1. The government arrests people.
Take me to the biggest restaurant.
The Prime Minister's Residence, Qingyao Garden.
Small copper bells hang under the eaves, ringing in the wind.
Hua Yao stared at her face in the carved bronze mirror, a moment of confusion flashing in her eyes.
The person in the mirror has an oval face, a high nose bridge, naturally slightly raised eyebrows, and a charming look in the corners of their eyes.
Aside from the pallor that revealed her recent recovery from a serious illness, she looked exactly like herself.
Now she's certain, she's traveled through time!
She was born in the 21st century and grew up in a child welfare institution. Due to her exceptional talent in traditional Chinese medicine, she received focused support from the civil affairs department from a young age. She is currently nineteen years old and a sophomore at Nanzhou University, minoring in psychology.
From city competitions to national competitions, she has won numerous honors thanks to her photographic memory of drug properties and her superb operating skills.
The awards ceremony seems like it was just yesterday. She had just won the honor, and her friend immediately dragged her to the canyon for some rafting to relax.
The river suddenly plunged, and the rubber boat crashed into a reef, cracking open. She barely managed to grab the safety rope before being swept away by the rapids caused by the drop.
The teardrop pendant around her neck swayed, the red thread tracing a crescent moon arc with each drop of water, slowly blurring in her eyes…
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in this ornately decorated mansion, now known as the second young lady of the Prime Minister's residence who had been missing for two days, according to the maids.
Having been missing for two days, her already tarnished reputation has now become even more infamous, with all sorts of foul language circulating throughout the government and the public...
-
Looking at herself in the mirror, Hua Yao had no interest in reputation whatsoever. What she wanted to know most right now was why she had transmigrated. Could it be that she had read some novel and transmigrated into it? But she was certain she hadn't.
She lowered her eyes and looked at the red thread pendant on her dressing case, a gift from one of her patients who suffered from depression. It was also the only thing she had brought with her.
Bring it over?
Realizing something, she quickly lifted her shirt and glanced at it, where a light pink plum blossom birthmark, about the size of a little fingertip, was clearly visible below her left collarbone.
She's had this birthmark since she was little.
“Pian, Pianzhu,” she stood up nimbly, her voice urgent and even trembling, “Did I have anything on me before?”
Pianzhu was tidying her clothes when she turned around and saw her young lady running over, lifting her skirt, completely unlike her usual well-behaved self.
“Girl! You can’t run around like that next time. If Aunt Fang sees you, you’ll get another lecture.”
"Forget about Aunt Fang or Aunt Yuan, answer my question first. Did I have any patterns or anything like that on my body before?"
Pianzhu was puzzled. The young lady had been found by the guards in the river in the western suburbs yesterday. As soon as she woke up, she looked around anxiously, preventing her from seeing the physician and bombarding her with questions about the household affairs. She couldn't even remember her own name or her own name. Had she lost her mind?
“Yesterday when I helped the young lady change her clothes, I noticed that there was a plum blossom mark under her shoulder for some reason.”
Hua Yao gasped, feeling her blood instantly turn ice-cold.
It wasn't a soul transmigration. Did she transmigrate entirely as a person?
And Pianzhu even discovered the key point? She didn't suspect her?
What happened to the original second daughter of the Prime Minister's family? Where is she now?
Pianzhu noticed that her young mistress's face was a little pale, and she asked worriedly, "Is the young mistress feeling unwell? I'll go and fetch the female doctor."
Hua Yao smiled wryly, her tone tinged with a hint of probing, "No, no, I just wanted to ask about this mark on me..."
Pianzhu seemed to understand. "Miss, don't worry. I checked and there was no wound. Besides, the female doctor was on leave yesterday." A blush appeared on Pianzhu's face. "That place... it's really inappropriate to call the doctor, so I didn't make a fuss."
Hua Yao had just breathed a sigh of relief when she started racking her brains about how to explain the birthmark to Pian Zhu.
If she says now that she's not the second young lady of the manor, will she be mistaken for a monster and exorcised?
Monsters? A thought suddenly flashed through my mind. The ancients believed most in "ghosts and gods" and "divine will."
She sniffed softly, tilted her head back, letting the tears hang precariously on her eyelashes. "Pianzhu, the day I fell into the water, I was on the verge of death when I saw an old immortal. He said that I was destined to suffer this calamity, and if I survived, a mark would be left on my body, but... no one else could know about it."
Pianzhu listened attentively, looking at her with heartache. "Don't worry, miss, I won't tell anyone," she said, her voice slightly choked. "Thank goodness you're unharmed." Otherwise, the lord would skin me alive when he returned.
Hua Yao looked at Pian Zhu; she and her daughter must have a very deep bond. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you."
...
No one in the household suspected her, presumably because the two women looked alike. Moreover, when she woke up, she had already discovered her name, which turned out to be the same as her own in the 21st century.
What a coincidence!
She continued to probe Pianzhu for information under the pretext of amnesia, but before she could get any information, Aunt Fang, who had come to visit, discovered that she had woken up and summoned her to the main hall.
All she knows now is that she is the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's family, her mother died when she was five years old, and her father, Hua Yanbo, is the current Prime Minister.
Grandmother Wei doted on the younger generation in the household. Her only concubine, Fang, had one son and two daughters. Her eldest daughter, Hua Rong, married the heir of the Marquis of Anguo three months ago; her second daughter, Hua Yin, was currently living with her maternal grandparents; and her son, Hua Ling, was ten years old and served as a tutor to the Crown Prince in the palace.
--
The main hall of the Prime Minister's residence was filled with the gentle fragrance of sandalwood incense.
Hua Yao sat upright in the pear wood chair, her back ramrod straight.
"It's good that you're awake, it's good that you're awake!" The old lady, Madam Wei Yijun, who sat in the main seat, twirled her prayer beads, her eyes red-rimmed. "These past two days, Grandmother's heart has been almost dried up."
"It's a blessing for Mother to dote on Yao'er." Aunt Fang, sitting at the lower end of the table, wiped her tearless eyes with a handkerchief, her voice so gentle it could melt water.
"However, Yao-jie is an unmarried girl with a bad reputation to begin with, and now she's been out and about for two days in a rather ambiguous way... there's all sorts of filthy talk going around on the streets."
She glanced at Hua Yao and saw that she was indifferent and seemed to be lost in thought.
She raised her voice, "A woman's reputation is more important than her life. Besides, the Prime Minister's family is a noble and respectable family. In my opinion, it would be better to send her to the estate to avoid trouble for the time being. It would be for the young lady's own good."
"Nonsense!"
The old lady's face darkened, and she slammed her hand on the table with a "smack." The teacup wobbled, and a few drops of tea splashed out.
"How can we, the women of the Hua family, allow outsiders to speak ill of us?"
Hua Yao's thoughts were interrupted, so she had no choice but to look up and face the conversation in the hall.
She sighed helplessly. Did they really speak in such a sarcastic and insinuating way?
Aunt Fang shrank back slightly at the old lady's words; she was still a little intimidated by her. But she quickly sat up straight, her expression unchanged, and her tone became even more submissive.
"Mother, please calm down. I was only thinking of the Hua family. It's just that those rumors," she paused, as if considering how to say it, "...are too disgusting. People in the court are already spreading the news about it."
As she spoke, she covered her face again, "If Yanbo becomes the prime minister, and people gossip about him, and if it gets to the emperor's ears..." She deliberately left her sentence unfinished, so that people could think about the consequences themselves.
Sure enough, she saw the old lady pause in her fiddle with the prayer beads, and her brows furrow slightly.
Hua Yao sat quietly, silently observing the two men's reactions and expressions.
She had just arrived in unfamiliar surroundings, the relationships between the people in the household were still unclear, and her situation was uncertain. Too much talk would only lead to mistakes.
But continuing this stalemate is not a solution.
She rose and bowed to the old lady. "Grandmother," she said in a soft and obedient voice, "your granddaughter wishes to go to the estate for a quiet time."
This Aunt Fang insisted on sending her away, claiming it was for the sake of the Hua family's reputation; she must be someone not to be trifled with. As for the old lady… judging from Aunt Fang's words and her reaction, it's not hard to see that she is a person who values reputation.
High-class families are rife with intrigue and hidden dangers.
Since she was still unsure of how things worked in the mansion, she might as well go to the estate to find some peace and quiet and figure out how to get home.
Unexpectedly, Hua Yao agreed on her own, and so quickly, which caught Fang Wanru off guard. "You..."
"However, I do not accept such idle gossip."
Hua Yao smiled and turned to face Aunt Fang directly. "Aunt Fang, reputation is certainly precious," she said, her tone neither humble nor arrogant, but with an unquestionable stance, "but how can a woman's life and integrity be bound by the word 'reputation'?"
The room fell silent for a moment as soon as he finished speaking.
Wei Yijun, seated at the head of the table, looked up at Hua Yao. Her eldest granddaughter was born with a delicate constitution, but at this moment, she stood in the hall with her head held high, her eyes revealing an unyielding tenacity.
But in the end, she was just a girl...
Fang Wanru's face turned pale and then flushed, and she murmured a few times but couldn't utter a single word. The old lady valued her reputation but also had her pride; if she were to refute her now, wouldn't she be falling into Hua Yao's trap?
Just as she was thinking about how to deal with it, Wei Yijun, who was in the main seat, put down the prayer beads in her hand and looked at Fang Wanru, "Alright, it's time to pay more attention to Ling Ge'er's exam. He hasn't made any progress after studying at the palace for more than a month."
Fang Wanru was most annoyed by this; she had a son, but he was utterly disappointing.
She had no choice but to swallow her anger. "Yes," she said, bowing before leaving, not forgetting to glare at Hua Yao before she went.
"Yao-jie, don't go to any of those estates. Do you think I'd let anyone tell my granddaughter to go?" The old lady beckoned to Hua Yao.
Hua Yao walked over and sat down across the table as she was gestured to, "Grandmother."
Wei Yijun looked at her with affection, took her hand and patted it gently, "If you go to the manor, after some time, when your father returns from Luozhou and can't find her, he'll come to me to ask for her back."
Father… She thought of her own father, and a trace of sorrow flashed in her eyes.
The old lady rambled on for a few more minutes before letting them go home.
"Alright, you've just woken up, you should rest more. I'll have someone investigate your abduction and I'll definitely give you an explanation."
Kidnapped? The original owner of this body was kidnapped? Then where is she now?
Never mind, she can't worry about that now. I just hope she's not in any danger.
Since we're here, let's make the best of it.
She should settle down first and look for clues to get home.
...
The old lady disliked formalities and exempted the younger generation in the household from paying their respects.
For the next month or so, aside from meals and the old lady's occasional summons, Hua Yao spent almost all her time in the library, searching for any records that might be related to time travel. But there was nothing, absolutely nothing.
She closed the last local history book and rubbed her throbbing temples.
She couldn't wait any longer, so she decided to go for a walk.
Restaurants are places where all sorts of people gather, and they are the most well-informed.
"Pianzhu, take me to the biggest restaurant."
...
“Miss, you really can’t go. Your reputation has just suffered a setback. If you go to such a lively place, and Aunt Fang finds out, you’ll definitely get a beating.”
Hua Yao looked up and the eye-catching sign "Lin Yun Lou" came into view.
She turned her head to look at the worried Pianzhu beside her and found her rather cute. "Alright, you've been nagging all the way here. We're here now." With that, she stepped inside.
Pianzhu opened her mouth, but looking at her young lady's carefree back, she swallowed the rest of her words and jogged to catch up.
Her daughter had a bad reputation since childhood. At every banquet, even though she did nothing wrong, there were always unruly words like "improper behavior" and "disobedience" that were uttered, making her a negative example of how ladies of various households should raise their young children.
As time went on, the young lady became unwilling to leave the mansion and instead stayed in the courtyard reading books.
But since she woke up from the water, the girl seemed much more vibrant. She was delighted by the girl's vitality, but also afraid that the gossip would strike her even more fiercely.
--
The Lin Yun Tower was bustling with noise.
Hua Yao chose a quiet spot by the window on the second floor, ordered a jar of wine and some snacks. Her ears were perked up, trying to glean useful information from the noise.
"The owner of Zhang's Pharmacy is almost frantic; he's offering this reward for finding that cliff cypress!"
"That stuff grows on cliffs and is very difficult to harvest. No matter how much money you're offered, you still need to be alive to spend it, right?"
At the next table, a shirtless, burly man spoke in a loud voice, "I heard that the price of goods transported by the canal has gone up again. Are they trying to make a living?"
"The second young lady of the Prime Minister's residence went missing for several days before being found..."
"That's right. I thought he was just naughty when he was young, but I didn't expect him to be so useless now."
Hua Yao raised an eyebrow and let them say what they wanted; it wouldn't hurt her anyway.
On the other hand, Pianzhu was so anxious that she looked like she was about to rush up and confront them. Hua Yao reached out and patted the back of her hand to comfort her.
"They say there was an inside man who escaped, and now they're conducting a city-wide manhunt; the entire capital is under lockdown."
"That's quite something. I heard that even Duke Jin personally went after him."
These were all trivial matters, unrelated to what she sought.
She was somewhat disappointed, picked up the wine cup, and unconsciously rubbed the cup with her fingertips.
After some thought, Hua Yao decided to go out and find some extraordinary people on the street.
As soon as I reached the first floor, a commotion arose at the entrance, accompanied by rhythmic footsteps and shouts.
"The authorities are arresting people! Bystanders, get out of the way!"
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