There’s a story behind every misdeed

"What did Qin Wang give to you, miss?"

'Xiao Xi' asked her master immediately after Bai Yu finished greeting her mother and went back to her own building.

The villainess did not reply as she glanced at her personal maid, before finally concluding to herself that this girl probably had the same personality as in the series, which was curious about everything, smart when she should be stupid, and stupid when she should be smart…but at least she could carry out any tasks given to her without a hitch, as she had shown the skill in that little scene at the banquet.

Bai Yu looked around, feeling satisfied. Her building, named 'Jiu Yu', is made of wood. Its size was only second to the one her father and mother resided in. The interior was decorated in color pink from the bed, the curtains to even flowers in vases. All of them, being among antique furniture, created an elegant and ladylike atmosphere.

Various kinds of flowers were planted outside. The most eye-catching one was the plum blossom tree that was in full bloom. Looking out from her bedroom window, she could clearly see its red petals on the white snow. Overall, this Jiu Yu building was the symbol that showed how much Bai Yu was the 'beloved' of this household.

"Miss, please take a bath first. I will prepare to serve your dinner." Bai Yu nodded.

Two maids came in to help her take off her long, complicated outfit and heavy hair accessories. She walked to the warm bath waiting for her without a trace of shyness of having her naked body in full view of others.

The petals of plum blossoms in the bath had a sweet fragrance. The maids' hands that massaged her body were so relaxing that it almost made her fall asleep…Oh well, let's think of it as going to a spa, then.

After finishing her bath, the villainess moved to sit in front of a bronze mirror. Bai Yu studied the face that was reflected within. Although the mirror was not as clear as the mirror in her world, the devastating beauty of this body was still apparent.

The woman in front of her had dark eyes like the night sky on a new moon. The phoenix eyes were the most prominent component on the face, with the slightly raised outer corner of the eyes added to her arrogant look. Her dark eyebrows and turned-up nose were indicative of her spoiledness. At least her dimples could soften her features with some cuteness.

This kind of wicked beauty…as expected of the number one villainess.

Though it was strange that this face bore many resemblances to Yoknapha's face, the white skin that was clear and smooth was so perfect that Yoknapha had to admit defeat to Bai Yu.

She's this beautiful, then why was the male lead not interested in her?

These eyes were alluring even to her as a woman, and with the luscious body that was hard to resist, it's no wonder why Bai Yu owned the title 'Meihua Lady'.

In this land of Da Yang, there were four great beauties of the capital, all four were given a moniker of four flowers that represent each season: 'Meihua Lady' of the wintertime beauty, 'Lanhua Lady' of the autumntime beauty, 'Lianhua Lady' of the summertime beauty, and 'Mudan Lady' of the springtime beauty.

The positions of being a great beauty were given only through winning a competition of 'magic' demonstrations, which was judged by the nobles all over the capital. Four competitions were held each year in each of the four seasons. The organizer of this competition was 'Magic Cultivation Institute', the institute that provided magical education and books for the aristocrats in this land.

The hierarchy in Da Yang was not only divided by blood, but also by 'magic' as well. The magic used here required a medium, and everyone had a different medium of their own. For example, Bai Yu used her magic through the sound of Qin.

The level of magic could be ordered from weakest to strongest by colors: purple, cyan, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, black, silver, and gold. Furthermore, there were divisions within each color as well. Bai Yu's magic was in the color light red, which was considered relatively high in the land where most people had a green or orange level, and only a few had red color magic.

But not everyone could wield magic. It was mostly limited to those who had noble blood, only in rare cases that magic would appear in a commoner, hence, it was not surprising for Bai Yu who was born from the senior chancellor and his first wife, who was from a family of royal protector, to have red color magic.

Because of this, 'magic' was the clearest way to determine a class distinction, and it was also the reason why the heroine, Bai Hua, was condemned as a useless woman among the nobles. Sons and daughters of the nobles, whether born from concubines or formally married wives would display their magic ability since birth. Everyone started from the color purple, while some had a higher level of color. Most of their magic display was in the form of sparkles of light, but Bai Hua did not show any of the signs when she was born.

The third daughter of the Bai family did not have magic, the sign of a noble, not even in the weakest shade of purple. Moreover, her mother was a lowly concubine. All of those factors combined made Bai Hua's sixteen years of life within the Bai mansion a misery. She was not only ignored by the people in the mansion, but she was also often bullied by Yue Mei.

Her father, Bai Han, did not make any clear effort to stop his first wife. Even when he did protect Bai Hua, he still did not directly oppose Yue Mei. In the end, the senior chancellor gave Yue Mei full rights in managing the household, according to the tradition of Da Yang.

Bai Yu who was born with dark purple magic was opposite to Bai Hua. She was able to attend the institute and achieved the red level magic. Her life during these seventeen years was full of praise and adoration, all thanks to her beautiful appearance and her capability in the four arts: music, painting, chess, and calligraphy, which were all renowned.

When she was thirteen, she won the title of Meihua Lady with her magic level of dark green color, and since then, no one could take that title from her.

After the new Bai Hua transmigrated here, Bai Yu's perfect life would slowly crumble. Because of her own stupidity and the intelligence of the new Bai Hua.

But who would lie down and accept that? Even though her memory had not fully returned, she still had the advantage of knowing the future. Bai Yu knew the events in this series from start to finish, though some details in the novel version were possibly lost in adaptation, it could still be counted as an advantage.

There is no cause for concern here. This Bai Yu would not start a war or try to destroy anyone's life. She only wished to live peacefully in this body and stay happy until the day she died.

"Yu-er"

A gentle voice from behind shook her from her thought. When she turned back, she saw a middle-aged woman who could retain her beauty surprisingly well. She knew this woman. She is 'Yue Mei', her own mother.

"Mother" Bai Yu stood up and bowed to greet her.

"I bring you your dinner. With those hands, it must be difficult to eat by yourself. Come, let mother help you." Yue Mei came straight to take her daughter's arm. Behind her was Xiao Xi who carried a tray of food that smelled delicious.

The mother and daughter walked together to a low table while Xiao Xi arranged each of the dishes. Bai Yu naturally seated herself on the chair beside her mother. Though in her past life, she was not familiar with being taken care of by her mother, Yue Mei's actions still made her feel a strange warmth in her heart. That must be the emotion of the original body.

"Here, let me get these for you." Bai Yu could only smile and accept the food that her mother offered to her. In her head, she thought back to the backstory of Yue Mei in the series.

Originally, 'Yue Mei' was the eldest daughter of the commander-general of Da Yang. Later, commander-general Yue accepted the position as the royal protector. Since Yue Mei was the eldest daughter born from the first wife and possessed red-level magic, she was spoiled by the people within the Yue household. Even when she declared that she loved the lieutenant-general, who now became the general of the west, no one tried to stop her.

However, the relationship between Yue Mei and the general of the west was destroyed by a royal decree that announced her marriage to the senior chancellor, 'Bai Han', due to his request to the Emperor. At that time, Bai Han had achieved in saving citizens from drought, so Yue Mei was forced to marry into Bai family despite her love for another man.

As for Bai Han, he fell in love with Yue Mei from the first time he saw her at the magic competition for the title of Meihua Lady, but even after marrying and living together, he still could not get her to love him. He felt guilty for taking her away from her lover, so from then he tried to respect her every decision. No matter what she wanted to do, he gave her full freedom. Even when he married a second Furen for political gain, she could easily accept it without showing any sadness. Her reaction finally made him give up on hoping to win her heart.

Until…

Yue Mei who was separated from her lover and family married into the Bai household with a personal maid. The bitterness of separation could not be compared to the heartbreak she felt when her maid became pregnant not long after she gave birth to Bai Yu. On top of that, Bai Han even took the maid as a concubine without even asking her opinion!

The name of that concubine was 'Li Rong'. She was Bai Hua's mother, and also a former personal maid to Yue Mei!

There was no question as to why Yue Mei would hate both Li Rong and Bai Hua. Bai Yu who witnessed her own mother living with hatred would naturally be influenced by her and grew up to hate the heroine as well.

In Bai Yu's former life, she had never played the role of a female lead. Not that she could not, but she had always been satisfied with villainess roles. Her dream since childhood was to be able to play as an antagonist so that she could be the person who understood those 'evil' people while the heroes, heroines, and audiences never tried to. They only condemned the actions, never to learn their reasons.

But Bai Yu knew that there's a story behind every misdeed. The stories of the villainess were overlooked so that the people could easily see her only as a wicked woman. Only because she was not the protagonist!!

"I heard that you told the Empress Dowager that you would handle Bai Hua's punishment yourself," Yue Mei began while brushing her daughter's hair after they had finished dinner. Bai Yu's hair was still damp, so her mother helped to slowly and carefully brush it.

"Yes, mother. I want to be the one who takes care of the matter."

"I wanted that wretched child to die by the royal decree," Yue Mei said. Her face was cold.

Oh, mom. Please, just let the heroine go.

"You shouldn't have done that. Her life is a disgrace to our name, and in the future, she may even become an obstacle for you."

Good guess, mom. "I have my own way of getting rid of her. Mother, please, rest assured."

"You're different today." Yue Mei's hands stopped. She looked at her daughter through the mirror.

Oh no. Did she do something wrong?

"Really? How am I different?"

Or did I accidentally use an unusual word? Weird dialect?

"You seem to have grown. Mature."

So up until now, Bai Yu had been a stupid girl?

"Is it a good thing?" Bai Yu smiled sweetly at the mirror, and to her mother reflected in it.

"Bai Hua exposing our plan shocked me. But I am relieved after seeing your quick-thinking. In the future when you marry into Qin Wang's palace, this mother will not have to worry anymore."

Bai Yu felt a wave of warmness in her heart.

"Come, let's get you to the bed." Her mother took her hand and led her to the bed surrounded by sweetly colored drapery. Yue Mei treated her with utmost care. Possibly because after her eldest brother went to war, there was only Bai Yu. She was the apple of her eye and the emotional support for Bai Furen who was a vicious woman in the eyes of others within the mansion.

"I also heard that Empress Dowager ordered Qin Wang to escort you home. How was it?" After sitting on the bed, Bai Furen held her daughter's hands and smilingly asked.

"I was a little tired, so I fell asleep while in the carriage. I didn't have an opportunity to talk to him at all." Bai Yu had no choice but to lie. She did not want her mother to know that that poker face protagonist caught her in her lie about the poison. It would also be cruel to lie that they had a smooth conversation and gave Yue Mei false hope since right now she did not want to become Qin Wangfei like the original body or her mother expected at all.

"Then you should rest up. You've used a lot of magic and even got hurt. I'm worried that you'll fell ill."

"Yes, mother."

Yue Mei stroked her daughter's soft hair before leaving the building with her maid Xiao Jun, a new personal maid she chose after the old one became a concubine to her husband. Not long after, Xiao Xi came in to prepare her bed and then left after putting out the candle.

The new Bai Yu was lying with her eyes open in the dark. When she finally had the opportunity to be alone, she realized that she was only in this body for one day. Why did it feel like such a long time had passed…?

In her former life, she was motherless. Her father had an affair when she was nine. Some days her mother had arguments with her father, but every day she cried. In the end, when she was starting junior high school, her mother committed suicide. At that time, her father let the mistress move in as soon as her mother's funeral was over. Even though the new wife was not cruel like evil stepmothers in soap operas, she still could not accept the existence of another woman, an outsider, living in the house.

She grew up with the money from her father but still lacking the love from a mother. After enrolling in university, she moved out to live with her maternal grandmother and started her acting jobs. That was how she supported herself until she graduated. Soon after, her father died from an accident. She did not shed a single tear at his funeral. Maybe it was not wrong to call her ungrateful.

When she knew that she was dead and ended up in this body, she did not have a person or any objects to worry about. It was unexpected that the situation that this body faced was similar to her own family, and although she did not hate anyone here, she could fully empathize with Bai Yu and Yue Mei's feelings.

Bai Hua, who was the heroine, came from the time where people have more equality. Despite her status as a concubine's daughter, she did not give up. She pushed herself, rose up against Yue Mei and Bai Yu's evilness, won, and attained her happy ending. This was all because she believed in human potential and equality.

If that heroine stated that humans all have equal rights, then the villainess also wanted to ask…What rights does a person have to steal other people's husband?

If your reasoning is the longstanding tradition of 'three wives, four concubines', then why don't you also accept the tradition of hierarchy, and know your place as a lowly concubine's child?

Bai Hua in the series went through so much until she finally became the Empress and reigned beside the love of her life, Emperor Ouyang Mingxian. What an impressive ending for the protagonists.

But villainess like her would not let anything be taken from her to pave their road to that ending. Even if it was hard to accept, even when she and the original body's feelings were still muddled, no matter how scared she felt, the truth remained that she was here, right now.

Bai Yu covered herself under the blanket, blocking out the cold from outside. Dark eyes that seemed to melt into darkness slowly close, as her tears soaked into the pillow.