Yun Hua returned home drenched.

On the way home, Yun Hua racked her brains but still could not find an answer to what had happened.

Chen Shi Ying's father had turned into a criminal from a hero and died 9 years early...

Could this be a butterfly effect caused by her rebirth?

If that was the case...

Yun Hua was almost about to fall into depression again!

She returned home feeling down and saw Jiang Huan Qing in the living room packing everything up, gathering everything belong to Yun Cong Jun, like the ashtray and his favourite newspaper rack.

Jiang Huan Qing was shocked to see Yun Hua in such a sorry state and rushed over, "Hua Hua what happened? What happened!"

"Mom, it's nothing, don't worry about it. I was running in Jiang Xi Park and saved a drowning girl." Yun Hua said.

Jiang Huan Qing was still concerned, "Really? But Hua Hua, that's really dangerous you know? When a drowning person is on the verge of dying, their strength would be much larger than normal, at such an age, how could you save them? What if you drowned too..."

"Mom, the person was a little girl, it's really nothing. In this case, there really wasn't anyone else nearby so if I didn't jump in, then I'd have to see her drown before my eyes. I'll go take a shower, help me cook some ginger soup, I'm feeling a little cold!"

Finishing, Yun Hua ran off, afraid that Jiang Huan Qing would start nagging at her.

Yun Hua gave up on the issue with Chen Shi Ying. She concluded that everyone has their own morals, even if her rebirth brought about some changes, there was still no way that Chen Shi Ying's father would turn into a criminal as long as his heart was kind.

Hence, though Yun Hua pitied Chen Shi Ying, she did not think she was responsible for the situation.

Finishing her meal, Yun Hua started on her homework. School had given out a lot of practice books so she was going to make the best out of it!

Yun Hua was very efficient once she got into the mood.

She wanted to clear all her homework in the morning and spend the afternoon writing her novel!

Around 11, she cleared everything!

Yun Hua stretched and started packing up when the doorbell rang.

By the time she came over, her mother had already opened the door.

Standing outside the door was Xiao Qiu Ci and Xiao Ru Yue.

Jiang Huan Qing's expression changed immediately, "What are you two doing here!"

She was about shut the door but Xiao Qiu Ci had already entered the house. Her face was full of pain and anguish, "Qing Qing, give me some time and let's talk about this. Please?"

"What's there to talk about?" Jiang Huan Qing's had a stiff look on her face.

Xiao Qiu Ci's eyes were slightly red and her expression looked languished, "I couldn't sleep last night. Qing Qing, I did not want to ruin your family... I really didn't...

"But you've already ruined it!" Jiang Huan Qing pursed her lips and looked at Xiao Ru Yue, "No wonder he looks down on my Hua Hua and kept on praising Yue Yue..."

Yun Hua felt touched, sure enough she was still the most important in her mother's heart.

Xiao Qiu Ci teared up as she continued, "Qing Qing, I had no choice. Do you know how much struggled I felt over all these years? Everytime I looked at you, I'd feel so shameful I'd rather die. Back when Cong Jun got drunk, I didn't even know how thing turned out that way. I never thought of snatching Cong Jun from you. I thought that I'd just pretend that nothing happened that night. But... But who knew... Who knew that'd I end up pregnant? It was alive and I couldn't bear to kill it..."

Xiao Qiu Ci looked very pitiful.

However, it was just an act that comes naturally to women like her.

Jiang Huan Qing was pissed off at first but very quickly, she was at a loss of what to say.

Yun Hua walked over.

"Aunt Xiao, Ru Yue, you guys came over." Yun Hua smiled, "Aunt Xiao, what you meant was that you cheating with my dad was a matter of circumstance and you never intended on being a mistress, right?"

The word "mistress" was simply too harsh, Xiao Qiu Ci's expression turned stiff for an instance.

"Hua Hua, you don't understand the world adults live in..."

"What don't I understand." Yun Hua smiled, "Isn't it just a simple matter of you stealing my dad?"

Xiao Qiu Ci's expression was dark.

Xiao Ru Yue quickly came over and held Yun Hua's hand, "Hua Hua, don't be angry..."

"Yue Yue, when did you know that my dad was your dad?" Yun Hua turned her focus to Xiao Ru Yue, "You should have known for a long time."

Xiao Ru Yue lowered her head in shame, "It's true that I knew for a long time. But, Hua Hua you must trust me and mom, we really never wanted to steal dad from you, even though I've always wanted a dad but mom had always warned me strictly that I'm not allowed... not allowed to get close to your dad..."

Yun Hua smiled, "Should I be thanking you?"

"Hua Hua..."

Cutting to the chase, Yun Hua said, "Aunt Xiao, did you bring Yue Yue here just to apologise? If that's the case, then you've finished apologising and we won't accept it, so you guys can leave."

Xiao Qiu Ci looked at Jiang Huan Qing with a face full of grief, "Qing Qing, I know you can't forgive me but I really am full of shame. I've told Cong Jun many times, asking him not to find me... Will you please believe me? In all these years, I've never had any interaction with Cong Jun and treated him like nothing more than a friend..."

Jiang Huan Qing was bad at debates and did not know what to say.

Yun Hua sighed helplessly and looked at Xiao Qiu Ci, "Aunt Xiao, what you meant is that you don't want to destroy my family and don't want my parents to divorce right? Then it's really simple. Just find my dad and tell him that you have no feelings for him and don't want to marry him. After that, you can just bring Xiao Ru Yue and move away to somewhere where he doesn't know about... Isn't the solution as simple as that?"

Xiao Qiu Ci froze.

Yun Hua chuckled, "Aunt Xiao, you say you didn't want to ruin my family but you can't bear to stay away from my family... Isn't that self-contradictory?"

Xiao Qiu Ci's expression turned darker.

Yun Hua laughed, "How about this, I'll my dad now and you can tell him yourself. Mom, this is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. As long as Aunt Xiao brings Xiao Ru Yue to leave then our family would still be together and you don't have to divorce dad. Isn't this great?"

Jiang Huan Qing was a little shocked and did not quite understand what Yun Hua meant but she did not intend to disrupt her.

On the other hand, Xiao Qiu Ci looked as if she was about to burst.

She came over to apologise, aiming to get Jiang Huan Qing to soften up or maybe even forget about the whole thing.

She did not want to be known as a mistress. Even more so, she did not want her daughter to be called a illegitimate child by others!

"Mom, you keep wanting to divorce dad but I don't want that. Don't you dare forget that I have that engagement with the Qi Family. If you divorce dad... Then how am I supposed to get married to Qi senpai..." On purpose, Yun Hua spoke in a discontented tone.

This "white lotus" mother and daughter pair were here to "seek forgiveness"!

In this world, there exists a kind of shameless people who would hurt you then force you to forgive them!

When you refuse to forgive them, they would make you seem like you are in the wrong.

The Xiao mother and daughter pair were extremely familiar with this.

They dare to come crying to ask for forgiveness after stealing Jiang Huan Qing's husband... Their tearful and pitiful looks made them seem like the real victims!

Of course, their tone changed the moment Yun Hua raised the issue of not divorcing and the engagement to the Qi Family!

"Qing Qing, I know there's no way you would forgive me and I'm not shameless enough to seek forgiveness from you. I'm just here to tell you that I really didn't mean it, I just had no other choice..."

Xiao Qiu Ci wiped away her tears and grabbed XIao Ru Yue, "Qing Qing, I know that you're in a bad mood and aren't willing to listen to my story. I'll leave first with Yue Yue. No matter what, it's my fault that I hurt you... Qing Qing, I rather you hit me or scold me, at least I'd feel a little better but you're too kind hearted and only know how to suffer in silence..."

"Aunt Xiao!"

Yun Hua interrupted Xiao Qiu Ci's emotional monologue.

Xiao Qiu Ci looked towards Yun Hua.

Yun Hua walked up and smiled at Xiao Qiu Ci, "Aunt Xiao, can you bend down? I'm a little short."

Xiao Qiu Ci did not know what was happening but she looked at Yun Hua warmly and bent down, "Hua Hua, do you have something you want to say to me? I'm really sorry, aunt never wanted to destroy your family, and even more so, never wanted to steal your dad away..."

Smack!

Smack!

Smack!

Yun Hua harshly and rapidly slapped Xiao Qiu Ci three times. She struck with such force that her hand felt numb!

As for Xiao Qiu Ci who had bent over and stuck her head out, it was as if she was looking to get hit!

Xiao Qiu Ci fell back a few steps, holding her face, looking at Yun Hua with a face of disbelief.

However, Xiao Ru Yue who was standing at the side was hopping mad, "Yun Hua what are you doing! How could you hit my mother! Are you crazy?!"

Yun Hua just smiled and blinked at Xiao Qiu Ci, "Aunt Xiao, didn't you say it yourself? If we were to scold and beat you, at least you'd feel a little more at ease... To help you feel better, of course I'd follow through. Ah, Aunt Xiao, you really are thick skinned, my hand is still hurting from the hit!"

See this scene, Jiang Huan Qing was just as shocked.

However, she had to admit that she felt great!

But at the same time, she felt guilty that she was so weak that her daughter had to fight on her behalf! She could not remain the same as before, she should step up to protect her daughter.

It was at this moment that the door was slammed open and a sweating Yun Cong Jun entered the house. From his disheveled look, it seemed that he had rushed here.

The moment Yun Cong Jun entered the door, Xiao Ru Yue started crying like she had been wronged, "Uncle Yun... Yun Hua had gone crazy, she slapped my mom... Look, her face is swelling... Quickly go see if she'll be fine..."

The moment he heard Xiao Qiu Ci had been slapped, Yun Cong Jun glared at Yun Hua with a look that would scare kids to tears.

However, Yun Hua said innocently, "It was Aunt Xiao who asked me to hit her..."

Yun Cong Jun hurried beside Xiao Qiu Ci, trying to remove her hand to take a look at her face.

Xiao Qiu Ci's eyes were red from her crying but she forced a smile and said to Yun Cong Jun, "It's alright Cong Jun, don't blame Hua Hua, I know she is struggling emotionally... If slapping me a few times can help her become happy... Then it's fine, it doesn't hurt... It doesn't hurt at all."

"It's already swelling and you're still trying to hide the pain!" Yun Cong Jun gritted his teeth in anger.

He turned back and stared daggers at Yun Hua.

Jiang Huan Qing pulled Yun Hua and hid Yun Hua behind herself, she raised her head and glared at Yun Cong Jun in an imposing manner, "What are you doing?! I'm warning you, don't you dare touch my Yun Hua!"

Yun Cong Jun glared at Jiang Huan Qing with eyes full of rage.

"Move, even if we are divorced, I'm still her dad and disciplining her is my right!"

Of course, there was no way Jiang Huan Qing was going to move.

Yun Hua popped her head out and shouted at Yun Cong Jun, "Sure you can discipline me but I've talked to mom, you guys shouldn't divorce after all! If you guys divorce, then wouldn't my engagement with the Qi Family be wasted? You guys can't divorce. Mom, don't divorce dad!"

Jiang Huan Qing pursed her lips, looked at Yun Hua and remained silent.

However, Yun Cong Jun's focus shifted in an instant.

He glared at Jiang Huan Qing, "Sure, you can stop me from disciplining her since we are divorcing and she'll be following you! Even if she has no manners, it's your problem from now on! She has nothing to do with me!"

"No, Dad, I feel that mom and I were in the wrong yesterday, we don't want anything more but you two must not divorce, definitely not! I want to get engaged to Qi senpai!" Yun Hua pretended to regret her decision.

Yun Cong Jun humphed, "Weren't you two force me to give an answer yesterday? Here's your answer then, I agree, let's divorce! We'll settle it first thing tomorrow morning. I don't want a pair of mother and daughter like you two!"

Finishing, Yun Cong Jun put an arm around Xiao Qiu Ci's waist and held Xiao Ru Yue with the other hand, the strict and angry tone had instantly turned into one of gentleness and care, "Xiao Ci, Yue Yue, let's go. I'll start the divorce procedure tomorrow and then we can get married immediately after that! In the future, no one will criticize you two!"

Xiao Qiu Ci looked at him with red eyes in silence as tears rolled down her cheeks. Xiao Ru Yue was also very excited, looking at Yun Cong Jun with a look full of respect and gratefulness, giving Yun Cong Jun a massive sense of satisfaction.

After they left, Yun Hua sat Jiang Huan Qing on the sofa."Mom, are you still sad?" Yun Hua asked.

Jiang Huan Qing took a deep breath, a forced a bitter laugh, "A little bit, after all, it has been so many years... Hua Hua, you were talking about the engagement with the Qi family, you..."

"Mom, don't worry about it, I never had any wish for that engagement! I am completely unsuitable for the Qi family, rural families already have so much conflict and politics in them, wouldn't it be worse in a grand family like the Qi family?"

Yun Hua held Jiang Huan Qing by her arm and smiled, "Mom, do you know why Dad was so insistent on divorcing now?"

Jiang Huan Qing frowned, "Isn't it because I found out what was happening?"

"Yes, but there is another reason and that's the engagement with the Qi family! In his eyes, I wouldn't even be fit to be a servant of the Qi family but Xiao Ru Yue is different. He is hoping that the Qi family would fancy Xiao Ru Yue and carry out the marriage. If that does happen, his company would benefit massively from his connection with the Qi family."

Jiang Huan Qing pursed her lips, "No wonder he'd still agreed despite you asking for so much money!"

"Exactly. Therefore, mom, you shouldn't worry at all, go ahead with the divorce tomorrow and ensure that all of the conditions are recorded down so that he can't go back on his words!"

"... Alright."

With that matter out of the way, Yun Hua finally heaved a sigh of relief.

She returned back the study, she could finally use the computer without worrying that she would be scolded by Yun Cong Jun!

She opened the computer and logged into the QQ she used to sign her contract.

"Uhhhhhh..."

A chain of notification sound sounded, someone had sent her a friend request.

Clicking the notification icon, she saw that the user [Tang Tang] had sent her a friend request along with the message, "I'm Sugar, an Editor from Penguin Books and I'd like to congratulate you for your work meeting the requirements for contracting."

Then a second message, "Dear Revived Drawing, I'm your editor Sugar, are you there?"

And then a third, "Dear Revived Drawing, your work is splendid, I'm Editor Sugar, requesting approval..."

The editor started off formal but turned informal eventually.

Editor Sugar's thought process was clear for all to see!

In 2006, web novels were still relatively unknown so there were not many web novel authors! Of course, there were even lesser high quality works.

It was not like the scene ten years later where editors would receive hundreds and even thousands of drafts from countless newcomers. The editors would have to read through the drafts and decide on the arrangement of the recommendation list so that often lacked the time to interact with the authors and it was even less likely that they would chase after an author to contract them.

Currently, the editors had few drafts to read through each day and most of them were written for fun.

There were just too few works of high quality like Yun Hua's [Shocking Dreams in the Forbidden Palace]. Hence, it was natural for the editor to feel surprised!

Yun Hua accepted the friend question and logged into her author's account.

The webpage loaded and she was flooded with notifications.

The first line was to notify her that her work had passed and the rest were messages from Sugar.

"Dear Revived Drawing, your work is splendid, I'm your editor, Sugar, come add me on QQ. My ID is 1234567"

"Revived Drawing, I've added you as a friend, please accept it and we can discuss your work."

"Dear esteemed Revived Drawing, would you please add me? Your work is magnificent, you have to contract with our site! I promise to do my best to publicise your work!"

"Esteemed Revived Drawing, did you leave a wrong QQ ID? I've tried sending you many friend requests but there is no response?"

"Esteemed Revived Drawing, your phone number is going through either..."

Seeing the chain of notifications, Yun Hua felt a little awkward. She had submitted her draft and went on the handle other matters, thus she had no time to go online at all. It would be stranger if Editor Sugar had managed to get in contact with her!

Still, Yun Hua was touched.

It was obvious that Editor Sugar really liked her work since she was trying to hard to get in contact with her, worrying that she would not contract with Penguin Books.

Yun Hua was just about to open the information page for her novel to check out the view count and reviews when a profile on her QQ lit up.

The profile picture was a large rainbow coloured lollipop. It was Editor Sugar.

Yun Hua clicked on the icon and saw that Sugar had already sent a bunch of messages.

"Revived Drawing? You finally added me! I'm so excited!"

"Revived Drawing, your work is great. It's my first time reading a novel about being reincarnated in the Qing Dynasty!"

"Your plot is skillfully done too! The pacing is perfect and leaves me excited from the suspense in each chapter!"

"Have you posted your work on any other websites? You haven't signed a contract with any other sites right? Come sign a contract with our website, I'll find the main editor and fight for the best contracting terms and recommendation spots for you!"

"Revived Drawing, why aren't you saying anything?"

Yun Hua smiled helplessly.

She was not staying silent, she just could not find the chance to speak!

Revived Drawing, "Hi Sugar, I hold all the copyrights and have not posted the work on other sites. Is there a sample for the contract? I'd like to look at the contract first."

Sugar, "Yes there is, I'll send it to your email now. Revived Drawing, the terms can be negotiated but you have to give us exclusive rights!"

Revived Drawing, "Alright, I'll talk to you again when I'm done taking a look."

The web novel scene in 2006 was extremely lacking compared to that of 10 years later.