A few withered yellow leaves were swept up by the cold wind, swirling and rolling on the ground. A group of maidservants carried several baskets of charcoal past the lake, already wearing padded jackets. The cold wind pricked them, making them shrink their necks and tuck their hands further into their sleeves.

However, a loud “splash” broke the cold and quiet afternoon, accompanied by a woman’s scream.

“Not good! The eldest gongzi has fallen into the water!”

Several maidservants hurriedly dropped the charcoal and rushed to the lakeside, watching the pale and frail figure struggle in the water, gradually sinking. They looked anxious, but no one went into the water. They just pushed and shoved each other, shouting loudly, “Someone, come quickly!”

After a long while, another “splash” was heard, and someone on the shore exclaimed softly, “Xiao Die! … Quick, quickly help the gongzi up!”

…

Ganlin Courtyard was brightly lit, filled with noisy voices, already in chaos.

Shen Qian curled up on a small couch in the outer room, soaking wet, shivering uncontrollably under a thick quilt.

The lake water was freezing, and he felt his limbs go numb and lose sensation, his teeth chattering.

Yet, despite the comings and goings of people in the room, no one stayed by Shen Qian’s side. Occasionally, someone passing by would wrap his dripping hair with a cloth towel or tuck a couple of hot water bottles into the quilt, then hurriedly leave him to go inside.

In a daze, Shen Qian vaguely heard a maidservant’s voice coming from inside, sounding quite anxious: “Has the doctor not arrived yet?”

“Today, the master and Liu Yiniang went out to watch a play, and there’s no one in charge at the residence. The other yiniangs just keep shirking responsibility, not daring to make decisions, and the stewards in the outer courtyard all avoid us when they see it’s our people…”

The maidservant said angrily, “Even if we don’t send a message to the imperial physician, we could at least find a local doctor to take a look! A dignified boye’s gongzi falls into the water in late autumn, and we can’t even call a doctor, not even a single dose of medicine!” Her eyes reddened, her voice choked with sobs, “Who among these people hasn’t benefited from the furen’s kindness before? And now they’re like this…”

But there was nothing they could do, so they boiled a thick, hot ginger soup and brought it inside. Before long, someone came to the outer room to give Shen Qian a large bowl, and they also changed the cloth towel wrapping his hair.

After drinking the ginger soup and hugging the hot water bottles, Shen Qian finally started to feel better. At this time, all the servants in the room were gathered inside, and no one paid much attention to Shen Qian. He silently shrank into the quilt, closing his eyes and cursing the system.

Three hours ago, Shen Qian had just completed his third world mission with high scores, retiring perfectly from the second team of the counterattack group at the fast-wear bureau. According to the related benefits, he could choose a world within the system’s range and select an identity to retire.

These choices were diverse and abundant, but each had some flaws. Either the identity was poor and in a difficult situation, or the world was chaotic and even had demons and ghosts. It was unclear what the criteria were for being included in the selection range. Under the enthusiastic recommendation of the system, Shen Qian chose this ancient world, the identity of the legitimate eldest gongzi of Duke Fuchang’s Residence.

Although it was strongly recommended by the system, Shen Qian himself was quite satisfied with this identity. Firstly, this identity had the same name as him, giving Shen Qian a sense of familiarity. Secondly, this identity was young and beautiful, with a status considered noble in this world, and Shen Qian saw in the related introduction that this identity was very wealthy.

Even though there were some dirty affairs in Duke Fuchang’s inner residence at the moment, and the money was not temporarily in the original owner’s hands, Shen Qian, an excellent graduate of the counterattack group, didn’t think it would be too difficult to get that money back.

It was indeed the best card in the optional identity pool, a general among cripples.

Moreover, this identity was a ge’er—a fact that might bother a straight man, but for Shen Qian, who was already bent, it was just right. As for the low social status of ge’er, Shen Qian was quite open-minded: he had worked diligently at the fast-wear bureau for over three hundred years and now just wanted to retire and enjoy life as a salted fish, with no grand dreams of conquering the world. Once he used some means to get the money belonging to this identity, he would leave the capital city, find a small town with beautiful mountains and waters, and close the door to live his own little life.

With the banner of Duke Fuchang’s Residence, he thought the rural folks wouldn’t dare to bully him—feudal society, after all, looks at class first.

However, Shen Qian’s plans were good, but reality didn’t follow the script at all: he had just been transmitted into the body of Duke Fuchang’s eldest gongzi, hadn’t even seen the surroundings clearly, and hadn’t had time to receive the memories, when he felt a weight on his back and was pushed hard.

Before he could see who pushed him, he had already fallen into the icy lake water.

Shen Qian originally knew how to swim, but the lake water was too cold, and the gongzi’s body was frail. As soon as he fell in, his legs cramped, and he kept sinking.

When he opened his eyes again, he had changed bodies!

Shen Qian watched helplessly as the gongzi’s body, pale and unconscious, was carried into the inner room by several maidservants and attendants in a flurry. Meanwhile, he was fished out of the lake, hastily tidied up, and placed on a small couch in the outer room.

In his daze, Shen Qian glanced at the mirror—he recognized this new body too. Earlier, when he was struggling in the lake, the maidservants on the shore just watched and called for help, but no one went into the water to save him: he knew the original owner had a tough time in the back residence, but he didn’t expect it to be this miserable.

By the time the people from the gongzi’s courtyard got the news and rushed over, Shen Qian had already swallowed an unknown amount of water. This round-faced little attendant was very loyal, jumping in without a word, and Shen Qian vaguely heard someone calling this round-faced little attendant “Xiao Die” before he lost consciousness.

Now, he had become Xiao Die.

Shen·Xiao Die·Qian cursed the system in his heart: “What the heck? What kind of mess have you gotten me into?! How can a person end up in such a big mess?! Doesn’t our system transmission have any soul stabilization effect? Just falling into the water can make me jump into someone else’s body?”

After cursing for a long time, the system finally appeared.

After Shen Qian retired, the system had already unbound from him. Three hours ago, the two had reluctantly parted ways—after all, they had worked together for over three hundred years, and there were feelings involved, thinking they wouldn’t see each other again.

But unexpectedly, they had to deal with an after-sales issue so soon, and the system’s electronic voice was filled with confusion and guilt: “The system doesn’t know either, it’s the first time encountering such a situation… Could it be because you just transmigrated, and your body and soul hadn’t fused well before falling into the water? Ah, but it shouldn’t be…” It added with a bit of grievance and bewilderment, “The system isn’t human, so does that mean it can make such a big mess?”

Shen Qian: “…”

Shen Qian took a deep breath: “Stop joking around, quickly check what’s wrong and send me back! I’m here to retire and enjoy life, not to work overtime. Is our fast-wear bureau’s retirement benefit so unreliable?”

He completed every task with high scores, never slacked off, for what? Wasn’t it to choose a good identity upon retirement? A good identity is the foundation of enjoyment, and he had already planned how to eat well, drink well, and lie down like a salted fish!

Now, he’s been put into a servant’s body. Never mind the low status, being a servant means having to work! Ancient servants had a 007 work schedule, with no personal freedom. What kind of disastrous start is this? His money, his beautiful small town, his leisurely life!

The system responded weakly, “Oh…”

Shen Qian wanted to say more, but suddenly heard a small attendant’s panicked voice beside his ear: “Zhan’er jiejie, it’s not good!”

The maidservant who spoke earlier—named Zhan’er, probably the one in charge here—came out from the inner room in a few steps upon hearing the voice, asking, “What’s wrong?” Seeing the small attendant standing anxiously beside Xiao Die, her heart sank.

The eldest gongzi was still unconscious, with a fever, and everyone was gathered in the inner room, inevitably neglecting Xiao Die. She feared this one might be in trouble too. She quickly placed the back of her hand on Xiao Die’s forehead, but didn’t feel any heat, so she looked questioningly at the small attendant who spoke.

The small attendant said anxiously, “I was just tending to the charcoal brazier beside Xiao Die, and although he was asleep with his eyes tightly shut, his facial expressions kept changing.” His tone was very worried, “I heard from my mother before that if you keep getting cold wind in winter, the muscles on your face might get damaged, and your facial expressions would be uncontrollable, possibly twitching. Xiao Die wouldn’t…”

Shen Qian: “…”

He was talking to the system with his eyes closed, a bit agitated, and might have shown some expressions on his face, which were noticed… Was it that obvious…

Zhan’er listened to this, then looked down at Shen Qian—since the small attendant spoke, Shen Qian hadn’t talked to the system, and his expression had frozen, looking increasingly strange and twisted.

Zhan’er felt uneasy. The lake water was cold, and Xiao Die had always been strong and healthy. If his facial muscles were damaged, wouldn’t the gongzi be in even more trouble?

She quickly stood up and instructed the small attendant, “Quickly use a warm towel to apply to Xiao Die’s face, and rub it for him—though I don’t know if it will help. It’s hateful how those people are all so snobbish, refusing to call a doctor for the gongzi, just making excuses! If the gongzi has any mishap…”

Zhan’er glanced around, her gaze lingering on a few figures in the room, but she didn’t finish her sentence.

If there really was a mishap, there might be no one to stand up for the gongzi, and it might even fulfill some people’s wishes! The more she thought about it, the more desolate she felt, silently going to fetch hot water to rub the face of the unconscious gongzi inside.

Meanwhile, Shen Qian was also having his face rubbed by the small attendant: “…”

This feeling was really strange, he couldn’t stand it and wanted to open his eyes, but suddenly heard the system anxiously say, “Oh no, I just tried to send you back, but it failed, inside your body…”

Before the words were finished, a voice suddenly shouted “Presumptuous!” from the inner room, followed by Zhan’er’s surprised voice: “Gongzi! Gongzi, you’re finally awake! Are you feeling okay? Can you still make expressions on your face?”

For a moment, everyone in the room was excited, even the small attendant rubbing Shen Qian’s face ran inside.

Shen Qian was stunned: ?

Who?

What woke up, who woke up, the inside woke up, then who is he? Where is he??

The system hesitantly completed the remaining words in his mind: “…Another soul has entered your body, you might, temporarily, probably, should not be able to go back…”