When Lin Yao regained consciousness, it felt like fire was burning through her bone marrow, her organs all out of sync.
She vaguely realized she might have been drugged.
The drug’s effects hadn’t worn off; her whole body was limp and weak, completely unable to move.
Her vision was blocked by heavy red silk. Before her thesis-writing mind could even process what was happening, a sudden cacophony of hurried footsteps erupted from outside the door.
Then, someone beside her quickly shoved something ice-cold into her hand!
“Bang—”
The palace doors burst open, wind rushing in with a chill.
Before Lin Yao could react, two guards grabbed her like a chicken and dragged her off the bed, slamming her hard onto the floor tiles.
The red silk veil obscuring her vision slipped off, revealing an almost blinding sea of red—vermilion brocade bed curtains, flickering dragon-and-phoenix wedding candles, and layers upon layers of red felt covering the floor tiles.
Cold air seeped into her robes, and Lin Yao realized her once-splendid wedding dress was now in such disarray it couldn’t even cover her body.
Her chest clasps were loose, the crimson wedding gown hanging slack off her shoulders, the skirt bunched up to her thighs, exposing large swaths of snow-white skin flushed with an unnatural rosy hue.
Her gaze swept to the wedding bed behind her. A man lay sprawled there, eyes shut, long dark hair scattered messily across the pillow, utterly oblivious to the commotion outside.
Lin Yao’s mind buzzed: Did I get deflowered the moment I transmigrated here?!
“Protect the Crown Prince! Assassins have infiltrated the Eastern Palace!”
Hearing this, Lin Yao was even more confused.
My original identity is… an assassin?
She was dazed from the rough handling, her mind a muddled mess: Is the assassin business really this competitive now? Do I have to… sell my body too?
A man in dark robes led a squad of elite imperial guards filing into the room.
He was tall—taller than the guards beside him by a head—so Lin Yao had to crane her neck to look at him.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, dark robes hugging a lean frame. Looking up further, she saw a handsome face that instinctively made one want to take a step back.
High, sharp brow bones, slightly upturned eyes, a pair of narrow, long eyes carrying an innate sinister air, a jawline as hard as if carved by a blade. Not a single feature on his face was soft.
Before Lin Yao could finish taking in his face, he grabbed the back of her neck and hoisted her up like a chicken.
This man was none other than the Fourth Prince, Chu Liyuan.
“Who are you? How dare you attempt to assassinate the Crown Prince!” Chu Liyuan sneered as he stepped forward, his voice dripping with the smug satisfaction of certain victory.
He was asking a question he already knew the answer to.
Of course he knew who she was—she was the fake Crown Princess he had personally swapped in, the “blind, mute waste” eldest daughter of the Prime Minister’s estate.
He had schemed for months, all for today, to utterly humiliate the Prime Minister’s estate and the Crown Prince.
Chu Liyuan swept a glance over the disheveled woman on the ground, then at the sleeping Crown Prince on the bed. He casually tossed his outer robe over her, a slight smirk tugging at his lips: “The Crown Prince was drugged unconscious by this woman—”
With that, he walked to the wedding bed and tucked the pre-arranged, blood-stained bridal cloth into his sleeve.
“Take her to the Imperial Study. Let His Majesty decide her fate!”
Before Lin Yao could react, she was dragged and hauled into the Imperial Study.
Inside the Imperial Study, smoke curled from the incense burner, yet it couldn’t suppress the suffocating pressure in the air.
Fourth Prince Chu Liyuan stepped before the Emperor’s seat, lifted his robes, and knelt, his voice heavy with grief: “This woman is Lin Yao, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Lin family. She impersonated the Crown Princess, drugged the Crown Prince unconscious, and has already… consummated the marriage with my royal brother.”
With that, he gave a slight wave, and a guard beside him presented a white cloth, upon which several drops of blood were clearly visible.
The Emperor took the cloth and examined it, his gaze dark as water: “Continue.”
Chu Liyuan inclined his body slightly: “Though this woman shares the same family as the true Crown Princess, Lin Rou, she has been blind and mute since childhood—a cripple… I wonder how the Prime Minister’s estate could have made such an error.”
Blind, mute waste?
Lin Yao looked down at her own hands, then blinked.
I can see, hear, move… Does transmigration come with free medical treatment?
“Bring her before me!” the Emperor barked.
Two guards yanked her hard, practically throwing her at the Emperor’s feet.
The sheer impact sent her stumbling to her knees. Instinctively, she braced herself with her hands—
“Ting—”
A jade pendant, vivid green and carved with a qilin pattern, slipped from her hand and rolled to the Emperor’s feet before everyone’s eyes.
The sneer on Chu Liyuan’s face froze instantly.
That was his personal jade pendant!
The Emperor stared at it, his gaze sharpening: “Fourth Son, why does she have your personal jade pendant on her?”
Only then did Lin Yao remember—wasn’t this the thing the Crown Prince on the bed had shoved into her hand before the Fourth Prince burst in?
A chill ran through her fingertips, and in that instant, it clicked: The Crown Prince was never drugged at all!
On the Crown Prince’s wedding day, the bride had been swapped, yet the new bride carried the Fourth Prince’s personal token. The Emperor didn’t need to think hard to know this was no simple affair.
The emperor’s voice grew even colder. Fourth Prince, how exactly did you learn of the Eastern Palace’s affairs through the numerous palace barriers?”
All eyes instantly converged on Chu Liyuan.
He stood in the shadows of the great hall, the veins on the hand gripping his sword hilt bulging, his knuckles white from the force.
He stared fixedly at that disheveled woman, and at that damned jade pendant by her feet.
Fine. Very fine!
He, Chu Liyuan, had been outmaneuvered—the Crown Prince had turned the tables on him!
Just then, the Crown Prince, supported by a young eunuch, appeared weakly at the hall’s entrance.
The timing was nothing short of precise!
“Your son… pays respects to Your Majesty.” His voice was low and hoarse, as if he had just recovered from a grave illness.
“Crown Prince, what exactly is going on here?”
The Crown Prince’s voice came from behind Lin Yao, barely a whisper: “To answer Your Majesty, upon entering the bridal chamber, I felt dizzy. When I reached the bedside, I saw the bride beneath her veil already in disarray… as if she had been violated. Shocked and enraged, I was about to summon help when I lost consciousness…”
Lin Yao was stunned for a moment.
She looked at the jade pendant on the ground, then glanced back at the “frail” Crown Prince, and finally turned to the ashen-faced Fourth Prince.
In an instant, she understood.
This wasn’t an assassin scene at all—this was a grand, interlocking scheme of mutual betrayal!
And she was the unfortunate pawn the two brothers were using to spar with each other.
Lin Yao sighed inwardly. Was the next step a beheading? Please hurry up—she needed to get back to her own world; she hadn’t even requested leave for tomorrow morning’s team meeting.
Meanwhile, Chu Liyuan was engaged in a life-or-death calculation in his mind.
If he tried to defend himself, and his intent to harm the heir apparent was exposed, it would be a capital crime.
So he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the murderous intent in his gaze had been forcibly suppressed, replaced by a resigned acceptance of his fate.
“Clang—”
He dropped his sword.
Chu Liyuan lifted his robes, knelt heavily on the ground, lowered his head, and spoke in a hoarse voice:
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger. It was your son… who drank a few too many cups tonight and mistakenly wandered into the Eastern Palace. I mistook the bride for a dancing girl, and thus acted rashly…”
“After committing this grave error, I realized she was not the true Crown Princess… and so I resorted to this desperate measure to shift the blame…”
The entire hall erupted in murmurs.
The imperial guards all lowered their heads, not daring to listen to this royal scandal.
The emperor watched this farce, already understanding the scheming between his two sons. He pointed at the Fourth Prince and finally cursed: “You unfilial wretch! You’re worse than a beast!”
Chu Liyuan knelt perfectly straight, his spine like a drawn bow. He kept his head lowered, his eyes dark and sinister as they fixed on the ants crawling on the ground, while his heart bled.
Worse than a beast?
Hah… an old beast had simply sired two young beasts.
The emperor’s gaze swept back and forth between the kneeling Fourth Prince and the “false Crown Princess.” Regardless of which son had schemed first, this woman was no longer chaste and could not remain with the Crown Prince. Yet disposing of her casually would also offend the Prime Minister’s household…
“Since this woman is not the true Crown Princess, for the sake of the royal family’s honor, this matter shall not be spoken of.”
The emperor declared coldly: “Lin Yao of the Prime Minister’s household is hereby betrothed to the Fourth Prince, Chu Liyuan. A date shall be chosen for her to enter his household!”
Lin Yao spun around sharply, staring in horror at the Fourth Prince behind her.
What? Just like that, she was being married off to this grim reaper?!
She met Chu Liyuan’s dark, vicious eyes directly—there was not a trace of joy at being granted a marriage in that gaze, only a murderous intent that wished to flay her alive.
As for the Crown Prince, the slight curl of his lips froze the instant he saw Lin Yao turn around.
His pupils contracted slightly, and in those eyes that were usually as cold and clear as water, a glimmer of disbelief flashed through.
“…A’Yao?”
Those two words nearly escaped his lips, but in the next moment, he swallowed them back down, turning them into a soft sigh.