Her head throbbed as though it would split. Yun Meng struggled to open her eyes, only to find everything her right eye could see was dark red…
As soon as she opened her eyes, the pain in her already aching head intensified…
Through her blurred vision, Yun Meng could make out that she was lying in an old-fashioned room. The air was thick with incense, but beneath it lurked the pungent smell of blood!
She clearly remembered being on a mission, tracking down a drug cartel with her colleagues from the police department. Why was she lying here?
A sharp stab of pain shot through her injured head, and countless fragments flashed through Yun Meng’s mind…
The owner of this body was named Yun Qianmeng, the legitimate daughter of Yun Xuanzhi, the Right Prime Minister of Western Chu. Her birth mother, Lady Qu, had fallen ill and died when Yun Qianmeng was only a month old!
From then on, Yun Xuanzhi’s concubine, Su Qing, had managed the vast Right Prime Minister’s Residence. Having lost her mother young, Yun Qianmeng had grown timid and meek, allowing the household’s concubines and younger half-sisters to bully and humiliate her without daring to fight back!
Fortunately, Lady Qu’s full sister was the Empress Dowager of Western Chu. She had arranged for the young Yun Qianmeng to marry Prince Chen. Little did she know that Prince Chen had never accepted the match. That was why he had gone to the Golden Throne Hall to petition the Emperor to break off the engagement, leading to what had happened in the main hall earlier!
The fragments in Yun Meng’s mind stopped at the moment Yun Qianmeng had struck the pillar and died. The memory made Yun Meng’s head throb unbearably, and a faint cry of pain escaped her…
“Ah!” A frightened scream rang out as Yun Qianmeng woke. Then came the sound of someone falling…
“What is it? What’s happened?” A sharp, angry reprimand followed, and a string of footsteps sounded in the previously silent room…
“Sister Qiulian, the Miss… she’s not… dead…” The startled maid curtsied to the woman who had just arrived, then walked over to her with a troubled expression and whispered in her ear. Her voice grew even softer on the final word.
“What!” Qiulian’s eyes flew wide. She stared in disbelief at the bed in the distance. Yun Qianmeng lay there without moving, making Qiulian all the more suspicious.
“It’s true, Sister! I wouldn’t dare lie!” Seeing the doubt in Qiulian’s eyes, the maid took a deep breath and edged toward the bed, pointing at the woman lying there with a trembling finger…
Qiulian’s expression turned complicated. She hurried to the bedside, shot the maid beside her a sharp glance, then looked at Yun Qianmeng, who had closed her eyes again. Uncertain, she reached out a finger and held it beneath Yun Qianmeng’s nose…
Yun Qianmeng’s steady breathing made a flicker of panic rise in Qiulian’s eyes. She kept asking herself, how could someone who was already dead come back to life?
She had just gone to report the death to the Empress Dowager!
But now Yun Qianmeng was alive and well. What was she supposed to do?
Qiulian glanced quickly at the maid, then fixed her eyes on the seemingly sleeping Yun Qianmeng. She reached for the quilt at the far side of the bed and slowly began to draw it over Yun Qianmeng’s face…
Sensing danger, Yun Meng clenched her fists beneath the quilt, pretending to sleep. Just as the bedding was about to cover her nose, she suddenly opened her eyes and raised both hands to stop Qiulian.
“M-Miss…” Qiulian stammered, still unable to recover from the sight of Yun Qianmeng rising from the dead. Her voice came out faint and uncertain…
Yun Meng opened her eyes calmly, taking in Qiulian’s anxious, guilty expression. At the same time, she searched her mind for everything she knew about Qiulian.
Qiulian had been sent to serve Yun Qianmeng by Su Qing, the Right Prime Minister’s concubine. After the maid arrived, three of the four maids Lady Qu had left Yun Qianmeng had met with misfortune, one after another. Some had died; others had left. Yun Qianmeng had always feared Su Qing, so even when Qiulian was disrespectful to her and took her monthly allowance, Yun Qianmeng had never dared protest!
But from the murderous intent Yun Meng had sensed from Qiulian and the way she had moved, it was clear that Qiulian had definitely meant to kill her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have looked so panicked and terrified when she knew Yun Qianmeng had woken.
“How long have I been asleep?” Yun Meng withdrew her scrutinizing gaze and hid her sharpness. With the little maid’s help, she slowly sat up…
Perhaps Yun Qianmeng had struck the pillar with the determination to die. Yun Meng’s vision suddenly went black, and she slumped unsteadily against the maid beside her…
By then, Qiulian had already hidden her guilt, but the coldness in Yun Qianmeng’s eyes as she had opened them still lingered in her mind. Qiulian couldn’t help wondering whether Yun Qianmeng had seen through her intentions.
“The Miss lost too much blood and has been asleep for an hour. Thank goodness Madam is watching over her from beyond the grave and helped her survive this ordeal!” Seeing palace attendants from the Empress Dowager’s palace filing into the room, Qiulian hurried to tuck Yun Qianmeng in. Her eyes reddened, and she answered in a choked voice.
Qiulian had composed herself in no time at all. Yun Meng couldn’t help sneering inwardly, though she kept up her weak, helpless appearance. She raised a hand and pointed toward the round table. “Qiulian, get me a cup of water. I’m thirsty.”
After speaking, she closed her eyes wearily to rest…
When Qiulian saw that some of the palace attendants had discovered Yun Qianmeng was alive and rushed out to inform the Empress Dowager, she had no choice but to do as Yun Qianmeng asked. She went to the table and poured her a cup of water.
But when Qiulian returned to the bedside, Yun Qianmeng seemed to have fallen asleep again. A few of the bolder palace attendants were already looking their way, so Qiulian could only obey her mistress’s wishes, stand beside the bed with the cup in hand, and wait for Yun Qianmeng to open her eyes…
She waited half an hour. Qiulian’s hands grew numb, and the soles of her feet began to ache sharply. Her gaze, calm at first, now held a trace of anger…
Only after the dizziness in her head had passed did Yun Meng slowly open her eyes. She caught Qiulian’s impatient expression and couldn’t help letting the faintest smile touch her lips. Her slender hand lifted slightly. “Tired? Give it to me.”
At last, Yun Qianmeng was awake. Qiulian only wanted to be rid of the teacup, which felt as heavy as a mountain. With anger on her face, she thrust it into Yun Qianmeng’s hands without even looking…
“Smash!”
Qiulian had released the cup too soon, and Yun Qianmeng’s hands were too weak to hold it. The lukewarm water spilled over her hand, and the delicate cup shattered on the floor…
“Insolence!” A voice full of authority rang from the doorway. Every palace attendant in the room recognized it and dropped to their knees. Only Qiulian remained standing, still too stunned to react!
“Long live the Empress Dowager!” At the crowd’s greeting, Qiulian dropped to her knees as well. Unlike a moment ago, she was trembling all over and had lowered her formerly haughty head. Yet from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the person standing behind the Empress Dowager, and the corner of her mouth lifted slightly…
“Empress Dowager…” Yun Qianmeng looked flustered and struggled to get out of bed. But her body wouldn’t cooperate, and within moments she was leaning crookedly against the bedpost. All she could do was look apologetically at the Empress Dowager, who had come to her side.
“You foolish girl, why are you so stubborn? Shuier, Binger, help your mistress lie back down!” The Empress Dowager helped Yun Qianmeng herself, then coldly ordered the two maids standing behind her to settle Yun Qianmeng back in bed. Only then did she turn her attention to Qiulian, kneeling at her feet.
“Are you Qiulian?” Though phrased as a question, the Empress Dowager’s tone made it clear she already knew the answer.
“Yes!” Once Qiulian had confirmed who stood behind the Empress Dowager, her confidence returned. She even raised her head without waiting for permission, a smug expression in her eyes.
“Someone, slap her! She dares answer me without calling herself a servant?” The Empress Dowager seemed determined to teach Qiulian a lesson. Before Qiulian could react, the Empress Dowager’s senior palace maid hurried forward and began carrying out the order without a word.
“Please forgive me, Empress Dowager! This servant was wrong! Sir, save me!” After taking several slaps, Qiulian began to panic. When the person whose clothes she had spotted failed to speak up for her, she dropped her haughty air and bowed frantically to the Empress Dowager, begging for mercy.
“Hmph! You still dare beg for mercy? If you dare act so outrageously in front of me, who knows how you’ve treated Meng’er in private! If I hadn’t arrived in time, that teacup might have hit Meng’er, wouldn’t it? And you dared deceive me, claiming she was dead. You must have a lot of nerve! Take her away and lock her up. I’ll settle accounts with you later!” Qiulian’s pleas only stoked the anger the Empress Dowager had been holding back. She waved a hand, and the guards dragged the sobbing, struggling Qiulian away.
Once the room had quieted, the Empress Dowager turned to the middle-aged man behind her and said coldly, “Prime Minister Yun, you won’t object to my disciplining a maid from your household, will you?”
“I leave her entirely to the Empress Dowager’s judgment.” Yun Xuanzhi bowed slightly. He would not offend the Empress Dowager over a maid.
“Empress Dowager!” A weak voice drew her attention. With Shuier and Binger supporting her, Yun Qianmeng had managed to stand. She bowed gracefully to the Empress Dowager.
“What are you doing? Lie back down at once! Whatever it is, wait until you’ve recovered.” The coldness in the Empress Dowager’s eyes vanished. She looked at Yun Qianmeng with tender concern, then took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood clinging to Yun Qianmeng’s right eye.
“It is my good fortune that you care for me, Empress Dowager. But there is something I wish to ask of you. Please grant my request!” As she spoke, Yun Qianmeng knelt, and no matter how Shuier and Binger tried, they could not pull her back up.
Seeing Yun Qianmeng’s stubbornness, Yun Xuanzhi frowned slightly and said, “What sort of behavior is this? You’ve already disgraced the Prime Minister’s Residence with what you did earlier, and now you dare threaten the Empress Dowager? You…”
“I want to go before the Emperor in the main hall!” Yun Qianmeng cut him off before he could finish scolding her…