Luosifen, fried river snails, river snail soup… As Lu Yunxi looked at the few pointed, round snails in the stream, these dishes surfaced in her mind—unfamiliar yet vivid, memories from her modern life.
That’s right, she had transmigrated. Moreover, she had been reborn into this world as a baby. She had lived in this mountain ravine for sixteen years, and it was only after hitting her head that she finally remembered everything.
Should she catch some snails to take back? This stream was crystal clear, so the snails were bound to be fresh and delicious. If she stir-fried them over a fierce fire with some chili and cumin, wouldn’t they be so fragrant she’d be licking her fingers?
At the thought, Lu Yunxi was already salivating. However, she eventually gave up on the idea. Without salt, even the best snails would be tasteless.
After ten years of war, her current location was in the heart of the Jin Kingdom. Although there hadn’t been much direct military conflict here, various rebel kings had cut off the major transportation arteries. Consequently, there was a severe shortage of salt in their area.
The price of salt had soared continuously; sometimes, one couldn’t even buy it with money. Everyone was forced to eat bland food every day.
Salt was the king of all flavors. Without it, even the finest delicacies lost their zest. Furthermore, a lack of salt caused nausea, vomiting, and full-body weakness. That sensation was truly as miserable as it could be, so it was no wonder she had slipped earlier.
After resting for a good while, Lu Yunxi finally felt a bit better and stood up.
She felt that her top priority was to find some salt to eat, otherwise, she might actually die.
As an engineering girl, she knew how salt was produced—be it through solar evaporation of seawater, well salt, lake salt, or rock salt. The processes weren’t complicated, but they were extremely resource-dependent. This place was far from the sea, and she hadn’t heard of any salt lakes. As for well salt and rock salt, those were buried underground, and she hadn’t heard even a whisper of their locations. How was she supposed to get salt?
A clever person cannot cook without rice! It seemed her only option was to find a way to earn more money; perhaps then she could buy some salt.
Lu Yunxi decided to try her luck on the mountain first to see if she could forage some valuable medicinal herbs.
“Sister, you’re here!” a frantic voice called out. Shortly after, a youth ran over and stopped. One hand on his hip as he panted heavily, he said, “Mother told me to get you back. She says something big is happening.”
The youth was Lu Yunchuan, Lu Yunxi’s third brother. His skin was somewhat tanned, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.
“What’s the big deal?” Lu Yunxi asked. At this time of year, what major event could there be at home? She had finally made it up the mountain and didn’t want to go back empty-handed.
“Could it be that eldest sister-in-law is pregnant?” she suddenly asked, remembering something. That would indeed be a joyful occasion. Her eldest brother and his wife had been married for three years and had been longing for a child, but they hadn’t had one yet, causing some gossip in the village.
Lu Yunchuan quickly waved his hands. “No.”
“Then what else could it be?” Lu Yunxi asked, disappointed.
“It seems to be a letter. Oh, you’ll know once you get back. Anyway, Mother told me to bring you back immediately. It’s an emergency.” As Lu Yunchuan spoke, he grabbed Lu Yunxi and started pulling her down the mountain.
“Slower, slower, I’m dizzy…” Lu Yunxi’s voice gradually faded into the mountain air.
Meanwhile, a group of people appeared on the mountain road not far away. They were all dressed as traveling merchants, but a closer look revealed hidden weapons. Their aura was also very different from that of an ordinary merchant caravan.
At the head of the group were a young man and a boy. The boy was riding a chestnut horse, darting forward and back in a very spirited manner.
Suddenly, he dashed out from a side path, holding a rabbit. He said to the young man, “Uncle, how about roast rabbit for lunch?”
The young man looked at the rabbit in his hand. “We’re almost at Shitou Village. Behave yourself.”
At the mention of this, the boy became annoyed. “Uncle, we’ve taken Jingdu now. It’s the perfect time to seize territory and make a name for ourselves, yet His Majesty sent us here…”
“Mind your words!” the young man interrupted him.
The boy knew he had misspoken and curled his lip. He then urged his horse to the young man’s side and whispered slyly, “Uncle, I heard His Majesty wants to betroth his daughter to you?”
The young man turned his head and gave him a cold look.
The boy felt snubbed but continued anyway. “His Majesty says his daughter takes after him. My god, with His Majesty’s looks, if she really takes after him, will that girl even be bearable to look at?”
The young man frowned but said nothing, continuing forward.
“Uncle, are you really going to marry her?” the boy asked persistently. Everyone knew his uncle was most loyal to His Majesty. Back when His Majesty was just a commoner with fewer than a thousand men and barely a hundred horses, his uncle had joined him. Since then, they had been victorious in every battle, finally securing a place in the Central Plains.
Later, his uncle had led troops to fight across the north and south, saving His Majesty from peril multiple times…
Among the various lords and rebel kings, who wouldn’t want a brilliant general like his uncle? They had all offered him great wealth and high positions, yet he remained completely unmoved. In the end, he assisted Xiao Wang in being the first to take Jingdu.
The boy felt his uncle would probably end up marrying that ugly girl. The thought of a man as handsome and dashing as his uncle marrying such a girl made him feel miserable on his uncle’s behalf. Losing interest in talking, he spurred his horse forward.
By now, Lu Yunchuan had carried Lu Yunxi home on his back. Despite the bland diet, Lu Yunchuan was physically fit. Seeing Lu Yunxi panting heavily on the road, he had picked her up.
When they reached home, the gates were tightly shut. Lu Yunxi was genuinely startled, wondering if something terrible had happened.
In these times of constant warfare, had the fighting finally reached them? If so, did they need to run? And where would they go?
Lu Yunchuan knocked. A woman opened the door, peering out cautiously.
“Mother,” Lu Yunchuan called.
The woman, Chen Shi, was Lu Yunxi’s mother. She was nearly forty, with some wrinkles on her face, but she appeared very neat and capable. She pulled Lu Yunchuan into the courtyard and shut the door again. A small courtyard with three tiled rooms—this was the Lu family home.
The entire family was in the main room. Lu Popo, Lu Yunxi’s grandmother, sat in the center. Standing to her left were Lu Yunxi’s eldest brother and sister-in-law, and to her right was her second brother.
Everyone turned to look at Chen Shi as she entered.
“What exactly is going on?” Lu Popo asked first. Recently, rumors had been spreading in the village that war was coming, and she was afraid. Before Chen Shi could reply, she added, “If the fighting has really reached us, you all must run. Don’t worry about me.” She had already thought about it; her legs weren’t good, and she wouldn’t be able to run.
She had experienced a military uprising when she was young. Those chaotic soldiers burst into the village, killing everyone they saw, looting everything, and burning whatever remained. They were even more ruthless than bandits.
They couldn’t stay here. They had to run, and run fast. As she spoke, she prepared to stand up. She still had some money in her room; she would give it to the children so they could leave quickly.
“Grandmother, if we leave, we leave together,” said the eldest Lu son, Lu Yunxiao.
“That’s right,” added the second son, Lu Yunting.
“Foolish!” Lu Popo said crossly.
“If Grandmother doesn’t go, I’m not going either,” Lu Yunchuan said firmly as he set Lu Yunxi down.
As everyone continued to argue, Chen Shi spoke up. “We are leaving, but we aren’t fleeing.”
At these words, everyone looked at her.
Chen Shi took out a letter. Just as she was about to explain, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
“Who is it?” The knock felt like it was hammering against everyone’s hearts, making them tighten with anxiety.
“I’ll go open it,” Chen Shi said, heading outside.
“Mother, it’s better to be cautious…” Lu Yunxiao said.
“I’ll go with you.” Lu Yunchuan followed Chen Shi out, picking up a sickle from the courtyard. If there truly were villains, he would make sure they couldn’t leave.
Chen Shi reached the door, stood her ground, and asked in a low voice, “Who is it?”
“The people who have come to receive you,” a male voice replied from outside. The voice was steady and cold.
“Do you have proof?” Chen Shi asked.
A leather glove was pushed through the crack in the door. The glove was years old, worn and mottled. Yet Chen Shi stared intently at it. She suddenly snatched it up, examining it closely before letting out a low sob, her eyes filling with tears. This was the very glove she had made for her husband, Lu Tianguang.
“Who is at the door?” Lu Popo asked worriedly from inside the room.
Chen Shi quickly wiped her tears and opened the door. Standing outside were a young man, a boy, and a troop of people not far behind.
“Quickly, come in,” Chen Shi said, stepping aside.
The young man did not dally and was the first to enter. Then, everyone followed into the courtyard, which was suddenly crowded.
Lu Popo and the others came to the doorway, looking at the courtyard full of people in astonishment. What was this?
The young man suddenly knelt. “Your subject, Xie Zhiyuan, by His Majesty’s order, has come to escort the Empress Dowager, the Empress, the Princes, and the Princess to the capital.” Behind him, everyone knelt in unison, perfectly aligned.
Lu Popo and the others were stunned. What on earth was happening? Was this a dream? Empress Dowager, Empress, Princes, Princess… who?
Though Chen Shi was emotional, she remained rational. She said to Lu Popo, “Mother, look at that letter. Once you read it, you’ll understand.”
Lu Popo was illiterate, so she gave the letter to Lu Yunting and told him to read it aloud.
As Lu Yunting read, the shock grew deeper in everyone’s hearts.
Meanwhile, Lu Yunxi’s mind felt like it had exploded.
Hearing the young man introduce himself just now, she suddenly realized—she hadn’t just been reborn; she had transmigrated into a book!
It was a book she had read out of boredom. It told the story of the late Jin Dynasty, where the emperor was incompetent and the people lived in misery, leading to various uprisings. The male lead, Xie Zhiyuan, was saved by the rebel leader Lu Tianguang and followed him to conquer the world.
Of course, that was the backstory. When the book actually began, Lu Tianguang had already become the Emperor, and the male lead had reached the highest rank a subject could hold.
Lu Tianguang was her father, the one who had disappeared ten years ago, supposedly to sell tea, never to be heard from again.
And she, Lu Yunxi, was the good-for-nothing princess in the book. Having grown up in a remote, impoverished area and suddenly becoming a princess, she had acted out even more than a typical nouveau riche. Squandering money, dripping in jewels, and being domineering—those were the least of her faults.
The main issue was that she was a lecher who had set her sights on the male lead, Xie Zhiyuan.
Could a villainous supporting character really touch the male lead?
The Emperor wanted to arrange a marriage between them, but the male lead refused. The good-for-nothing princess could only endure it for a while, venting her frustration by taking three consorts and keeping four male favorites. One of those consorts was even the male lead’s own nephew.
Even then, she couldn’t let go of the male lead. She tortured the nephew in despicable ways while using wicked and stupid methods to try and get her hands on the male lead.
Eventually, she pushed the male lead to rebellion, resulting in the downfall of her country and her family. As for the male lead, after a series of romantic complications with the female lead, he naturally lived a happy life, envying only the mandarin ducks and not the immortals.