Xu Yining woke up with a sharp breath, her heart pounding in her chest. Her back was drenched in sweat, her breathing ragged.
She wasn't dead.
But she wasn't in the palace either.
She looked around. Soft mattress, boxy furniture, odd decorations.
Where were the palace walls? The canopy bed? Her handmaids?
She grabbed the edge of the bed. "Where… am I?"
It took her a moment. Then two. Memory trickled in like raindrops. Not hers; at least, not her old ones. Someone else's. Another Xu Yining. A twenty-year-old girl from this strange time that girl had the same name as her.
Yining's eyes widened.
She stood up slowly, touching her arms, her legs, her face. It was real. This wasn't a dream. Somehow, she had left the palace and landed in the body of a girl from another world.
She touched her chest. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep after eating a bowl of sweet lotus soup. She had been fine. Healthy. Was the favoured Concubine and was soon going to be the empress.
But now…
She muttered, staring at the cold, unfamiliar walls. "I've been transmigrated… into this girl's body?"
She closed her eyes and tried to absorb what she could from the new memories. The modern Xu Yining had grown up pampered and wilful, the only daughter of the Xu Family who was of the one richest families in China.
She joined the acting industry at sixteen but barely worked hard. After all, she wasn't interested in acting. She was obsessed with a man she saw once; Li Yichen.
she begged her grandfather. Begged. For a full year. Even got married to the man three months ago. And the result?
Her husband never showed up. Not even once.Well he did once to pick something up, she wasn't home.
And her brother-in-law; Li Lin Zixuan, still in high school who was only younger to her by four years avoided her like the plague in the house. He was terrified she'd start crying again.
This girl… this modern Xu Yining… had been desperate. Yesterday, she collapsed from a heart attack. And now, here she was Xu Yining, the favoured concubine of the emperor, transmigrated in her place.
Yining scratched her head. "So she died because the husband ignored her?"
She looked around. "If you're still floating here somewhere, I hope your soul will now rest in peace. But really? A man ignores you and you just drop dead?"
Then she grew serious and brought both her palm together and rubbed it scared that her soul might actually be around. "Sorry… I shouldn't joke. Thanks for the body. I'll take good care of it."
She turned toward the mirror across the room. When she saw her reflection, she stopped.
Same face.
The face staring back was hers. The same oval face. Same high cheekbones, seductive eyes, she used to be called a fox in the palace. No one dared say it to her face, but they whispered behind her back.
She was the eldest daughter of the Minister of Rites. Born with power. Trained in etiquette. Skilled in music, calligraphy, and manipulation. At seventeen, she entered the palace as a concubine. At twenty-two, she was the emperor's favourite.
Everyone in the inner palace feared her.
They called her the fox concubine behind her back. Seductive. Cunning. Untouchable.
Life in the palace was never Xu Yining's choice. She had no wish to serve a distant emperor or live among hundreds of women.
As the eldest daughter of the Minister of Rites and as a women, she had no say in her own future. When her father made the decision, she obeyed without question, bound by duty and the expectations of her name.
The palace was beautiful on the surface, but beneath the gold and silk lay quiet wars. After the empress passed away, the inner court became a battlefield.
Each concubine fought for a sliver of attention, each gift and glance from the emperor a silent war.
Xu Yining never believed in the emperor's affection. She knew it was fragile, something that could disappear the moment another woman pleased him more hence she didn't crave affection.
She just played her part well. Not for love, but for survival because as a women she had no other choice if she wanted to live and little for her family's standing.
Over the years, she survived every trap, every poisoned look and gained the emperor's attention through skill, not emotion. In two months, she was to be crowned Empress. But before that could happen, her soul ended up here.
If she had known this would be the end, she would have run far away from her family and never entered the palace at all and lived her life the way she wanted to.
Thinking about her past life she sighed but now, she had a new life. No jealous concubines. No watchful eunuchs. No poisonous tea.Just a mansion, a ghost husband, and a terrified schoolboy brother-in-law.
"This world… is different."
She sat down in front of a glowing machine. The memories guided her fingers. A laptop. Within minutes, she was clicking through websites, reading articles, watching videos. This was how the world moved now.
Fast. Loud. Blunt.
It didn't take long before she stumbled across Li Yichen's profile.
CEO of Yuchen Group. The richest billionaire in China. Famous for his cold personality and unmatched wealth. That explained the obsession.
So this girl wasn't entirely foolish. She had chased power. She just didn't know how to handle it.
Xu Yining leaned back in the chair.
"This man is practically like an emperor in this era. No wonder she wanted to marry him."
Then she smirked.
"But unlike her, I don't beg."
Suddenly her stomach growled.
She walked toward the wardrobe and opened it. Inside were strange, tiny clothes.
Short skirts. Tiny tops. Transparent dresses.
"Is this underwear?" she asked, holding up a tank top. Then looked again. "Wait. They wear this outside?"
She always thought herself as a bold person. She'd worn sheer silks in front of dozens of jealous concubines. But the boldness of this era was… impressive.
After a few awkward tries figuring out where each limb was supposed to go, she changed and stepped out of the room.
The house was large; no, massive. Bright white walls, polished floors, and silent hallways that echoed with the click of her steps.
Her nose caught a faint smell of food. She followed it until she reached the kitchen.
A woman in uniform turned around and nearly dropped the ladle she was holding.
"Mistress?" the maid asked, eyes wide.
"Yes," Xu Yining said calmly.
The maid hesitated. "You… you're downstairs."
Xu Yining tilted her head, not understanding the confusion. "And?"
"It's just… you usually don't come downstairs," the maid stammered, still trying to process what she was seeing.
Xu Yining offered a slow, effortless smile, the kind that once made emperors lean forward and concubines lose sleep.
"Well, I'm hungry now," she said, her tone calm but not without charm.
The maid blinked, caught completely off guard. That smile; it was breathtaking. Refined, graceful, and strangely commanding. She had seen beauty before, but this was something else entirely.
In that moment, the maid couldn't decide what shocked her more; her mistress actually coming down for lunch, or the way she looked like she'd just stepped out of a dream.
"I'll bring the food right away," she said quickly, head slightly lowered as she rushed off, heart still racing.
"Good. Make it something spicy."
She walked past the kitchen and entered the dining area, where a long dark wood table stretched across the space. She sat at the head without hesitation. No one else was around. No husband. No brother-in-law. Just silence.
She tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest, observing the room. It was modern, cold, and unfamiliar. But it was hers now. She could get used to this.
Soon, the maid returned with neatly plated dishes; dumplings, stir-fried beef, steamed vegetables, a bowl of rice, and hot soup. It smelled far better than anything she'd eaten in the palace.
She picked up the chopsticks, tasted a dumpling, and nodded in approval.
"This isn't bad," she muttered. "No bland medicinal broths."
She took another bite and sighed, genuinely please…..at least the food amazing.