Chapter 2 – Juechan · Yu Ying

When Yu Ying woke up again, the sky was already bright.

But at this moment, she no longer had the heart to care about anything else. She simply lay there on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, her eyes empty.

It turned out that everything she had seen earlier wasn’t a dream.

Now that she had fully merged with the original host’s memories, Yu Ying had no choice but to admit one thing—she had transmigrated.

And not just anywhere—she had ended up in the Qing dynasty, a time when women’s status was exceedingly low, and had become one of the many concubines in Emperor Kangxi’s enormous imperial harem.

In her original life, Yu Ying was just an ordinary senior-year college student, living a happy and peaceful life. Her biggest worry at the time had been rushing to finish her thesis before graduation.

This is insane!

This completely violates the laws of transmigration!

Yu Ying internally fumed in powerless frustration.

She didn’t check any of the usual boxes—her parents weren’t dead, she had no survival skills, and she was just a normal girl who grew up and studied in a stable environment. She never dreamed of becoming some Mary Sue who saves the world, nor had she acquired some cheat system by chance. So how in the world did she get picked for this transmigration mess?! Yu Ying was on the verge of tears.

She didn’t want to transmigrate at all. Let her go back—please!

Wait, no—Yu Ying abruptly cut off her mental howling.

There was one thing that fit the pattern—a car accident.

Yu Ying shuddered as she recalled the feeling of being flung into the air after being hit by a massive truck right before she died.

That car accident had been so unfair.

She hadn’t checked the calendar before leaving home that day. She’d been walking properly, following all the traffic rules, like a good citizen. But a large runaway truck came barreling straight toward her.

It happened so fast, Yu Ying hadn’t even had time to react before she was struck and sent flying.

In that split second, she had only one thought: Well, that’s it. I’m done for. Died young and tragically. She even wondered if the insurance she bought—and whatever compensation the driver would pay—would be enough for her parents’ retirement.

After all, didn’t the internet say: 30,000 yuan if hit off the crosswalk, 300,000 if hit on it? And she had been hit right on the crosswalk and thrown a good distance. Shouldn’t that be worth a few times more?

Even in disaster, Yu Ying managed to find dark humor in the situation.

But now, all she wanted was to go home.

She had been an only child, raised like a precious jewel by her family. Even at twenty-two, her parents had still been reluctant to let her go out alone, calling her every day without fail.

She couldn’t bear to imagine her parents burying their only daughter. Could they even handle that kind of pain?

At the thought, tears fell silently down Yu Ying’s face.

“Little mistress! Little mistress, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Are you feeling unwell somewhere? I’ll go beg Consort An to summon the imperial physician!” cried the same palace maid Yu Ying had seen before. Without waiting for a reply, the girl turned to run out in a panic.

“Qingtao, come back!” With the original host’s memories now in her head, Yu Ying recognized this palace maid as Qingtao, her personal senior maid. She quickly called her back.

By palace regulations, a Daying like herself should have two personal maids assigned to serve her. Aside from Qingtao, there was supposed to be another named Qingli. But Yu Ying had woken up twice already, and only ever seen Qingtao busying around—Qingli was nowhere in sight.

Yu Ying pushed the doubt aside for now.

Qingtao stopped when she heard her mistress’s voice. Though still worried, she obediently returned to the bedside, standing with her head lowered, awaiting Yu Ying’s orders.

Previously, Yu Ying hadn’t gotten a good look at her. Now that the darkness had lifted, she took a closer look.

Qingtao was petite and thin, looking only about fourteen or fifteen—still middle school age by modern standards.

Yu Ying didn’t feel particularly sentimental. Since she was here now, she might as well adapt. She had to learn to survive in this era.

Besides, if her luck hadn’t been this “good,” she might’ve ended up serving others right alongside Qingtao.

The original host, Juechan · Yu Ying (also called Wei Yu Ying), had been born into the Plain Yellow Banner as a baoyi—a bondservant. No matter how prettily it was phrased, baoyi were still slaves. Even as someone from the Emperor’s own household, she wasn’t considered a real person. If she hadn’t happened to catch the Emperor’s attention, she probably wouldn’t even have had the chance to see an imperial doctor.

But it seemed the original host hadn’t made it through after all. Otherwise, Yu Ying wouldn’t be here.

The original host had entered the palace to serve as a maid. Her father had pulled strings and arranged for her to be placed in Yinghua Hall as a cleaning maid.

Yinghua Hall was where the Empress Dowager and senior consorts worshipped Buddha. It was far from the central harem, and few people ever went there, so her father had figured she wouldn’t offend anyone and could live out her term in peace. He himself was a steward in the Guangchu Department of the Imperial Household, so even the eunuchs and maids couldn’t bully her. She just had to wait until she was twenty-five, then leave the palace.

After all, the Juechan clan didn’t need another imperial concubine.

Her cousin, Juechan · Shuangjie (Wei Shuangjie), had also entered the palace through a previous minor selection. At some point, she had caught the Emperor’s eye and, after sleeping with him once, gotten pregnant. She gave birth to the current Eighth Prince and became one of the nameless, titleless concubines in the harem.

Thinking about it now, Yu Ying realized this so-called cousin must be the historical Consort Liang.

The absurdity of the situation suddenly struck her.

What was this—“Rebirth: I Became the Eighth Prince’s Auntie”?

She shook her head at how ridiculous it sounded.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. If she’d followed her original father’s career plan, she could have safely spent her time in the palace and left at age twenty-five.

Unfortunately, the founding Emperor had died before his work was complete.

And with a single whim from the current Emperor, Yu Ying was trapped in the Forbidden City for life.

An imperial decree could not be defied.

Now that things had come to this, her original father could only rush to assign Qingtao to her side, reminding her over and over that Qingtao was trustworthy, and warning her to be extremely cautious in the harem, especially not to offend anyone important.

The original host had always been weak and timid. On the very night she entered the palace, she was so frightened she fell ill—and died just like that.

Leaving behind this mess for Yu Ying to clean up.

Just entering the palace had already drawn too much attention. From now on, she needed everyone to forget she even existed.

With that thought, Yu Ying turned to Qingtao and instructed, “Qingtao, I won’t be recovering from this illness for a year or so. Do you understand?”

Qingtao, already uneasy under Yu Ying’s stare, was stunned by the sudden order. But after a moment, she obediently nodded.

Looking at her blank expression, Yu Ying couldn’t figure out what was so special about her that made the original father go to such lengths to assign her here. She waved her hand dismissively, signaling Qingtao to leave.