Chapter 1: I didn't want to attend Shen Hegui's palace banquet and risk being humiliated on Xuanwu Street...
The Lantern Festival had just passed, and the lingering chill of winter carried a faint hint of bloodshed.
The palace coup that occurred early yesterday morning had no impact on the bustling activity on Xuanwu Street today. After all, for ordinary people, even if the sky were to fall, their first priority is to earn money for today's meals. It's far more practical to keep an eye on the price of rice, even if it's just a few coins higher or lower, than to worry about who sits on the throne.
Not far from the main street, there is an alley called "Luan Shu" (meaning "Golden Rain Tree"). The alley is named after a tall golden rain tree at its end, and next to the tree is a small and exquisite courtyard with two gates.
In the east wing of the courtyard, Lu Wensheng sat up from the couch, gently pushed away the blue official robe that Yingniang handed him, rubbed his forehead, and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't wear this yet, let me escape for a while longer. What time is it now?"
"It's almost the end of the 9 AM," Yingniang said softly. She thoughtfully took out a white round-necked robe embroidered with silver bamboo and gave it to Lu Wensheng to change into. This was Lu Wensheng's favorite new outfit recently.
Lu Wensheng took a deep breath to relieve the pressure in his heart.
I slept for four hours, but when I woke up I felt like I had been beaten up. I was weak, had a headache, a sore back, and my knees were slightly swollen and painful.
Thinking about having to attend the Crown Prince's palace banquet at 1-3 PM, she now had an urge to find a stick and smash her bones open.
Last night at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), the day after the Lantern Festival, the festive atmosphere in Yanjing was still lingering. Crown Prince Shen Hegui, who was imprisoned in the imperial mausoleum, led a group of elite soldiers recruited from who-knows-where and stormed directly into the imperial city. What's even more strange is that in Yanjing, which has a population of millions, the Crown Prince's army didn't even disturb a chicken.
Therefore, at the first morning court session after the New Year, the civil and military officials were terrified to see Shen Hegui seated high on the dragon throne in the Fengtian Hall. After all, everyone thought that Shen Hegui was finished, and that Prince Su would definitely become the next crown prince and ascend the throne in the first half of this year.
Last year, under the silent pressure of Emperor Qinghe (Shen Rui), and led by Grand Secretary Zhang Mianzhi, all civil and military officials swore oaths to Prince Su to demonstrate their loyalty to the imperial power. Even the Crown Prince's faction, who had previously remained steadfast in their orthodoxy and kept silent, were no exception. After all, everyone only has one head and one life, not to mention the families they have to support; they can disregard their own safety but not their families.
As a seventh-rank editor, her rank was not high enough to warrant attending the morning court session. However, yesterday happened to be the grand court assembly after the festival, which even lowly ninth-rank officials in Yanjing had to attend, let alone her.
Located in the north, Yanjing was experiencing a severe cold snap in early spring. As Prince Su's number one lackey, she had to kneel in the icy Fengtian Hall all day yesterday, not daring to breathe or go to the toilet. She held it in from noon until night, her mind filled with images of her past bullying of the Crown Prince and his cronies.
As for why she became Prince Su's unwavering lackey, it was all because of her official position. Besides being responsible for compiling historical and literary works, the compilers of the Hanlin Academy were also required to assist the Grand Secretariat in drafting imperial edicts. It was probably because she was such an excellent lackey that His Majesty, out of affection for her son Prince Su, summoned her to draft the edict for his heir apparent. Furthermore, because of her beautiful handwriting, she was chosen to write the newly drafted edict for him.
As a flower nurtured by modern education in loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and having access to core secrets, Lu Wensheng silently resolved on the spot to be irreconcilably opposed to Crown Prince Shen Hegui, resolutely supporting all decisions made by His Majesty the Emperor and Prince Su. After all, without the support of his maternal clan, without the emperor's favor, without soldiers, money, or power, the Crown Prince, completely sidelined, was destined for failure and could not recover.
As a favorite of His Majesty and the Crown Prince, she lived a life of great success during that time. Even when Shen Hegui met her on the road, he had to put on a blank face and give her a greeting to show his goodwill.
The powerful and influential Mingyue, by bowing her head and feigning weakness, easily won over anyone, stirring up desire within the sexually neutral Mingyue herself. However, she understood that Shen Hegui, as a political enemy of Prince Su, was a major obstacle to her path to wealth and power, so she swiftly nipped her feelings for him in the bud.
Later, she always looked down on Shen Hegui and said to him no less than a hundred times: "Your Highness the Crown Prince looks like a beautiful woman. Every time I see him, I am moved. It is such a pity that he is born a man."
Strictly speaking, this was already an insult, but at the time she was so infatuated with the Emperor and Prince Su that she lost her mind and ended up making a terrible mistake.
That was in the twelfth month of the year before last. The crown prince was demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in the imperial mausoleum for life because of his debauchery and immoral conduct.
She naturally wanted to join in the excitement of her political rival being driven out of the capital. And because it was nearing the end of the year and a heavy snow was falling, she specially wore warm and thick new clothes to show off to the Crown Prince that she had chosen the right master. Coincidentally, on her way there, she passed a clothing store having a clearance sale, and she bought a few new outfits for her mother and Yingniang.
The shopkeeper was well-informed and shrewd. Seeing that she was a celebrity in Yanjing, he gave her a bright red women's cloak embroidered with purple flowers after she paid the bill, and said a lot of nice things to her, making her extremely arrogant.
The city gates of Yanjing were vast and wide, and a biting wind blew into the incredibly simple prison cart from all directions. The once radiant Crown Prince was now dressed and looked like a beggar, his hands and feet red with cold. She showed no compassion, dismissing the guards and immediately launching into a vicious attack.
"What does it matter if he is the eldest son or the legitimate heir? In the end, the legitimate line can't withstand the emperor's favoritism. If I were His Highness, I would rather just kill myself."
She reached out and pinched Shen Hegui's chin, her words flippant like a lecherous glutton: "Tsk tsk tsk, how pitiful and regrettable. Why don't you lick my feet properly, Your Highness? If you lick them well, I'll be happy, and I'll consider arranging for a few people to enter the imperial mausoleum to take good care of Your Highness. Of course, if Your Highness is willing to become my lover, a substitution is not out of the question."
Shen Hegui turned his head slightly, ignoring her. She couldn't see the intriguing look in Shen Hegui's eyes behind his disheveled hair. At that moment, she was preoccupied with the fact that the tiger in Pingyang had rejected her, so in her frustration, she humiliated Shen Hegui again.
"Your Highness's beauty surpasses even that of courtesans. If you were to wear a hairpin and a dress, even the most beautiful courtesan would be ashamed of herself. I cannot bear to see a beautiful woman suffer, so I will give this cloak to you in the hope that you will change your mind."
Looking back now, she was nothing like herself that day; it was as if she had taken some kind of mad drug and had the audacity of a leopard.
Even if a tiger falls into the plains and becomes a tiger, it doesn't change species and become a harmless kitten.
What happens if you choose the wrong side in court? Dismissal? Imprisonment? Exile? Lu Wensheng tugged at her breast wrap to make it easier to take a deep breath, then sat down in front of the dressing mirror so that Yingniang could comb her hair.
In the brass mirror, her eyes were long and large, full of affection, with snow-white skin, red lips, and a slender face. Wearing a white jade crown, she looked like a fox spirit from the mountains who could be both male and female, the kind who would seduce respectable men in the middle of the night.
She desperately wanted to take back what she had said to Shen Hegui. She had narrowed her path and gone too far. She hoped that the palace banquet this afternoon would result in her dismissal from office, and not imprisonment or exile, as the latter two would surely expose her true identity as a woman.
Disguising herself as a man to take the imperial examinations, at best, violated ethical norms; at worst, it challenged the entire social system and imperial power, constituting treason and deceiving the emperor. According to the law, she should be executed by hanging or beheading, and her family would also suffer the consequences.
Numbly thinking about this, Lu Wensheng suddenly turned to Yingniang and instructed, "Pack your everyday clothes in a bit. After I leave, take Mother to the city gate and try to sneak out of Yanjing. If I am sentenced to exile or imprisonment, you must run away as far as possible."
Lu Wensheng turned too fast, and Yingniang couldn't react in time. A few strands of her black hair got caught on the peach wood comb, but she didn't feel any pain. She was still carefully instructing her: "Remember to hide the silver notes and copper coins separately. Don't carry too many and attract attention. When you're out, remember not to flaunt your wealth, and don't dress too neatly. Just pretend to be like any other refugee. Wait until things calm down before you start living a proper life again."
“Okay,” Yingniang replied. Ever since she learned yesterday that Prince Su had disappeared, His Majesty was seriously ill and assassinated, and the Crown Prince had returned to control the court, she knew that the Lu family was most likely to face a great calamity.
Last night, her husband wanted her to leave and even offered her a lot of money, but she refused without a second thought. After all, without her husband, she might have died long ago on the bed of some powerful or wealthy man.
If the young master cannot protect himself and escape now, she will take good care of the old lady in the future.
The atmosphere inside was somber, and Lu Wensheng looked gloomy. Yingniang wanted to ease the somber mood, so she led Lu Wensheng to look outside.
“My lord, look out the window. There’s a yellow turtle.” She had seen that turtle yesterday and found it strange, so she thought she could use it to cheer Lu Wensheng up for a while, even if it was just for a little while.
Lu Wensheng subconsciously looked up and looked outside.
In Yanjing, land is incredibly valuable and daily expenses are extremely high. So, besides seasonal vegetables, there are only a few sparse bamboo stalks in the courtyard. There are no precious flowers or trees, no ponds or rockeries, and the view is completely unobstructed.
The yellow-shelled turtle is no bigger than the palm of your hand, with a short neck and even shorter legs. It crawls slowly and comically, like an amateur turtle.
The struggling tortoise roused Lu Wensheng from her drowsy memories. She seemed to have had a dream where a similar yellow-shelled tortoise kept crying and nagging in her ear: "Host, I've finally found you! The plot of this restricted story has gone way off track! Wake up, accept the mission, and save your system!"
She found it hilarious. Firstly, she'd been terrified from 5 a.m. until the early hours of the next day—she wouldn't want to wake up even if the sky were falling. Secondly, she'd become a victim of the power struggle within the imperial court; if the plot went astray, so be it—what did it have to do with her, who was about to die? So in her dream, she grabbed the tortoise and threw it out the window.
When the yellow-shelled turtle saw Lu Wensheng looking over, it convulsed even more violently, crying out: "Host, you've finally seen me! I've crawled thousands of miles, been stewed no less than twenty times, and finally found you! Waaaaah..."
Lu Wensheng stared blankly at the tortoise, then slowly narrowed his eyes.
What did the turtle in my dream say again?
It seems to be her! Lu Wensheng! She's the vicious female supporting character in this restricted novel! She's a womanizer in Yanjing, dating eight men in one night, all with the goal of getting into the bed of the male lead, Crown Prince Shen Hegui, hoping to conquer him with her skills and become his empress!
In her dream, the little yellow turtle not only told her that she hadn't transmigrated but had transmigrated into a book, but also explained to her what "restricted literature" meant in terms of subject matter, plot, content, and values.
What a joke! What is restricted content? How could a seasoned Huangjiang girl who frequents Xiaohuangjiang all year round not know!
Assuming the turtle really is a system, and she wasn't hallucinating, then the current situation is truly terrible. Shen Hegui has a huge male lead aura, while she has a huge debuff. What good can come of a vicious female supporting character offending the male lead?! And this is a restricted novel!
Since that's the case, let's all perish together! Why didn't you warn her sooner!
Lu Wensheng strode forward, swiftly closed the window, and said to Yingniang, "Yellow turtles are unlucky, quickly catch them and throw them into the public latrine on Xuanwu Street!"
A note from the author:
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1V1
It is a fictional work, with the official system modeled after the Ming Dynasty.
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