2 – Sorry, I’m Borrowing This from You (Revised)
Jiang Lige felt utterly miserable, her mind foggy as she huddled in the most hidden corner of the cold palace.
An hour earlier, she had left the Golden Luan Hall and passed by the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility, where a ritual ceremony was being performed.
Empress Dowager Su was a devout vegetarian who often invited people to conduct rituals ever since the Crown Prince fell into a coma.
While praying for the Crown Prince was one reason, Jiang Lige believed that cursing Shang Guanqi was her primary motive.
Although there was no concrete evidence, the Crown Prince’s fall from his horse was clearly Shang Guanqi’s doing, and Empress Dowager Su harbored deep hatred for him.
The imperial palace appeared to be a single walled enclosure, but within those walls lay two opposing factions.
And Jiang Lige, trapped in the narrow gap between these two factions, felt as though she were living a life worse than death.
Jiang Lige had long sought an opportunity to speak with the Empress Dowager. If they could collaborate to overthrow Shang Guanqi, she was willing to abdicate and make way for a worthy successor, as long as she could leave the palace and live freely for the rest of her life.
Thus, taking advantage of Li Fu’s momentary distraction, Jiang Lige stepped into the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility. Empress Dowager Su eagerly welcomed her inside and even shut Li Fu out.
Just as Jiang Lige was about to state her purpose, she suddenly felt dizzy.
Empress Dowager Su had actually drugged her—and with an aphrodisiac, no less.
With the Emperor’s selection of consorts imminent, various factions were vying for the position of Empress. Empress Dowager Su wanted her niece, Su Luo, to become Empress but feared she might not outmaneuver the others on the selection day, so she sought to secure a double insurance in advance.
Jiang Lige felt utterly helpless. If you wanted the Empress’s position, you could have just said so—he would have given it to you. But drugging her with an aphrodisiac was something she had no fortune to endure.
As Su Luo lunged forward to tear off her clothes, Jiang Lige kicked her away and dashed out of the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility.
If anyone discovered she was a woman, she would be beheaded on the spot.
Empress Dowager Su’s people, fearing they might alert Shang Guanqi’s faction, did not launch a large-scale pursuit of Jiang Lige, allowing her to flee and hide in the cold palace.
Parched and huddled in the corner, Jiang Lige realized the drug was incredibly potent. She knew that if she didn’t find a way to counteract it soon, she would also face certain death.
Boom—
The sky suddenly darkened, and the oppressive summer days finally gave way to a torrential downpour.
Jiang Lige crouched beneath a broken window, drenched by the rain, which provided slight relief.
Thunder rolled one after another, the rain grew heavier, and the sky turned as dark as night, an eerie and unsettling sight.
Creak—
The gate of the cold palace was pushed open from the outside, and heavy footsteps approached.
A flash of lightning illuminated the figure, revealing the Shaman’s robes and mask, which looked terrifying under the sudden burst of light.
Jiang Lige’s heart leaped with joy: Perfect, a man has arrived!
Jiang Lige suddenly stood up and jabbed a syringe in her hand toward the other person.
“I’m sorry, but I need to borrow you for a moment!”
…
The rain poured relentlessly, accompanied by flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder.
“Your Majesty, you’ve finally returned? Where on earth have you been? The entire palace has been searching for you.”
Jiang Lige returned to the Moon Departure Palace soaked to the bone, where Li Fu angrily berated her without restraint.
Jiang Lige’s personal palace maid hurriedly brought a cloak and wrapped it tightly around her.
“Eunuch Li, how dare you speak to His Majesty like that? It was your negligence that allowed His Majesty to be abducted by the Empress Dowager. Instead of begging for forgiveness upon seeing His Majesty return drenched, you have the audacity to blame him. Li Fu, you are deceiving the Emperor and overstepping your authority—how bold of you!”
Li Fu had been sent by Shang Guanqi to monitor the young Emperor. From start to finish, he had never regarded Jiang Lige as a true Emperor, nor did he pay any heed to Luzhu’s words.
“How I conduct myself is none of your business, you insignificant palace maid! Slap her!”
Li Fu backhanded Luzhu with a resounding slap.”Li Fu!!” Jiang Lige roared in anger, wanting to fight back, but was pulled back by Luzhu.
“Your Majesty, you’re soaked. Please change your clothes quickly. This servant is fine.”
Jiang Lige ached all over; though furious, she lacked strength. Luzhu dragged her into the inner chamber, locked the door, and helped her change.
“Your Majesty, be careful not to catch a chill. Change quickly.”
“Ah!” Luzhu gasped in shock upon unbuttoning Jiang Lige’s clothes and seeing a patch of blood.
“Your Majesty, is it your monthly cycle?” Luzhu whispered.
Jiang Lige shook her head with a bitter smile.
In the month since she had crossed over, she had encountered nothing but miserable events.
Jiang Lige came from a family of medical practitioners, excelling in medicine and recognized as the most outstanding medical scientist of the 22nd century. Unfortunately, she had suffered from illness since childhood and passed away at just twenty-five, only to have her soul inexplicably transmigrate into this body.
Along with her, her medical laboratory had also crossed over.
However, because this body was also frail and sickly, she could only open the space once a day and take out at most one item. The tranquilizer she had used to attack earlier in the cold palace was taken from that space.
The original owner had been born prematurely due to induced labor, leading to congenital underdevelopment. Later, Consort Zhao, to ensure she continued to play the role of a boy, had fed her secret medicine since childhood, forcibly altering her pulse so that even imperial physicians could not detect it.
When she fell ill, she never consulted the imperial physicians, relying solely on her own endurance.
The hormones in this body had long been in disarray; at eighteen, she had never experienced a menstrual cycle.
But that wasn’t the worst of it—the real problem was that this body had no sense of smell.
That was why she had fallen into the trap at the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility today.
After hearing Jiang Lige recount her ordeal in the cold palace, Luzhu’s face turned pale.
“Then Your Majesty’s true identity as a woman has been exposed?”
Jiang Lige said, “No, I knocked him out.” She had used a potent tranquilizer—even an elephant would sleep for three days after being injected.
In three days, that man would remember nothing.
“Why didn’t Your Majesty just kill him?” Luzhu asked in return.
Jiang Lige: …
“He did save me once. Why resort to such extremes?” Jiang Lige explained.
Luzhu knew her mistress had always been kind and generous since childhood and did not wish to criticize, but this concerned both their lives, so caution was necessary.
Luzhu asked again, “Does Your Majesty know the other person’s identity?”
Jiang Lige said, “He was the Shaman invited by the Empress Dowager today, wearing a mask…” In the chaos, Jiang Lige hadn’t had time to see what he looked like.
“Your Majesty, please rest in bed. Once the rain stops, this servant will go and inquire.”
Seeing Jiang Lige’s exhausted expression, Luzhu knew she had suffered greatly today and hurriedly helped her to bed to rest.
Luzhu was the palace maid who had served the original owner since childhood—bold, meticulous, and fiercely loyal.
Jiang Lige felt at ease and quickly fell asleep after lying down.
Luzhu wanted to go to the Palace of Benevolent Tranquility to investigate, but the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping, and the Moon Departure Palace remained surrounded by guards.
The rain continued all night, lasting until the next day, with the sunrise delayed by an additional two quarters of an hour.
“Your Majesty, it is time for court.”
Though aching all over and extremely reluctant, Jiang Lige was escorted by the eunuchs to sit on the Dragon Throne.
After waiting for a long time, no civil or military officials knelt in homage.
Eunuch Li Fu said, “Your Majesty, Nine Thousand Years has not yet entered the court.”
Jiang Lige scanned the hall but saw no sign of that bewitching red figure.
“Begin the court session!” Jiang Lige commanded, displeased.
“Your Majesty, that is not appropriate,” Li Fu directly refused.
Unable to bear it any longer, Jiang Lige kicked Li Fu.Li Fu tumbled down the steps and landed in the hall with a thud, startling the civil and military officials so much that their eyes nearly popped out.
Jiang Lige’s reign as Emperor was pitiful—not only was she controlled by Shang Guanqi, but even the eunuchs didn’t take her seriously.
She could accept not holding power, but she refused to be bullied by a eunuch!
“Court is in session!” Jiang Lige shouted, her presence starkly different from usual.
The ministers were stunned, no longer daring to be negligent, and knelt in unison, proclaiming, “Long live the Emperor!”