Li Yunyan slowly opened her eyes, and a strong ray of sunlight suddenly pierced into them, instantly making her vision blurry.

She frowned and instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes from the glaring sunlight. She squinted, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness and make out her surroundings.

"You little palace maid! Come here!"

Little palace maid?

Li Yunyan finally adjusted to the bright light when she felt someone gently patting her shoulder. She turned her head and saw a woman dressed as a palace maid quietly pointing ahead, indicating that someone was calling her.

She nodded slightly in thanks and looked ahead.

Standing ahead were several arrogant eunuchs?

She looked down and realized that she was wearing the same palace dress as the palace maid from before. She raised her hand and touched it, and found that her hair was styled in double buns, with no jewelry on her head except for two colorful ribbons tied on it as decoration.

It seems I'm now a lowly palace maid?

Is this a plot device for a palace intrigue-style power struggle?

She didn't have time to process the plot right now. She took a few steps forward and gave a slight curtsy to the eunuch who had called her earlier.

The way the eunuch looked at her made her very uncomfortable, as if she were already his.

Bah! Don't you even look at yourself?! Pointy face, murky eyes, skinny and small body, looks like a big rat. Get the hell away from me!

The eunuch's high-pitched voice rang out, "Later, the Grand Master will come to select a few personal maids for Consort Zhao. You all better be on your guard! First, don't offend the Grand Master! Second, perform well. If you're chosen, you'll be able to serve Consort Zhao and enjoy endless blessings! You'll have to thank me later!"

As he spoke, his eyes would occasionally glance at Li Yunyan, making her skin crawl. She mentally called upon the system.

"System, teleport me to the storyline!"

[Story progress in progress...]

After reading the plot, Li Yunyan sighed, "The original owner of this body was really a pitiful little thing!"

She was originally the legitimate daughter of a fifth-rank official. However, her birth mother died early, and her father remarried. After her stepmother gave birth to a son and a daughter, Li Yunyan was forgotten by her father and became a little orphan with neither father nor mother's love.

It was bad enough that she lived a hard life, but as Li Yunyan grew up, her stepmother and stepsister saw her as a thorn in their side. They not only cut off her allowance but also made things difficult for her both openly and secretly, making her life worse than that of the maids in the mansion.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. The original owner gritted her teeth and waited for the day she would get married so she could escape this cage.

As a result, His Majesty decided to hold a talent show.

His Majesty is licentious and dissolute. He holds a selection of concubines every year, and there are at least eight hundred or a thousand women in his harem. However, he is extremely stingy with the women selected for the selection, rarely granting them high positions. Even if they give birth to children, they are only rewarded with a little gold, silver, and cloth, and there is no hope of them ever getting ahead.

Not only that, His Majesty is also very cruel. From time to time, we hear of concubines dying under mysterious circumstances, but the palace doesn't even give an explanation.

He also placed great trust in a eunuch named Yunyi, entrusting him with all the important affairs of the court while he indulged in debauchery and did not concern himself with any matters.

Yun Yi wielded immense power, serving as the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and also overseeing the mysterious Eastern Depot, making him virtually second only to the emperor.

Many people privately call him: Ninth Prince.

Legend has it that this Ninth Prince was bloodthirsty and ruthless, a demon who killed without blinking an eye. Once, a palace maid accidentally touched the hem of his robe and was instantly killed by him.

With such an emperor and such a powerful eunuch, the ministers were naturally reluctant to send their daughters into the palace.

This time it was Li Yunyan's turn. Her stepsister didn't want to participate in the election, so she thought of her older sister!

However, they worried that if Li Yunyan gained the emperor's favor due to her beauty, she might turn against them later. Therefore, they bribed the eunuch in charge of the key points, ensuring that Li Yunyan was eliminated in the round before meeting the emperor.

Those who failed in this round of selection were not allowed to return home and could only stay in the palace as maids.

They were also afraid that Li Yunyan, a palace maid, would do a good job, so they had the eunuchs arrange for her to be chosen by Consort Zhao.

Consort Zhao is currently the emperor's most favored concubine. She is narrow-minded and vicious. She cannot bear to see anyone more beautiful than her. All the palace maids serving her are carefully selected women of mediocre appearance.

Upon seeing the original owner, she immediately ordered her face to be slashed and thrown back into the Imperial Household Department.

From then on, the original owner lived a dark and hopeless life in the Yeting Bureau, doing the dirtiest and most tiring work, and was always hungry and cold. In the end, she was played with and tortured to death by various eunuchs.

Li Yunyan frowned, suppressing her anger, and calmly observed her current situation.

She realized that she had just been summoned by that eunuch and was now standing at the head of the group. If the Grand Eunuch arrived later, he would see her first!

Now is not the time to stand in the center! Li Yunyan quietly moved her feet back, wanting to retreat to the position she had been standing in at the beginning.

"Um?"

The eunuch snorted.

Did your family ask you to come back?

Damn it!

Standing in such a prominent position, even if she isn't chosen, she'll still infuriate the Grand Eunuch!

With such obvious targeting, Li Yunyan didn't need to investigate to know that the eunuch bribed by her stepmother and stepsister was the one standing in front of her.

She remembered his face vividly: You little rat! You just wait!

Just as Li Yunyan was fiercely remembering her enemy, she heard two voices.

A sharp, thin stream of water cried out, "The Master of the Seal has arrived!"

A message from the depths of my mind: [Ding! Excellent male detected! Please prioritize the mission and complete it diligently!]

As Li Yunyan bowed along with the others, she cursed in her mind, "System, you're becoming more and more shameless! You're even going after eunuchs!"

The system quickly sent her a photo, explaining, "[Host! Yun Yi is a fake eunuch!]"

Damn it!

So exciting!

She looked at the photo the system had sent her: a handsome, pale-skinned man with a cold, aloof air! His icy gaze, his thin lips pressed into a line, and his neck completely covered up—he exuded an air of asceticism!

She's never eaten this kind of dish before!

Li Yunyan unconsciously raised her hand to touch the corner of her mouth—she shouldn't be drooling, right?

Yun Yi sensed the subtle movements of the person beneath his feet and glanced at them with displeasure.

This palace maid was standing so close to the front and so unruly that it was hard to ignore her.

“Raise your head.”

It was a clear, gentle voice with a touch of aloofness, much more pleasant than the hoarse voices of other eunuchs, with a hint of androgyny.

Li Yunyan was unaware that he was talking about her; she was completely absorbed in fantasizing about her.

Then she saw a pair of black boots embroidered with gold appear below her line of sight, and one of the boots was raised and kicked her leg.

"You, raise your head!"