Chapter 1 Vigorous in Old Age
The moon hung among the willow branches.
In an old wooden building within Great Marsh Prefecture, Xia Kingdom, Lin Xuankong, who was lying sideways on a wooden bed, suddenly arched his body and began to cough violently. "COUGH COUGH COUGH!" After more than ten consecutive coughs, he barely managed to catch his breath.
As an online novel writer, I finally wrote a novel averaging one hundred thousand subscriptions. I was so excited that I posted ten Chapters overnight. Was that wrong? he thought. But how did I end up transmigrating to an ignorant and backward feudal era the moment I closed and opened my eyes? Gravely ill, too, with only a few days left to live!
The thought had barely formed when the early spring chill assailed him. His throat itched, and another fit of violent coughing seized him. Seeing that sleep was impossible, Lin Xuankong struggled to sit up, draping some clothes over himself as he perched on the edge of the bed.
It had been three days since he transmigrated, and he had already absorbed some of his predecessor’s memories. The man had shared his name, Lin Xuankong, had lost all his relatives, and made a living selling flatcakes. His predecessor’s constitution had been decent enough, but unfortunately, after catching a severe cold, his health had deteriorated daily. Then, after indulging in a few too many cups of wine, he had simply died.
Sighing, Lin Xuankong looked at the wooden cabinet by the bed. A large, red papercut character for ’double happiness’ was pasted on it. The vibrant red paper, stuck to the old, paint-chipped cabinet, looked strikingly out of place.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from outside the wooden house. Soon, a young woman dressed in green entered, carrying a bowl of medicinal soup. The dim light of the oil lamp illuminated her. She was about sixteen, with a tall, curvaceous figure and a flawlessly beautiful face.
The woman glanced at him. "Drink this medicine. Your cough will ease after you take it."
Lin Xuankong was somewhat surprised. "There’s only enough money left at home to buy sorghum flour. Where did the silver coins for medicine come from?"
The woman frowned. "I worked as a maid in the Huang Family for over ten years and secretly saved some broken silver for my dowry."
Hearing this, Lin Xuankong fell silent. This woman was Lii Xiaolan. She had originally been the personal maid to the eldest young miss of the Huang Family in West City. As she matured, her extraordinary beauty caught the eye of Master Huang, who intended to make her his concubine. However, Lady Huang, who came from a powerful background and was fiercely jealous, vehemently opposed the idea. Master Huang, left with no choice, had to obey his wife and drive Lii Xiaolan out of the Huang Mansion. Unexpectedly, the malicious mistress, still not satisfied, had then forced Lii Xiaolan to marry his destitute, fifty-nine-year-old predecessor.
The wedding had taken place three days ago. His predecessor had been overjoyed, as if Sister Lii had fallen from the heavens. On the wedding day, he had spent all his savings for his coffin to treat the neighbors to a grand feast. Who would have thought that the old man, still recovering from his severe cold and having drunk too much, would die after the guests left, before even reaching the bridal chamber? And that was when Lin Xuankong had transmigrated.