Shangguan Jin carefully pinched her own arm.
It hurt a bit, and the skin even turned slightly red—this didn’t seem like a dream.
She cautiously examined herself and her surroundings.
The room was filled with exquisitely crafted solid wood furniture, antique in style, with even the window lattices carved with intricate patterns.
Though she couldn’t identify the exact materials of the furniture, Shangguan Jin could still tell.
Everything in this room, whether it was the furniture or the bronze and porcelain artifacts, radiated one word: expensive!
Extremely, outrageously expensive—the kind that, in her previous life, would have ended up in a Sotheby’s auction house…
Shangguan Jin took a deep breath, trying hard to calm herself down.
It felt like just moments ago, she had been at a celebration party.
She worked in investment banking, and just the day before, she had successfully helped a private company go public alongside another investment bank.
All three parties were satisfied—except for Shangguan Jin, the project lead.
She was deeply dissatisfied. Why did they have to bring in another investment bank when her own company could have handled everything alone?
Then, during the celebration, the lead from the other investment bank came over to toast her.
“Miss Shangguan, look how well our two firms collaborated!
From now on, we definitely won’t join in only at the tail end.
We’ll get involved earlier—otherwise, we’d miss out on the good stuff.” The handsome lead from the other firm said with a smile.
Everyone else holding their wine glasses…
As for Shangguan Jin, she was already seething with anger and had nowhere to vent it!
Hearing this, she quickly put on her professional fake smile and clinked glasses with the handsome guy.
“Exactly, who could compare to you? Congratulations on getting the good stuff!”
The guy, who had wanted to show off a bit more…
Everyone else present…
As the celebration party was winding down, the CEO of the newly listed company gave each of them a brocade box.
“Just a small token of appreciation—nothing much, just a little trinket!
It’s been passed down in my family for generations. Many experts have urged me to donate it, but I never did.
Now, I’m giving it to both of you!”
Shangguan Jin then took the brocade box back to her hotel room.
Opening it, she found a painting of a court lady—a beautiful woman sitting by a window, gazing blankly at an unknown flower outside.
Additionally, there were two lines of small, blurred characters on the painting. Shangguan Jin leaned in and stared for a long time but couldn’t make out what they said.
After that, she felt dizzy and slowly lost consciousness.
When she woke up again, she was in this room.
And she was still called Shangguan Jin.
No need to change her name—that was good.
Shangguan Jin examined herself again.
Fortunately, though she didn’t know which dynasty this was, the luxurious clothes and grand mansion suggested she belonged to a wealthy family.
Even better, there were no white silk cords or poisoned wine, nor any scumbags waiting for her to seek revenge…
Though she was thirty-six years old, already a mother of three sons and two daughters, she still retained her charm—fair-skinned and beautiful, a proper young matron.
Wait…
Shangguan Jin suddenly felt dizzy as a flood of information rushed into her mind, forcing her to press her temples.
“Madam, are you feeling better?”
Perhaps hearing movement in the room, an elderly nanny with graying hair immediately tiptoed in from the outer chamber.
Looking at the elderly woman’s concerned gaze before her, Shangguan Jin blurted out, “It’s fine now, Mother Lin. I’m fine now.”
Mother Lin breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed she really was fine.
Ever since returning from the Wudinghou residence at noon, the mistress had seemed as if she had lost her soul, then retreated to her room.
Now, it appeared she had recovered.
“Mistress…” Mother Lin wanted to offer a few more words of comfort.
But Shangguan Jin waved her hand. “Mother Lin, please leave for now. Let me be alone for a while.”
Mother Lin thought for a moment, then quietly withdrew, carefully closing the door behind her.
At that moment, Shangguan Jin suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, collapsing backward onto the bed that looked quite expensive.
Ha!
Originally, she thought she had hit the jackpot—that heaven had granted her a chance to cross over.
It gave her the opportunity to experience firsthand the extravagant life of noble families under imperial authority.
Shangguan Jin had learned that in this historical timeline, which had already been riddled with transmigrators like a sieve, many things were different.
Starting from the Great Qin Dynasty, things were already unlike what Shangguan Jin knew.
That prince Fusu did not take his own life but smoothly ascended to the throne.
As for figures like Huhai and Zhao Gao…
It seemed they didn’t even exist in this history.
Or perhaps, this was now a completely fictional era.
Of course, those transmigrators all seemed quite down-to-earth—none of them suddenly created a socialist nation.
It remained a feudal society, as it had been for most of history…
At first, Shangguan Jin was a bit delighted—hadn’t she transmigrated into the role of the mistress of the Guogongfu?
But what was the reality?
Ha! That Dingguogong had led troops to the border three years ago and suddenly disappeared. For three years, there had been no news, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead.
From the information Shangguan Jin had received, Dingguogong and his wife had a close relationship, so it shouldn’t be a case of him faking his death for the sake of a concubine or some “one true love.”
Even if he wanted to play such a trick, the emperor above wouldn’t give him the chance!
In any case, Dingguogong had been missing for three years.
During these three years, the entire Dingguogongfu had almost become a topic of conversation among the noble families in the capital.
Not only did they turn Dingguogong’s disappearance into stories to pass around, but they also frequently invited Shangguan Jin to their family gatherings under various pretexts.
The original Shangguan Jin, who was originally the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family, had been educated to endure humiliation for the sake of the family.
Every time she attended these gatherings, not only did she have to prepare gifts befitting the status of the Guogongfu, but she also had to endure those people poking at her heart.
“Madam Shen, is there still no news of Guogong?”
“It’s fine—no news is good news.”
“That’s right, at least there’s still hope in your heart!”
What could the original Shangguan Jin do?
She had to swallow her pride and put on the demeanor of a proper mistress.
But after so many times, who knew what was really going on in her heart?
Finally, after the birthday banquet for the elderly lady of Wudinghoufu ended today, the original Shangguan Jin could no longer bear it.
She accidentally overheard a few elderly maids from Wudinghoufu chatting idly.
“Dingguogong has been gone for a long time. I heard it was our own Houye who recovered his body!”
“Then why hasn’t a funeral been held?”
“Why else? Dingguogong has outstanding military achievements and immense prestige in the army. If he were to suddenly disappear, it would destabilize morale.
For now, it can only be suppressed as a disappearance.
I heard it’s the imperial family’s intention!”
…
The original Shangguan Jin felt as if a knife had been stabbed into her heart. Her upbringing since childhood forced her to endure and return to Guogongfu.
After locking herself in her room, she couldn’t catch her breath and passed away.
The original Shangguan Jin had finally been suffocated to death by resentment.
And then came the current Shangguan Jin.
Shangguan Jin tried hard to calm herself down.
It wasn’t a big deal, just losing a man, right?
Three-legged toads are rare, but aren’t two-legged men everywhere?
At worst, she could just…
After sorting through the information in her mind once more, Shangguan Jin froze again.
That original spendthrift woman was truly wasteful!
Not to mention the distant past, just in the past three years, the gifts prepared for those large and small banquets she attended, along with the meeting gifts she carried for the younger generation…
They were all lavishly given away!
Every gift she sent out seemed incredibly expensive.
And, it seems the gift for Wudinghou’s family this time was prepared by secretly pawning two sets of jewelry she had kept as her last resort.
Shangguan Jin fiercely slapped her own hands a few times.
What’s there to stay for in an empty-shell Guogongfu?
An empty-shell Guogongfu without even a man is even worse to stay in!
But in this environment, she couldn’t leave even if she wanted to!
Shangguan Jin took several deep breaths, sorted through the information in her mind once more, and then called out to the door.
“Nanny Lin, ask Concubine Dong to come over.”