Jian Junyao never dreamed she would become a member of the time-traveling army.
Just after absorbing the original owner’s memories, she heard voices conversing nearby.
“Reporting to Your Highness, the princess consort has stopped breathing.”
“Your Highness, this old servant will go prepare the princess consort for burial, so she may rest in peace.”
“Mm, go ahead. Try to make her departure as dignified as possible.”
The princess consort these people spoke of was none other than the original owner of this body.
Two heavy footsteps drew closer and closer.
At this moment, if she continued pretending to be dead, she would likely be buried alive.
Jian Junyao helplessly opened her eyes, looked at the person beside her, and slowly sat up.
“I’m not dead. No need to collect the body.”
“Ah… the corpse came back to life…” Nanny Song screamed in terror and fainted on the spot.
Ling Ye quickly ran over, glanced at Nanny Song lying on the ground, then looked at Jian Junyao sitting there staring at him, his heart filled with dread.
“Debts have their creditors, grievances their sources. It was the current emperor who decreed your marriage to His Highness the War King. If you died with grievances, go seek revenge from him. Our prince has never mistreated you.”
Jian Junyao’s face showed no expression. The matters Ling Ye mentioned were very clear in the original owner’s memories.
“I’m well aware of all that. No need to remind me. Also, I’m human, not a ghost.”
Ling Ye began to realize something then. People said ghosts had no shadows, but the princess consort was different. A ray of sunlight streaming through the broken window fell directly on her, casting a clear shadow on the ground.
As Ling Ye sighed in relief, he hurriedly checked on Nanny Song’s condition.
Seeing him flustered, Jian Junyao couldn’t help but remind him: “Pinch her philtrum acupoint.”
Ling Ye had no time to ponder how unusually talkative the usually silent princess consort was today. He followed her instructions and began pinching Nanny Song’s philtrum acupoint.
Before long, Nanny Song regained consciousness.
As soon as Nanny Song lifted her eyelids, she saw Jian Junyao sitting there expressionless.
She quickly grabbed Ling Ye’s sleeve: “The princess consort has come back to life! Don’t mind me, protect the prince and flee!”
Ling Ye shook his head helplessly: “Don’t be afraid, Nanny Song. The princess consort isn’t dead.”
“What did you say?” Nanny Song didn’t believe him, mustering her courage to inch toward Jian Junyao.
Just as a hand was about to touch her, Jian Junyao spoke again.
“Nanny Song, I really am not dead.”
Nanny Song was so startled she fell back onto the ground, still staring at Jian Junyao in shock.
Seeing this, Ling Ye explained: “Nanny Song, ghosts don’t have shadows.”
Only then did Nanny Song notice that the princess consort indeed had a shadow.
She clasped her hands together: “Thank heavens, Amitabha… The princess consort is blessed with great fortune and destiny… It was not her time to die…”
Seeing that Nanny Song was fine, Ling Ye turned and left.
The dilapidated temple where they were had no hidden barriers, so Xuan Zhan heard every movement from Jian Junyao’s side clearly.
When Ling Ye returned, Xuan Zhan said solemnly: “There’s still a century-old ginseng in the carriage trunk. Have Nanny Song brew it later to nourish the princess consort’s body.”
Similarly, Jian Junyao could also hear Xuan Zhan’s words.
This was the original owner’s husband of half a month—the Ninth Imperial Uncle, the War King of Biyuan Kingdom.
The original owner was the legitimate eldest daughter of Biyuan Kingdom’s Left Chancellor, Jian Shang’an. Less than half a year after her birth, her birth mother, Lan Xueqing, passed away.
The Prime Minister’s wife had just passed away when Jian Shang’an couldn’t wait to remarry. His new wife, Hu Yanru, entered the mansion carrying a daughter in her arms—Jian Yanran, who was only three months younger than Jian Junyao.
This woman was the mistress Jian Shang’an had kept outside while his first wife was still alive. Now that the legitimate wife was dead, she could finally marry into the Prime Minister’s Mansion openly.
Ten years ago, Hu Yanru invited a Taoist priest to examine the situation. After his inspection, he claimed that the original host was fated to bring misfortune to her relatives—that the former Prime Minister’s wife had died because she was “cursed” by her. If she continued to stay in the mansion, who knew how many more relatives would meet their end?
Thus, at just five years old, Jian Junyao was sent by her own father, Jian Shang’an, to a manor in the outskirts, left to fend for herself.
Fortunately, her maternal grandfather’s Lan family was still in the capital at the time. They secretly sent an old nanny and a maid to the manor, allowing the original host to survive safely until the age of fifteen.
Not long after the Lan family sent the old nanny and the maid to the manor, they vanished without a trace in the capital.
Half a month ago, she thought Jian Shang’an had finally shown mercy and remembered her as his daughter, kindly bringing her back to the mansion.
Little did she know, this was all a scheme.
The Ninth Imperial Uncle, War King Xuan Zhan, had become paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries sustained in battle.
The emperor, Xuan Tianqi, who had previously been wary of him, declared that the Ninth Imperial Uncle could no longer lead troops due to his physical condition, thus rightfully reclaiming the military power in his hands.
Once he secured the military power, the emperor had no intention of giving Xuan Zhan even the slightest chance to make a comeback. He publicly announced that he would grant Xuan Zhan the two cities in the Northwest that the Mosang Kingdom had ceded to the Biyuan Kingdom twenty years ago as his fiefdom.
Everyone knew that the two cities ceded by the Mosang Kingdom were ghost cities. Anyone who entered there either died or went mad—without exception.
Under the guise of generosity, the emperor claimed to be granting War King two cities as his fiefdom. But anyone with eyes could see that he intended to eliminate Xuan Zhan entirely, leaving him no way out.
To display his benevolence, Xuan Tianqi also arranged a marriage on the spot, betrothing the legitimate daughter of Left Prime Minister Jian Shang’an to War King as his principal consort.
When Jian Yanran heard that she not only had to marry a disabled prince but also follow him to the Northwest to die, she began threatening suicide, declaring that she would rather die in the Prime Minister’s Mansion in the capital than follow Xuan Zhan to perish in the wilderness.
At this critical moment, Hu Yanru was the first to think of Jian Junyao at the manor.
After all, the imperial decree only stated that the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s Mansion was to marry War King—it didn’t specify which legitimate daughter.
…
Nanny Cui, who had taken care of the original host for many years, knew deep down that the girl’s return to the capital was part of a scheme. However, without any evidence, she feared the girl wouldn’t believe her.
Still, before returning to the capital, she subtly reminded her.
She told the original host to always be wary of the people in the Prime Minister’s Mansion and that the sudden disappearance of the Lan family’s hundred or so members was not without reason.
Unfortunately, at the time, the original host was so excited about the news of returning to the capital that she could only imagine how glorious it would be to become the Prime Minister’s Mansion’s eldest daughter. How could she possibly listen to Nanny Cui’s nagging?
Who would have thought that as soon as she entered the gates of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, Nanny Cui and the maid by her side would be taken away by Hu Yanru’s people and replaced with her own trusted servants?
While the original host was still confused and unsure of what to do, she was dressed in a bright red wedding gown and placed in a bridal sedan.
On the day of the wedding, the emperor issued another decree, ordering Xuan Zhan to immediately depart for his fiefdom.
Not only that, but the emperor also dispatched a hundred imperial guards to escort him.
On the surface, it was to protect War King’s safety, but in reality, it was to prevent him from escaping along the way.
Due to his physical disability, Xuan Zhan had already lost confidence in the future and did not want more people to suffer alongside him. Before leaving, he dismissed all the household servants, retaining only his wet nurse, Nanny Song, and an old steward.
Apart from them, there were his former trusted aides—the three brothers Ling Ye, Ling Feng, and Ling Bei.
That night, three plain and elegant carriages departed from the main gate of the War Prince’s Mansion, heading slowly toward the Northwest.
After several days of reflection, the original host finally awoke from her grand illusion: her substitute marriage was a facade; in truth, she was meant to die in Jian Yanran’s place.