Bizarre Time Travel
In the pitch-black night, all was quiet, except for the occasional sound of the night watchman's gong echoing down the long street.
A dim candle burned inside the room, and a painful groan came from within the green gauze curtain.
Jiang Yi groggily raised her hand to touch her head. Strange, why does my head hurt so much?
The area around her temples was covered in a dense, piercing pain, like needles were pricking her, and the back of her head was even worse, as if someone had hit her with a stone hammer.
My mind went blank, I couldn't remember anything, and my eyelids felt so heavy I couldn't open my eyes.
Before long, the green gauze curtain beside the bed was lifted, and the little maid bent down and gently shook Jiang Yi.
"Miss, Miss! Can you hear me?"
"Miss?"
"..."
The maid called her several times, but the person on the bed showed no signs of waking up.
She looked like she was haunted by some nightmare.
The maid's eyes instantly turned red. What could she do? She was in an unfamiliar place, and her young mistress had just married into the general's mansion. The curfew was probably already over by now. Where could she find a doctor?
She bit her lip, feeling saddened and heartbroken.
By the way, I heard that Young Master Lin takes medicine regularly, so perhaps he knows something about pharmacology? Maybe he has a solution?
No matter what, Miss is now his lawfully wedded wife, and it was a marriage bestowed by His Majesty. Surely he wouldn't just stand by and watch her die, would he?
Thinking of this, the little maid's eyes suddenly lit up. She couldn't wait any longer and ran out, lifting her skirt.
...
Jiang Yi's eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly woke up.
"hiss--"
My head hurts so much, it feels like it's going to explode...
Upon opening his eyes, he disregarded his headache and sat up abruptly.
I was in a completely unfamiliar room!
Where am I?!
She hurriedly pulled back the gauze curtain, hardly believing her eyes.
The room was decorated in an antique style, and a screen a few steps away blocked her view.
My gaze slowly moved down, and there, under the bed, was a pair of red embroidered shoes.
Jiang Yi felt her scalp tingle and goosebumps rise all over her body. She couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah—" and kept moving her buttocks backward.
She is studying acting, that's true, but the problem is she hasn't graduated yet, and she hasn't received a single acting job so far. She can't possibly be filming!
Was someone deliberately playing a prank on her?
Wait, what happened last night?
Jiang Yi slapped her forehead hard. She clearly remembered going out to dinner with some friends, having a few drinks, and then going their separate ways to go home. She called a car on a mobile app, and while confirming her location with the driver, she crossed the street...
Then what?
Oh no, I can't remember!
Damn it, could I have been hit by a car and time-traveled?
The melodramatic TV dramas and time-travel plots she had seen in the past flooded her mind like a tidal wave. A sharp pain shot through her brain, and the more she recalled, the more her head ached, and the more she thought about it, the colder her heart became.
Jiang Yi was startled and jumped when a girl in a yellow dress waved in front of her.
"Who...who are you?"
Upon hearing this, the girl was immediately stunned.
After a long pause, she said cautiously in a soft voice, "Miss, what's wrong? I'm Xia Zhi!"
Miss?
Jiang Yi gasped.
It's unbelievable that a modern woman with a bright future and a promising future would die such a violent death on the street. I wonder if anyone will even collect her body, and she ended up in such a feudal and cannibalistic place!
Do people travel through time after they die?
Or is it some kind of metaphysical theory about past and present lives?
Judging from what the person in front of me said, she seemed to be a young lady, although I didn't know which family she belonged to, but she certainly had a respectable-sounding identity.
It seems she accumulated some good karma in her past life...
No, no, now is not the time to think about this!
No matter where you are, survival is the most important thing!
Jiang Yi quickly sorted out her thoughts.
Since we're here, let's make the best of it.
"Natsu...ori?"
Jiang Yi tentatively called her name.
"Yes, miss, are you feeling unwell? I... I'll go get the doctor!"
Jiang Yi grabbed Xia Zhi's wrist just in time, "Wait, no need!"
Xia Zhi looked worried: "But..."
Jiang Yi didn't really want to wear those horrifying embroidered shoes, so she got out of bed barefoot, stood on the floor, spread her arms, and patted her chest twice to let her see, indicating that she was indeed fine.
"Miss, I'm so glad you're alright."
Xia Zhi's eyes reddened, and the joy in them seemed genuine, which made Jiang Yi relax her guard a lot. It seemed that the original owner and her servant had a good relationship.
"Xia Zhi, do you know what happened to me? My head is a little fuzzy, and I can't remember right now."
"Miss, don't you remember? On the night you married into the General's Mansion, for some reason, a bolt of lightning struck from the sky, and then you fainted and slept for a whole day and night. Xia Zhi was terrified. Are you really alright, Miss?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yi nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
She couldn't even figure out how to date, and unexpectedly, she arrived here already married!
On their very first day of marriage, the original owner of this body was struck by lightning!
Very well, the situation is predictable now. Who knows what the people in this mansion are saying behind my back...
Then she thought about her own corpse lying on the main road, blood streaming from all seven orifices. Well, all I can say is that she and the original owner of this body were equally miserable, each more tragic than the other!
Jiang Yi steadied herself and forcibly pulled her thoughts away from the chaotic jumble of ideas.
"I...I'm fine." Jiang Yi tried her best to search her memory for the vocabulary and expressions used by ancient people, so that she could appear no different from them. "Um, could you please say a little more? Maybe I can remember something."
Regardless, now that she's come to this place, she still needs to understand the world she's in...
Xia Zhi blinked, with an innocent and naive look, and nodded: "Okay, Miss, Xia Zhi will tell you everything you want to know, word for word."
Jiang Yi smiled and said, "That's very good. Let's start by telling you my name, who my parents are, where they live, and whether I have any brothers or sisters. Oh, and it would be best if you could also tell me about the general's mansion..."
Xia Zhi: "..."
While Jiang Yi was speaking, Xia Zhi unconsciously swallowed, thinking to herself, "Is Miss really alright? Could she have developed some kind of amnesia? How could she forget things so completely?"
...
"rustle……"
A gentle breeze blew through the withered leaves on the branches, and a few fluttered down to the ground beneath the tree.
It must be autumn.
Jiang Yi sat alone under the pavilion in the courtyard, drinking tea.
Before long, two maids who were responsible for cleaning came over. They were taken aback when they saw her, then clenched their fists in front of them and performed a polite greeting. Afterwards, they walked to a place not far away and swept up the fallen leaves, occasionally stealing a glance at Jiang Yi.
The whispers between the two reached her ears. Jiang Yi remained outwardly calm, but in reality, she had already been listening intently.
The two maids said:
"Hey, isn't that Miss Jiang who married Young Master Lin a couple of days ago?"
"That's right. I heard from the older sister in the front yard that on her first day after marrying Young Master Lin, she was struck by lightning. She's very haunted, so Madam Tong had no choice but to let her move here first."
"Madam Tong? But isn't it always the First Madam who makes the decisions in our General's Mansion? How could she allow someone like that to stay in the General's Mansion?"
"I heard that Madam Tong pleaded for him, after all, family scandals should not be aired in public, it's just a pity for Young Master Lin."
"Yes, Young Master Lin is so pitiful. It's bad enough that he married an unloved concubine's daughter, but such a woman at that..."
"..."
Then there was silence, and the two seemed to sigh heavily in unison.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yi's eyelids twitched a few times.
Pitiful? She's the pitiful one, okay?
“Miss, it’s getting windy outside, so I brought you a cloak.”
Jiang Yi turned her head at the sound and saw Xia Zhi walking towards her with a pink silk cloak in her hand.
For some reason, Jiang Yi felt much more relaxed when she saw Xia Zhi. Perhaps it was because Xia Zhi was the only person who had been kind to her since she came to this strange world.
Through Xia Zhi's words, Jiang Yi learned a little about this world, including the original owner of this body and her background and situation.
He was a pitiful person, to say the least...
Xia Zhi helped her tie on the cloak, her eyes smiling and her lips curving into a wide arc: "It's all tied, Miss."
Jiang Yi wasn't very familiar with how to use the things here, so she had to ask Xia Zhi for help. To her surprise, the girl excitedly bought her makeup, hairstyle, and clothes for the day, and began to skillfully use them with a big smile.
He was so excited, he was dressing her up like he was dressing up his own figurine.
Jiang Yi looked down at the pretty bow tied in front of her chest.
"Thanks."
Xia Zhi was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved her hand, her face slightly flushed, and with a girlish innocence, she said with a simple and honest smile, "No need to thank me, Miss. This is all what Xia Zhi should do."
Was this courtyard previously uninhabited?
The master and servant chatted as they walked out of the pavilion.
Xia Zhi glanced back at the two maids who were cleaning and replied, "Yes, Madam Tong said it's quieter here, so Miss can rest and recover in peace. Once she's fully recovered, she can move to Young Master Lin's courtyard. Miss, don't listen to what others are saying and don't overthink it."
Jiang Yi stopped in her tracks, turned around to look at Xia Zhi, and smiled.
This little girl looks no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, but she's quite clever.
Jiang Yi glanced casually at the dilapidated and desolate courtyard. "This place is very nice."
Xia Zhi silently breathed a sigh of relief: "Miss, the meal is ready, please have your meal."
"Okay, let's go."
For the past two days, their meals have been delivered by the maids in the front courtyard. She and Xia Zhi cannot move around freely, which is no different from being under house arrest. If they are forgotten one day, they might starve to death and no one will care...
Thinking of this, Jiang Yi felt neither sadness nor joy; she even admired herself for remaining so calm at this moment.
At the corner of the corridor, Jiang Yi walked ahead expressionlessly when suddenly everything went black and her head bumped into something warm and soft. A faint scent of sandalwood wafted over unexpectedly.
A muffled groan came from the other side, as if someone had been hit and was in pain.
Jiang Yi also hissed.
When their eyes met, she covered her forehead. The man opposite her frowned, and the coldness and murderous aura around him was enough to make anyone hesitate to approach.
After seeing who it was, his brows relaxed a little.
Are you alright?
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