"You..."
Empress Dowager Lu's eyes were filled with shock, her phoenix eyes now wide and round like almonds!
Ella straightened up. "Empress Dowager... I know about pizza, and I can even make pizza! Would you like to try it?"
Why pizza?
In the original novel, the night before Lu Ling transmigrated, she was dining with her team members, who had been working overtime for several nights, under her leadership. While they were eating downstairs in the company, she was hit by a falling light fixture and died, resulting in her transmigration. Before she crossed over, she was still holding a piece of her beloved and hot cheese-filled pizza!
Although the original character didn't leave specific information about the current time, judging by the age of Empress Dowager Lu, only about ten to twenty years could have passed since the ending. Could someone who didn't even get to taste their favorite last bite of pizza possibly forget such an important detail in their life over the course of ten years?
Empress Dowager Lu's eyes were tumultuous. She pushed aside the palace servants who were trying to stop Ella and stood in front of her. "Only 'pizza'?"
"...And steak?"
Ella couldn't quite remember, as the details before the transmigration were just a setup for the readers.
Empress Dowager Lu squinted at her for a while, then straightened up and waved her hand.
The old maid behind her immediately led the palace servants to retreat completely.
The empty palace reminded Ella of scenes where villains tortured their opponents. She shrank her neck involuntarily. It's said that people in high positions tend to be somewhat neurotic; she hoped Empress Dowager Lu could remain calm.
"There is no such thing as pizza and steak in Da Liang, which means you're not from here."
Empress Dowager Lu spoke her first long sentence of the day.
What does it mean to be impeccable? This is it! They both understood each other's origins, but this Empress Dowager didn't expose even the slightest hint!
Since she refused to reveal her own identity, Ella could only feign ignorance. "To be honest, Empress Dowager, half an hour ago, I was still in a taxi. I don't know anything about tearing up the painting; it was all done by the original owner of this body!
"I am well-educated and a modern youth who has been through the trials of the workplace. I wouldn't sabotage myself by tearing up the Empress Dowager's reward! Please forgive me, Empress Dowager. I will remember your great kindness!"
Empress Dowager Lu's expression was inscrutable. "How did you get here?"
"…You might not believe it, but a sudden brake in the taxi, and I ended up here."
"That easy?" Empress Dowager Lu's tightly knitted brows showed some surprise.
Ella's method of transmigration was indeed much easier than being crushed to death by a chandelier...
At this moment, she felt like… she drove a Porsche into the company, only to be met by her boss driving a Volkswagen Passat. "In fact, I can hardly believe it myself, so I was in a daze for a long time just now…"
"So you haven't been to the Qingyun Marquis's mansion?"
"No, I was already in front of the Empress Dowager as soon as I arrived."
"Do you know who you are?"
"…I have some idea."
Maybe because Ella's answer was somewhat docile, Empress Dowager Lu's expression remained stern, but at least she was speaking properly.
After sitting quietly for a while, she muttered to herself, "After all these years, I can't believe I still met someone like you…"
What does she mean by "someone like you"? Does she even know how to speak properly?
Before Ella could finish complaining, Empress Dowager Lu looked over again. "You don't think I would capture you as an outcast?"
After a brief pause, she suddenly turned her entire body around. "Why are you so certain I would spare you just because you mentioned pizza?"
"…"
There it was, she caught the flaw. The atmosphere was instantly ruined. Ella had thought she would be asked to make steak pizza next!
Speaking of which, Lu Ling was a fictional character created by the author, and she had gained power through the golden finger of transmigration. Knowing that Ella came from a higher-level real world, would Lu Ling, living in a book world, allow someone who knew the plot to control her destiny?
"Why aren't you speaking?" Empress Dowager Lu squinted her eyes.
—Forget it, there's no way to hide it anyway. Empress Dowager Lu had already exposed her own identity. If she really wanted to kill Ella to silence her, why go through so many detours?
Ella said, "Because I know the Empress Dowager's origins."
Seeing the killing intent in Empress Dowager Lu's eyes, she immediately said, "Even if I know the Empress Dowager's secret, it poses no threat to you!
"Firstly, I would never foolishly tell anyone. Secondly, even if I did, no one would believe me, let alone suspect you! I will only become a staunch supporter of the Empress Dowager and protect you with my life!"
Empress Dowager Lu's eyes narrowed slightly.
"How did you come to know about my origins?"
Ella looked at her cautiously. "If I say something that offends the Empress Dowager, can you spare my life?"
"No." Empress Dowager Lu looked down at the finger sleeve on her hand. "Speak properly. If you don't, you'll be fed to the dogs!"
Ella's mind was filled with frustration! She had hoped to establish some camaraderie, but there was no recognition of a fellow transmigrator here!
She said, "To be honest, Empress Dowager, the world you are in is actually just a transmigration novel! You are the protagonist of this novel."
Empress Dowager Lu paused for three seconds. "What do you mean?"
"It means this world is not the same as mine. Empress Dowager, you… in my world, you don't actually exist."
Empress Dowager Lu looked at her as if she were a lunatic...
Ella felt like a lunatic too!
From Empress Dowager Lu's perspective, the thought that she was a character created by someone in another dimension, with her fate controlled by someone else, must be unbearable!
In an era where the monarch was supreme, she had just revealed this cruel truth... This was truly exhilarating!
"My entire life has been in my own hands. How could it be controlled by others? How dare you deceive me!"
Empress Dowager Lu stood up abruptly, her phoenix eyes filled with destructive light.
"I wouldn't dare deceive the Empress Dowager! If it weren't for this book, and if I hadn't read it, how could I know about your connection to pizza?
"No one else would know about this, right? Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare lie to you!"
"If you're not lying, does that mean all my efforts in this life have been in vain? I spent thirty years escaping adversity, helping the former emperor establish the kingdom, building Da Liang, and guiding it towards prosperity with him, only for you to tell me this world is fictional and I am a fabricated character? Are you saying my life's work is just entertainment for some readers?"
A grand protagonist cannot endure such an insult!
"Please calm down and listen to me!"
Ella quickly got up to placate her, adopting a low posture. "At first, I also thought the book world was purely fictional, and that once the book ended, this world would cease to exist.
"But now, it seems my perception of fiction isn't accurate, because the characters' fates are continuing according to the original trajectory. That means this dimension exists as a real part of the universe!
"If this time-space dimension is real, then your efforts were not in vain! No matter where I come from, everything you've done is meaningful!
"Empress Dowager, you are extremely intelligent. Surely you understand this!"
This implies that once an author creates a fictional era, it becomes real, a part of the multidimensional universe!
Otherwise, the characters wouldn't continue after the story's conclusion, and Ella wouldn't have been able to transmigrate into the book!
Whether it was her strong logic or her intense survival instinct, Empress Dowager Lu stared at her for a long time. Her stance relaxed a bit, and a hint of mercy appeared in her eyes, suggesting she might spare Ella's life for now.
"What is my ending?"