However, the next day.
When Xue Youli got up for breakfast, she heard that Xue Qingyao had escaped!
Apparently, when a servant went to deliver water and steamed buns to the woodshed, they discovered that Xue Qingyao, who had been locked inside, was gone.
All that remained on the ground was the hemp rope that had bound her.
The people Xue Fu sent out searched for an entire day but couldn’t find Xue Qingyao anywhere.
After all, the Yan Niang affair was a scandal, so they couldn’t conduct a large-scale search. After a few days of finding nothing, the matter was simply dropped.
Xue Huaiyuan replaced the household servants with a new batch of people. With Yan Niang dead and her daughter missing, it didn’t stir up any ripples in Xue Fu.
Only Xue Youli still fretted over Xue Qingyao’s disappearance. She worried that as long as this woman lived, the curse of the Xue family’s massacre would not be so easily broken.
However, worrying was useless.
Striving to improve herself and become stronger was the fundamental way to solve the problem.
At Jinghua Si, a hundred li from the capital, in the rear courtyard’s side chamber.
“Yue’er? Yue’er?”
“Huh? It’s over that fast?”
Chu Xinyue heard someone calling her and groggily opened her eyes.
Suddenly, a face of regal elegance crashed into her vision.
“Yue’er, you’re finally awake! You scared me to death!”
“You… who are you?”
Chu Xinyue’s eyes went wide as she stared blankly at the person sitting before her.
Who am I?
Where am I?
Seeing Chu Xinyue’s vacant, bewildered gaze, the other woman anxiously grabbed her hand. “Yue’er, how can you not even recognize me?”
Chu Xinyue’s gaze swept over the person sitting by the bed from head to toe.
The woman wore a dark purple silk robe embroidered with exquisite ruyi cloud patterns.
Her hair was neatly styled, adorned with several simple yet elegant gold hairpins, the gems set in them gleaming brilliantly.
Wait! This person was dressed in luxurious ancient attire and called herself “this grieving mother”… Could she be…
Chu Xinyue’s eyes darted around as she tentatively spoke, “Your… Majesty, the Empress Dowager?”
Seeing that she had regained her senses, Empress Dowager Yin let out a sigh of relief. “The imperial physician said you fainted from exhaustion and excessive worry after the long journey. Yue’er, you must take good care of yourself, so your father and mother can rest in peace.”
Chu Xinyue’s mind was racing. Though she hadn’t figured out the situation yet, she adapted quickly. “Yue’er understands. I’ve caused Your Majesty the Empress Dowager concern.”
“Rest well. Nanny Li, have Er Xi check if the medicine is ready.”
“Yes.”
By the bedside, Chu Xinyue watched this imposing empress dowager and pressed a hand to her forehead. “Your Majesty, Yue’er has a headache and would like to sleep a bit more.”
“Alright, sleep then. I’ll come see you later.”
After Empress Dowager Yin left with Nanny Li, Chu Xinyue’s brain went into overdrive.
Empress Dowager, Nanny Li, Yue’er, Er Xi, temple…
Holy crap! Weren’t these all characters from her recently serialized novel “Take Down All the Women in the Harem, I Want to Be Empress Dowager”?
When she wrote the finale, she had just gone through a breakup. Unable to bear seeing the male and female leads happy and fulfilled, she’d gotten carried away and killed off the female lead, letting the Regent directly ascend the throne as emperor.
Then she’d been flooded with nearly a thousand negative reviews.
She remembered that last night she’d been arguing with readers on a burner account in her two-hundred-plus-square-meter penthouse when she suddenly came down with appendicitis.
It was her best friend who’d rushed her to the hospital overnight and personally performed her surgery.
When someone had called her name just now, she’d thought the surgery was over!
What is happening right now?
Could it be that the heavens are punishing her for leaving her novel unfinished by sending her into the book as a minor cannon-fodder character?
At the thought, Chu Xinyue immediately jumped off the bed and pushed open the window to look outside.
Under the dappled light and shadows, pine and cypress trees stood tall like canopies, verdant bamboo flourished in lush clusters, and a winding bluestone path stretched into the distance.
Not far away, a clear, bottomless pond reflected the courtyard scene, resembling a natural ink-wash painting.
No wonder this was the world she had crafted in her novel—tranquil surroundings, fresh air, truly the paradise she had envisioned!
“Your Highness, it’s time to take your medicine!”
Just then, a green-clad maid with her hair tied in double buns pushed the door open and entered.
Chu Xinyue stared at Er Xi, and a sudden thought struck her. “Hello, Er Xi, Sawadeka! Are you, like, my bestie, imnida? Weren’t we in the operating room doing an appendectomy, so why are we inside a novel? Sibal! Bakayarou!”
Er Xi was terrified. “Your Highness, y-you’re speaking nonsense! This servant will fetch the imperial physician to examine you again!”
“No need, I’m fine.”
Chu Xinyue looked at Er Xi’s reaction and sighed in disappointment inwardly.
Right, transmigrating into a novel she wrote herself was a rare stroke of luck, and her bestie was probably still in the operating room removing an appendix.
She wondered how her real-world body was doing.
If she kicked the bucket, would it affect her bestie’s professional title evaluation?
“Your Highness, this servant knows you fear the bitterness, so I’ve brought candied fruit as well.”
Er Xi held out a tray with the medicine bowl and candied fruit to Chu Xinyue.
Just the smell of the medicine was unbearable for Chu Xinyue. “Er Xi, what’s that over there?”
While Er Xi looked out the window, she quickly grabbed the medicine bowl, poured all the dark, murky liquid into the potted plant by the window, and then pretended she had already drunk it all.
Er Xi stared outside for a long while but saw nothing. “Your Highness, there’s nothing out there… Huh? Your Highness, where are you dragging this servant off to?”
“Come on! Let’s go out for some fresh air!”
To familiarize herself with the surroundings, Chu Xinyue circled the back courtyard of Jinghua Si twice and also managed to pry quite a bit of information out of Er Xi.
She had indeed transmigrated into the minor supporting character with the same name as hers in Eliminate All the Women in the Harem, I Want to Be Empress Dowager.
In the book, Chu Xinyue was the only daughter of the late Prince Pingyang, Chu Jinghan.
Chu Jinghan, a war god prince with illustrious military achievements, was the only prince of a different surname in Jiuzhou Guo, and he was also the Empress Dowager’s deep love before she entered the palace.
Fifteen years ago, after Chu Jinghan died on the battlefield, the Princess of Pingyang drank poisoned wine and followed him in death at his grave, leaving behind their daughter, who had just learned to walk.
Empress Dowager Yin begged a favor from the late emperor, bestowing upon Chu Xinyue the title of Qinghe Commandery, and directly took Chu Xinyue into the palace to raise her by her side.
Fifteen years had passed since then.
During these fifteen years, whenever the anniversary of Prince Pingyang’s death approached, Empress Dowager Yin would leave the palace for three months under the pretext of worshipping Buddha and seeking tranquility, bringing Chu Xinyue here to pray for the late Prince Pingyang.
After the female lead entered the palace, Chu Xinyue became her follower, and in the end, she was assassinated for stumbling upon the secret of a foreign envoy.
She hadn’t written much about Chu Xinyue’s character, even her death’s time and place were brushed over in a single line.
Now, since she had transmigrated into a character she wrote herself, she naturally wanted to make a big move and change her fate of being silenced.
As the author of this book, she knew the plot inside out and was thoroughly familiar with every protagonist’s setting. She could use these advantages to help the female lead accomplish great things!
Calculating the timeline, her female lead should be entering the palace soon, right?
Chu Xinyue had it all planned out—the first thing she’d do upon returning to the palace was link up with the female lead, and the two of them would join forces as a formidable duo.
Once she helped the female lead ascend to the position of Empress Dowager, she’d retire in glory, roaming the world within her novel, savoring delicacies from every corner of the land! And encountering all kinds of handsome men along the way!
Just thinking about that kind of life was enough to make her giddy with excitement!