Chapter 1: Dressed as a Poor Little Palace Maid

Xu Lanshan gradually regained consciousness from her drowsiness, and at the same time she felt pain all over her face, body, and arms. However, none of these pains could compare to the pain that was connected to her heart through her fingers.

She raised her hands with difficulty and saw the shocking pair of hands covered with purple bruises and scars, blood and flesh. She was so frightened that she closed her eyes.

So miserable!

The original owner was named Lanshan, a maidservant serving in the harem of Emperor Yongyuan of the Dawen Dynasty, Lady Song, a fifth-rank concubine.

Although Lanshan is good-looking, she is timid and cowardly. She always keeps her head down and keeps silent. She doesn't know how to dress up and her complexion is not good, so she is not very eye-catching.

However, just a few days ago, when Emperor Yuan Yong came to Concubine Song, he smiled and casually praised Lanshan's beautiful hands, and her nightmare began.

When Lady Song took a look, she saw that the fingers of those hands were as slender as bamboo shoots, white, tender and soft, and the shape of the hands was slender and graceful, which made her forget the world. Her own pair of pampered hands were actually outshined by them!

How can this be tolerated?

That wasn't all. The Emperor hadn't summoned Concubine Song to his bed for a long time. That day, she'd only been there for a short while before being asked to leave by another concubine. Concubine Song was then bullied by the other concubines, leaving her feeling extremely down. Her servant, Su Ying, was a pushover who loved to bully Lan Shan. The Emperor praised Lan Shan but never herself, and Su Ying, filled with jealousy, started gossiping with Concubine Song, accusing Lan Shan of harboring inappropriate thoughts and aspirations to climb onto the Emperor's bed.

"If she hadn't done it on purpose, how would the Emperor have noticed her hand?"

Lady Song thought it made sense. With so many angry people coming together, how could she not be furious? So she gave Lanshan a good scolding to vent her anger.

Su Ying was very proud and took this opportunity to torture Lan Shan. She stepped on and hit Lan Shan's hands, torturing him terribly.

Lanshan was covered in wounds and lay in a small, dim room, crying secretly. She had not a sip of tea, and only cold rice and cold dishes were left. There was no way a doctor could treat her injuries. She had a high fever for two days and then died.

Xu Lanshan traveled through time...

Xu Lanshan sighed softly, suppressing her pain. What kind of hell was this?! What was the point of traveling through time and space, waiting to die?

Just as she was daydreaming, she suddenly heard a "ding!" sound in her mind, followed by a clear voice of a little boy: "The palace fighting system has been successfully bound. Welcome to kiss!"

Xu Lanshan was startled: "W-what the hell?"

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the little boy's voice immediately said cheerfully: "It's not a toy, this is the palace fighting system, honey!"

Xu Lanshan was almost amused by this nonsense, which was equivalent to saying nothing at all: "...Can you give me an explanation, dear?"

"Of course, dear. The Palace Fighting System, as the name suggests, is a system that can help you fight in the palace! With the Palace Fighting System, you no longer have to worry about palace fighting. Help you punch the six palaces and trample the queen under your feet! Enjoy the emperor's favor, kill everyone, and improve your status in the near future! Supreme fine clothes, delicious food, glory and wealth are beckoning to you!"

Xu Lanshan: "Haha!" Xu Lanshan, who was once a top-tier executive at a major internet company, never believed in free lunches. So she said firmly: "Is that so? Then I'll just lie down and wait to be the queen! My dear, please make me the queen!"

“......Uh!” The little boy was speechless, and Xu Lanshan actually heard some embarrassment in his voice.

She was speechless for a moment and sneered, "Tell me the truth!"

"...The palace fighting system really means you're engaging in palace fighting. Leveling up will give you a big gift package. The higher the level, the richer the gift package. It's definitely beneficial to you. That is... well, there are also some tasks that you need to complete..."

Xu Lanshan sneered: "What mission?"

The little boy cheered up: "Don't worry, dear, the tasks will be issued step by step. It's definitely not difficult, really!"

"What if I can't finish it?"

"Will, will be wiped out by the system..."

Xu Lanshan cursed like crazy in her heart. She took a deep breath and asked, "Can I unbind it?"

"No, dear. Once you're bound to the system, you either complete the final mission and receive a super luxurious surprise gift package, or you fail to complete the mission and are eliminated by the system, or you are killed by other concubines while completing the mission and the system automatically releases you. So, dear, keep up the good work!"

Perhaps realizing that Xu Lanshan couldn't do anything to it, the system's voice became full of energy again, even a little - righteous?

Xu Lanshan once again cursed in her heart, "What is the final mission?"

"...Become the queen."

"you--"

She was now a low-ranking, unloved, unintelligent, unremarkable maid in a palace of beauties, unwelcome, covered in wounds. And how could she become an empress? A normal person wouldn't even dream of doing that, right?

"Or... getting the Emperor's true love and devotion would be fine, too, dear!"

Xu Lanshan said “Hehe” and was not comforted.

Want the emperor's sincerity and devotion? You might as well aim for the position of empress!

"Or you can choose both, and there will be a super super surprise and luxurious gift package waiting for you!"

"Shut up!"

Tired of cursing, Xu Lanshan accepted her fate.

Forget it, forget it, what else can I do now that I’m here?

In her current situation, honestly, staying with Concubine Song would definitely be a dead end. Even without this system, she would have no choice but to find a way to hook up with the emperor, the golden thigh.

"You won't just sit there and wait for death. You'll help me, right?"

"I'm not just eating and waiting to die, honey, I—"

"Yeah, yeah, you're just waiting for me to die," Xu Lanshan interrupted him unhappily, "Will you help me?"

The system agreed: "Yes, of course you can do that within the scope of the rules, dear. We are all in this together."

Xu Lanshan smiled slightly: "Well, now let's fix all my injuries, especially these hands. I want to be more perfect than before. Also, the skin on this body is not white and tender enough. Also, the waist should be a little thinner, and here in front -" She gestured with her hands, "a little bigger!"

Xu Lanshan's eyes lit up slightly. She just wanted better skin and figure. It was simple, right?

The system was completely messed up by her...

"Honey, healing is no problem, but other things are temporarily unavailable. Only after you complete the tasks can you receive certain improvements in various aspects, such as body shape, eyes, skin, hair quality, whitening, teeth straightening and cleaning, body flexibility, physical strength, agility, eyesight, hearing, sense of smell, voice, alcohol tolerance, body odor, etc. There are so many surprises!"

Xu Lanshan's eyes lit up slightly. Who doesn't want to be beautiful? Doesn't this mean a complete beauty treatment and improvement of all aspects of body quality? What the hell is this "body fragrance"?

"Honey, should we start the mission right away?"