The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Anning had really gone back this time, into one of the lives where she’d been controlled by the Main God.

In that life, she’d had a pretty miserable time of it.

To sum it up, that life of hers was the story of a cannon-fodder side character in a dog-blood drama: I love you, you don’t love me, so I’ll marry your dad instead.

She was a concubine daughter of the Miao Family. Her concubine mother died early, so her legitimate mother never spared her a glance. The concubines and servants at home were always bullying her, and even her own sisters looked down on her.

That kind of upbringing made Miao Anning extremely cowardly and inferior.

Originally she thought that maybe when she grew up, her legitimate mother would marry her off to some not‑so‑good family. After marriage she might be nitpicked, beaten and scolded, but at least life would go on. Her whole life would just pass like that.

But what she hadn’t expected was that her legitimate elder sister died just a few years after marrying and giving birth.

And a year after her legitimate sister’s death, the Wei Family that she’d married into started looking for a match for Wei Yuan.

Once the Wei Family started looking, Mrs. Miao got anxious.

If Miao Anruo was gone, she’d at least left behind a pair of young children. If Wei Yuan remarried and a concubine came in as stepmother, who knew if Mrs. Miao’s grandchildren would end up living bitter lives.

Mrs. Miao turned it over in her head again and again, and in the end went to the Wei Family herself. At that time Wei Yuan’s mother had already passed away; in the Wei Family there was only an Old Madam, and besides that just Wei Yuan, his father, and the two children. Mrs. Miao went straight to Wei Yuan, using the excuse of ”for the children’s good,” and tried to get Wei Yuan to marry a concubine daughter from the Miao Family.

After she’d finished discussing it with Wei Yuan, she went to see Mrs. Wei.

Mrs. Wei was unwilling at first, but since Wei Yuan had already agreed, although the Old Madam was stifled with anger, she still nodded and consented.

After that, Mrs. Miao picked and chose among several concubine daughters, and finally settled on Anning.

The main reason was that Anning’s temperament was too soft. She didn’t have a concubine mother, and everything about Anning was in Mrs. Miao’s hands. However things turned out, she would still be under control. Anyway, it was much better than the Wei Family marrying some other woman in.

Anning hadn’t expected she would marry her legitimate sister’s husband. She actually didn’t really want to, but Mrs. Miao had already made up her mind, and Anning couldn’t resist, so she could only marry over there.

At the beginning after she married in, life was still more or less bearable.

But then something happened—because Mr. Wei took another wife.

The new wife Mr. Wei married was young and beautiful. Though her background wasn’t that good, she still came from a respectable, clean family. This new Madam was called Xin Lan; her father was a scholar, which counted as a scholarly family background.

After Xin Lan married into the Wei Family, she quickly won over Mr. Wei, and then drew Wei Yuan’s two children to her side.

After that, she started setting rules for Anning, tormenting her all day long, and then borrowing others’ hands to do the dirty work—she had the two children constantly pick on Anning, and then went to Mrs. Wei to complain that Anning was an uncaring mother and the like.

The two children were twisted by Xin Lan into being both stupid and vicious. They either hit or scolded Anning, and would even run to the Miao Family and tell Mrs. Miao that Anning treated them badly, making Mrs. Miao punish Anning.

Facing blows from both her husband’s family and her maiden family, Anning’s heart had long since gone cold.

But Xin Lan acted like she had some deep grudge against her, tormenting her nonstop. In the end Anning was tortured to death by Xin Lan, and after death her reputation stank to high heaven. Whenever people mentioned her, they said she was a vicious stepmother—there wasn’t a single good word about her.

In that life Anning had actually wanted to fight back many times. She had plenty of ways to counterattack Xin Lan, but she was controlled by the Main God and couldn’t move of her own will at all.

This time, no one could control her life anymore. Anning could do whatever she wanted.

To be honest, returning to a life she’d already experienced and feeling freedom again, Anning thought the taste of freedom was fucking amazing.

After Anning finished reading the data An Xin gave her, An Xin came back in a rage and said to Anning, ”Ningning, I just communicated with the Heavenly Dao of this world. Actually, Miao Anning’s life was never meant to be like that. After Miao Anning married Wei Yuan, they didn’t have much feeling at first, but later, through getting along, they gradually developed affection. On top of that, Miao Anning treated the two children sincerely. Without anyone stirring things up, after two years the two children also started accepting Anning from the bottom of their hearts, acknowledging her as Mother. Anning and Wei Yuan lived harmoniously as a couple, and for the sake of those two children they didn’t have any children of their own for over ten years. Only after her legitimate sister’s two children grew up did she give birth to a daughter. By then, her bargain son had come first as the top scorer in the imperial exam, and her bargain daughter had married into a powerful noble family as a principal wife. Anning became an Old Sealed Lord, and her daughter was doted on by her elder brother and sister. Her days were especially good. It was only because Xin Lan was reborn that everything was completely changed.”

After listening to An Xin, Anning laughed. ”No matter how many times Xin Lan is reborn, this time she can forget about getting any advantage from me.”

”Mm, mm.”

An Xin nodded hard. ”Ningning, I’m backing you up. Torture her.”

Anning chatted with An Xin for a while, then felt a bit tired, so she closed her eyes to rest.

This sleep was especially deep. When she woke up, it was almost dark.

And the moment she opened her eyes, she heard the sound of the door being pushed open.

Then she saw two little three‑head‑tall toddlers walk in.

Anning frowned. ”Su, Xing’er, why did you two come over? Where’s your nursemaid? Why isn’t she with you?”

The two little ones pattered over to Anning’s bedside. Wei Xing reached out and tried to tug at Anning. ”Why are you so lazy? Hurry up and get up to play with me.”

Wei Susu’s little face was full of anger. ”Aunt, you only care about sleeping by yourself, you don’t care about us at all.”

Anning sat up with a smile. ”I’m feeling a bit unwell, I might be sick. Su, Xing’er, don’t come over here these next few days, be careful not to catch my illness.”

Wei Susu was a little scared and quickly backed up a few steps.

Wei Xing also backed up with her. ”What a bummer. How come you’re sick now? I was just going to...”

Wei Susu hurriedly covered Wei Xing’s mouth.

Anning called out toward the outside, and a maid came in.

Anning’s face held a faint smile. ”The servants in our home are getting more and more unruly. The young master and young miss come in and no one even knows? Where’s the nursemaid? Where the hell did she die off to? If she isn’t following the young master and young miss, and something really happens, even nine lives wouldn’t be enough for her to pay for it.”

The maid was so scared she quickly lowered her head. ”Grandma, it’s really because...”

Anning waved her hand. ”No need to explain. I just see that there isn’t a single servant by the young master and young miss’s side. I don’t care what reason those people had—if they didn’t serve the little masters properly, that’s their fault. Pass on my words: starting today, every servant in the little masters’ courtyard will take turns getting the board, ten strokes each, and their monthly salary will be docked for one month. This is the first time, so I’m punishing them lightly. If there’s a next time, don’t blame me for being merciless—I’ll sell them off directly.”

”Grandma, isn’t that a bit... a bit too heavy a punishment? The Old Madam will...”

Anning got up and stepped out of bed. ”I’ll go explain to the Old Madam myself, you don’t need to worry about it. Immediately have the housekeeper call all those people to the front yard for the board. Also, take the young master and young miss back to their own courtyard. They’re not to come over to pay respects these next few days, in case they catch my illness.”

After Anning finished giving instructions, she went over to wash her face.

At this time a few maids carefully led Wei Susu and Wei Xing away, and another maid went to pass on the message to the housekeeper.

After washing her face, Anning had them serve the meal.

While she was eating, her dowry maid Chu Hong said softly, ”Grandma, just now Yu Huan from the Old Madam’s courtyard said that Master will be back tomorrow. So you see...”

Anning quietly ate, and only after she’d finished did she look at Chu Hong. ”Chu Hong, if I remember right, you’ll be twenty after the New Year. So, do you have any plans?”

Chu Hong looked at the half‑smiling expression on Anning’s face and felt a bit uneasy.

She kept feeling that Grandma was a bit different, like she had a few more degrees of backbone than before. But when she looked more closely, Anning still seemed the same as ever, so Chu Hong thought she must have been seeing things.

With a thump she knelt on the ground. ”Grandma, this servant has followed you for so many years. Though we’re master and servant, the feelings between us are deeper than family. No matter what, this servant doesn’t want to leave you. I’m willing to serve Master and Grandma for the rest of my life.”

Anning helped Chu Hong up with a smile. ”That won’t do. A girl has to marry eventually. Are you planning to remain single and bind up your own hair? If it were someone else I wouldn’t interfere, but you and I are like sisters. I can’t bear to see you lonely your whole life.”

Chu Hong’s eyes went red.

On the surface it looked like she was moved, but in reality she was furious.

She’d long been planning for the status of Aunt Wei. She’d thought that as Anning’s dowry maid, sooner or later she would become Wei Yuan’s concubine, and then be raised to Aunt. But she hadn’t expected Anning to play dumb with her here.

What she’d just said had already made it very clear—she wanted to be a concubine and stay to serve Anning and Wei Yuan.

But Anning pretended not to understand, talking about how she wanted to remain single and be a spinster all her life. Chu Hong was practically being driven mad with anger.