Twenty-Fourth Day of the Fourth Month, Twenty-Eighth Year of the Jingyuan Era
In a secluded courtyard within Prince Rui’s residence, the following scene unfolded.
A woman dressed in luxurious robes, her hair disheveled and her forehead smeared with blood, sat collapsed on the ground. Her hands clutched her head tightly as she remained motionless.
After maintaining that position for about half the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, Qiao Rongjin finally raised her head, enduring the throbbing pain in her skull.
The first thing she saw was a strikingly handsome man lying on the canopy bed not far away.
Then she noticed another man, disheveled and unconscious, sprawled on the floor nearby.
Her headache instantly worsened.
Based on the flood of memories she had just received, she realized that she really had transmigrated.
She had entered the novel The Daily Life of a Beloved Concubine, becoming a cannon-fodder concubine—and this very moment happened to be the point where the original host was framed for adultery.
Worse still, the mob coming to catch her in the act was already on its way.
At the thought, Qiao Rongjin’s face turned deathly pale.
In the novel, the original host had been sentenced to death because of this very incident.
Ignoring everything else, Qiao Rongjin struggled to her feet and looked toward the so-called adulterer and the unfamiliar man who had barged into the room.
If anyone discovered her alone in a room with two unrelated men, she would be doomed.
Staring at the two unconscious men, she felt completely overwhelmed.
How am I supposed to get two grown men out of here?
The room was tiny—there was nowhere to hide them. Worse, she was currently under house arrest, and every door had been locked.
Am I really going to die today?
She had only just been given a second chance at life. She didn’t want to die the moment she arrived.
According to the original host’s memories, the handsome man had suddenly broken into the room. Terrified, the original host had intended to cry for help despite the “adulterer” still being there.
Before she could utter a word, the man had grabbed her by the throat, nearly strangled her to death, and casually tossed her aside.
She had struck her head against a table and died instantly.
And that was when Qiao Rongjin—who had died in a modern-day wire stunt accident—had taken her place.
To her, this man was nothing less than a devil.
She didn’t dare approach him, afraid he might wake up and kill her again.
As for the real “adulterer,” who had already been rendered unconscious, she had no idea what to do with him either.
“No! I can’t just sit here and wait to die!”
Qiao Rongjin looked between the two men, briefly considering whether she could throw them out the window.
The idea was dismissed the moment it crossed her mind.
Impossible.
This is a dead-end start.
She wanted to curse at the heavens.
Pacing anxiously in circles, her gaze accidentally landed on the handsome man lying on the bed.
He looked like someone skilled in martial arts. Moving one unconscious man shouldn’t be difficult for him.
Maybe… I should take the risk?
She swallowed nervously.
But he was still unconscious.
How was she supposed to wake him? And after waking him, how could she convince him to help carry the other man away?
Her head throbbed with anxiety and fear.
This was someone who truly killed without hesitation.
Yet if she didn’t ask for his help, she couldn’t think of any other solution.
Thinking of the crowd that would soon burst in to catch her “in the act,” Qiao Rongjin forced down her fear and timidly approached the bed.
When she got within a meter of the man, however, she instinctively stopped.
From a distance, she had already thought he was exceptionally handsome.
Up close, he was breathtaking.
His face was as flawless as carved jade, his brows dark and sharply defined, his nose high and straight. His long black hair was tied back with a jade hairpin, and his slightly pursed lips only added to his striking appearance.
Dressed in an ink-black robe patterned like a wash painting, he possessed an elegant, refined charm.
It truly seemed as though heaven had favored him.
If a man this handsome lived in the modern world and entered the entertainment industry, his looks alone would make him a superstar.
What am I thinking?
This is no time for that! My life is on the line!
Summoning her courage, Qiao Rongjin took a few more trembling steps forward and reached out, intending to shake him awake.
Before her hand could touch him, the man’s eyes snapped open.
She jumped in fright, her hand freezing midair.
His dark eyes were sharp and unfathomable, cold as a bottomless abyss.
She instinctively swallowed hard and struggled to calm her racing heart.
Neither of them spoke.
The room fell utterly silent.
Qiao Rongjin was screaming internally.
What do I do? Should I speak first? Is he going to kill me to silence me? Should I beg for mercy?
Though panic reigned inside her mind, her expression remained remarkably composed.
Xiao Quan slowly pushed himself upright against the bedframe.
He could feel the wound on his shoulder tearing open further from the movement, but he paid it no mind.
Instead, he scrutinized the woman standing before him.
What was she planning to do when she approached me?
The effects of the poison had already passed. Although injured, subduing the woman before him would still be effortless.
He remembered clearly how he had nearly strangled her to death and thrown her aside.
She had hit the table hard enough to leave blood everywhere.
Yet somehow, she had survived.
Quite tenacious.
A trace of surprise flickered across Xiao Quan’s eyes.
Of course, he had no way of knowing that the soul inhabiting the woman’s body had already changed.
Unable to bear the suffocating silence any longer—and with the approaching mob weighing heavily on her mind—Qiao Rongjin finally spoke.
She had initially wanted to ask him directly for help, but quickly dismissed the idea.
Why would he help her?
After all, he had just killed the original host.
He clearly wasn’t someone easy to deal with.
Her eyes fell on the wound on his shoulder, where blood was still steadily flowing.
The words she had intended to say took a sudden turn.
“Um… sir, you’re injured. Would you like me to… bandage your wound?”
Her voice trembled, and her legs shook beneath her, though she was already trying her best to stay composed.
Xiao Quan paused in surprise.
He had already grasped her predicament.
This was nothing more than one of the countless schemes common among women in noble households.
Still, this woman was surprisingly foolish.
To be cornered to this extent by such an obvious setup…
He had assumed she would immediately beg him for help.
Instead, she was asking about his injury.
Interesting.
Seeing that he remained silent, Qiao Rongjin’s heart sank.
As expected, he wasn’t easy to approach.
Just as she was about to speak again, he finally said coldly:
“Stay away from me.”
“Of course!”
At the icy tone of his voice, Qiao Rongjin immediately retreated several steps, moving as quickly as possible for fear of angering him.
Honestly, standing too close to him made her feel as though she could die at any second.
Xiao Quan fell silent again.
The room grew still once more.
“Well… um, sir…”
Carefully studying his expression, Qiao Rongjin forced herself to continue.
“The people coming to catch us in the act should arrive very soon. It doesn’t seem very convenient for you to stay here any longer.”
She hesitated for a moment before adding softly:
“What do you think?”