“Ugly freak, if you die, don’t come back to haunt me. His Majesty and Her Majesty ordered all of this.”
A sharp, harsh middle-aged woman’s voice rang beside her ear.
At the same time, someone kicked her calf with quite a bit of force.
It hurt enough to make her frown.
Shen Qingyao frowned and instinctively cursed.
“You’re so noisy! Who kicked me? Are you looking to die?”
She slowly opened her eyes, only to be stunned by what she saw.
Where was this?
Wasn’t she already dead?
Shouldn’t dead people go to the Underworld?
But this Underworld was way too dirty and messy.
Didn’t the King of Hell ever manage the place?
And more importantly, wasn’t the Underworld supposed to be dark and gloomy?
Why was there sunlight?
As she frowned and looked around, unable to understand what was happening, the unpleasant female voice she had heard earlier spoke again.
“Oh? The ugly freak isn’t dead yet? I thought I could save a bottle of poison, but it looks like I’ll have to use it after all. Just as expected—ugly people always have tough lives.”
The woman’s voice was so grating that it made Shen Qingyao’s ears ache.
“Who is that? Your voice is awful,” Shen Qingyao couldn’t help saying.
She raised her head, frowned, and looked at the speaker with obvious disgust.
Who was this woman?
Why was she dressed in ancient clothing?
And why did she look so mean and spiteful?
“Who are you? Do we know each other?” Shen Qingyao asked coldly, her eyes filled with confusion.
The woman sneered.
This ugly fool was pretending to be stupid.
She was the Second Miss’s wet nurse and now one of the people most trusted by the Empress.
They had met far more than once.
“Ugly freak, what are you pretending for? Don’t tell me you still think you’re the Third Prince’s Consort? Don’t forget—you’ve already been cast aside by His Majesty. You’re nothing but a discarded consort now.”
Third Prince’s Consort?
His Majesty?
What nonsense was this old woman talking about?
Did she think she was acting in some ancient costume drama?
Listening to her, Shen Qingyao frowned deeply and rolled her eyes dramatically, about to argue—
But at that moment, a flood of memories that didn’t belong to her poured into her mind.
A sharp pain exploded in her head.
“Ah… it hurts… My head hurts…”
Clutching her head, Shen Qingyao curled into a ball.
Soon, memories that weren’t hers played through her mind like a movie, making her frown even more deeply.
So… she had transmigrated.
And not only that—she had transmigrated into the Yunyang Kingdom, a dynasty that had never existed in history.
Three kingdoms stood against one another here, much like the Three Kingdoms era. The other two nations were the Qingyan Kingdom and the Linshuo Kingdom.
The original owner of this body was also named Shen Qingyao.
She was the legitimate eldest daughter of the Prime Minister’s Residence in the Yunyang Kingdom.
Yet despite being the legitimate daughter, she was completely unloved.
Her parents despised her because she had a large black birthmark covering half of her face.
When she was born, the moment they saw her face, they had wanted to abandon her and leave her to live or die on her own.
They didn’t want such an ugly daughter bringing shame to the Prime Minister’s Residence.
However, the abbot of the Protectorate Temple suddenly appeared.
He declared that the girl possessed the destiny of a phoenix—that whoever married her would one day ascend to the throne and become emperor.
The Prime Minister and his wife were delighted when they heard this.
Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to elevate the status of the Prime Minister’s Residence?
So they gave up the idea of abandoning her.
Even so, they still feared that their ugly daughter would disgrace the family.
As a result, the original Shen Qingyao was locked away in a small courtyard for years.
Aside from a maid occasionally bringing her meals, she saw no one else.
Whether it was food or clothing, she was treated no better than an ordinary servant of the Prime Minister’s Residence.
The following year, the Prime Minister’s wife gave birth to another daughter.
That daughter was Shen Shuyan, who would later become the Empress.
Since she had been beautiful from childhood, she was deeply loved by everyone in the Prime Minister’s Residence.
Meanwhile, the original Shen Qingyao had barely even seen her own parents while growing up.
Everything changed when she turned fifteen.
One day, a tall and handsome man wearing luxurious brocade robes suddenly appeared in her courtyard.
He treated her with kindness and concern, as though he couldn’t even see the black birthmark on her face.
From time to time, he even brought her small gifts.
It was the first time anyone had ever treated her so well.
For the first time in her life, she felt warmth.
It was just like someone who had never tasted sweetness before—even the smallest bit of sweetness was enough to make them give their whole heart.
The original Shen Qingyao fell deeply in love with him.
She trusted everything he said without question.
She became the very definition of someone hopelessly blinded by love.
That man was Xiao Jingyu, the Emperor’s third son.
He was the Emperor’s favorite prince and the son of the Noble Consort.
Normally, no matter how favored the Third Prince was, he should never have had any chance of becoming Crown Prince or inheriting the throne.
After all, he had two exceptionally capable older brothers ahead of him.
By all rights, it should never have been his turn.
But the Emperor placed absolute faith in the words of the Protectorate Temple’s abbot.
Because of that prophecy, the next ruler could only be the man who married Shen Qingyao.
That was exactly why the Third Prince had gone to such lengths to get close to her.
He married her and made her his Third Prince’s Consort.
What the original Shen Qingyao never knew was that while he was showering her with care and affection, he was also secretly carrying on a romance with her younger sister.
Her parents and her brothers all knew about it.
They even helped cover for the two of them.
Not once did they think about how much it would hurt her.
To everyone in the Prime Minister’s Residence, Shen Qingyao was nothing more than a tool.
But even being used as a tool wasn’t the end of it.
The very first thing the Third Prince did after ascending the throne was depose Shen Qingyao as his consort.
He immediately made her younger sister, Shen Shuyan, Empress instead.
Not a single person spoke up for Shen Qingyao.
Everyone believed it was only natural.
Today was the Empress’s enthronement ceremony.
The Emperor and the newly crowned Empress both felt that keeping the original Shen Qingyao alive was an eyesore.
So they sent people to silence her forever.
But in truth, there was no need to go through all this trouble.
The original Shen Qingyao had already gone four days without food or even a sip of water.
She had died just moments ago.
As for Shen Qingyao herself, she had transmigrated here from the apocalypse.
She came from the year 3020.
Strictly speaking, she shouldn’t have died at all, because she possessed a Space.
Her Space contained everything she could ever need. As long as she stayed inside it, she could have lived to a ripe old age.
Unfortunately, one moment of kindness had cost her life.
While she was outside hunting zombies to collect the crystal cores from their brains, she saw a little girl being chased by zombies.
Feeling sorry for her, Shen Qingyao saved the girl.
She even brought her back to the villa inside her Space.
Who would have thought that despite her young age, the girl had such a vicious heart?
She actually wanted to steal Shen Qingyao’s Space.
The girl secretly put poison and sleeping pills into her drinking water, causing Shen Qingyao to die peacefully in her sleep.
Sure enough, people shouldn’t be too kind.
She regretted it deeply now.
But regret was useless.
The old woman standing before her was Nanny Zhang, the wet nurse of her “good” younger sister.
She was the person Shen Shuyan trusted the most.
When Nanny Zhang saw Shen Qingyao standing there in a daze, she thought the ugly freak wasn’t taking her seriously. A vicious glint flashed through her eyes.
“Ugly freak, how dare you ignore me! You’d better drink this bottle of poison obediently. Otherwise, I’ll have to force it down your throat myself.”
She held out the bottle of poison.
A cruel smile spread across her lips, and her eyes were full of anticipation, eager to watch the show.
This ugly freak really didn’t know her place.
Did she actually think a man could fall for her?
She should look at herself first.
Anyone who saw her face would want to throw up.
Who would ever marry someone like that?
The Third Prince had truly suffered, having to be husband and wife with this ugly woman for so long.
If the Protectorate Temple’s abbot hadn’t claimed that she possessed the so-called destiny of a phoenix…
What man would have been blind enough to want her?
Letting her be the Third Prince’s Consort for a few months had already been an enormous act of mercy.
Shen Qingyao reached out and took the bottle of poison before looking up at Nanny Zhang.
“What kind of poison is this? Will it hurt when I drink it? I’m very afraid of pain.”
Nanny Zhang froze for a moment.
She hadn’t expected the ugly freak to ask such a question.
Since Shen Qingyao was obediently preparing to drink the poison, Nanny Zhang decided to show a little mercy and answer her.
As for whether what she said was true or not…
That was another matter.
“Don’t worry. This poison won’t be painful at all. Once you drink it, you’ll die right away,” Nanny Zhang replied.
In reality, that was a complete lie.
Anyone who drank this poison would suffer excruciating pain for two hours before finally dying.
It would slowly rot away the victim’s internal organs before taking their life.
The poison was called One-Hour Powder.
Just as its name suggested, it took one shichen—about two hours—for it to kill.
The Empress had specifically ordered someone to find this poison.
She wanted this ugly freak to suffer a fate worse than death.
After all, if it hadn’t been for this ugly woman’s destiny of a phoenix, how could the Empress have ended up being treated as the replacement wife?
“So it doesn’t hurt.”
Shen Qingyao shook her head, her face filled with disappointment.
Nanny Zhang stared blankly at her.
Was this ugly freak insane?
Or had four days without food starved her brain?
Just as Nanny Zhang was about to call her crazy, Shen Qingyao curled her lips into a cruel smile.
In one swift movement, she grabbed Nanny Zhang’s chin with one hand and poured the poison straight into her mouth with the other.
Nanny Zhang had never imagined Shen Qingyao would do such a thing.
She was caught completely off guard.
By the time she came to her senses and tried to spit the poison out, it was already too late.
How could Shen Qingyao possibly give her the chance?
She clamped a hand tightly over Nanny Zhang’s mouth, preventing her from opening it at all.
“Go ahead and enjoy the taste of this poison. Don’t worry—it won’t be very painful.”
Shen Qingyao’s low whisper sounded beside Nanny Zhang’s ear like the voice of a demon.
Not painful, my foot.
This poison would make someone suffer as though their intestines were rotting for an entire shichen.
Nanny Zhang struggled desperately.
But no matter how hard she fought, she couldn’t pry Shen Qingyao’s hand away from her mouth.
Her eyes bulged so wide that they nearly popped out.
The whites of her eyes were covered with blood-red veins that spread like spiderwebs.
It was obvious just how furious and terrified she was.
That damned ugly freak!
She hadn’t eaten for four days, yet she was still this strong.
If only I had come two days later.
If Her Majesty hadn’t insisted that I come today, I never would have ended up like this.
Nanny Zhang knew she was doomed.
She knew exactly what kind of poison she had swallowed.
There was no antidote.
Anyone who took it was certain to die.
The burning pain in her throat made her struggle frantically.
But it was all in vain.
In the end, Nanny Zhang gave up.
Her hands fell limply to her sides.
Her lifeless eyes stared blankly at the roof of the ruined Cold Palace.
Inside, she wept in despair.
“Huh…”
“Why did she stop moving? She died that quickly? That’s no fun.”
“Don’t tell me she’s already dead?”
Shen Qingyao finally let go.
Before releasing her, however, she quickly stripped off Nanny Zhang’s outer robe.
The original owner’s clothes smelled terrible.
Although Nanny Zhang’s clothes belonged to a servant, at least they were clean and didn’t stink.
The fabric wasn’t bad either.
The moment she was released, Nanny Zhang gulped down fresh air.
She opened her mouth, trying to say something.
But the poison had already burned her throat hoarse.
All she could do was wave her hands frantically while glaring at Shen Qingyao with eyes full of hatred.
“Oh my, Nanny Zhang, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you talking anymore? Weren’t you speaking so smoothly just a moment ago? Don’t tell me you’ve gone mute? No way… no way… Could this poison actually make people lose their voice too?”
Shen Qingyao sighed with an expression full of regret.
Serves you right.
I knew you were lying to me.
Now you’ve suffered the consequences yourself.
Nanny Zhang was so furious at Shen Qingyao’s words that she nearly passed out.
She kept gesturing wildly with both hands, her eyes burning with hatred.
“Ah… ah…”
She could only make meaningless sounds.
Unfortunately for her, Shen Qingyao couldn’t understand a single thing.
And even if she could, she had no interest in understanding.