Ning Huan had transmigrated into this world in his original body.
The original character had indeed been a woman. Now that Ning Huan had disappeared from his own world, he had taken her place and assumed her identity.
Ning Huan came from another dynasty, one that did not exist in any surviving history books. He was fifteen years old and the youngest son in his family. He had a good temperament and an exceptionally beautiful appearance, and his elders doted on him. He was his grandparents’ favorite child and had rarely suffered any grievances since childhood.
The only unfortunate thing was his poor health. He had been born with a heart condition, so his family had always indulged and pampered him.
Surrounded by darkness, with only a faint glimmer of light, Ning Huan gazed at his familiar reflection in the bronze mirror. He raised his hand and brushed his fingertips across his forehead, the bridge of his nose, and his chin.
It was a face that was both cold and alluring. When he did not smile, his expression was icy, giving him an almost otherworldly air, as though he had no connection to the mortal world. Yet when he smiled, it was like thousands upon thousands of peach blossoms bursting into bloom, a face that seemed both heartless and full of affection.
His hand had been pampered and well cared for. Since it rarely saw the sun, its skin was exceptionally fair. It was not the healthy, rosy white of someone with a faint flush beneath the skin, but the pale white of a handful of snow or a block of ice. Not only was it pallid, but it was also perpetually cold, as though even his fingertips had gathered frost.
It was indeed his own body. There was a tiny red mole between his little finger and ring finger.
The Ning family was a military household. Although Ning Huan was physically frail, he had learned plenty of martial arts.
However, a cold voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
“From today onward, you are the Third Miss of the Marquis of Dingyuan’s residence.”
The voice told Ning Huan that it was called the System.
Ning Huan listened indifferently, his slender fingers lightly tapping the tabletop. A dressing mirror stood in front of him. The table was unsteady, and an assortment of jewelry lay scattered across it in a disorderly fashion.
Ning Huan had grown up watching his legitimate elder sister, and he was familiar with the names of these ornaments.
The jewelry and clothing popular in this place were the same as those from his original dynasty.
As for this so-called System, he had no idea whether everyone in this world possessed one or whether he alone had been given one.
Finding himself in an unfamiliar place, Ning Huan decided to be cautious with his words and actions as he listened to what the System had to say.
“Do you remember the storybook you read a few days ago?”
Ning Huan furrowed his brows slightly before recalling it. At the time, he had been escaping the summer heat at a temporary imperial palace when he took a storybook from one of the princes’ residences. He had finished reading it in a single afternoon.
He had not paid close attention to the details. He had simply thought the story was written in a disjointed, illogical manner. Yet, strangely enough, it had been so satisfying to read that he had found himself unable to put it down.
“Good. At least you’ve read it.” The System seemed somewhat relieved.
“You have now become Ning Huan, a character in that storybook, the Third Miss of the Marquis of Dingyuan’s residence. Do you remember her?”
Ning Huan suddenly recalled the character.
He had only skimmed through the story and had paid little attention to this supporting character. He remembered that she shared his name and surname, married Mu Jinyu, and died early in the story. Mu Jinyu had been the one to kill her.
None of that was particularly strange. What was strange was that Ning Huan himself was a man, an indisputable fact, regardless of how exquisitely beautiful his features were or how difficult it was to distinguish his gender from his appearance.
Yet the Ning Huan in the book was a woman.
“Oh, right. Let me explain.” The System clarified things for him. “The world in the book is different from the world you came from. It automatically repairs bugs. Whenever a problem arises, the world will find a way to make everything fit together.”
Ning Huan gave a faint, ambiguous smile. Although he did not fully understand what the System meant, he had more or less figured it out.
Since he had arrived in this world, his existence would somehow be made to seem reasonable.
“What happened to the original Ning Huan? Did she go to the place I came from?”
“Oh, she transmigrated into another book to make a guest appearance.
Supporting female characters have busy lives too.”
Ning Huan raised his eyebrows slightly. “What am I supposed to do here?
And what can you give me in return?”
“Follow the plot and don’t break character. You are frail and sickly, aren’t you? If you follow the plot properly and make the male lead hate you, successfully provoking him into striving to become emperor, you will be rewarded with a healthy body.”
The system was busy as well. It figured that Ning Huan was an intelligent person who would not do anything foolish, so it offered a few final instructions.
“Don’t try to kill yourself or seek death. Even if you die, you won’t be able to return to your family.”
After saying this, the System gave Ning Huan some of the original character’s memories before disappearing without another word.
Ning Huan stared at his reflection in the mirror, recalling the plot of the book. He had not paid much attention to the early chapters, so he only remembered the general outline of the story.
The story began twenty three years earlier.
At the time, Prince Chu held absolute power over the imperial court. He developed feelings for the breathtakingly beautiful Empress and resorted to a treacherous scheme to harm the former emperor and usurp the throne. The former emperor’s Empress was then forced to become his Empress instead.
The Empress soon became pregnant. No one knew whether the child in her womb belonged to the former emperor or the current one, because Prince Chu had forced himself on her more than ten times while the former emperor was still alive.
The child was born and named Mu Jinyu.
Mu Jinyu had known his identity since childhood. He grew up with a violent, eccentric, and solitary temperament. The emperor constantly felt that Mu Jinyu was becoming more and more like his deceased elder brother. Combined with the Empress’s indifferent attitude toward the boy, this led the emperor to make things difficult for him at every turn.
During the early part of the story, Mu Jinyu was kept under the emperor’s thumb and had no say in his own marriage. He was forced to marry Ning Huan, the Third Miss of the Marquis of Dingyuan’s residence.
Everyone in the capital knew Ning Huan’s name.
She was famous not only for her peerless beauty but also for her hypocritical, affected, and insincere personality, much like a white lotus flower.
The aristocratic young men of the capital were all captivated by Ning Huan’s beauty. Yet, under pressure from their families, none dared to seek her hand in marriage. They could only regard her as a celestial maiden, admiring her from afar while privately indulging in fantasies that the beauty might feel the same way about them.
The emperor had arranged Ning Huan’s marriage to Mu Jinyu in the hope that she would turn the Crown Prince’s residence into a complete disaster.
After that, Mu Jinyu brutally killed Ning Huan. Once he had grown powerful enough to stand on his own, he staged another coup, usurped the throne, and massacred everyone within the imperial palace.
Ning Huan had no particular opinion about this story. Whatever Mu Jinyu wanted to do was his own business. However, when it came to his own fate, Ning Huan had plenty of thoughts.
Judging from what the System had said, even death would not allow him to return to his original world. He would have to remain here for the foreseeable future.
As for the early stages of the plot, he simply had to follow the System’s arrangements, make the male lead despise him, and let Mu Jinyu experience the pain of having no control over the major decisions in his own life. That should inspire the man to fight for the throne.
Ning Huan valued his life. As long as he could stay alive, he would choose to do so.
Once the male lead hated him and began making moves against the emperor, Ning Huan could request a divorce before Mu Jinyu had the chance to act against him.
They would go their separate ways and live their own lives.
Mu Jinyu could build his harem and become a tyrant, while Ning Huan traveled the world.
There was just one problem. Ning Huan was a man. No matter how androgynous his beauty might be, he was still not a woman. Once he married into the Crown Prince’s residence, it would be easy for others to discover the truth, even if the Crown Prince never shared a bed with him.
The first problem was his height.
Ning Huan was now sixteen years old, and he was already a head taller than most sixteen year old girls. He would continue to grow as well.
All of Ning Huan’s brothers stood eight chi tall and were handsome, elegant men with the bearing of jade trees swaying in the wind. Ning Huan would probably grow to be just as tall.
A few years later, even if Mu Jinyu did not kill him, he would surely grow suspicious when faced with a Crown Princess who stood eight chi tall.
The second problem was Adam’s apple.
Ning Huan’s body was still developing, and his Adam’s apple would gradually become more prominent. The Crown Princess would frequently have to visit the imperial palace and socialize with the wives of aristocratic families. In winter, he might be able to conceal his throat, but in summer, he would wear low cut dresses that exposed his neck. Surely, someone would notice.
By then, rumors would spread throughout the capital that the Crown Princess had grown an Adam’s apple.
Finally, there was his voice. A man’s voice sounded different from a woman’s as well.
It was early morning, just past the Mao hour. Since it was the depths of winter, the sky had yet to brighten. A tiny flame flickered beside Ning Huan, casting an unsteady glow.
His long hair hung loose around his shoulders. Because he was still young and naturally beautiful, he was wearing nothing but a plain white sleeping robe. Looking closely, it was genuinely difficult to distinguish his gender.
When the sky grew brighter, a maid entered to wake Ning Huan. She pushed the door open quietly, only to discover that the young lady was already awake and had apparently been sitting before the mirror for quite some time.
The maid let out a small gasp and spoke in a soft, delicate voice. “The weather is so cold, Third Miss. Why are you wearing so little? You haven’t even put on your socks before getting out of bed.”
Ning Huan’s pale eyes swept over the maid.
She had delicate features, fair skin, and straight bangs. Her appearance carried a hint of innocent charm, and she wore a blue green dress. Relying on the memories the System had given him, Ning Huan recognized her as Zisu, the original character’s former maid.
Under Ning Huan’s gaze, the maid began to feel uneasy. Why was the young lady looking at her so differently from usual?
She had only been working here for a short time. After the young lady’s previous maid had been beaten to death, the household had purchased her to replace the dead girl.
For some reason, the young lady seemed even more beautiful today. Her complexion was a little paler, the bridge of her nose appeared slightly higher, and her eyes were a shade lighter. There was also a greater sense of coldness about her, along with an indescribable quality to her features.
An outsider who did not see Ning Huan every day might not notice the subtle differences, but a maid who attended to her daily could pick up on even the smallest changes.
In the eyes of outsiders, the young lady was a celestial beauty. However, to a maid who saw her morning and evening, she possessed little of that ethereal aura, especially since the Third Miss would slap her from time to time.
Yet today, the maid felt that the young lady’s celestial aura had returned.
“Are you Zisu?”
The maid froze.
Her name had originally been Xiaocui. On the day she was purchased, she had knelt humbly on the ground, and the young lady had decided that she was more worthless than grass, renaming her Xiaocao. She had never liked that name.
The girl named Zisu had been beaten to death by the young lady a few days earlier.
The maid immediately grew nervous. “I… I’m called Xiaocao.”
Ning Huan had just taken the water to rinse his mouth, but upon hearing this, he nearly choked on it.
Xiaocao? What kind of ridiculous name was that?
Ning Huan said, “Let’s change your name. From now on, you can be called Dieqing.”
The maid instantly brightened with happiness. Although she did not know how to write those two characters, the name sounded much better than Xiaocao.
Dieqing helped Ning Huan wash and dress, carefully using an ivory comb to gather his long hair.
“His Highness the Crown Prince will be visiting the Ning residence today. With your beauty, Third Miss, His Highness will surely take a liking to you.”
Ning Huan felt a headache coming on.
His wedding to Mu Jinyu was fast approaching. In less than half a month, Ning Huan would be carried in a grand bridal sedan chair to the Crown Prince’s residence.
He had never imagined that he would one day find himself being carried off in a bridal sedan chair to get married.
When it was time to change clothes, Ning Huan sent Dieqing outside and changed into the garments himself. Naturally, he was not accustomed to wearing women’s hairpins and skirts, but he needed them to conceal his true gender.
When he emerged, Dieqing was once again dazzled by her young lady’s beauty.
The young lady was tall, standing a head above the other young women from respectable families. Although her chest had no curves, her waist was exceptionally slender, giving her a captivating appearance.
The faint morning light fell across her jade white face, revealing not a single blemish. No wonder the men of the capital regarded their young lady as a celestial maiden. Her aura was so pure and refined.
Ning Huan had always been casual in his manner, but now he recalled the way his legitimate elder sister carried herself and began to walk more slowly.
He had little choice. Shoes this soft were simply not made for walking.