Chapter 8

Chapter 8 In the scorching June heat, waves of hot air blasted against her face. Even as she collapsed to the ground, Xie Run's mind was still occupied with the thought—she hadn't gone to see the Second Young Master who had fallen into the lake, so no one should be looking to cause trouble for her, right? When she opened her eyes again, Xie Run saw Yuli and Dantao standing by her bed, crying. An elderly imperial physician was taking her pulse. Xie Run's heart turned cold. "I... am I alright?!" In her previous life, she had suddenly fainted out of nowhere, only to be diagnosed with cancer. If the same thing happened in this life, Xie Run felt she might as well grab a knife and slit her own throat. No point in living anyway! The elderly physician stroked his beard and said calmly, "Mistress Xie is merely suffering from heatstroke. Nothing serious—just rest well." Xie Run let out a huge sigh of relief. Then she realized something was off and quickly grabbed Dantao, asking urgently, "How is Consort Ning's side?" Dantao sobbed into her handkerchief. "Mistress, please accept my condolences... the Second Young Master... he's gone." Xie Run felt dazed. She slowly leaned back against her pillow and raised a hand. "I need some quiet. See the physician out." Dantao and Yuli bowed simultaneously. "Yes." Xie Run clutched the quilt over herself and let out a deep sigh. She had only walked a few steps today—how could she possibly have gotten heatstroke? In the instant she fainted, a flood of information had suddenly surged into Xie Run's mind. She learned that Concubine Fang, who had entered the household alongside her, was also a transmigrator—and she was holding the script of a vicious cannon-fodder female supporting character. In the original book, Fang Yuan'er and Xie Run had entered the household together. Fang Yuan'er was beautiful and delicate, holding tens of thousands of taels of silver, and she thrived in the prince's rear courtyard. Later, when Prince Jing ascended the throne, Fang Yuan'er successfully became Noble Consort. Relying on the Emperor's favor, she acted arrogantly and tyrannically, offending the book's female protagonist and meeting a miserable end. So the modern-day Fang Yuan'er, by some twist of fate, transmigrated into the book and decided to start a counterattack quest. Fang Yuan'er studied the reasons her original self had died horribly and decided to take the best and discard the rest—before the female protagonist even appeared, she would use her advantages to capture Prince Jing's heart, win over the household's concubines, and bear a child as soon as possible, all to deal with the female protagonist the moment she showed up. The original Fang Yuan'er was no pushover, and the transmigrated Fang Yuan'er was even less of a kind soul. After all, the moment she transmigrated, she had already set her sights on the Empress's position, treating the Princess Consort as her strongest rival. She was utterly ambitious. Xie Run was silent for a long time, calming her emotions, and immediately extracted several key pieces of information. First, Prince Jing was going to become Emperor in the future?! Xie Run felt completely lightheaded—not a trace of joy, only anxiety. The waters of this prince's rear courtyard were already deep enough. If Prince Jing became Emperor, the waters would only get deeper. Could she really live a healthy, peaceful life to a ripe old age in this lifetime? Second, she was living inside a book—and damn it, the book had a female protagonist?! The information in Xie Run's mind right now only concerned the cannon-fodder female supporting character Fang Yuan'er, with not a single word about the original female lead. All she knew was that the original female lead was a Selection Candidate who emerged from the imperial beauty selection three years after Prince Jing ascended the throne. She later won the Emperor's favor, overcame all opposition, and was elevated to the position of Empress. Xie Run thought, shouldn't she make some preparations? After thinking it over, Xie Run suddenly realized that Fang Yuan'er's approach was actually quite good. Before the original female lead appeared, first have a child with Prince Jing to secure a source of support for the rest of her life, and then build good relationships with the household's concubines to avoid being targeted. As for making a move against the female lead... Xie Run had no dreams of becoming Empress. Anyone who had read novels knew—don't get close to the female protagonist, or you'll end up very unfortunate. If she had a child, she could take the child and live as an invisible person in the palace for the rest of her life, not even seeking Prince Jing's favor. In her spare time, she could watch the drama between the original female lead and the transmigrated female lead—that didn't sound bad either? Third, she was the N-th cannon-fodder female supporting character in this book... The original Xie Run had hanged herself on the second day after entering the household, dragging the entire Xie family into Prince Jing's disfavor, and later all trace of them vanished. Xie Run couldn't help but sigh. The original owner was truly ruthless. Ruthless to herself, and ruthless to her family. Yet she could never learn to be ruthless to the scumbag man—throwing herself into a lake over a worthless man was truly a pity. Now Xie Run hadn't died; instead, it was her in this body... For now, the Xie family was safe, but who knew what the future held. In any case, Xie Run was determined to live well—to live healthily. Once her thoughts were sorted, Xie Run finally let Yuli and Dantao in to ask about the Second Young Master's matter. "I fainted earlier and don't know what exactly happened. How did the Second Young Master die?" When Xie Run had received the news, it was only mentioned that he had fallen into the lake, so the boy must have still been alive at that point. She had only fainted for a moment—how was he already gone? Yuli was quick to speak and blurted out eagerly, "Mistress, thank goodness you fainted and didn't go to Orchid Fragrance Garden. I heard that Orchid Fragrance Garden ran with blood today. If you'd gone, you'd have been scared out of your wits." Xie Run pressed a hand to her forehead and said helplessly, "Get to the point!" Yuli said, "His Highness used torture to get the truth out. It turned out that the Second Young Master's wet nurse had evil intentions and deliberately took the young master's life." Xie Run's mouth fell open. "How could a wet nurse have the audacity to murder a prince's son? What exactly is going on?!" In this era, class pressed down on people, capable of grinding them to dust. Unless pushed to the brink of despair, ordinary people would never dare to provoke their superiors. Dantao said slowly, "It's all because Consort Ning treated her harshly... When the wet nurse was first brought into the household, it was agreed that she would nurse the child until he turned one, and then she would be sent home—those who wished to stay could remain. But unexpectedly, after a year, Consort Ning refused to let her go and forced her to continue nursing until the child was two. The wet nurse's own son had been unwell recently, and she begged to leave several times, but Consort Ning rejected every request." Xie Run asked, "Did something happen in the wet nurse's family?" Dantao nodded. "The wet nurse was rarely at home. Her husband used the money she earned to take a new concubine, and when that concubine became pregnant, she deliberately mistreated the wet nurse's child. Last night, word came that the wet nurse's son had fallen into a well and died. Coincidentally, Consort Ning was punishing the wet nurse again over the Second Young Master's cold from last time. In a fit of rage, the wet nurse jumped into the lake with the Second Young Master in her arms." Yuli wiped away her tears. "When they were pulled out, the Second Young Master was still breathing. But after returning home, he seemed startled out of his wits—plagued by nightmares—and within half an hour, he had stopped breathing. Such a young child..." "How did the Prince... deal with the wet nurse?"