and the author! ----- For more updates about the story, follow me on Instagram: @nightsummer20 ******* Disclaimer: The book cover is mine.
Xiang Ling followed the refugees and soon found herself at the village's square where a stall was opened to distribute food and water to the refugees.
The sun had already set and the villagers were lighting up the lanterns before it got too dark. Other than the voices of the people gathered there, the air was silent.
Xiang Ling closed her eyes and focused on the faint sliver of divine energy that she had been sensing ever since she stepped inside the Chen Manor. It didn't take long before she found the location of the source of that divine energy.
"Master, he's here. The Crown Prince is here!"
Little Pink shouted from inside her space the very moment she realized that the Crown Prince of the Heaven Realm was also present at the village's square.
Her eyes quickly searched the crowd, taking in every single person present there. She scanned through the mass of refugees before moving forward, only for her powers to show that all these people were mortals.
"You are already here." The familiar voice of Wei Guang pulled her attention to him as he walked toward her and stopped right next to her. "You already found him."
"Huh?" She looked at him in confusion and Wei Guang stared back as if he was surprised by her reaction. Barely a second later, realization dawned over him and his facial features became soft as he spoke while signaling toward a certain direction with his eyes. "I'm talking about Li Xian. I think you didn't recognize him because you lost your memories. He's here."
Xiang Ling followed the line of his sight and her eyes fell on the man who just stepped out of a shop with a huge pot in his hands. As she took in his appearance and the aura surrounding him, she didn't need anyone to tell her who exactly was he.
He was adorned in long white robes that matched perfectly with his silky white hair. His sapphire blue eyes glowed brightly as he handed out bowls of porridge to the refugees. Despite being covered in dirt and looking slightly disheveled, there was no hiding his ethereal beauty. He could easily give all four of her husbands a run for their money when it came to his good looks.
"Master-"
"I know."
She cut off Little Pink before it could finish what it was about to say. She knew exactly who the man in white was. His divine aura was enough to announce his identity to anyone who was not a mortal and could sense his aura. He was none other than the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Realm.
"You know?" Wei Guang asked in confusion as he looked at her.
Realizing that she just spoke out loudly to silence Little Pink, Xiang Ling quickly shook her head and explained. "I mean... I know that he's here. I asked the villagers. But I couldn't have recognized him without your help."
She couldn't force even a little smile on her lips, so she hurriedly looked away from him and turned her attention toward the Crown Prince only to find him looking right back at her.
"Brother Xian." Wen ZheYuan's familiar voice disrupted their attention and Xiang Ling watched as her fifth husband hurried over to the Crown Prince and hugged him tightly as if meeting an old friend after a long time.
"Brother Xian?"
The confusion turned into realization and Xiang Ling felt the entire world coming to a standstill. All this time, she was so focused on seeing the man in white as the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Realm that she completely ignored the fact that he was also her husband, Ming Li Xian.
Just what kind of terrible luck she had? How come the Crown Prince turned out to be her husband? Was fate playing tricks with her?
Xiang Ling didn't even realize that her body was losing its control and by the time she did, darkness was already taking over her and she found herself falling. She expected to hit the hard ground but through the fog that was clouding her senses, she felt something warm enveloping her before everything went completely dark and silent.
* * *
"What is she playing at now?" A very familiar voice was asking in a tone of distrust.
"She's indeed unconscious, Brother Cheng." Another familiar voice spoke that was filled with sweetness. It was so melodic that Xiang Ling wanted to fall asleep again.
"Did she really lose her memories?" The voice asking this question didn't sound familiar to her ears at all and it finally made her struggle to get out of the harsh clutches of the darkness that was stopping her from waking up.
She heard something scoffing and another person letting out a sigh before another familiar voice spoke. "Xin Cheng doesn't believe so but from what I have seen in these three days, she doesn't behave like the past her at all. It's almost like she is a completely different person. Just look at how simple but elegant she is looking right now, it's nothing like what we used to see in the past."
A warm feeling filled Xiang Ling's heart as she heard the man defending her. So far, he had been the only one showing her some kindness.
"It's too early to believe her. Just like you said, it's been only three days so far." Xin Cheng didn't hold back from pointing out the obvious.
"I agree. It's indeed too early but... I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. If she has-"
Xiang Ling decided to finally wake up and put an end to the men's conversation about her. The moment she made some movements, the area became dead silent.
Her eyes flew open and she moved her body, only to realize that she was feeling sore at certain points because of how she had been sleeping for so long. Instead of a room, she found herself sitting around a stone table in the garden while the men were seated around a wooden table placed not too far away from her.
How nice of them to dump her in the garden on a stone table? They really knew how to be gentle!
Let's pretend to be surprised that the Crown Prince turned out as one of her husbands. Alright??