Headache.
It felt like I was given three kilograms of industrial alcohol and then stuffed into a washing machine that spun at high speed all night.
Lin Wanwan's consciousness struggled to gather amidst a chaotic, excruciating pain. Her eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and it took a tremendous amount of effort to open them even a crack.
The first thing that catches the eye is a hazy, shimmering crimson.
"Where am I...?"
She groaned, trying to sit up, but found herself weak all over, unable to even lift a finger. To make matters worse, it felt like something heavy was pressing down on her head, making her neck feel like it was about to break.
"Hiss..." She gasped, the nausea from the hangover and the severe headache making her want to vomit.
As a seasoned office worker, she had spent the entire night drinking with friends to secure that damned project, losing count of how many drinks she was forced to have. Her last memory was of stumbling into the bathroom, and then… and then she knew nothing more.
"Did one of my colleagues kindly take me to a hotel? But the decor is just too...retro!"
She squinted, her vision gradually clearing.
This is not a luxury suite in a star-rated hotel.
Before her eyes were sandalwood beams and pillars carved with intricate dragon and phoenix patterns, and the air was filled with a cool and subtle sandalwood fragrance, mixed with a faint medicinal scent. Beneath her was a silky smooth brocade quilt, and she herself was dressed in an extremely elaborate and layered crimson wedding gown.
Lin Wanwan looked down at the lifelike phoenix pattern embroidered in gold thread on her clothes, and her mind went blank.
What is this? Drunken performance art? Or was he kidnapped by some prank crew?
She struggled to sit up, a movement that seemed to alert those around her. In the dead silence, a few faint, suppressed gasps were heard.
Lin Wanwan stiffly turned her neck and discovered that in this dimly lit, oppressively tense bedroom, not far from her, there was a dense mass of people kneeling on the ground!
They were all dressed in ancient-style palace maid and eunuch attire, their heads bowed, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, as if the outside world was not the human realm, but the entrance to the eighteen levels of hell.
Fear, like an invisible tide, instantly engulfed Lin Wanwan's limbs and bones.
Just then, a vast and chaotic flood of memories, not belonging to her, rushed into her mind like a burst dam!
"ah--!"
Lin Wanwan let out a short cry of pain, clutching her head tightly with both hands, feeling as if her brain was a hard drive that had been forcibly formatted, frantically being filled with new data.
She witnessed the life of a noblewoman named Lin Wanwan. From her first words to adulthood, from playing musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting to needlework and embroidery... this girl was gentle yet strong-willed.
Then, she saw the imperial edict that had driven the original owner to her doom.
Emperor Xiao Che of the Great Zhou Dynasty was frail and sickly from childhood, yet his temperament was violent, eccentric, and unpredictable. Rumors circulated that he was a ruthless killer, a veritable human devil. To bring him good fortune, the Empress Dowager searched far and wide for a noblewoman whose birth chart matched hers, ultimately choosing Lin Wanwan, the legitimate daughter of the Minister's family.
An imperial edict was issued, bestowing upon her the title of Empress and ordering her to enter the palace today to marry the Emperor.
Marrying a sickly man who could die at any moment, or a ruthless killer like Yama!
The original owner of this body resisted to the death, but was powerless to defy imperial authority. So, after being sent to Kunning Palace last night, she, with a death wish, chose the most tragic way—she smashed her head against the golden dragon pillar inside the palace.
Blood splattered on the spot, and her life was cut short.
And she, Lin Wanwan, an outstanding office worker in the 21st century, took over the role of the unfortunate queen in this chaotic drunkenness and unexpected death, becoming a widow in preparation for marriage before she even had a chance to go through the wedding ceremony.
After processing all of this, Lin Wanwan felt a chill run through her body, a coldness shooting from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.
She wasn't dreaming, nor was she being pranked.
She traveled through time.
Moreover, the game starts in hell mode.
According to palace rules, if a newlywed empress, chosen for a marriage to ward off bad luck, dares to contemplate suicide, it is considered a grave offense. At best, it could implicate her family; at worst... she might not even be allowed to die a complete death.
She subconsciously touched her forehead and found a wound that was covered by thick makeup, which was still throbbing slightly.
That's it. Barbie Q is gone.
She's a modern person who only watches commentary versions of palace dramas, but now she has to face the final boss head-on? How is she supposed to compete?
Just as her mind was in chaos, pondering whether to continue feigning death or find a way to escape, a eunuch's sharp and high-pitched announcement suddenly came from outside the palace. The voice was like a poisoned blade, piercing the deathly silence in the bedchamber.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
Those four short words were like a death warrant, instantly freezing the already tense atmosphere in the hall.
The palace servants kneeling on the ground trembled even more violently, and the sound of their teeth chattering could even be heard. Fear seemed to have taken on a tangible form, permeating and fermenting in the space, so thick that it was almost impossible to breathe.
Lin Wanwan's heart skipped a beat, almost jumping out of her throat.
Who? Your Majesty?
That legendary sickly tyrant, Xiao Che?
Wasn't he about to die? How could he still have the energy to come to the bridal chamber in the middle of the night? Could it be... that he was having a final burst of energy before death, and he was deliberately taking his bride, whom he had married to bring good luck, with him on his final journey?
In an instant, countless bloody and horrific ways to die flashed through her mind: white silk ribbons, poisoned wine, being buried alive, being torn apart by five horses...
She instinctively gripped the brocade quilt beneath her, her knuckles turning white from the force. Cold sweat trickled down her back, bringing a shiver. Run? The entire palace belonged to them now; where could she run to? Play dead? What if she was dragged out and buried on the spot?
Her mind raced, but she couldn't find any way out.
"Squeak—"
The heavy palace doors were slowly pushed open from the outside by two eunuchs, making a sickeningly loud sound. A beam of cold moonlight slanted in, casting a tall, slender figure onto the smooth, mirror-like gold-brick floor.
The person walked in steadily, step by step, against the light.
He walked slowly, as if each step was treading on everyone's hearts. As he drew closer, the cool, medicinal fragrance grew stronger.
Lin Wanwan held her breath nervously, as if the blood in her body had frozen in that moment. She forced herself to raise her eyes and look at the man who would decide her life or death.
Finally, he stepped into the candlelight glow inside the hall.
What a breathtaking face it was.
His face was deathly pale, as if he had been ill for a long time; his thin lips were almost bloodless; and a faint bluish tint hung under his eyes, giving him a sickly frail appearance. However, his eyes were the complete opposite—black as ink, unfathomable, as if capable of devouring all light. His gaze was sinister and cold, filled with scrutiny and impatience, as if he were looking at a lifeless object.
He wore a black dragon robe, the simple style of which accentuated his slender figure, yet his aura was as sharp as a peerless sword drawn from its sheath. Even though the sword was afflicted with a serious illness, its sharpness could still easily sever a person's throat.
This is Xiao Che.
His cold gaze swept over the kneeling palace servants, who trembled even more violently, burying their heads even lower, wishing they could disappear into the ground on the spot.
Finally, his cold, emotionless eyes landed precisely on Lin Wanwan, who sat stiffly on the wedding bed.
Their eyes met.
Lin Wanwan felt as if she were being stared at by a venomous snake; the hairs on her body stood on end. Her mind went blank, with only two words frantically scrolling through her screen:
I'm going to die! I'm going to die!
She was almost certain that the next second, his handsome, thin lips would utter an order like, "Drag him out and behead him." She could even begin to imagine how hot the blood would spurt from her neck when her head hit the ground…
However, the expected thunderous wrath did not materialize.
Just when Lin Wanwan thought she was about to die young and was preparing to close her eyes and wait for death, the scene in her eyes underwent an unbelievable change.
This tyrannical emperor, with his cold exterior, sinister eyes, and imposing aura... had something on his head, about three inches from his hair ornament...
A strange, pixelated animated emoticon floated by.
It was a small, round, yellow-faced little thing, hugging itself with its tiny hands, its body trembling rapidly from side to side, accompanied by three distinctive words—
[Shivering.gif]
Lin Wanwan: "..."
She blinked hard, thinking she was hallucinating from being too frightened.
But when I opened my eyes again, the meme was still there.
It hovered abruptly and absurdly above the cold-faced emperor's head, creating a strong sense of incongruity with the solemn and imposing ancient palace, shaking merrily and vigorously.
Lin Wanwan looked at the emperor in front of her, whose face was ashen and whose eyes could freeze you to death, and then at the animated emoji above his head that looked like he was about to cry...
He was completely petrified.
What...what the hell is this?!
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