The world thousands of years later
"Help! The Seventh Princess has fallen into the water—"
This was the last thing Jiang Jingshu heard before she fell into a coma.
When she opened her eyes again, the surrounding environment felt completely unfamiliar to her.
The icy water in the Imperial Garden still stung her nerves, but the bed beneath her was very soft, completely different from the cold mattress in the palace. In the past sixteen years, she had never slept on such a soft bed.
The events leading up to her fall into the water were still vivid in her mind. That day, Jiang Jingshu received a message from a eunuch saying that the emperor was waiting for her in the Imperial Garden, so she rushed there without stopping. While waiting, a palace maid appeared out of nowhere and bumped straight into her.
Before Jiang Jingshu could react, the two of them fell into the water.
The feeling of suffocation in the water overwhelmed her.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in this place.
A headache struck, and an unfamiliar voice entered Jiang Jingshu's mind—"Jiang Jingshu, congratulations."
Jiang Jingshu shook her head, feeling uneasy. It was a male voice with a mechanical feel, but despite the heavy mechanical quality, it was also a very pleasant voice.
The voice seemed somewhat familiar.
Before Jiang Jingshu could think, the voice rang out again, "Heaven has taken pity on you and given you a chance to start over. Do you want it or not?"
Start over?
Jiang Jingshu silently repeated those four words in her heart. Was she already dead? With this question in mind, she asked, "May I ask who you are? What did you mean by what you just said?"
"Your Highness, please don't panic. I am the system. You can think of me as your helper, here to fulfill your wishes. As for the other questions, you can think of this place as a world thousands of years in the future."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Jingshu suddenly felt a splitting headache, and she lay on the bed, pounding her head hard.
The system's reassuring voice entered her mind, and Jiang Jingshu's vision gradually cleared. Everything that was once unfamiliar now seemed no longer unfamiliar.
The thought involuntarily escaped his lips: "In a world thousands of years from now, am I... being resurrected?"
A seed suddenly appeared in front of Jiang Jingshu. She reached out and took it, and the system voice sounded again, "Your Highness, you haven't answered me yet. Do you want this chance to start over?"
Jiang Jingshu stared at the seeds in her hand. "What's the point of starting over?" Starting over was too far-fetched for her; it was such a fantastical idea that she needed time to process it.
Jiang Jingshu was merely the least favored princess of Yongning Kingdom. Her birth mother died early, and her father abandoned her in the harem, never inquiring about her for sixteen years. Apart from her wet nurse, almost no one in the palace respected her. Despite being a princess, she had no dignity whatsoever, and she spent year after year in this dark and hopeless palace.
Jiang Jingshu did not have the strong will to start over. She did not understand what the point of starting over would be. She would have to go through this hardship again and live a life of being ignored by everyone.
In her opinion, since she had already fallen into the lake in the Imperial Garden, she might as well drown, rather than live a life that was neither human nor ghost in the palace.
"If you give up on yourself, then there is truly no possibility left." The system's voice came through. "Your destiny should not have been this way. This is not your fate. Don't you want to know what your original destiny should have been like?"
Jiang Jingshu smiled, as if mocking herself. Although she never believed in the dictates of fate, she still held the seed tightly in her hand. With a "what's done is done" attitude, she asked, "What should I do?"
"This plant is called agave, and it blooms only once in its lifetime."
Agave, a plant that Jiang Jingshu had only briefly heard of in the palace. Ancient records describe agave as having large, tongue-like leaves and yellow-green flowers arranged in tall spikes. It is said that the plant withers after blooming and is called the "flower of death."
Jiang Jingshu couldn't help but sigh, for one only blooms once in a lifetime, and what follows is the withering of life.
However, this flower is not difficult to grow. It is very drought-tolerant, and as long as humans do not interfere too much, it is not difficult for it to flower and bear fruit.
Jiang Jingshu gripped the seed tightly in her hand. She greatly admired the agave, which blooms despite being ignored, relying on its tenacious vitality. Even though its bloom is followed by its demise, it will still give its all to bloom once more.
Abandoned and neglected in a secluded corner of the palace since childhood, Jiang Jingshu thought that her situation was no different from that of the agave plant. However, the agave plant was independent and tenacious by nature, and her own temperament was truly inferior to that of the agave plant.
Jiang Jingshu didn't have much time to belittle herself. She pulled herself back from her turbulent thoughts and began to look around at everything.
This is a very small room with only a bed and a table.
The room seemed to have been carefully decorated; the walls were painted pink, and several posters were pasted on the desk.
A bedroom with a very girly feel.
Jiang Jingshu looked down at her clothes, which were unfamiliar. She walked to the desk and picked up a mirror.
The girl reflected in the mirror had her hair loose down to her shoulders. Apart from the hairstyle, she was familiar with her.
She looked at her face in the mirror, which was exactly the same as her own, with skin so smooth and delicate. There were many skincare products on the table. She stretched out her hands, which were delicate and fair, completely different from her previous hands.
It was the first time she had realized that her hands could be so delicate.
Jiang Jingshu's beauty is not the kind of stunningly beautiful that could topple kingdoms, but rather a gentle and serene beauty that makes people forget the mundane world.
A beauty mark under her eye added a touch of allure to her beauty. Her dimples when she smiled also added a unique charm.
Her single eyelids reveal classic phoenix eyes, which also give her an air of nobility.
A series of urgent knocks sounded on the door, followed by a concerned voice, "Xiaojing, are you feeling better?"
Jiang Jingshu hesitated for a few seconds before opening the door. What came into view was a middle-aged man who looked to be about thirty-five or thirty-six years old. What made her heart stop was his face, which looked about 70% like her father's.
Jiang Jingshu almost instinctively wanted to kneel down and pay her respects. Since birth, she had never even stood face to face with her father like this before.
While my brain was still processing what I should do and when, the next second, I felt a warm touch on my forehead.
She couldn't help but catch her breath.
"I won't cook it anymore." The man opposite her breathed a sigh of relief, put the porridge on the table, gave her a few instructions, and then left.
Jiang Jingshu suddenly felt weak. She reached out to touch her forehead, where the warmth of the man's palm still seemed to linger.
Jiang Jingshu sat down at the desk. The small pink bowl and spoon showed that she was valued in this world.
There was plenty of rice inside. She slowly took a sip, but her thoughts drifted back to the deep palace...
"Even if Her Highness is not the best, she is still His Majesty's Seventh Princess. How can you try to fool her with such unpalatable food? Don't you want your heads?!"
"His Majesty has a seventh princess. He should know that he has one. Take my advice, nanny. There's no future in serving this kind of master. We need to secure our own future, shouldn't we?"
"Pah! No matter what, the princess is still more noble than you. You bunch of sycophants who bully the weak and fear the strong will get your comeuppance sooner or later!"
At that time, the food that Jiang Jingshu sent every day was the lowest quality.
When the maid brought in the food, Jiang Jingshu was copying something inside the room.
“Those servants are getting more and more outrageous, Your Highness. Let’s go and talk to the Emperor about it.”
“What’s the point of talking to Father?” Jiang Jingshu put down her pen and flexed her wrist. “Father is busy with countless affairs of state. These trivial matters really shouldn’t bother him.”
“But the princess’s life is really difficult, and the palace servants are all opportunists. I feel sorry for Your Highness.”
The palace maid beside her continued to speak in Jiang Jingshu's ear. Jiang Jingshu handed the things in her hands to the nanny, saying, "Father Emperor works hard every day. As a daughter, it is already unfilial of me not to be able to share Father Emperor's burdens. How can I say such things to upset Father Emperor? I can only copy some scriptures to pray for Father Emperor's well-being and not add to Father Emperor's troubles. Please take these to Father Emperor for me."
Three days later, the nanny happily reported that the emperor had summoned the seventh princess and invited her to the imperial garden to admire the flowers.
Jiang Jingshu's face lit up with joy. After quickly getting ready, she hurriedly set off, only to accidentally fall into the water.
Her thoughts drifted back. The aroma of rice lingered on her lips and teeth. The face, so similar to her father's, made her feel a little dazed.
The seeds lay quietly on the table, seemingly radiating a wondrous light in Jiang Jingshu's eyes.
"Help? Are you there?" Jiang Jingshu asked tentatively. Receiving no response from the system, Jiang Jingshu asked again, "Help?"
Finally, she heard the voice she wanted to hear, only to find that the other person was complaining that the word "helper" was too cliché. "Helper, you're the one who said you were a helper."
"I am the system," the system emphasized solemnly.
"Isn't the system a helper?" As an ancient person, Jiang Jingshu couldn't understand the concept of a system. Since the system called itself her helper, Jiang Jingshu simply called it that.
"Okay. Yes."
Upon hearing the affirmative answer, Jiang Jingshu took out the seeds in her hand. "Help, I'm new here and don't know much about anything. I hope you can teach me how to make this agave flower and bear fruit?"
"There's only so much I can do. How the agave flowers and bears fruit is something Your Highness will have to discover for yourself. As for the rest, I can explain it to you slowly," the system replied.
Jiang Jingshu sat in the chair, patiently listening to the system's introduction. Although she didn't fully understand it, she was no longer as confused as she had been at the beginning.
At least I understand what kind of world I live in right now.
"So, I'm going to school in seven days?" Jiang Jingshu's eyes were full of excitement. Could she finally go to school? Before, in the deep palace, she could only ask the nanny to find some books to read. If the nanny couldn't find good books, she could only read "Women's Virtue" and "Women's Precepts".
Until that year, she met a young man by chance in the palace.
Jiang Jingshu was taking a walk when she heard a young man playing the flute by a tree.
Jiang Jingshu secretly hid behind a tree, listening intently and trying to memorize the melody, thinking she would try it out at the tutor's place another day. Just as she was concentrating on memorizing it, a figure slowly approached, blocking out the sunlight.
Jiang Jingshu looked up abruptly and realized that the boy was already standing in front of her.
She was engrossed in the music, not yet finished. Just as she was wondering why the sound was getting closer, she opened her eyes and met the boy's eyes.
The young man, dressed in white, approached Jiang Jingshu, who was engrossed in her music, as he played the flute. Noticing that the girl had opened her eyes, he stopped playing.
The sound of the flute stopped abruptly, and the young man opposite him took a step back and bowed respectfully, "Your Highness."
Jiang Jingshu slightly raised herself to return the greeting, inquired about the other person's identity, and affirmed their skills.
"Your subject is Zhou Mingyuan, son of Zhou Yan, the Crown Prince's tutor, and currently serves as His Highness's study companion. I apologize for disturbing the princess; I will now take my leave." Zhou Mingyuan bowed to Jiang Jingshu.
Jiang Jingshu asked him curiously, "How did you know I was a princess?"
"Your Highness possesses extraordinary bearing and unparalleled elegance; anyone can tell at a glance that you are a princess," Zhou Mingyuan replied respectfully, his head bowed.
Jiang Jingshu smiled bitterly. In this vast palace, few people treated her with such respect. Just as she was thinking this, she heard Zhou Mingyuan speak, "Seventh Princess, you understand my flute playing. It is my good fortune."
"As the saying goes, 'A kindred spirit is hard to find,' and I also feel that we are kindred spirits. I wonder if there will be an opportunity for us to exchange ideas and learn from each other?" Jiang Jingshu truly cherished talent. She wanted to learn and seize every opportunity to improve herself. As for Zhou Mingyuan, Jiang Jingshu could tell that he was destined for greatness.
She wanted to leverage Zhou Mingyuan's influence to improve herself.
Upon learning Jiang Jingshu's identity, he didn't treat her perfunctorily like the other palace servants, but instead maintained a respectful attitude towards her. Based on this alone, Jiang Jingshu felt that Zhou Mingyuan was different from others.
This is how she came into contact with Zhou Mingyuan.
After that, every time Zhou Mingyuan entered the palace, he would secretly bring her some ancient books, ranging from Confucianism and Mencius to local customs, many of which she had read.
However, she used to only dare to read secretly, but now she can finally go to school openly and honestly.
Her thoughts returned to the present, and the system seemed to notice her distraction, so it didn't rush to continue.
Jiang Jingshu suddenly felt hopeful about life. "Help, thank you." Then, as if remembering something, she asked, "Help, was that person my father?" With a hint of expectation in her eyes, she asked again, "Does my mother exist in this world?"
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