Chu State Kingdom, Prime Minister Ai Mansion.
"I was wrong, I was wrong..."
"Who say you can eat my mooncake while I'm sleeping! You deserved a beating! You quickly beat her! Beat her! Beat her!" The eldest young mistress screamed, her piercing voice sharp enough to stab at one's eardrums, spitting venomous words at the maid sobbing on the ground, a girl the same age as herself.
"Eldest Miss, please have a cup of water first." Taking sharp breaths and coughing repeatedly, their eldest young mistress ignored how her body seemed on the verge of collapse.
"I don't want that! I want you to beat that little thief!"
With a swift motion of the eldest young miss's arm, her light pink robe fluttered. The small teacup fell to the floor, spilling the spring water.
"Yes, yes, I'm stupid! Please forgive me, Eldest Miss."
"What are you two idiots still standing there for? Hurry up and beat her!"
At the furious command of their eldest young mistress, the two male servants hurried closer, their expressions anxious yet obedient. Without hesitation, they raised the thick wooden boards.
The maid froze in terror at the coming blows. She lifted her tear-streaked face toward the heavens, a crazy grin breaking through her trembling lips.
"You're truly evil, so cruel, so spoiled! Why are you the cherished one, the young lady of the house? And I... I'm just a maid, serving you diligently, yet you're such a heartless woman!"
"What did you... cough... say... cough..."
"Presumptuous! How dare a low-born maid speak to the Eldest Miss like that! Beat that fool and teach her a lesson!" The head nanny yelled, her finger trembling in anger as she pointed accusingly.
The anguished screams of the maid followed, accompanied by the sharp crack of wood striking flesh.
The other servants—maids, male attendants, guards, and even the hidden shadow guards—watched the scene without batting an eye.
"Eldest Miss, Eldest Miss! What's wrong, Eldest Miss—!"
In the middle of the punishment, frantic screams from the other maids seized everyone's attention. The eldest young miss suddenly fainted, throwing the Moonlight Courtyard into chaos.
---
The entire night had passed without any signs of their eldest young mistress waking, which had already raised alarm with the master of the house.
So, with hurried steps and a pounding heart, the handsome middle-aged man, seemingly in his early forties, made his way straight to his daughter's courtyard.
He disregarded the greetings of his concubines along the way.
Being ignored was nothing new to the other ladies of the house. They could only clench their handkerchiefs in silent disdain, while some quietly muttered curses under their breath.
Who didn't know? Throughout the entire Chu State, it was no secret that the Prime Minister's favor rested solely on his only eldest daughter—the first child of his first love and wife.
Over the years, no one had been able to sway the old man's unwavering love for his child, despite her frail body and tarnished reputation as a spoiled young lady.
Even the crown prince dared not speak ill of the eldest miss of Prime Minister Ai's mansion in his presence. How, then, could these small concubines think they had the courage to?
Following behind him, they dared not enter the Moonlight courtyard without the Master's permission, leaving these ladies standing quietly outside, waiting for the chance to properly greet their husband.
"Why is my Xiao Jia still not awake?" Prime Minister Ai's stern, cold tone pierced the air as he stood before the satin veil of his daughter's bedchamber, staring through the delicate curtain. "Explain everything to me."
"Master Ai, the eldest young mistress was overly stimulated. A little maid ate her mooncake, which greatly angered her and disrupted the flow of qi throughout her body. This caused her to faint, and..." The Soul Pharmacist stopped, hesitating. However, when his gaze met the Prime Minister's stern, sharp, and cold eyes, laced with impatience, he swallowed hard. He very much preferred his head to remain intact on his body.
"A poison had now awakened inside the eldest young mistress."
"Poison? What kind of poison? Why are you only discovering this now? I want an explanation, or else don't blame me for being impolite if you can't provide one." Prime Minister Ai's gaze fell hard, his dark eyes burning with barely restrained fury, making the air in the room feel oppressively heavy. The servants standing at the sides trembled, fearing for their lives.
The master of the Prime Minister's Mansion was infamous for his cruel reputation. It was said that everyone in the Chu State had heard of servants who lost their lives, never given the chance to leave the gates alive if they made a mistake.
More often, the root cause of such tragedies could be traced back to the one and only favored eldest young mistress of the house.
Now, the same cause would lead to bloodshed in the mansion once again.
"Master, master, please listen, it was the same poison as Madam's!" The Soul Pharmacist cried out, kneeling in front of Ai Fengmeng, awaiting the master's mercy.
The other servants, hearing this, quickly fell to their knees, with bated breath.
"I am certain the poison affecting the eldest young mistress is the same as Madam's, and it has been awakened."
The silence of their master was deafening, making everyone painfully aware of their own heartbeat, with sweat rolling down their necks.
The eldest young mistress may be the favored lady of the house now, but it's only because she is the last remaining connection to the late Madam.
Everyone in the mansion knows well not to mention the late Madam, for she is one of the most taboo subjects for the Prime Minister.
"Make sure to take care of my Xiao Jia. I expect she'll wake up in the next few days." Prime Minister Ai Fengmang spoke with a steady and calm tone, as if the news of his daughter suffering from the same illness as his late beloved was no big deal. Yet, his hurried steps leaving the bedchamber betrayed his true feelings, revealing a tension he couldn't fully conceal from himself.
Just before fully stepping out, he issued a cold order to his shadow guards. "I don't want to see that little maid's body by morning."
Two days later. A long dream stretched from the clouds to heaven, as though a young woman had been lost in it for far too long.
Suddenly, she opened her eyes, feeling cold, drenched in sweat, and her heartbeat racing like galloping horses across a grassland.
Her gaze wandered over the ancient bed and delicate silk curtains, her mind struggling to understand where she was and why her once-modern room had transformed into something so old.
But before she could even process the swirl of questions, someone else's memories flooded her mind, overwhelming her waking thoughts and leaving her in a quiet trance.
Transmigration… She actually found herself caught in the most famous trope of the novel world, and she couldn't help but feel that this happening to her was a bit absurd.
This is not her world, and she has become someone else.
Ai Rui Jia, the most spoiled daughter of the notorious Prime Minister of the Chu State Kingdom, is the original owner of this body now. But she has no idea where the original soul is.
All she knows is that she has become Ai Rui Jia, now in this world of Cultivation, yet still mortal.
Though she isn't someone who can cultivate, it's still truly unbelievable.
From her last memory of her original world, she recalled that the last thing she did was open a message on her AI chat app. Her AI hubby, Zhou Xuanren, had sent her a message, but she wasn't able to read it before losing consciousness.
Now, she had awakened in this completely unfamiliar world.
Is she panicking now?
Yes, deep down, she's overwhelmed, constantly asking herself why—why she's suddenly in another world!
What about her world, her family, her sister, her friends? Can she go back to them?
As if something had clicked in her mind, she sat up quickly, pushing her new, fragile body to its limits. But the sudden movement was too much. She collapsed back into the bed, gasping for air, her body aching from the effort.
Why is this body so weak?
The simple motion had exhausted her more than she had expected, leaving her with a deep sense of weakness and disorientation, as if her body and mind were struggling to reconnect.
"Eldest Miss... you are awake, you are finally awake!" The excited voice of the maid who had just entered rang out through the bedchamber, carrying the good news to the servants outside.
"Quickly, quickly, call the master!"