Chapter 2 II. Her Revival

When Hu Jia opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by an abundance of people staring at her with worried eyes. She groaned and tried to get up, but a woman that seemed to be in her mid-thirties quickly stopped her and mumbled soothing words.

Hu Jia averted her gaze and glanced at her smooth, flawless hands and almost gasped. She remembered the events that had happened beforehand in the Underworld and sighed. It seemed like she really had transmigrated into the body of Hong Tingxing... According to the memories of the original, the worried woman was her mother, Wen Bingbing, the first wife of the Hong Manor.

Hong Yuanhun, her father, had three concubines and two wives. Her mother, the first wife, had given birth to the fourth and youngest xiaojie of the Hong Manor, Hong Tingxing, but also had given birth to the di, or the eldest son, of the manor named Hong Bingjia. Thanks to giving birth to a handsome and powerful son, as well as Wen Bingbing's family being very influential in the empire, the lady had managed to keep her position as the first wife without worries. But that didn't mean there wasn't anyone vying for the position... which led Hu Jia to stare at the first concubine of the Hong Manor, Fan Qiuji.

Born from a scholarly family, the woman held an aura of daintiness and was the prime example of a black-hearted lotus flower. She had given birth to two daughters, the first and second daughters of Hong Manor, Hong Yueji and Hong Zhizi, who were just as black-hearted as their mother. Without a son to keep her status, Hong Qiuji had grown very bitter and power hungry as she knew her position wasn't as stable as the first wife, Hong Tingxing's mother.

Which led to plenty of scheming and plotting against Wen Bingbing and her children in an attempt to get rid of them. Of course, she also schemed against the second wife, Shu Xia, but not as much as she did to the first wife due to the fact that the second wife had not given birth to a son, only given birth to the bland third Miss of the manor, Hong Qiji.

But of course, she had a helpful sidekick to keep things in order when she wasn't there. That sidekick being the second concubine, Zhuo Tianshi. Despite being somewhat allies, both concubines still had some hostility in the air as the second concubine had given birth to the second son in the manor, Hong Ruizi.

And finally—Hu Jia turned her eyes to the young woman in the corner, noticing her eyes narrowing in annoyance—the third concubine, Ruo Piaoliang. Just as her name suggested, she was a pretty little thing that had sneaked her way into Hong Yuanhun's bed, managing to escape life at a brothel to become the General's third concubine. Unfortunately, she had been at Hong Manor for approximately a year now, but she had still not given birth to any children, which crossed her off of the first concubine's blacklist.

Hu Jia's eyes flickered with pity. According to the memories of Hong Tingxing, the third concubine did become pregnant, with a son even, but she had been poisoned in a way to make it look like a miscarriage. Hong Tingxing had found out when she saw the first concubine speaking with the physician in charge of treating the third concubine. And since miscarriage meant a bad omen in this world, the woman had been banished to become a prostitute on the streets.

"Are you alright, Xing'er?" Wen Bingbing asked as she grasped her daughter's hand in her own, worry pooling from her gaze. Hu Jia nodded and the people around her smiled in relief, but Hu Jia mentally scoffed at their hypocrisy. She turned her attention to Wen Bingbing and asked the same way the previous Hong Tingxing would ask, "Mother, what happened?"

Wen Bingbing smiled affectionately and said, "Xing'er, we were at the emperor's banquet where you suddenly fainted."

Hu Jia smiled gratefully as she had obtained the information she needed. In the original's memory, her family had gone to the emperor's banquet when she was only thirteen years old. There, she met the crown prince who was sixteen, who thought of her as an annoying bug as compared to her older sister, the virtuous Hong Yueji. Even though he hadn't liked Hong Tingxing, he knew he had to marry her as she had the most power, being the legitimate daughter of the first wife and having powerful maternal grandparents to back her up.

Despite pretending to enjoy Hong Tingxing's company, the man had kept an affair with her much more mature sister, Hong Yueji, for four years until Hong Tingxing tragically found out. But by that point, it had been too late as the first concubine and her daughters had dug a trap so large, it had swallowed Hong Tingxing, her mother and her brother, leaving no way out. The innocent Hong Tingxing had watched her sisters take away everything from her, including her fiancé.

Never again!

The two words were engraved deeply in Hu Jia's heart as she gripped her mother's hands, making the woman flinch in surprise. Wen Bingbing smiled, her face flustered, "Xing'er, when did you become so strong?"

Huh? Langzhi, does that mean we have kept our cultivation from the previous world?

The little spider sighed, not knowing how to explain to his mistress without her getting angry or frustrated. Well... Yes and no.

Explain.

One word from Hu Jia and Langzhi continued, You still have your old cultivation—an increased version of it, actually—but, you're forbidden to use it here.

Hu Jia's eyes widened in shock and her face paled. Wen Bingbing opened her mouth to usher the physician, but Hu Jia stopped her. "Mother, can I please have some time to rest?"

Wen Bingbing realized her daughter needed some time alone, so she quickly dragged everyone in the room out, except for two men. The first one Hu Jia recognized from Hong Tingxing's memories as Hong Yuanhun, her father. And according to the memories, Hong Tingxing hadn't been his favorite child, but he still doted on her with fatherly affection. He was a good father that loved all his children, regardless of gender. Although he still preferred his eldest son, the other man in the room, Hong Bingjia since he had a knack for military like the General himself.

Hu Jia turned her attention to her so-called father and his dark eyes glimmered with worry. "Xing'er, are you alright?" He repeated the same question as her so-called mother, Wen Bingbing, but with just as much worry. Hu Jia nodded her head and reassured, "Many thanks for father's concern; Tingxing is fine."

"Little sister, don't worry the family like that ever again!" Her older brother, Hong Bingjia, added, his handsome face twisted into anxiety. His fretting made Hu Jia smile as she hadn't had any siblings before, and he seemed genuinely worried. Judging his personality from Hong Tingxing's memories, he was a decent man that always pampered his younger sister and protected her. Unfortunately, he had been caught in the ploy of the first concubine, ruining his reputation and future—leading to his death.

"Tingxing is sorry for causing everyone to worry. Tingxing certainly feels better with everyone's concern. Many thanks to father and older brother for the concern." Both men nodded gruffly and prepared to leave. Before Hong Yuanhun left, he asked, "What do you think about the crown prince?"

Hu Jia narrowed her eyes and mumbled, "Tingxing had a lot of fun with the crown prince! There were a few pretty jiejies that the crown prince seemed especially friendly to! Tingxing thinks the crown prince is a benevolent prince who is nice to all the people, including the pretty servants..." Her meaning was clear—an innocent way of saying the prince was frivolous. Even when polygamy was acceptable in this world, people still loathed the type that would rather fool around than do their duties seriously. Take the General for example; he has quite a few number of women, but he still manages to keep a balance between private life and his duty in the military.

Hong Yuanhun's wrinkled eyes narrowed and he nodded to himself, as though he had reached a conclusion. Seemed like the crown prince hadn't been a good choice to invest in... Luckily his most valuable first-wife-born daughter hadn't married anyone wasteful for the Hong family's growth nor had he brought up the idea of engagement.

Afterwards, Hong Yuanhun and Hong Bingjia nagged at her to take care of her body and left, leaving Hu Jia alone with Langzhi.

Langzhi, I want you to explain what you meant earlier.

The little wolf spider jumped out of her dimensional space and crawled up on her arm. He then proceeded to pull out a tiny document and started reading it when composure. Hu Jia rolled her eyes at his antics and began listening to what he was saying.

Mistress, although you are now very advanced in your cultivation, very close to Fu Xueguang, you cannot use your powers in this world!

Hu Jia crossed her arms and gave her pet a perplexed look. Why?

One of Langzhi's legs pointed to her wrist, at her seventh pericardium. You received an abundance of powers from someone I cannot detect, but combined with your cultivation, your powers are sufficient enough to almost rival Fu Xueguang. Unfortunately... Langzhi paused to take a deep breath, his eyes simultaneously darting in Hu Jia's direction, according to the laws of nature, it is forbidden to use foreign powers in a new world as the higher ups believe for it to be considered 'cheating' as no other in the world has similar powers...

Hu Jia's face paled as she realized what her pet meant: she had to start her cultivation all the way from the beginning even when she had enough powers. What happens if I do use my powers?

Unless it's an emergency, you will most likely suffer from Heaven's Retributional Thunder, Langzhi spoke, feeling his mistress' anger radiating from her newly-acquired body.

So this means... I will start cultivating this world's methods and 'gain' unnecessary power...

Langzhi shook his head, What might seem like unnecessary power will actually help you defeat Fu Xueguang.

Hu Jia sighed. It seemed like she had no choice but cultivate this world's methods, no matter how long or difficult the task is.

Langzhi, noticing his mistress' distress, quickly reassured, Mistress does not need to worry. What may take others a few months will at most take you a week to master. This special cheat is the higher ups' way of apologizing.

Hu Jia was about to reply but suddenly felt like she was being watched, so she grabbed a hairpin from her hair and threw it fiercely in the direction of the stalker...