At noon, a row of dazzlingly dressed palace maid candidates stood in the courtyard, each adorned in red and green, their heads shimmering with golden ornaments.
Yao Chengcheng was no exception, with a silk flower on her forehead—a rhododendron in full bloom this season.
She had fair skin and a pretty face, but most importantly, though only sixteen, her figure was already exceptionally well-developed.
In the few days since the candidates had moved into the prince’s residence, many had already taken issue with her, gossiping behind her back:
“Clearly a young lady, yet she carries herself like that! As if afraid no one knows how shapely her behind is?”
Yao Chengcheng would usually plant her hands on her hips and curse back, for she had a fiery temper.
But at this moment, she stared blankly at her surroundings.
The large door before them swung open, and out stepped a eunuch speaking in a high-pitched voice: “Today, His Highness the Prince is selecting palace maids. I trust the matrons have taught you the rules these past few days. Once you step inside, be careful! If you say the wrong thing or make a mistake, even I won’t be able to save you—”
“Yes,” the candidates replied in unison.
Palace maid selection?
The Prince?
Yao Chengcheng suddenly snapped back to reality.
Damn it, she had transmigrated into a novel.
Just before the car accident, Yao Chengcheng had been reading a novel titled The Disabled Prince’s Palm Darling. The male lead, Prince Regent Fu Yuanzheng, was a disabled tycoon with injured legs, while the female lead was the universally adored Wen Yaoyao. The entire story revolved around Wen Yaoyao, who, despite enduring physical and emotional torment, never lost her kind-hearted nature, deeply moved Fu Yuanzheng, and ultimately lived happily ever after with him in this melodramatic tale.
After finishing it, Yao Chengcheng found it too cliché and gave it a negative review. And now, she had transmigrated into a cannon fodder character in that very novel.
Instant karma!
Today’s palace maid selection was essentially a grand cannon fodder meet-and-greet.
In no time at all, they would all be dragged away and beheaded because of one fool’s slip of the tongue!
Yao Chengcheng shuddered, clutching her neck.
It was already too late!
They were all ushered inside.
The heavy wooden door slowly closed behind them, like a monstrous beast snapping its jaws shut…
No wonder she was so terrified—the Fu Yuanzheng at the beginning of the novel was truly too cruel.
With his disabled legs and severe bipolar disorder, the slightest displeasure could lead him to shatter someone’s teeth or flay their skin!
“Go in,” the pale-faced eunuch reminded her.
His face was truly pale, reminding Yao Chengcheng of the White Impermanence.
Inside the room, ambergris incense burned, permeating every corner, yet Yao Chengcheng still keenly detected a faint trace of blood…
“Greetings, Your Highness—”
The candidate at the front, bold and unafraid, knelt and paid her respects.
Yao Chengcheng had originally been near the front but suddenly swapped places with a candidate eager to stand out, shrinking back to the rear. The other girl looked at her, bewildered.
Everyone knelt properly, yet the room was unnervingly quiet.
Suddenly, a creaking sound of a wheelchair came from behind the screen.
In the vast, empty hall, it was particularly jarring.
Here he comes, Yao Chengcheng knew. Fu Yuanzheng was watching them all.
His gaze was terrifying, like a venomous snake, penetrating and seeing through everyone—or so the novel described.
Finally, the wheelchair stopped at the very front.
“Look up.”
The voice was cold and devoid of any warmth.
The candidate at the front was overjoyed—His Highness was speaking to her!
She shyly raised her face but kept her eyes lowered, as was proper.
The person before her seemed to stare at her for a moment.
“Look up, at this Prince.”
The selected maiden was overjoyed, thinking herself incredibly fortunate to have caught the Prince’s eye at first glance, and so she no longer resisted, lifting her head with watery eyes—
In the next instant, her expression suddenly changed, and she screamed—
“Ah! Monster!”
Everyone looked up in shock!
What was happening!
But when they too saw the person before them clearly, they were equally terrified and screamed: “There’s a ghost!”
Some of the more timid ones immediately collapsed to the ground—
“A ghost, it’s a ghost!”
A ghost?
Yao Chengcheng, at the very back, was thinking quickly.
What was going on? Could it be that the Prince Regent’s appearance was so terrifying it rivaled a demon?
That shouldn’t be the case.
The book said he was peerlessly handsome—how else could he be the male lead?
Yao Chengcheng only regretted not reading the book carefully, missing some important details.
But in that instant! She remembered! The reason the female lead was kept by the male lead was because she had an eye disease at the time!
In other words, she couldn’t see!
Thinking of this, Yao Chengcheng suddenly squeezed her eyes tightly shut!
She wouldn’t look, she absolutely wouldn’t look!
Sure enough, a cold sneer came from above—
“What, did no one tell you that this Prince is neither human nor ghost? Just one look at me makes you all so disgusted, so terrified… How could you possibly endure even a single day in this Prince’s mansion?”
After Fu Yuanzheng finished speaking, he suddenly felt utterly bored, and his tone instantly changed: “Guards!”
The door opened, and the eunuch walked in.
“Your Highness.”
“Take them all away. Don’t let them offend this Prince’s sight any longer.”
“Yes.”
With a glance from the eunuch, several guards entered.
These maidens had entered with faces like peach blossoms, but when they left, they were as pale as paper.
Yao Chengcheng knew the fate of being dragged away, and for the sake of survival, she fought with all her might!
With the resolve of one facing death, she shouted: “I beg Your Highness to spare my life! This humble girl did not see Your Highness’s face!”
The hall fell silent for a moment, and the eunuch turned his head in disbelief.
There was Yao Chengcheng, kneeling on the ground, trembling like a leaf but keeping her eyes tightly shut.
“I beg Your Highness to spare my life… This humble girl saw nothing!”
The man at the front seemed intrigued and slowly turned his head.
Yao Chengcheng kept her eyes closed but could feel his gaze, scrutinizing her from head to toe, missing nothing.
“Tch—” Fu Yuanzheng laughed.
“Who told you they were taken away because they saw this Prince’s face?”
Yao Chengcheng: “?”
“You’re quite clever. Who sent you?”
“Ah?” Yao Chengcheng panicked. Oh no, oh no, where did she go wrong?
Facing death, Yao Chengcheng could no longer worry about anything else.
“Your Highness, spare my life! This humble girl was not sent by anyone, I just guessed… I only want to live, I beg Your Highness to spare me!”
The eunuch beside her seemed somewhat speechless, opening his mouth several times as if wanting to say something.
Fu Yuanzheng laughed even more terrifyingly: “Oh? And who told you that this Prince was going to kill them?”
Yao Chengcheng: “??”
What the hell, did she transmigrate into the wrong book?
“Interesting…” A sharp sound of wheels scraping against the ground echoed as Fu Yuanzheng approached her.
When he reached her, the man’s voice came from above.
“In that case, open your eyes.”
Yao Chengcheng shook her head desperately. No, she wouldn’t open them, absolutely not!
Fu Yuanzheng’s voice was as cold as ice: “If you don’t open them, this Prince will gouge out your eyeballs and serve them with my wine!”
Serve them with wine?
Yao Chengcheng had a sudden inspiration. She opened her eyes and said, “Your Highness, for drinking, fish eyes are the best accompaniment. I know a recipe—would you like me to make a dish for you?”
Fu Yuanzheng: “?”
Before crossing over, Yao Chengcheng could be considered a master in the culinary world. This was entirely a subconscious reaction, and she had subconsciously opened her eyes. Then—
She saw a man’s face, one half of which was breathtakingly beautiful, while the other half resembled a demon.
Was it… a burn?
What was there to be so shocked about?
She didn’t scream at all. Instead, she was completely captivated by the other half of his face.
This must be the work of the goddess Nüwa.
Absolutely exquisite.
She had secretly watched many videos of handsome young men before, so she subconsciously swallowed her saliva.
This time, it was the man before her who was left stunned.