Phoenix Descends: Queen of a Thousand Pets

After the New Year, spring came to the Wu County. The early spring rain falls like fine threads. On the bluestone slabs of the deep alleys, you can see moss soaked in puddles of water making it very slippery to walk on.

A burst of hurried footsteps sounded from the entrance of the alley, and then with a "bang", the little girl in green clothes slipped and fell to the ground. Ignoring the pain in her body, she hurriedly got up. She ran towards a small door in the corner of the alley and knocked on the door anxiously.

"Please wait! I'm coming to open the door!" said an old servant who opened the door after a while. He looked at the little girl covered in mud, and couldn't help but say, "Lu Xiu, what are you doing? You should stop running in this weather."

Lu Xiu ran past the old servant and hurried to the backyard.

"Young Miss." the little called out. When Ling Qingyu heard Lu Xiu's voice, she put down the medicine bowl. She looked at her mother who had become unrecognizably thin and made sure she is well covered by the quilt.

She stood up from the bed she was sitting on, opened the door and signaled to Lu Xiu that she needs to be quiet. She brought the little girl who was running towards her into the room on the left.

Her mother in this place and time looks exactly like the mother she had in her previous life. Before she had the time to be moved and adapt to her new identity though, misfortunes came one after another.

Within one day from the time she just woke up in this new body, she was told that her father and brother had died. To add to the burdens, her fiancé broke off their engagement, and lastly, she was expelled from her family because of her unknown status.

Her mother vomited blood and fainted from all the misfortunes that have happened. If it weren't for her uncle who came to pick them up at that time, most likely they would have been forced to die in the courtyard.

When they came out of the Lin family's house, the only servants who followed them out were Nanny Zheng's family and the little girl Lu Xiu. After following her uncle to this small house in the city, her mother that started to feel a little better, begged her uncle to submit a petition, since the court will have a session today.

"Lu Xiu is back" Nanny Zheng excitedly pushed the door open, rubbed her hands, and asked hopefully, "How did the petition in the court go? Did the county magistrate punish those ruthless people?"

"I believe my other uncle and his friends won the petition." Ling Qingyu pondered for a moment and asked, "What do my mother and I have left then?"

"Young miss!" Lu Xiu couldn't help but cry out. She confirmed the results of the petition and said, "They said that the master and the young master used the clan's money to fund their business, so the money earned should belong to the clan leader, Master Lin. The court declared that all those houses, shops, and farms should be under Master Lin's name."

Ling Qingyu closed her eyes slightly as she listened to the hurtful results and asked, "What about my mother's dowry?"

"The Master said that the third young master, your father, was adopted by your mother as the heir of the second wife so the madam's dowry should all be given to the third young master."

Nanny Zheng burst into tears as she heard the whole story and couldn't help but shout, "What a bunch of unscrupulous beasts! They are forcing the madam and you, young Miss to your deaths!"

"They wanted us all to die." Ling Qingyu confirmed Mother Zheng's comment. She pushed the door of the room open and looked at the lush trees and flowers in the courtyard that have been watered by the spring rain. Although no one took care of them, these flowers, plants and trees were still full of vitality once spring came.

My father and brother made a huge fortune in the shipping business, and that wealth made all those people jealous enough to bring about a murderous disaster. It pushed my uncle, Lin Jiacheng to be so cruel that he resorted to killing everyone on that ship just to seize my father's property! Ling Qingyu clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging deep into the flesh almost drawing blood.

"Hui Niang? Hui Niang... " A weak voice came calling from inside the main house.

"Mother Zheng, please ask my uncle to come over." Ling Qingyu said to Nanny Zheng as she walked towards the main house.

"Young miss, today in court, your uncle didn't say anything to support your petition." Lu Xiu said unconsciously, wiping her tears, and added, "He just let the official make the final decision and did not contest it."

Ling Qingyu paused and smiled bitterly at what she heard. During this period, she slowly accepted the memories of the original owner that has flowed into her mind. His uncle's wife, the aunt in her memory was not a good character. She had always been jealous of her mother.

After her grandparents passed away, she only came to their home whenever she needed money. It was very out of character that her uncle will come forward and take her and her mother in when he is under the heavy pressure from his wife.

"Nanny Zheng, go tell my two uncles that according to the law, if my mother does not agree to adopt a son, then my mother's dowry will have to be returned to my uncle's family only after her death. He can forget about wanting my mother's farm. If he really wants that farm then he has to fulfill my condition."