The Eldest Daughter is Delicate and Pretty, How Can She Be a Malicious Supporting Character - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Waking Up

Boom Boom —

The rumbling sound of thunder echoed through the sky as dark clouds shrouded the prosperous capital city of Shangjing. The silver-white lightning suspended high above seemed as if it could strike at any moment, instilling fear and apprehension in people’s hearts.
Pa Pa —
Finally, the heavy rain poured down like a waterfall, pattering against the Osmanthus trees outside, causing numerous golden flowers to fall to the mud.

The young maid who was keeping watch outside was startled awake by the sound of the rain. She glanced back at the room and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, her sister Layan had instructed her to close the windows tightly, anticipating the heavy rain at night.

The layers of gauze curtains obscured the figure on the bed, leaving only a faint, yellowish candlelight visible in the distance.

The miss always kept a candle burning at night, which, although dim, provided a sense of reassurance.

Seeing that the miss was still asleep, the maid, Xingzi, couldn’t fight the drowsiness that had crept in after being awakened by the rain. Soon, she dozed off again.

Pei Lingyi knew she must be dreaming.

Otherwise, why would all her careful planning over the years end in such a disastrous outcome? In her dream, the Prime Minister’s mansion fell, and the admiring gazes that once followed her now turned into mocking stares.

Those people looked down on her, their eyes almost overflowing with schadenfreude.

“Miss Pei, I never thought you were like this!”

The speaker was a young woman around the same age as Pei Lingyi. Although not exceptionally beautiful, she had a unique temperament and a lively spirit that didn’t quite fit the traditional image of a noble lady in the capital.

Pei Lingyi thought for a long time before recalling a person matching this description – the third daughter of the Minister of Revenue, a concubine-born daughter named Xue Yiran. They had met once before, but at that time, Xue Yiran was timid and submissive, and Pei Lingyi hadn’t paid much attention to her.

However, she never expected the fall of the Prime Minister’s mansion to be intricately connected to this concubine-born daughter.

She witnessed how Xue Yiran gradually rose to prominence, even receiving praise from the Emperor: “Calm like a virgin, swift like a rabbit.”

The Emperor, though old and having already established the Crown Prince, still had many princes vying for the throne. Xue Yiran not only had a close relationship with the Crown Prince but also had a good impression from many other princes.

The Prime Minister’s mansion was powerful, and although the Emperor was dissatisfied, there was no clear fault on her father’s part.
Even the Emperor couldn’t casually remove the Prime Minister without reason.

In Pei Lingyi’s eyes, Xue Yiran seemed to be opposing her at every turn. Her lifelong wish was to become the most respected woman in the capital, but upon meeting Xue Yiran, she realized that all her strategies were futile against this young woman.

For the first time in her life, she felt defeated, especially after being exposed in public and earning the disgust of the Crown Prince.

That was when she was called out: “Miss Pei, I never thought you were like this!”

The mocking gazes of those around her fell upon her, and in that moment, she felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss. She finally understood that her dream had shattered.

Even if it ended like this, she was still the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister. Even if she became a laughingstock in the capital, even if she couldn’t become the Empress, many noble families would still consider marrying her due to her father’s influence, as long as the Prime Minister’s mansion didn’t fall.

However, the person who had turned her life upside down, Xue Yiran, became the most sought-after person in the capital.
How could she accept this?
The insignificant person she once disregarded had defeated her utterly.

Thus, she went mad and completely severed her relationship with Xue Yiran, using her father’s power to bribe several forces in the jianghu to eliminate Xue Yiran’s life.

However, the villain in the story ultimately met a fitting end. Xue Yiran not only escaped unscathed but was also saved by the previously unknown Fifth Prince.

It turned out that Xue Yiran had connections with the powerful figures in the capital city without Pei Lingyi’s knowledge.
Due to Pei Lingyi’s actions, several princes who were preparing for the struggle for the throne suddenly united against the Prime Minister’s mansion. The Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the usually neglected Fifth Prince formed an unlikely alliance, directing their attention towards the Prime Minister’s mansion.

Her brother was suspended from his position and severely injured, leaving him unable to stand for the rest of his life. Upon hearing the news, her father became critically ill due to anger and frustration, and her mother had to care for both her brother and father.
Overnight, the once-grand Prime Minister’s mansion fell into disarray.

These people seemed to have plotted something with the Emperor, who accused the Pei family of forming cliques and collaborating with enemies, sentencing them to exile a thousand miles away. The magnificent Pei mansion disappeared from the prosperous capital city.

The female members of the Pei family were sent to the Teaching Department, and Pei Lingyi’s mother, unwilling to endure the humiliation, took her own life with a white silk ribbon, her body wrapped and thrown into a mass grave.

Watching this, Pei Lingyi was overwhelmed with pain and anger, wishing she could skin and debone those people to avenge her family.

In her dream, after her mother’s death, she too felt a desire to die, but the matron of the teaching department, knowing she was once the daughter of the Prime Minister’s mansion, had her closely guarded day and night, leaving her no control over her own life.

It wasn’t until she heard that the Third Prince was coming to the Teaching department that she felt a spark of emotion.

The Third Prince… one of the direct causes of her family’s downfall.
Ironically, he had come to see her.

The matron of the teaching department had her specially dressed up, locking the doors and windows, waiting for the night’s arrival.

As night fell, the sound of a man and a woman talking could be heard outside the door.

“Ranran, you’re always so kind-hearted. Despite Miss Pei’s schemes against you, you’re still willing to save her.”

The door opened, and Pei Lingyi keenly sensed a moment of admiration in the man’s eyes and a fleeting jealousy in the woman’s.

The woman spoke with a pretentious tone: “Miss Pei, the teaching department is no place for you. We’re here to rescue you. You can live a simple life as an ordinary person afterwards.”

The Third Prince looked at the woman beside him with gentle eyes and said softly, “Ranran, you’re willing to save Miss Pei despite all she’s done to you. If everyone in the world were like you, forgiving and kind, there wouldn’t be people like her who scheme and plot.”

The dream Pei Lingyi was no longer the gentle and elegant Miss Pei.
Instead, she coldly watched the couple, her voice icy: “Ha! I, Pei Lingyi, lost because my skills were inferior to yours. But seeing your hypocritical act makes me sick.”

Becoming the Empress was the dream of most noble girls in the capital.
What was wrong with her?
People strive for their own interests, but she never expected that trying to kill Xue Yiran would lead to such a catastrophic revenge from those who admired Xue Yiran, resulting in her family’s downfall. She was the eternal sinner of her family, and now it was too late to regret.

Upon hearing her words, Xue Yiran showed a hurt expression, as if she was wounded by Pei Lingyi’s words.

Before she could respond, the man beside her couldn’t hold back anymore. His voice was cold, and his eyes, rarely seen, were filled with anger: “Pei Lingyi, even now, you still pretend to be innocent and slander Ranran. Given our past acquaintance, I won’t harm you. But coming here was a mistake.”

“Ranran, let’s go.” With that, he pulled the girl in pink clothes to leave.

Xue Yiran didn’t speak but turned back to look at the once-proud noble lady before following the man out of the door.

Watching them leave, Pei Lingyi couldn’t accept it.

“Wait!” Pei Lingyi bit her lip, her voice soft and gentle, much like the Miss Pei of the past.

The couple instinctively turned back and were met with a pitifully beautiful face.

Pei Lingyi was naturally stunning, with arched eyebrows and eyes like autumn water. She used to be the object of admiration for many noble ladies. Now, though she had lost her former dignity and was slightly more approachable, she was still breathtakingly beautiful. With light makeup and dressed in a white gauze skirt, her slender waist seemed fragile, evoking a sense of sympathy.

“Miss Xue, I think I spoke wrongly just now. Would it be possible to talk further?”

When their eyes met, even Xiao Huaiqing was taken aback.

Noticing the expression of the person beside her, Xue Yiran’s eyes flashed with displeasure. She jerked her hand free from Xiao Huaiqing’s grasp, seemingly pouting, and then walked forward on her own.

“Speak, you…” Before Xue Yiran could finish her sentence, the hairpin in Pei Lingyi’s hand was about to stab into the person’s chest.

“Die!”

“No!!”

Both Xiao Huaiqing and Pei Lingyi cried out, but it was too late. The distance between them was too close, and even if he wanted to save her, he couldn’t.

Xue Yiran had already closed her eyes in fear, but the expected pain didn’t come.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw a veiled assassin standing beside her and Pei Lingyi with a dagger inserted into her heart.

A wave of intense pain washed over her entire body. The white gauze skirt was stained with blood, and the hairpin that had been hidden in her palm fell powerlessly to the ground…

The assassin, seeing that Pei Lingyi’s heart had been pierced, disappeared into the shadows.

Pei Lingyi’s last consciousness was of Xiao Huaiqing embracing the girl in pink with relief, neither of them giving her a glance.

The once-famous daughter of the Prime Minister’s mansion was eventually wrapped in a mat and carelessly discarded in a mass grave, where crows pecked at her and maggots crawled all over her body…

A bolt of lightning illuminated the night sky, as if the heavens themselves were tearing apart.

“No!!!”

In the delicate boudoir, Pei Lingyi sat up abruptly, her body drenched in cold sweat. The maid on night duty, Xingzi, was frightened and quickly lit a lamp, cautiously asking the figure behind the curtain, “Miss, were you startled by the thunder?”

Pei Lingyi’s heart was racing.

The familiar warm glow of the candlelight made her feel slightly better. She composed herself and replied, “I’m fine, I just had a nightmare. You can go now.”

“Don’t extinguish the candle.”

Xingzi respectfully retreated, thinking to herself that Miss wasn’t usually afraid of thunder. This time, she must have been truly scared by the nightmare.

That night, Pei Lingyi couldn’t sleep…

—-
P.S. [This story initially started with a 1v1 setting, but now it’s 1v multiple. The female lead is clear-headed! All men are dogs! Some settings were established earlier, but they won’t affect your enjoyment of the rest of the story (●’◡’●)ﾉ♥]

The female lead’s name is derived from the “Book of Songs·Minor Odes·Turbaned with Rushes”:
“How noble is the gentleman, none is like Lingyi”