The sun was setting, casting boundless twilight across the sky.
Zhao Qingning leaned halfway against the bed, staring dumbfounded at her shrunken hands.
Beside her, the maid Qiuhua, seeing her dazed expression, couldn’t help but say, “Young Miss, you must learn to restrain yourself from now on. Princess Yongjia will return soon. If you obediently admit your fault then, Her Highness won’t blame you.”
“Young Miss did nothing wrong! Those people deserved to be beaten!” The maid Chunlan handed her a cup of warm water. “They should be weeping with gratitude for Young Miss’s lesson.”
Qiuhua shot Chunlan a disapproving glance.
Hearing this, Zhao Qingning carefully searched her memories, and after a moment, her face twisted in horror.
Holy shit, she had actually transmigrated into the novel she’d been staying up late reading?!
The original story followed a modern woman who traveled to another world, where she overcame numerous hardships through her talent and abilities, eventually ascending to become the empress and living happily ever after with the male lead.
Unfortunately, Zhao Qingning had transmigrated into the villainous female supporting character.
The original Zhao Qingning was arrogant and tyrannical, using every underhanded scheme to try and kill the female lead, only to end up suffering the consequences—her family ruined, herself dead and abandoned in the wilderness.
Zhao Qingning was furious.
She’d always balanced her diet with both meat and vegetables—why did others get to be the female lead when crossing over, while she had to be the supporting character?!
But before she could voice this soul-searching question, the door was kicked open.
The newcomer was radiantly beautiful, with features somewhat similar to Zhao Qingning’s.
Chunlan and Qiuhua quickly knelt. “Greetings, Your Highness.”
Zhao Qingning’s memories fell into place, and she remembered who this was.
This was her mother, Princess Yongjia.
Yongjia held military power, had once gone to the battlefield to quell rebellions, and could be called a heroine.
She cared little for authority and often secluded herself in a Buddhist temple outside the city for quiet cultivation.
Yet the daughter she bore turned out to be a bully who abused her power.
Yongjia’s expression was stern. “Kneel.”
Zhao Qingning: “…”
She sighed inwardly and got off the bed to kneel on the floor.
Yongjia struggled to restrain her urge to hit her. “I’ve been clever all my life—how did I give birth to someone as stupid as a pig? The Virtue and Abundance Academy was established by His Majesty. You started a fight as soon as you enrolled! If word gets out, it would be contempt of the imperial decree—a crime of immense magnitude!”
Heaven knew, when she heard her daughter had caused trouble again, she was so angry she smashed the wooden fish in the Buddhist hall with one punch.
Zhao Qingning hung her head, saying nothing.
The current emperor had founded the Virtue and Abundance Academy, selecting children of officials to study alongside royal descendants. Naturally, the female lead was chosen.
After enrolling, she encountered the original Zhao Qingning, who, out of jealousy, falsely accused the female lead of offending her, then beat her and pushed her into the water.
“If I hadn’t rushed back to the capital to plead for mercy on your behalf before His Majesty, do you think you’d still be kneeling here unscathed?”
The more Yongjia thought about it, the angrier she became. She had been devoutly cultivating herself before the Buddha to atone for the killings she committed in her early years on the battlefield.
Now, all her merits had been utterly ruined by this unfilial daughter.
Zhao Qingning stole a glance at her and decided to take action. Timidly, she reached out and tugged at Yongjia’s sleeve. “Mother, please don’t be angry. I know I was wrong.”
The atmosphere instantly grew still.
Yongjia stared in astonishment at the small figure on the floor, momentarily stunned.
Due to her Buddhist practices, she rarely returned to the residence and wasn’t close to her daughter. Moreover, their values differed, and whenever Zhao Qingning made a mistake before, she would always argue fiercely and never admit fault.
This was the first time—so much so that Yongjia was left speechless for a long while.
Seeing her frozen in place, Zhao Qingning secretly pinched herself, instantly bringing tears to her eyes. Pitifully, she spoke again, “Mother, I truly know I was wrong.”
In the original plot, Zhao Qingning refused to repent, argued with Yongjia, and even hurled insults, ultimately earning herself a day of kneeling in the ancestral hall as punishment.
She had no desire to kneel there.
After all, she was Yongjia’s own daughter. Zhao Qingning couldn’t believe that, with such a sincere and pitiable attitude, Yongjia would still punish her.
Moreover, Yongjia truly cared for this daughter. Though she scolded Zhao Qingning when she caused trouble, she would always step in to resolve the issues immediately.
It was just that, accustomed to commanding troops, Yongjia didn’t know how to interact with her own daughter.
Qiuhua, kneeling nearby, quickly added, “The young lady has been weeping incessantly since she returned. She must be genuinely remorseful. I beg Your Highness to show mercy.”
Zhao Qingning wiped her tears, her lips twitching slightly.
This maid was just as skilled at spinning tales as she was.
Yongjia’s expression shifted repeatedly before she finally spoke sternly, “If you aren’t punished, you’ll only repeat your mistakes. Go and copy the Three Character Classic one hundred times!”
Zhao Qingning breathed a sigh of relief and obediently accepted the task.
Copying texts was far better than kneeling in punishment.
Yongjia was quite surprised by her compliance but took it as a sign that the child was becoming more reasonable and said nothing further.
As night fell, the Princess Manor buzzed with activity, preparing for the return of its mistress.
In her room, Zhao Qingning sat at her desk. Since she was only a girl in her teens, Yongjia hadn’t expected her to finish copying the entire Three Character Classic in a single day.
For now, she was pondering how to change her tragic fate.
Since she was here, with no way back to reality, she couldn’t just let everything end in ruin and death, could she?
Yet, no matter how much she racked her brain, no solution came to mind. Unconsciously, she drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, Qiuhua woke her. After washing up, the Princess Manor’s carriage took her to Virtue and Abundance Academy.
The magnificent architecture and the Imperial Guards stationed at the entrance showcased the academy’s prestige.
Zhao Qingning gazed at the glimmering golden sign and sighed heavily.
Having to attend school even after transmigrating—what a cruel twist of fate.
With heavy steps, she entered and made her way to the main hall.
The hall was filled with children around her age. Suddenly, someone spotted her from afar and immediately changed expression, exclaiming, “Zhao Qingning is here!”
At those words, her classmates quickly fell silent, their laughter ceasing as they distanced themselves, afraid the young mistress might lose her temper again.
Zhao Qingning: “…”
Truly, she was the despised supporting female character, loathed by all.
In her modern life, she had been quite popular and had never experienced such widespread dislike.
But she wasn’t about to hold a grudge against these children. She quietly took her seat, staring out the window in boredom.
A few classmates stole glances at her, finding her behavior odd.
“Zhao Qingning didn’t curse at anyone today.”
“She was like a fury when she hit someone yesterday—it terrified me.”
“I’d never marry someone like her in the future.”
…
Zhao Qingning: Please, could you keep it down? She could hear every word!
Not wanting to be the center of attention, she suddenly stood up, and the others immediately fell silent.
After dismissing Qiuhua and Chunlan, Zhao Qingning wandered the academy alone.
“You bastard, how dare you block my way? I’ll teach you a lesson today—beat him up!”
“You little wretch, stay down! Who gave you permission to look at me?”
“You dirtied my shoes—lick them clean now!”
Suddenly, shouts and the sound of punches erupted. Instinctively, Zhao Qingning moved toward the noise and saw several well-dressed young nobles beating someone.
She focused her gaze and finally realized that the one being beaten was actually a young boy. His face was bruised and swollen, his body clad in tattered cloth garments. He remained silent, kneeling on the ground, unable to resist.
The other youths mercilessly stomped on his hands, faint bruises already visible.
Zhao Qingning frowned and couldn’t help but speak up: “Stop!”
The boys turned and saw her, halting their actions. The leader, who clearly looked like a spoiled young master, grinned cheekily and spoke to her with enthusiasm: “Qingning, what’s wrong?”
“How can you bully someone like this?” she couldn’t help but speak up for the one being beaten.
Bullying is unacceptable!
Especially when the victim is just a child!
She had to put a stop to this cruel behavior.
Unexpectedly, the leader widened his eyes in disbelief: “Qingning, are you okay?”
He pointed at the bruised and battered figure on the ground: “You were the one who brought the Little Wild Seed here and said we could beat him as we pleased. I was just following your instructions—how can you accuse me of bullying now? Besides, I only kicked him a few times. Last time, you almost beat him to death.”
Zhao Qingning was left speechless.
She was at a loss for words. So, it turned out she was the ringleader of the bullying all along.