When Jade became conscious again, she realized her soul was trapped inside a stranger's body.
Once her soul completely merged with the body, Jade sorted through the original owner's memories and learned that the person also had the last name Gu. But the name itself...
Aries! Gu Aries!
That name was just… hard to accept.
And now, she was no longer in the cultivation world she came from. Her soul had been reborn in a matriarchal world where women ruled and men were subordinate.
In this world, women were in charge outside, while men stayed home. Not only were appearances different, but even giving birth was something men did here.
The body she now occupied had belonged to someone who indulged in eating, drinking, gambling, and messing around. Basically, a total scoundrel.
Back when her mother was alive, she had kept Aries somewhat under control. But since she died ten years ago, Mawen had spoiled her completely, giving her anything she wanted. No one could stop her anymore.
Aries had always been lazy and sly. With the bad influences from the town's troublemakers, she had gotten even worse over the years.
The reason Jade was able to take over this body was because Aries had gone gambling again. After losing, she didn't have money to pay, and the thugs at the gambling house beat her up.
Maybe they hit too hard, or maybe the body was already too weak, but after being carried home, she died two days later.
Right after Jade entered the body, she couldn't move but could hear everything around her.
So when Gujo talked about marrying off someone to "bring joy" and lift the bad luck, she heard it all.
Jade couldn't believe it—after over ten thousand years in the cultivation world without finding a single companion, she had just arrived here and was already being arranged to marry a man.
In her past life, she was a solitary cultivator who had to fight for every resource. All she focused on was becoming stronger, ascending, and gaining immortality. She never had time or energy for love.
Besides, with her dominant personality, she wasn't the type to act meek or gentle. That made it even harder to find a partner.
So she lived alone in the cultivation world for over 13,600 years.
Now she was thinking, maybe this matriarchal world suited her better. Why else would her soul end up here right after she was struck down by the 81st lightning tribulation?
Maybe the heavens thought her past life was too dull, so they sent her to this new world to actually enjoy life.
Though this world had spiritual energy too, it was so thin that cultivating and ascending would be impossible.
Since she missed out on so many things in her past life, Jade decided that in this life, without the pressure of chasing immortality, she would just enjoy everything she'd never had before—freely and boldly.
That evening, Mawen came home and sat next to Jade's bed, mumbling a long stream of complaints.
"Aries, I asked around. That Sky family is really poor—not good enough for our family! And that Sky guy? He's not even good-looking. He's totally unworthy of you."
"So I've decided. We're not marrying him in as a husband. Someone like him—ugly and poor—should feel lucky to even be a concubine."
"Don't worry, I found out that marrying for good luck or taking a concubine works the same way. No conflict."
After a pause, Mawen continued, getting angrier, "He's only lucky we agreed because he's healthy enough to work. Otherwise, he wouldn't even qualify to be a concubine. Once he gets here, he better serve you and me well."
"He'll be working the fields too. No way are we letting them scam us out of three taels of silver."
"Three taels! The Sky family must be heartless. That ugly guy nobody wants actually cost me three taels?"
"When he arrives, he better earn every bit of it back! We're not letting them get away with this!"
As Jade lay there unable to move, her opinion of this new father figure dropped even lower. Sure, he cared about his daughter, but he was also mean, lazy, sneaky, and full of bad habits. Loud, messy, and stingy too.
With a dad like this, there were bound to be even more troubles ahead.
Even though Mawen wasn't really her father, Jade had taken over Aries' body. So she felt responsible and decided not to just ignore him.
She would treat it as a kind of repayment for borrowing Aries' body.
Listening to Mawen rant, Jade understood clearly—he didn't really look down on Sky. He just didn't want to pay and expected the guy to show up and be a free servant.
He never stopped to think—who would want to join a family like theirs? A leaky, rundown house. A daughter who drank, gambled, and caused trouble. A father who was useless and deep in debt.
Honestly, they were lucky anyone was even willing to marry in.
As the saying goes, maybe he should look at himself in the mirror.
And Jade also remembered—Gujo had given him five taels to get a husband for Aries. Yet he only spent three to bring home a concubine. With the way he obsessed over money, there was probably more to the story than he let on.
But since Jade couldn't move or speak yet, she could only wait and watch for now.
The next day, Mawen stayed home.
After checking on Jade in the morning, he moved a decent-looking chair into the yard and sat there waiting.
Waiting for what? For Sky to come over on his own, of course, so he could act like a big-deal father-in-law.
Just a concubine—no way was he going to send a carriage to pick him up!
Around noon, the Gu family gained a new member.
Sky—full name Sky Ning—arrived on foot, carrying a small bundle with two sets of worn clothes.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Mawen's loud voice came crashing down on him like thunder.
"You little tramp! What time do you think it is? Did your Sky family take my silver and plan to run off with it?"
Sky froze at the shout. He'd known this new father-in-law wouldn't be easy, and he'd prepared himself for a tough time. But this sudden scolding and accusation left him stunned.
Seeing him stand there silently, not even knowing what to say, made Mawen even angrier.
Not only was he poor and ugly, but now he was acting like a clueless fool.
Jade, still lying in bed, hadn't even gotten a proper look at her new concubine, and already Mawen had given him such a nasty welcome. She was definitely not happy about that.