It wasn't until the voice in her head faded that Quynh began to have a definite sense of her new identity, and of the strange world around her.
This girl was also named Do Thu Quynh, from Thuong village, Son Tay prefecture.
Her family owned over thirty acres of good rice fields. In the household were her paternal grandparents, her birth father and stepmother, along with an uncle and aunt.
Of her generation, she had an older brother, several younger cousins, a younger half-brother born to her stepmother, and the parasite Do Thuy Van, whom the stepmother had brought with her.
Although the household was large, her family was considered well-off in the village. They cultivated fifteen acres of their own fields and leased out the remaining twenty.
Though Quynh was not a young lady from a wealthy family, she had a very good birth mother.
Before her death, her mother had arranged a good marriage for her, then only five years old, to the son of the village chief. Because of this, her stepmother and stepsister treated her very well on the surface.
Her paternal grandmother, though not the kindest of people, also doted on her because she was the eldest granddaughter and had a good marriage prospect.
The result of that doting was turning Quynh into a genuine fool!
Do Thuy Van was a year younger than her, not as beautiful, but full of schemes and tricks.
It was said that Quynh's stepmother had also used seductive means to charm her father, successfully getting pregnant before marrying him!
How could a naive girl compete with a cunning schemer?
The result was that the naive girl became a sacrifice – her fiancé was seduced by another, and her own life came to an end!
Quynh was dazed for a long time. Knowing that no matter how much she wished it, she could never return, she finally had to accept her fate.
Sitting in the corner, Quynh gradually calmed down. After cursing the original owner of the body for a while, she lamented the rules of this world.
This damned world, due to constant warfare and national instability, had extremely strict control over people's movements.
Anyone leaving the prefecture, whether passing through a city gate or checking into an inn, had to present a personal identification card. If caught by the authorities without one, they would be treated as spies or vagrants.
Men who were caught would be exiled to the frontier as soldiers; women would also be sent to the frontier to serve as prostitutes in the military barracks.
A person who lost their identification card could have family members, the village chief, and more than ten witnesses testify for them to get a new one made at the local government office.
But Quynh knew she could never return to the village.
Because this world was very harsh towards women. Although it wasn't as restrictive as feudal China where women were forbidden from showing their faces, there was still a strong prejudice regarding chastity.
A woman whose reputation was ruined, if not protected by her clan, would have her head shaved and covered in lime paste, her name struck from the family register, and in more severe cases, be sent to the military barracks as a prostitute!
With Do Thuy Van's wickedness, if she returned like this, she feared that if she wasn't subjected to the head-shaving, she'd be sent to the military camps as a prostitute!
This realization dealt a fatal blow to Quynh. Even if this brute let her go, where could she possibly go?
After calming down and thinking it through, Quynh understood. To survive safely in this world, the only plan was to get this brute to make an identity card for her. That was her only glimmer of hope!
That's right!
Quynh praised herself. The only way was to keep this brute by her side for now, let him figure out a way to get her a new identity card, and then she would plan her next move.
Quynh knew this brute wasn't easy to talk to. If she directly told him she wanted him to make her an ID card, he would suspect she wanted to run away.
In truth, Quynh no longer planned to run. In this backward era, penniless and without identification, where could she possibly run?
Besides, when it came to dealing with a man, Quynh was still capable!
The corner of her mouth lifted into an unconscious smirk.
Didn't this brute just want a wife?
With his disposition, as long as it was a woman, he would be satisfied!
Thinking of his despicable actions last night, Quynh's blood boiled with anger again.
There would come a day when she would buy him three hens and grind that damned thing of his into a needle to teach him a lesson!
Quynh had an incredibly resilient personality. She knew that since she hadn't died, she had to live well!
Living a life that was worse than death had never been her style.
Not wanting to be pinned down and tormented by this brute for the rest of her life, she had to come up with a foolproof plan.
Unconsciously, Quynh sank into deep thought, until Dai entered once again. She immediately rolled over to sit up, pulled her clothes tightly around herself, and huddled in the corner of the bed.
The wary look on his little wife's face saddened Dai a bit. He genuinely liked this wife.
Not just because she was more beautiful than the village belle, but also because she was so full of life.
In Dai's heart, women like his mother, who only knew how to curse, complain, and cry all day, were not good women.
It was because his mother was like that, that she had lived a short life.
But this wife was different. When she was unhappy, she would scold him, hit him, even bite him, but she never cried meekly.
"Wife, I've stewed a bowl of chicken soup for you. Get up and eat."
Looking out the window and seeing the sun had not yet set, Quynh didn't feel hungry at all. She glared at Dai in annoyance: "It's not noon and it's not night, what's there to eat? Are you a rice barrel?"
Seeing Quynh scolding him, Dai grinned widely and scratched his head: "Wife, I'm used to being alone. Every time I finish breakfast and go to work, I just come home in the afternoon and cook right away. I don't think much about it."
Looking at that foolish appearance, Quynh couldn't help but feel disgusted: "Alright, alright, stop with that goofy grin! Sit down, I have something to say to you!"
Seeing his wife was no longer scolding him, Dai happily sat down on the edge of the bed, his eyes sparkling: "Wife, what is it? As long as I can do it, just say the word!"
This was the first time Quynh had observed Dai closely. A square-jawed face, sword-like eyebrows, a straight nose, and thick lips - not at all the appearance of a rich young master, but a genuine, rough-hewn country fellow!
Actually, this was due to Quynh's prejudice. In the eyes of the villagers, Dai was a handsome man.
Because this era revered scholars. Scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant - although scholars were divided into civil and martial, the civil was still placed first, so scholars were ranked at the top.
If viewed objectively, Dai was a true man, the very image of a patriarch.
But just hearing Dai constantly call her "wife," Quynh flared up again: "Who is your wife? Don't just claim people, you know?"
Dai was afraid of Quynh getting angry, not because he was scared of what she would do to him, but because he was afraid of angering his little wife to the point of sickness.
He said in a panic: "Wife, oh wife, don't be angry, I won't call you that anymore."
He said he wouldn't call her that, yet he still called her "wife" twice?
Quynh knew that if she kept arguing, she would surely meet her ancestors soon!
"Let me ask you something, why do you insist on calling me your wife? Shouldn't your wife be someone properly married through matchmaking? How can you just casually pick someone up from the outside and make her your wife? What do you know about me? Would your parents agree?"
The barrage of questions left Dai unsure how to answer. He scratched his head again, forcing a laugh: "Wife, you've asked so many questions. Which one should I answer first?"
How could this be called a conversation between equals?
In an instant, anger flared up in Quynh's heart again...
[Don't get angry, don't get angry, the day of revenge will come!]