The Southern Chu Imperial Palace, a hidden underground cavern.
The pungent scent of blood lingered in the chilly air as the corpse of Lu Yun lay quietly in the coffin at the center of the icy pool. The oppressive atmosphere of the cavern weighed heavily, and Emperor Li Yuanli of Southern Chu stood beside the coffin, his expression dark.
Silently, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I told you, forcibly activating the device is dangerous," Moxun said, sitting cross-legged on the ground as she massaged her sore wrists, her face full of resignation.
Li Yuanli remained silent.
Moxun continued chattering, "Now look what’s happened. Not only did you fail to bring Shen Wei back, but you’ve also left her in danger. The world is vast—she could appear anywhere. She might become a dying old woman, a prisoner about to be executed, or even a man... How will you find her?"
"Shen Wei is already the Empress Dowager. She’s living a good life—why must you ruin it? If I were her, I’d stab you to death."
"Do you think Li Yuanjing is a fool? If his wife suddenly had a different soul, he’d notice immediately."
Moxun sighed helplessly.
Trapped in this cramped cavern, she could only watch as Li Yuanli took reckless risks, powerless to stop him.
The device had always been unstable, and a malfunction during its operation had caused Shen Wei to vanish without a trace.
Li Yuanli stood, his black-and-gold imperial robes brushing against the bloodstained ground. Slowly wiping the blood from his lips, he said coldly, "No matter where she is, I will bring her back."
Moxun: "..."
With a frustrated kick, she sent a nearby stone flying into the icy pool. A crisp splash echoed through the cavern.
Moxun cursed under her breath, "Zhang He'an’s genes really are defective! I should never have slept with him back then!"
After a moment of silence, her brows furrowed as a flicker of unease crossed her mind. "I’ve been missing for two years, and he still hasn’t come looking for me... Could something have happened?"
---
Qing State, Jiangnan.
Shen Wei had collapsed suddenly, remaining unconscious all night. The Grand Empress Dowager was deeply worried, suspecting that Li Yuanjing had mistreated her in secret. Li Yuanjing found himself unable to defend against the accusations.
He spent the entire night sleepless.
At dawn the next day, the faint morning light crept in as birds chirped from the branches outside.
The unconscious Shen Wei slowly stirred, her eyes fluttering open as the blurry world before her gradually sharpened. The first thing she saw was the elegant canopy of fragrant gauze above her bed, its delicate scent lingering in the air. Beside the bed sat a tall, handsome middle-aged man.
Li Yuanjing had kept vigil by her side all night. At the faint rustling from the bed, his eyes snapped open, meeting hers.
"Weiwei?" he called softly.
The woman in Shen Wei’s body blinked, a faint smile tugging at her lips. She seemed about to speak, but the words died in her throat.
She didn’t know—how had the original Shen Wei addressed this retired emperor in private?
Did she call him "Your Majesty"? "Husband"? Or was there another name?
So she chose to remain silent, feigning lingering illness.
"Weiwei, are you feeling unwell?" Li Yuanjing, still unaware that the soul within Shen Wei had changed, reached out worriedly to grasp her hand.
The new "Shen Wei" recalled the original’s demeanor. As the virtuous and gentle empress beloved by the people of Qing State, Shen Wei had always been known for her kindness.
Thus, "Shen Wei" softened her gaze, replying gently, "This humble one is fine."
Her voice was tender as water, her eyes brimming with deep affection—just like any devoted wife.
Li Yuanjing’s expression instantly darkened.
---
---
While the emperors of Southern Chu and Qing State were unsettled, in a distant coastal fishing village, Shen Wei remained utterly bewildered.
She looked around—she was in a dilapidated hut, its walls cracked and windows barely held together by patched-up wooden planks. The door was nothing more than a tattered fish-skin curtain, and the cold wind seeped inside, sharpening her senses.
"Sister... drink... drink your medicine," a voice stammered.
The fish-skin curtain lifted, revealing a thin, dark-skinned boy clutching a crude bowl as he hesitantly approached.
Shen Wei looked closely—the "bowl" was actually a large seashell, filled with a murky, bitter liquid.
She was stunned.
Where was she?
Hadn’t she been strolling through the lantern festival in Jiangnan with Le You? She had fainted—so how had she woken up here?
Was this a dream?
The hut was too poor to have a mirror. Shen Wei turned and banged her head against the wall.
Thud—
The sharp pain confirmed this was no dream.
The dark-skinned boy seemed terrified. He quickly set the shell down on a small table and rushed over, tears welling in his eyes as he grabbed her hand.
"Sister! Don’t die! Even if you die, Prince Wu won’t care! Wuwuwu..."
Rubbing her throbbing head, Shen Wei pulled her hand free. "Bring me a mirror."
The boy sniffled and dashed out. Moments later, he returned with a tiny, broken shard of a bronze mirror.
Shen Wei took it. The reflection was blurry, but it showed a face—thin, slightly tanned, with large eyes and messy hair. A plain, youthful face, no older than sixteen.
Shen Wei set down the bronze mirror, a string of curses bubbling up in her heart. She had toiled relentlessly for twenty years, clawing her way up just to retire and bask in a life of luxury. Yet before she could even savor it, she found herself transmigrated into another body!
Was her future doomed to be an endless cycle of rebirths?
A wave of despair washed over Shen Wei—the kind that stretched endlessly, with no hope in sight.
But then, something struck her as odd. Twenty years ago, after a car accident, she had awakened in this world as Shen Wei, a maidservant in Prince Wu's household. Back then, she had inherited all of the original host’s memories.
Now, reborn as a scrawny fisher girl, Shen Wei found no trace of this body’s past in her mind.
"Leave me alone. I need to rest," Shen Wei said darkly.
The sunburnt boy seemed terrified of her. He stammered, "A-Ajie, don’t forget to drink your medicine."
Shen Wei closed her eyes and gave a stiff nod.
The boy scurried out of the dilapidated hut.
Shen Wei collapsed back onto the bed, her gaze hollow, like a salted fish stripped of all ambition.
Twenty years of grinding—gone in an instant. Who could accept such a cruel twist of fate?
She had no will left to fight. "If life is just an endless loop," she muttered to herself, "what’s the point of hustling? Might as well lie flat and rot. Death doesn’t even matter—I’ll just reincarnate again anyway."
With that, she shut her eyes, resigning herself to defeat.
But after barely the time it took to brew a cup of tea—
Shen Wei bolted upright, slapping her own cheeks in frustration. "Who am I kidding? I can’t just lie down and quit!"
She was, after all, born to grind.
