“Go on, scream!”
“You can scream until your throat gives out—no one’s coming to save you!”
In a dilapidated woodshed, a young woman glared furiously.
With one hand, she gripped the neck of the man beneath her, whose hands and feet were bound in chains, while with the other she shoved something into his mouth.
It was a gu worm[1]Gu (蛊) is a concept from Chinese folklore associated with poisonous creatures, sorcery, and supernatural manipulation. In Chinese fantasy fiction, gu often takes the form of a magically controlled … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. It disappeared into his body almost at once.
“What did you make me swallow?” the man asked coldly.
His black hair spread across the ground beneath him.
Even his coarse hemp clothes could not hide the lustrous sheen of his hair. It gleamed like expensive silk.
The young woman did not answer. Instead, she said, “You’re just like them. You don’t want me either!”
She broke into a hysterical tirade. “What gives you the right to call me stupid? If I hadn’t found you, you’d have frozen to death in the snow!”
She panted hard, as if she could no longer hold herself back, her emotions rising to a breaking point.
“That’s right. I can’t even compare to one of Su Yiwan’s fingers. I’m not as gentle or clever as she is. I’m useless in every way…but I’m the one who’s truly my father and mother’s daughter!”
Her eyes were bloodshot, each word wrenched from her like a sob.
“I am stupid! But I’ve been using the time I should be sleeping to study. I know so many characters now!”
“The rules of etiquette Nanny[2]Here, “Nanny” translates the Chinese term momo (嬷嬷), traditionally used for an older female household attendant or caretaker. In wealthy households, such women could also instruct … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); taught me—I wrote them all down on little scraps of paper. If I couldn’t remember them after one read, I’d read them a hundred times every day. Isn’t that enough?!”
“Mother said I was fat. Now I only eat three steamed buns[3]These are mantou (馒头), traditional Chinese steamed wheat-flour buns commonly eaten as a staple food. Unlike stuffed baozi, mantou are generally plain and unfilled. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); a day. If I’m still too fat, I can have just one bun a day! If I stick with it, I’ll lose weight eventually!”
Tears poured from the young woman’s eyes, large drops falling like beads from a broken string.
Her sobs gradually quieted. It was as though she were speaking to the man—and warning herself at the same time.
“I’ll never embarrass the Su family at the lantern festival[4]Traditional Chinese lantern fairs feature decorative lantern displays, festivities, and sometimes riddles written on or attached to lanterns. Solving these lantern riddles is a popular cultural … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); again by misreading a character while guessing riddles…”
Her hand around the man’s neck slowly loosened. She raised it and stared at the blood blisters on both hands from needlework and playing music[5]Needlework and musical performance were among the accomplishments traditionally cultivated by young women in well-to-do Chinese households. Together with proper etiquette, such skills were associated … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
“And I won’t drive the tutors away with my stupidity again…Never again…I won’t…”
“I really am so stupid…but I work so hard. Why do Father and Mother still not like me?”
The young woman wailed, tears spilling through the gaps between her fingers.
On the ground, the man’s raven-feather lashes fluttered faintly. His eyes were veiled in a bone-chilling cold.
As if she still could not understand, the young woman grabbed the man’s lapel again and roared like a trapped beast.
“You think Su Yiwan is better too, don’t you? You’re trying to run away from me. You’re just like them—you all like Su Yiwan!”
Perhaps her emotions had become too intense. Overwhelmed by grief, the young woman’s head throbbed as if it were about to split open, and her vision began to blur.
“Dream on! You’re not getting away from me in this life!” she cried, then suddenly shook her head hard.
The world seemed to turn upside down. Her vision blurred further.
Her head…hurt as if it were about to explode.
The man looked at the young woman on top of him. She was clutching her head in both hands, her face twisted in pain.
His thin lips parted. His voice was low and resonant.
But the words that came out were as cold as frost on plum blossoms in the depths of winter: “You brought this on yourself.”
Then the man broke into several violent coughs.
His porcelain-white skin looked even paler, though it did nothing to diminish his striking beauty.
Especially the graceful streak of red at the corner of his eye. His frail beauty made anyone who saw him want to ravage him.
That was the sight that met Yun Xiangxiang’s eyes.
“So beautiful!” Yun Xiangxiang exclaimed without thinking.
At the sound of her voice, Nan Wangyue raised his eyes again. Their gazes met, and Yun Xiangxiang saw the sharpness and coldness in his eyes as clearly as day.
Wait!
Yun Xiangxiang abruptly came to her senses. She looked around, then felt her own face.
Had she…entered a book[6]This refers to transmigration into a novel, a popular Chinese web-fiction premise in which a person finds themselves living inside a fictional story, often as an existing character. The transmigrator … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?
No! She’d awakened[7]In this type of fiction, awakening can mean gaining awareness of one’s true identity and circumstances after previously living according to the novel’s predetermined storyline. It does … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!
She had entered a novel she’d read before, as a cannon-fodder supporting character[8]Cannon fodder is Chinese web-novel slang for a minor or expendable character whose suffering or downfall serves the main plot. Such characters are often destined to be defeated, discarded, or … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); with the same name. Back then, it was the fact that the character was also called Yun Xiangxiang that had made her click on the book.
But after entering the story, she had lost her self-awareness and had been following the plot all along.
Oh my God!
Yun Xiangxiang sucked in a sharp breath.
How many stupid things had she done?!
“Are you done acting crazy?” a frigid voice asked beside her.
Yun Xiangxiang looked at Nan Wangyue’s refined, aloof face, and goose bumps sprang up all over her!
Nan Wangyue… Yan, the neighboring country! The Imperial Preceptor[9]Imperial Preceptor translates dishi (帝师), literally “teacher of the emperor.” Historically, the term could refer to an emperor’s tutor or, in certain dynasties, a prestigious … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); who dominated the court and could blot out the sky with a single hand[10]This expression comes from the Chinese idiom yishou zhetian (一手遮天), literally “covering the sky with one hand.” It describes someone so powerful or influential that they can … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_10').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_10', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!!!
He was also the youngest Imperial Preceptor in history, a man of unrivaled brilliance and elegance.
Only, he had lost his memory!
The story she’d read was serialized, and it was one of those novels where the readers were left to bet on which male lead would win[11]This refers to maigu wen (买股文), or “stock-buying fiction,” a Chinese web-novel term for stories featuring multiple potential romantic leads. Readers metaphorically … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_11').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_11', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. There were many male supporting characters, and Nan Wangyue was one of them. Though the male lead had not yet been decided, he was one of the heroine Su Yiwan’s most powerful supporters.
In the book, Nan Wangyue had been gravely injured and had ended up by chance in Jin, the country where they were. This cannon-fodder character had found him unconscious in the snow and brought him home. When she cleaned him up and saw his face, she was stunned by his looks. Her lust took hold, and when she realized Nan Wangyue had lost his memory, she lied and told him she’d paid to buy him as her husband. Then she made an excuse and locked him in the woodshed.
At first, she had been fairly polite, thinking she could slowly build a relationship with him. But as things kept going wrong for her under the heroine’s halo[12]The “heroine’s halo,” or protagonist halo (主角光环), is a Chinese fiction trope describing the special narrative advantages enjoyed by a story’s main character. Events, … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_12').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_12', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, her mindset gradually grew twisted.
Unable to wait any longer, she had unexpectedly found the Southern Domain Heartbinding Gu[13]The Heartbinding Gu is a named variety of love-inducing gu in this novel, associated with the Southern Domain. Its complete properties, limitations, and method of removal have not yet been … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_13').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_13', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); on the black market…and just now, she had forcibly planted the Love Gu in him…
The Imperial Preceptor, fallen on hard times, would therefore fall in love with her, the wicked supporting character. With someone so good-looking, of course she would take him out to show him off.
But the heroine of the book liked doing good deeds. Seeing that something was wrong, she investigated in secret. Once she learned the truth, she quietly took Nan Wangyue away and went to great lengths to remove the Love Gu.
This would later make Nan Wangyue one of Su Yiwan’s powerful backers.
As for what happened to this cannon-fodder character, the outcome was obvious…
After Nan Wangyue regained his memory in the book, Jin, in order to appease the rage of the Imperial Preceptor of this powerful nation, tortured her in every way, leaving her barely alive. Then they would use medicine to nurse her back to health, only to torture her again…
They did this over and over, leaving her unable to truly live, yet unable to die!
Thinking of this, Yun Xiangxiang’s face turned bitter.
Her life was so miserable.
Yun Xiangxiang casually glanced at Nan Wangyue. When she saw the coldness in his eyes, she felt as if the blood in her whole body had frozen. A chill ran through her from head to toe.
Even without his memories, his gaze still carried the aloof, solitary bearing of someone long accustomed to being in a position of power.
She remembered how the book had described Nan Wangyue.
In Yan, he was revered by the people. In the eyes of his subjects, he was like a god—someone no one dared profane.
And he was a man without emotional attachments or desires, upright and self-restrained.
The more she thought about it, the more hopeless Yun Xiangxiang felt.
When she heard a muffled groan rise from Nan Wangyue’s throat beneath her, she came to her senses and immediately climbed off him.
As soon as she did, Nan Wangyue curled in on himself. The veins beneath his porcelain-pale skin stood out, and a fine sheen of sweat covered his forehead. He looked as if he were in terrible pain.
Yun Xiangxiang’s expression changed. “What’s wrong?!”
She was just reaching out to touch him—
P.S. This is a food-and-daily-life story, with face-slapping and villain-punishing[14]These are common Chinese web-novel storytelling tropes. “Face-slapping” refers to moments when arrogant or hostile characters are publicly proven wrong, humiliated, or forced to … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736275_1_14').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736275_1_14', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); too.
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