Chapter 1: Transmigration

The 19th year of Chong’an’s reign.

A squad of Imperial Guards hurried down Chang’an Avenue.

The vendors and pedestrians on the streets seemed to be used to it, and moved aside slightly. Once the guards passed, the lively atmosphere immediately returned.

“This is the fifth one already, isn’t it?” a vendor asked someone beside him casually.

“That’s right. I’ve been setting up shop here for a few days, and I counted. It’s the fifth one.”

“I wonder who’s the unlucky one this time.” He wasn’t gloating, he was simply curious about the gossip.

“Who else could it be? It’s definitely one of those officials from the crown prince’s faction.”

Speaking of bad luck, who could be as unlucky as the Bulwark Duke Residence?

They were just holding a wedding banquet in their manor, but before they could complete the ceremony, the crown prince and the duke were captured by the Ministry of Justice. It’s a pity that the old duke had been fighting for our Great Xia his whole life.”

He sighed. “Now that you mention it, doesn’t it seem like that new bride is the unluckiest of them all?

The crown prince’s rebellion would definitely implicate the Bulwark Duke’s family, as they were the crown prince’s maternal relatives.

“But this new bride…” Upon saying that, the man clicked his tongue and said seriously, “She was taken away as soon as she entered the manor. She might even be beheaded!”

That didn’t make sense to anyone listening.

Putting aside whether the crown prince was really plotting a rebellion, this bride was really unlucky. No matter what the outcome was, she would be tainted by bad luck…

At the Bulwark Duke Residence.

Ever since the crown prince and the duke were taken away on the day of the wedding banquet.

The Imperial Guards surrounded the residence and did not allow anyone to enter or leave. There was no news from outside.

This caused the people in the residence to panic, thinking that the duke’s residence was probably doomed.

Furthermore, Madam Li, the old duchess, was sick in bed and could not carry out her duties.

The servants were even more careless. The food that they delivered to their masters was often cold.

Fortunately, no one would pursue the matter now.

“I heard that the Old Master left the residence today.”

Two young maids from the west courtyard were chatting while walking down the corridor.

“Really? Didn’t the officers outside the mansion stop him?”

The young maid who spoke first said uncertainly, “They stopped him, but let him pass soon after.”

“Does that mean our Duke and the Crown Prince will be released soon?” Her tone was filled with joy.

In this residence, the old duke was like a stabilizing force, more so than the crown prince.

After all, the old duke had fought on the battlefield with the late emperor! He had even spent half his life protecting Great Xia.

Only when the country was at peace and no country dared to invade the border did he step down from the court.

To put it bluntly, half of this country was built by the old duke.

In their hearts, if the old duke took action, things would definitely be resolved.

At this point, the two of them stopped slacking off and returned to their duties.

The conversation between the two maids in the corridor outside the door could be heard clearly from within the room.

Shen Yijia, who had just woken up, frowned.

“Didn’t I get hit by a car while trying to avoid being captured by those people at the Institute?”?she thought.

“Did I get transmigrated?”

When she opened her eyes, she saw the color red, and nothing else.

She pushed aside the red cloth, revealing a small face that was a little unbearable to look at.

Half of her face was covered in blood, and there were some weird chunks smeared on her face.

Her big and bright eyes couldn’t hide the dark eye circles underneath them.

Thankfully there was no one else around, otherwise, they would definitely scream upon seeing her.

Chapter 2: Jiajia Has Spiritual Liquid

However, Shen Yijia could not see any of this. She continued to look around the room curiously.

What she saw was an ancient-looking room, decorated in a festive manner.

The bedsheets were red and embroidered with mandarin ducks, while the bed canopy was embroidered with dragons and phoenixes. Under her was a wooden bed, and the exquisitely carved decorations were obviously expensive.

To the right was a dresser plastered with blessings of happiness.

On a nearby table was a pair of red wedding candles that had not been lit yet.

Looking down, Shen Yijia’s gaze was attracted by the exquisite snacks, cinnamon buns, peanuts, and other food on the table.

Shen Yijia gulped and sat up quickly. However, before she could run over excitedly, she felt a dull pain in her head.

Her body fell limp again.

A series of unfamiliar memories rushed into her head.

Shen Yijia gasped in pain. She held her injured forehead and dared not move around too much.

After a while, the pain disappeared. She tilted her head and her eyes lit up. She said excitedly, “Not only did I transmigrate, but I even have a husband now?”

Then, she shook her head regretfully and muttered, “It’s a pity that Da Hua isn’t here, or I’d tell her to take a good look. Who said that I could never get married?”

Then she looked up with a smug expression.

If Da Hua were here, she would definitely have shouted at her. “I’m saying that if you continue to be so ferocious, you won’t be able to get married.”

Unfortunately, Shen Yijia had the habit of only listening to half of what others said to her, hence she only remembered the part about how she wouldn’t be able to get married.

“Aren’t you glad now that you’ve proven that you can get married?” she thought to herself.

If not for the fact that her body didn’t allow it now, she would have jumped up and spun around twice.

Remembering something, Shen Yijia closed her eyes and thought carefully.

Her eyes lit up even more when she realized that she had accumulated about a cup’s worth of spiritual liquid within her body.

She extended her right ring finger in midair. Soon, a drop of water slowly condensed on her fingertip.

Seeing that it was about to drip, she quickly opened her mouth to catch it.

She smacked her lips. This body was indeed too weak, one drop was not enough. After condensing two drops in a row, Shen Yijia finally stopped!

It was not that she was stingy, but the spiritual liquid was too rare.

It took three days to gather a drop. Even if she was rich now, she still had to use it sparingly.

After ingesting three drops of spiritual liquid, the wound on Shen Yijia’s forehead healed visibly.

Usually, Shen Yijia would not even take note of such a small wound, let alone waste spiritual liquid to heal it. Unfortunately, this body was too dilapidated.

It was as soft and powerless as tofu, so she had no choice but to use the spiritual liquid.

A growling sound came from her stomach.

Her stomach protested, and Shen Yijia swallowed her saliva. She did not know how long this body had been starving for, and she could feel her stomach hurting.

This time, she dared not be as reckless as before. She shook her head tentatively, more than once.

After making sure that she was no longer dizzy, she jumped off the bed and went straight for the pastries. Reaching out, she picked up one of the pastries and stuffed it into her mouth.

It was a little hard, and slightly rancid.

Shen Yijia pouted, but she remembered that this was better than the medicine given to her by the bad old men in the research institute.

She stopped being picky and started grabbing the pastries with both hands, stuffing her mouth with them.

She took the time to pour herself a glass of water. Shen Yijia ate to her heart’s content. No one tried to snatch her food away, so she liked it here.

Chapter 3: Bad News

The Bulwark Duke Residence had been waiting for news of the old master ever since he left the mansion.

Even past noon, there was still no news from outside.

Madam Li patiently accompanied Song Jinghao and Song Jinghuan for lunch, then coaxed them to sleep.

She was about to go out and take a look when a maidservant stumbled in. Her eyes were red and she had obviously rushed back while crying.

Madam Li’s heart skipped a beat. “Is there any news? What exactly happened?” she asked anxiously.

The young maid fell to her knees. “The old master… he’s gone.”

Madam Li felt her head buzz. She stepped forward and grabbed the maidservant’s hand anxiously. “What did you say? Tell me clearly, what happened to the old master? Where are the old master and the crown prince? Are they back?”

The young maid was frightened by Madam Li’s behavior. She had never lost her composure like this before.

Wiping away her tears, she lowered her head even further and said with a choked voice, “The officers and soldiers outside the residence have all retreated, and the rumors outside are spreading like wildfire. I heard from the door that His Highness the Crown Prince and our master were plotting a rebellion. They found a privately created dragon robe in the Eastern Palace, and letters of correspondence with our master. Grand Tutor Zhao reported it, and the Minister of Revenue, Lord Hong, came out to testify.”

At this point, the little servant girl was so frightened that her voice started to tremble. She stammered, “His Majesty was so angry that he banished the empress to the Cold Palace and deposed the crown prince. The old master entered the palace with the Absolution Token given by the late emperor, the one which could absolve him of a crime punishable by death. Then, to prove his innocence, he… he committed suicide in the throne room.”

By the time she finished speaking, the maidservant was already sobbing uncontrollably.

She was the daughter of a family in the residence. If misfortune befell the masters, the servants would be even worse off.

The other maidservants also turned pale when they heard this. Some of them were worried about the master, while others were worried about their future.

Madam Li’s vision turned dark. She secretly bit the tip of her tongue until it bled to prevent herself from fainting.

She muttered to herself, “How… How can this be? Grand Tutor Zhao is the crown prince’s mentor, and Lord Hong is also a member of the crown prince’s faction…”

Without questioning the servant girl further, she walked past her and headed for the front courtyard.

At this moment, the main doors of the Bulwark Duke Residence opened.

Emperor Chong’an’s personal eunuch, Eunuch Li, entered first and gestured to someone behind him.

Immediately, a few officers carried in two corpses.

Following closely behind was the crown prince, Song Jingchen. His eyes were tightly shut, and one couldn’t be certain if he was still alive. Song Jingchen was still wearing the same red clothes as the day before.

His red clothes were dyed dark red with blood, and his face was pallid. He was being carried into the residence like a rag doll.

When Madam Li arrived at the front yard and witnessed this scene, she burst into tears and fell to the ground.

“Ahem.” Eunuch Li cleared his throat to regain Madam Li’s attention before saying, “Duchess, my condolences. I’m here on His Majesty’s orders to announce the imperial edict. Please get everyone in the residence to come out and receive it!”

Madam Lee blinked to clear her vision and tried to say something.

However, when she opened her mouth, she did not utter a sound. Uncle Yang, the loyal servant who had returned with the corpses, could only endure his grief and instruct someone to make the arrangements.

Shen Yijia swallowed the last pastry and burped.

She looked at the remaining dried fruits with pity. She was thinking about using something to pack them up.

An anxious voice came from outside. “Come quickly, a eunuch from the imperial palace is here to announce the imperial edict. Everyone, go to the front hall and wait!”

This was followed by the sound of people moving.

Shen Yijia paused and smacked her forehead. She was so focused on eating, she almost forgot that her husband had been caught.

“There’s also the Shen family. Hmph.” she thought.