Xu Lanshan gradually regained consciousness from a groggy state. At the same time, she felt pain all over her face, body, and arms. However, none of this pain could compare to the agony in her fingers, which felt connected to her heart.
She struggled to lift her hands. Seeing them covered in bruises, scabs, and wounds, mangled and horrifying to behold, she was so frightened her heart clenched and she shut her eyes.
How tragic!
The original owner of this body was named Lanshan, a young palace maid who served Song Meiren, a fifth-rank Beauty in the harem of Emperor Yuanyong of the Da Wen Dynasty.
Although Lanshan had outstanding looks, she was timid and cowardly. She usually kept her head down and remained silent, neither knowing how to dress up nor having a good complexion, so she didn’t stand out.
However, a few days ago, when Emperor Yuanyong visited Song Meiren, he smiled and casually praised Lanshan’s hands as being exceptionally beautiful. And so, her nightmare began.
When Song Meiren took a look, she saw it was true. The girl’s ten fingers were slender like bamboo shoots, fair, tender, and graceful. Their long, elegant shape was unforgettable. Her own pampered hands were actually outshone by them!
How could this be tolerated?
That wasn’t all. The Emperor hadn’t summoned Song Meiren to his bed for a long time. That day, he had merely sat for a short while before being invited away by another consort. Afterward, Song Meiren was slighted by other consorts, leaving her in a foul mood. The maid serving her, Su Ying, was a sharp-tongued and competitive person who already enjoyed bullying Lanshan. Jealous that the Emperor had praised Lanshan but never her, Su Ying stirred up trouble in front of Song Meiren, claiming that Lanshan was harboring improper thoughts and wanted to climb into the dragon bed.
“If she hadn’t deliberately shown them off, how would His Majesty have noticed her hands?”
Song Meiren found this reasonable. With several sources of anger converging, how could she not be furious? She decided to vent her frustrations by teaching Lanshan a harsh lesson.
Su Ying was immensely pleased. She seized the opportunity to torment Lanshan, going so far as to stomp on and beat her hands, torturing the girl until she was a ghastly sight.
Covered in injuries, Lanshan lay in a small, dim room, crying secretly. She had not a single sip of tea, only cold leftovers for food, and certainly no doctor to treat her wounds. After suffering a high fever for two days, she breathed her last.
And Xu Lanshan transmigrated over…
Xu Lanshan sighed softly, enduring the pain. What kind of hellish start was this! What was the point of transmigrating just to wait for death?
As her thoughts ran wild, a “Ding!” suddenly sounded in her mind, followed by the clear voice of a young boy: “Palace Intrigue System binding successful. Welcome, dearie!”
Xu Lanshan jumped in fright. “Wh-what thing is this?”
The moment the thought crossed her mind, the young boy’s voice immediately chirped again, “Not a thing, dearie! This is the Palace Intrigue System!”
Xu Lanshan was almost driven to laughter by this useless statement that explained nothing. “…Can you give me an explanation? Dearie?”
“Of course, dearie. The Palace Intrigue System, as the name implies, is a system that can help you with palace intrigue! With the Palace Intrigue System, you’ll never have to worry about palace struggles again. It will help you beat down the six palaces and stomp on the Empress! Attaining the Emperor’s favor, dominating all rivals, and raising your rank are just around the corner! Supreme luxury, glory, and wealth are waving at you, dearie!”
Xu Lanshan scoffed. As a former “involution king” at a major internet company in her past life, she never believed in free lunches. So, she said decisively, “Is that so? Then I’ll just lie here and wait to become the Empress! Hey dearie, hurry up and make me the Empress!”
“…Er!” The young boy was at a loss for words. Xu Lanshan could even detect a hint of embarrassment.
She was instantly speechless and sneered, “Tell me the truth!”
“…The Palace Intrigue System really can help you with palace intrigue, dearie. You get a big gift package when you level up. The higher you level up, the more generous the gift package. It’s absolutely beneficial to you, with no harm at all. It’s just… well, there are also some missions that you’ll need to complete along the way…”
Xu Lanshan sneered, “What missions?”
The young boy’s spirits lifted. “Rest assured, dearie, the missions will be issued progressively and are definitely not difficult, really!”
“And what if I can’t complete them?”
“You’ll… you’ll be erased by the system…”
A string of curses flew wildly through Xu Lanshan’s mind. She took a deep breath. “Can I unbind from it?”
“No, dearie. Once the system is bound, you either complete the final mission and receive the super deluxe surprise supreme gift package, or you fail a mission and get erased by the system. Or, if you get killed by other consorts during a mission, the system will automatically unbind. So, go for it, dearie!”
Perhaps realizing Xu Lanshan was powerless against it, the system’s voice became confident again, even a little… self-righteous?
Another string of curses flew through Xu Lanshan’s mind. “What’s the final mission?”
“…To… to become the Empress.”
“You—”
She was currently an unpopular, injured little palace maid in the residence of a low-ranking, unfavored, and unremarkable Beauty. Become… the… Empress? A normal person wouldn’t even dare to dream of such a thing, right?
“Or… winning the Emperor’s true and exclusive love is… also an option, dearie!”
Xu Lanshan scoffed, not feeling comforted in the slightest.
Win the Emperor’s true and exclusive love? She might as well aim for the Empress’s position!
“Or if you achieve both, a super-duper-ultra surprise deluxe gift package will be waiting for you, dearie!”
“Shut up!”
Tired of cursing, Xu Lanshan resigned herself to her fate.
Forget it. What else could she do now that she was here?
Given her current situation, staying by Song Meiren’s side was a dead end. Even without this system, her only option was to find a way to latch onto the Emperor’s golden thigh.
“You’re not just going to freeload and wait for me to die. You’ll help me, right?”
“I’m not freeloading and waiting for you to die, dearie. I—”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re freeloading and waiting for me to die,” Xu Lanshan cut him off irritably. “Will you help me?”
The system agreed, “Mhm, of course I can, within the scope of the rules, dearie. We’re in the same boat, after all.”
Xu Lanshan smiled faintly. “In that case, heal all my injuries right now, especially these hands. I want them to be even more perfect than before. Also, this body’s skin isn’t fair enough or delicate enough. And also, make my waist a bit slimmer, and this part up here—” she gestured with her hands, “—make it bigger!”
Xu Lanshan’s eyes gleamed slightly. All she wanted was better skin and a better figure. That was simple, right?
The system was rendered utterly speechless by her demands…
“Dearie, healing your injuries is no problem, but the other things are not possible for now. You can only get enhancements and improvements in various aspects after completing missions. For example, your figure, eyes, skin quality, hair quality, skin whitening, teeth straightening and whitening, body flexibility, stamina, agility, eyesight, hearing, sense of smell, voice, alcohol tolerance, natural body fragrance, and so on. So many surprises await!”
Xu Lanshan’s eyes gleamed slightly. Who wouldn’t want to become more beautiful? Wasn’t this equivalent to a full set of beauty treatments and physical enhancements? But what on earth was that “natural body fragrance”?
“Dearie, shall we start the first mission right away?”