February, the weather was cold.

In the gloomy prison cell, the chill seemed to burrow into one’s bones like tiny needles.

Mu Yunyao leaned on the straw, her arm bleeding profusely, yet she didn’t seem to notice. A radiant smile lit up her beautiful face.

“Grandmother, you better think carefully about what you're going to say in the court later. Speak wrongly, you'll die alongside Master Zhang. Speak correctly and he dies alone. So simple, you can’t possibly make a wrong choice, right?”

A melodious voice as gentle as a nightingale resounded within the prison cell. Yet, as it landed on Li's ears, it felt like a demon's midnight shriek, “Mu Yunyao, you are the murderer. The county magistrate will surely uncover the truth; he won't let you off!”

“Oh, even the Heavens are blind at times, let alone humans. Otherwise, why didn’t they punish you earlier for all these years of your abuse towards my mother and me?"

“You…you are a devil, a debt-collecting devil! The magistrate will surely discover the truth, then off goes your head, chopped into pieces, and fed to the dogs!” Li, dragging her broken leg, scrambled into a corner as if to put more distance between her and Mu Yunyao.

Mu Yunyao chuckled softly. Slowly, she got up and approached Li, extending her porcelain white hands etched with the scars of violence. “Grandmother, people tend to believe what they see. It’s true, I did kill him, but who would believe that I could have done such a thing to a big, burly man?”

Li trembled uncontrollably, like a sieve, and with a shriek, pushed Mu Yunyao to the ground.

Just then, a jailer happened to pass by. Seeing this scene, he waved his executioner's club at Li, his eyes filled with disgust, “Still making trouble in jail, are you asking for a beating? Time for the trial of your murder case.”

This old hag, even in jail, was still picking on her own granddaughter; it served her right that her leg was broken!

Li glanced at Mu Yunyao, meeting her cold eyes sterner than an icy pond. Instantly, her intestines turned green from regret. If she had known about this girl's wickedness, she would have snuffed out her life a long time ago!

Mu Yunyao let out a cold snort. Rising on her feet, her thoughts started to rewind, reviewing the events that had unfolded.

Four days ago, when Mu Yunyao opened her eyes, her surroundings had her puzzled. The room was small, with a table and bench a short distance away. The rough porcelain tea set rested on the tabletop – it was clean and neat. A wooden closet stood at the corner, there was nothing else...

This was her room before she reached thirteen!

She lay on her bed, a beautiful woman was sitting beside her, shedding tears. The woman had hair as dark as the night, and her slender figure was barely hidden under a robe. This was her mother, Su Qing.

"Mother..."

"Yao'er, you're awake. Does the wound on the back of your head still hurt?" Su Qing quickly helped her up; tears fell even more intensely from her eyes. "It's all my fault. I failed to protect you. How could your grandmother be so ruthless with you?"

Only then did Mu Yunyao feel the pain in the back of her head. She reached out to touch it, and as the pain reached its peak, her eyes darkened, and everything came back to her. It was two months after her father's death. Grandmother had caused a ruckus in the house. She had given her two cents, only to be knocked out by a heavy blow.

"Mother, mother!" Mu Yunyao hugged Su Qing, and immense joy reverberated within her heart, making it impossible for her to hold back tears. She had returned. She had returned to a time before her nightmare had begun, when her mother was still alive. Everything could still be salvaged.

Su Qing was momentarily stunned, then held her daughter even tighter. She wept inconsolably, as though she had regained something precious that was lost. "Yao'er."

Mu Yunyao vigorously bit her tongue. The pain was the only thing that could make her believe she wasn't hallucinating. If this was a dream, she prayed to never wake up. She was willing to pay any price for this to become her reality!

Suddenly, a grating voice rang out:

"The audacity of you, Su Qing! You really have a heart as black as coal! I'm just reclaiming what rightfully belongs to my son, but you still found an excuse to make the villagers talk about me. In my son's lifetime, you couldn't give our Mu family a male heir, yet now that he's dead, you still want to take his belongings! You really are heartless and unscrupulous!"

At the sound of the voice, she felt a buzzing in her head, as though a thousand thunders were exploding. She trembled from head to toe out of anger. Li Shi, it was her grandmother Li Shi's voice! No matter how many years passed by, this voice still sounded like a curse to her, making her feel an uncontrollable shiver each time she heard it.