The Rebirth of Han Yuxi

Chapter 1 — Bodily Death (1)

The walls of the capital city were tall and lofty, akin to giants as they towered over the land before them, and Yuxi’s face brimmed with pleasant surprise as she took in the spectacle.
After escaping from the village, she had walked for half a month.
The days of starvation and misery were finally coming to an end; she was home.

When the rampart guard saw her desperately pounding on the gates, he shouted angrily, “If you don’t beat it right now, don’t blame me for not going easy on you!” A month ago, the city gates had closed.
Without proper documentation, no one was allowed to leave nor enter.

Yuxi raised her head and answered loudly, “I’m not a refugee, I’m a Miss of the House of Duke Han! I implore you, please open the city gates and let me in!”

The rampart guard was amused—at this time of the year, in order to scrape by, people were capable of coming up with all sorts of lies.
“Then why don’t you go ahead and call the Empress your sister?” He wasn’t exactly being sarcastic, as the current Empress really was from the House of Duke Han, so this woman claiming herself as a Miss of the House was the same as claiming that she was one of the Empress’s sisters.

Yuxi immediately exclaimed, “The Empress is indeed my elder sister.” They were half-sisters, to be precise.

Laughter rang out from the top of the city walls.
The guard was no longer in the mood to continue humoring her—force and intimidation were the most effective in dealing with people like her.
He drew back a bow and arrow, prepared to shoot the woman standing below the city walls but was held back by another guard.

This guard sported a mustache on his face, and he spoke coldly, “Lower your bow.
Don’t you feel ashamed, raising your hand against a defenseless woman like that?” What kind of honest hero would only push around the women and children but not lay a finger on the roving bandits?

The young guard lowered his bow, not daring to point it at Yuxi again.
The mustached man called out to Han Yuxi, “If you want to live, go to the west.
There are refugee camps in the west.” He had given this woman a way out.

The sky gradually darkened.
The cold wind battered her, and her entire body launched into a fit of shivers.
She had no choice but to turn around and use her walking stick to support herself as she began to trudge in the direction of the west.

Too many had fallen victim to the natural disaster.
The Imperial Court was afraid that if they didn’t make appropriate arrangements, the refugees would go on a rampage, so an area of the west had been set aside for them.

The refugees were provided with two bowls of porridge every day, allowing them to preserve their lives so they wouldn’t revolt.
They had built quite a few wooden residences, but these sturdy, comfortable dwellings were not for Yuxi.

One of the married women who resided within the western refugee camp took her to a thatched hut that was constructed from twigs and leaves.
“The previous occupants of this thatched hut died just this morning, so there happens to be space available.
You can live here!”

Yuxi’s pallid face lost even more color, and her lips trembled for a while before she managed to squeeze out two words; “Thank you.”

The married woman glanced at Yuxi —who carried herself as a noble lady would— and wondered how she fell into such a wretched state, but the thought quickly dispersed.
She could barely take care of herself—where would she find the time to worry about the woman in front of her? The married woman warned expressionlessly, “Don’t go out at night.
It’s dangerous.”

During the past half month, Yuxi had suffered from quite a few shocks.
If she hadn’t dirtied her face and smeared a foul-smelling herb onto her body, she wouldn’t have been able to safely reach the city walls.

Yuxi squeezed her way into the thatched hut, and a peculiar smell wafted into her nose.
Coupled with the stench on her body, the combination was truly nauseating.
She clenched her teeth and endured it—having a thatched hut to stay in for the night was already a blessing.
At least, it could block out the wind.

The day’s journey had thoroughly exhausted her.
She laid down and soon fell asleep, but hunger woke her up in the middle of the night.
She dared not go out, so she clutched her stomach and held on till daybreak.

Since the refugee camp gave out two servings of porridge each day, she had t