Chapter 1 Chapter 1
The breeze blew the scriptures, passing through page after page.
The woman who should have been concentrating on copying scriptures at the desk had already fallen into a deep sleep with a silk fan in her hand.
The afternoon sunlight shines through the curtains, revealing half of the beauty's face on the thin silk.
Shen Youyi's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she refused to get up to wash and dress, so as not to interrupt the discussion of the palace people outside the hall.
"It's already been three months, why hasn't the imperial edict come yet?"
The young palace maid's voice dropped to a whisper as she muttered, "They say love blossoms when you meet someone. The Imperial Concubine is the most favored by His Majesty. How could His Majesty be so willing to leave such a beautiful woman all alone in Tangquan Palace for several months?"
"Xilan, what year is that old calendar?"
The older palace servants were a bit disdainful and scoffed before saying, "She's not praying for the Empress Dowager, she was clearly banished from the palace by His Majesty. If His Majesty hadn't remembered the Duke of Yan's legacy of following the Emperor, do you think she could still be peacefully reciting scriptures and copying books in the temporary palace? She's a woman who can't settle down at home. Even if she could marry His Majesty, what's the use? She'd already ruined her bright future without the help of those people in the palace. Does she really think His Majesty belongs to her alone?"
Her voice gradually lowered, as if she were sharing some shameful palace secrets with her companions. The young palace maid grew increasingly disheartened as she listened, "Sister Hanxun's aunt is close to Madam Xiuyuan, so she won't have to worry about her future. But it's different for me..."
"But I really can't understand. The Imperial Concubine is usually so kind and gentle to us, and speaks so softly. How could she dare to disobey His Majesty right here?"
Shen Youyi also pricked up her ears quietly.
She wanted to know more than Xilan how Concubine Wei, whose original appearance was 80% similar to hers, dared to offend the emperor?
Ten days ago, she pierced her arm and wrote her first love letter in blood and ink. She bribed the jailer with the pearl hairpin given to her by the prince, begging him to try to send the letter to the Eastern Palace.
After she entered the palace as a girl from a good family, the prince secretly took her boating on Taiye Lake in the middle of the night, swore an oath under the moon, and even flirted with her with his lips.
Young men are full of blood and passion, and it is inevitable that they are lustful. Shen Chuyi still remembers the first time she met the Crown Prince in the Second Prince's Mansion. She struggled desperately after falling into the water, swallowing several mouthfuls of lake water. In the darkness, she didn't grab a life-saving straw, but instead grabbed the Crown Prince's...
She was like a water banshee, greedily absorbing a few mouthfuls of the other party's yang energy, and then she opened her eyes belatedly, feeling embarrassed and anxious, and immediately "fainted".
There were clearly guards beside him, but he condescended to her like a ray of light descending from heaven, breaking through the chaotic green water and embracing her with one arm. As for that awkward yet unintentional reaction, it was not something she, the daughter of the governor of Yuezhou, could care about.
As the heir apparent, the Crown Prince only occasionally lent a helping hand and disdained to repay the favor. However, it just so happened that in February of the fifteenth year of Yuanshuo, the current emperor was interested in selecting wives and concubines for his sons and nephews, and the inner court was looking for girls from good families. Her brother was also about to take the imperial examination...
It's not that the prince covets my beauty, but that the Shen family is grateful and repays his kindness.
After all, from the moment she met the prince, she knew that she had to fall in love with this man at first sight, and it would be best if he was also obsessed with her.
However, before Emperor Yuanshuo could choose a princess consort, two concubines and several successors to the throne, the King of Yue rebelled. The rebellion was suppressed within two months, and the Shen family also suffered. The men were imprisoned and the women and infants were thrown into the torture chamber.
The sisters who used to greet her with smiles immediately avoided her. The greedy gazes of the jailers were as dark and sticky as the smell of the torture chamber, clinging to her tightly and making her feel sick.
Shen Youyi didn't expect that fleeting romance would allow the prince to stand up for the Shen family when the emperor was furious, but she had no relatives in the palace. Apart from the sunlight that leaked in at noon every day and this infatuation, she really didn't know what else to look forward to.
One day, the prison door will open from the outside, and sunlight will pour into the dark and damp prison. The prince, dressed in casual clothes, will come towards her in a hurry. Seeing his suffering lover, his face will turn pale and tears will roll down his face. He will pick her up and tell her that the emperor has found out the truth and cleared the name of the Shen family. He will definitely make up for the suffering she has endured in the future. When he becomes emperor in the future, he will make her a concubine, a concubine, or even an empress.
No one can look down on her!
But her sweet dream accidentally lasted too long and something went wrong. When she woke up, she found herself in May of the 20th year of Yuan Shuo, and even took over the body of a beauty who was more charming and beautiful than her. What's even worse is that this beauty was Emperor Yuan Shuo's new concubine!
Shen Youyi felt like crying but had no tears. Her parents knew that she was beautiful and had always hoped that she would be favored by a noble. Although this wish had now come true, the one who doted on her was not the prince they thought, but his biological father... the current emperor Yuan Shuo.
The tastes of the father and son are very similar.
Fortunately, she is no longer the emperor's favorite concubine. Otherwise, once her true identity was known to others, they would definitely regard her as a demon and would have to hire someone to perform a ritual to burn her alive!
Hanxun's voice slowed down at this moment, as if she had shuddered, and she scolded: "Don't ask if you shouldn't ask. Do you still want to be transferred to Madam Xiuyuan?"
Xilan was a little stunned. Before she could open her mouth to question, a familiar chuckle came from the hall.
The voice was as gentle as ever, and it was getting closer and closer.
"The governor is allowed to set fires, but the people are not allowed to light lamps. Hanxun, what's your logic?"
The beauty in plain clothes and with her hair loose, walked lightly with lotus steps, wearing only a pair of white silk stockings, and appeared silently in front of the window.
The imperial concubine was looking at them with a smile, her eyes innocent and pure.
The two men's faces turned pale instantly. This Sutra Repository was the room where the imperial concubine copied books, but she seemed to have forgotten about it recently. She disliked the atmosphere of this place and seldom set foot there.
When the palace maids wanted to chat and be lazy, they would often use the excuse of drying books. They would just pick up a few piles of classics and pretend to flip through them outside to dry. The imperial concubine might know about it, but she would never bother them.
Hanxun was stunned as if struck by lightning. Instead, Xilan was quick to pull her down to her knees. Her frail body trembled with fear. "Madam, please forgive us. We didn't know you were here and disturbed your meditation. Please have mercy on us!"
Shen Youyi secretly listened for several days and found that these palace servants were just secretly saying bad things about their masters. There was very little useful stuff. She was disappointed and didn't want to listen anymore.
"You also said that I was a pure cultivator and wanted to argue with people like you, as if I was a mean person."
Shen Youyi nodded and said thoughtfully: "I have lost the favor of the emperor and have brought trouble to your bright future. In this case, I will just be a good person and send you to Yang Xiuyuan, okay?"
Hanxun shook her head desperately. Although her aunt had promised to transfer her back to serve the prince after Concubine Wei completely lost her power, if she was sent back by the concubine, with Yang Xiuyuan's stubborn temper, she was afraid that she would never survive!
"My lady, I was just out of my mind, that's why I spoke nonsense. Please, for the sake of the Crown Prince...and the Concubine, please forgive me this time!"
Hanxun took two steps on her knees, stretched out her delicate hands, and tried to grab a piece of her clothes to beg for mercy: "This servant has served you the longest, and I do all the needlework for your skin. If someone else were to do it suddenly, I'm afraid you wouldn't like it."
Shen Youyi laughed softly. What she said was right. These days, she could barely piece together a little of her original body's past from the words of the people around her, and it was inseparable from Hanxun's unscrupulous mouth.
Emperor Yuan Shuo's concubine, Consort Wei, was named Lan Zhen. She was the third daughter of Duke Yan, Wei Jingzhong. She was extremely charming and elegant. Even though she had the reputation of being a newly widowed woman, her husband was a general who died in the battlefield. They had no children. It was inevitable that such a beautiful woman could not bear the loneliness. If she had not refused to marry someone of lower status, she would have received many proposals to marry her.
Although the current emperor has six palaces, as he grows older, his interest in this matter has faded, and it is rare for concubines to come to the palace.
The two of them met because Emperor Yuan Shuo and the Crown Prince were traveling incognito when they happened to visit the residence of Duke Yan. He heard that this old minister under his command would one day be troubled by his daughter's marriage, so he simply hired Lady Wei as a concubine and had her taken care of in the palace.
It was destined that Lady Wei's luck would turn. Within three months of entering the palace, the Wei clan had made new achievements. The Empress specially requested that she be promoted to a higher rank, alongside the Crown Prince's biological mother, Yang Xiuyuan, as one of the Nine Concubines. Later, it happened to be the 20th year of the Emperor's reign, and the Empress Dowager took charge of the six palaces, conferring titles on them. Even though Wei Lanzhen had no children, she was promoted to a noble concubine, and she became the most popular concubine at the time.
Although Concubine Wei herself suffered misfortunes one after another after a brief period of glory in the palace, Shen Youyi was still shocked by everything she saw.
As a female prisoner, even though Concubine Wei had angered the emperor, she still lived in a fine house and slept on a high bed with soft pillows. The delicious vegetarian food allowed her to eat two more bowls of rice at every meal. Her originally plump figure not only did not diminish in the slightest, but even gained a bit of charm... Even though she had fallen to such a state, she was still one level higher than Yang Xiuyuan, who almost became her mother-in-law!
And from what Hanxun said, the prince, whom she once had to please in every possible way, even sent his own outstanding embroiderer to serve him in order to show his filial piety to this favored young stepmother.
Shen Youyi sighed softly, feeling a little melancholy. Comparing herself to others is frustrating. Most of her wishes have been fulfilled in this body, but some aspects are far from her original idea.
I wonder if when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince paid his respects to Concubine Wei, he ever felt dazed for a moment, thinking that his lover, to whom he had sworn eternal love, was still suffering in the torture chamber?
This sigh fell into Hanxun's ears, and it actually had some other meaning.
It is true that Concubine Wei was kind to the palace ladies, but the vicious rumors about her before she entered the palace might also be true.
"The Crown Princess wants you to come here, isn't it to serve me?"
Shen Youyi said nonchalantly: "Since it has been sent here, it will be my responsibility to deal with it from now on. Is it possible that the disposal of a slave in the inner court also depends on the mood of the East Palace?"
It would have been fine if she was at the mercy of others when her life was in jeopardy in the palace, but why was she still being bullied by her own palace servants after changing her body?
Qianlan was about to speak when she saw the head maid Tan Rui rushing over with six or seven palace maids. She begged, "Aunt, please say a few good words for us servants. We will never dare to be lazy again!"
Tan Rui heard the noise from afar and knew that the two had offended their master. She glanced at them with some displeasure and hurried in to serve. Seeing that the imperial concubine was leaning against the window with only her silk stockings tied on, she hurriedly bent down to put on Shen Youyi's shoes.
In the past few days, the imperial concubine did not allow palace servants to get close to her when she was sitting in meditation. She only smiled when she was having meals and having fun. There was no news from the palace, and the servants were becoming increasingly lazy, but the imperial concubine did not seem to care much.
But this time, she seemed really angry. The imperial concubine's hands trembled slightly with anger. She didn't even give her a chance to plead for mercy. She said coldly: "Tell someone to go to the Ye Ting Bureau and select a few young and smart people to serve!"
The imperial concubine is a picky person. The last time the inner court recruited girls from good families was in the 15th year of Yuanshuo. Even in recent years, there have been palace maids sent from all over the country and the wives of criminals who were brought into the palace after their property was confiscated. The outstanding women have already emerged. Now, choosing a few palace maids from the Yunting Bureau who are good at needlework and have not done any rough work is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
It would be better to go to the Shaofu Bureau and ask for a few experienced embroiderers to serve you.
However, the imperial concubine was angry. Tan Rui hesitated for a moment and answered yes. She saw that the imperial concubine sat down at the desk again, but had no intention of writing. She had no choice but to let the accompanying palace people wait outside for instructions while she went to take care of these trivial matters.
Shen Youyi looked at the elegant and graceful handwriting on the desk, but his thoughts gradually drifted away.
She took over Concubine Wei's body for no reason, not only extending her life but also enjoying her wealth. She tried her best not to reveal any flaws, so as not to be mistaken for a monster and captured and killed. This was also her duty.
It has been several years since the Shen family was defeated. Those who should have been executed have long since died, and the female family members who survived are probably living a life worse than death. As a human being in her second life, she should be more open-minded.
But she still couldn't help but have some hope.
Are the original her and A Niang still alive?
If "Chen Youyi" is still alive, could the person living in that body be Wei Lanzhen?
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