1
Imperial Consort Kỷ summoned me to her palace.
Several thin sheets of paper lay on the desk before her.
They were the journal entries I’d written in my spare time over the years.
Afraid the contents might cause trouble if someone else saw them, I’d written them in English.
“Giang Truỵ Nguyệt, did you transmigrate too?”
She sized me up, her clear eyes brimming with curiosity.
I kept my head bowed respectfully and replied, “Yes.”
A flicker of disbelief crossed the consort’s eyes.
We were both women who had transmigrated, but she was a renowned beauty of talent in the capital, the emperor’s most favored consort.
And I was nothing but an old, lowly palace maid.
“Stop kneeling. Just looking at you irritates me.”
Her tone was full of exasperation, as if I were a hopeless case.
“You’re a woman from the modern age, after all. How can you be content to be a servant, waiting on others inside these palace walls?”
My heart was as still as an ancient well. I merely said:
“There’s no real difference between inside and outside the palace. We’re all just getting by.”
My wooden expression seemed to make her even angrier.
“You had a modern education. You have broader horizons and more knowledge than people of the past, yet you’re content to be a lowly palace maid.
“I honestly don’t know what to say to you.
“Heaven gave you the chance to transmigrate. Why not build a career and do something earth-shattering? Otherwise, aren’t you wasting your talents?”
Her words couldn’t move me.
“Then I wish Your Highness every success.”
“This old servant is aged and frail. I only hope to live out my days in peace.”
Imperial Consort Kỷ sighed.
“Fine. Everyone has their own ambitions; I won’t force you.
“You’re serving the Empress Dowager now, aren’t you?
“How about I request an imperial decree to transfer you to my service?”
“We’re fellow countrywomen, after all. Here in a foreign land, we can look out for each other.”
Though she meant well, I still smiled and declined.
“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager treats this servant well.”
My stubbornness left Imperial Consort Kỷ too frustrated to get angry. In the end, she could only wave a hand and say:
“All right, all right. Have it your way.”
“If you ever need help, come to me.
“As a fellow countrywoman, I’ll do everything I can for you.”
After leaving Chiêu Dương Palace, I returned to Vĩnh Thọ Palace. The Empress Dowager had just finished breakfast and was reading memorials.
“Well?” She didn’t even look up from the memorial. “Tell me, what’s the newly arrived transmigrator like?”
2
I truthfully recounted our conversation, along with my impressions of Imperial Consort Kỷ.
“Plenty of innocence, not much cunning.”
The Empress Dowager calmly gave her verdict.
Then she stared at me and added:
“Just like you were when you first arrived here.”
I knelt on the floor, my head bowed low.
Hearing this, I could only reply respectfully, “Yes.”
When I showed no strong reaction, the Empress Dowager added:
“If she summons you to Chiêu Dương Palace again, just go. You don’t need to report everything to me.”
With that, she paid me no further attention and returned to the memorial before her.
I knew this meant she didn’t think much of this transmigrator.
That made sense.
When I first transmigrated here, I attracted far more attention than this consort did.
I established schools among the common people, wiped out bands of bandits, attended court sessions, debated matters of state with great scholars, and fought alongside generals on the battlefield. The late emperor once poured me wine himself and granted me unparalleled honors…
At the time, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was merely an ordinary noblewoman in the capital.
She came from a distinguished, powerful family and had been betrothed as a child to the late emperor, who was then Prince Tấn.
When I first met her, I thought she was a canary.
A frail canary whose wings had been broken by the conventions of a feudal society.
She knew a little music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and understood palace intrigues. How could she compare to me, with my modern education and horizons far beyond those of people in the past?
Back then, I was very confident.
I thought nothing of princes, nobles, or generals, let alone a tiny canary.
But in the end, that canary flew out of the harem, out of the palace’s deepest recesses, and into the court, becoming a phoenix who held supreme power and ruled from behind the curtain.
As for me, my wings were broken, and I was locked in this cage, reduced to a palace maid serving at her side.
I was no match for her.
The newly arrived Imperial Consort Kỷ was even less of a match.
3
Though the Empress Dowager thought little of Imperial Consort Kỷ, news about her kept making its way into Vĩnh Thọ Palace.
Most of it came from the younger palace maids, who chattered among themselves in their free time. Whenever I passed by, I overheard a little.
The first thing I heard was that she had a compassionate heart and pitied the servants.
She abolished the requirement to kneel and bow, and did everything herself instead of having palace maids wait on her.
She also taught them to read and write, and talked about some strange principles.
She even compiled some books herself, distributing them not only to the people in her own palace but also giving a few volumes to the other palace ladies in each palace.
I flipped through a few pages and found nothing but calls to rebel against the emperor and feudalism, arguments for equality between men and women, and claims that women could have three husbands and four consorts.
For such treasonous words to spread through the palace, the emperor must truly dote on this consort.
Besides that, she often gave the palace maids little trinkets.
Sometimes they were homemade lipstick or perfume; other times, milk tea, jelly, and other modern foods.
Clearly, she was thoroughly enjoying her journey through time.
But just half a month later, memorials accusing her filled the desk at Vĩnh Thọ Palace.
The court officials condemned her as a traitor who flouted moral principles and feminine virtue. They called her a wicked consort who brought ruin to the country and demanded that she be eliminated to answer to the people.
The young emperor knelt outside Vĩnh Thọ Palace for nearly three hours.
“Lãnh Nhi is kindhearted, innocent, and pure. She is nothing like those common women in the palace.”
“She was a carefree bird of the skies. I was the one who deliberately imprisoned her in the palace.”
“If Mother Empress wishes to punish someone, then please punish me alone.”
In the end, Imperial Consort Kỷ was merely confined to her palace for three months.
The Empress Dowager gave the young emperor a scolding, then uttered some platitudes about how he ought to bestow his favor equally.
For the next three months, the young emperor indeed never set foot in Chiêu Dương Palace.
Perhaps because her confinement was so dull, Imperial Consort Kỷ secretly summoned me.
“You’ve been here for several decades now, haven’t you?”
“What on earth has happened to you over all these years?”
“Why are you like a stagnant pool now, nothing like a modern woman?”
Sometimes, she did take an interest in my past.
I took a sip of bitter tea and calmly recounted what had happened.
4
When I first traveled through time to this place, I was no different from Kỷ Linh now.
I was brimming with passion, convinced Heaven had chosen me and that I was destined to accomplish great things and make a name for myself in history.
Fueled by that passion, I wanted to change an entire era.
First, I used a few little modern inventions to build up a fortune and gain some renown.
Next, I opened a school for girls, hoping to help the women of this ancient, feudally oppressed world.
Then I heard that bandits were preying on the people, so I came up with a plan to get rid of them.
While investigating the bandits, I discovered that they had officials backing them.
Kỷ Linh was so stirred up by this point in the story that she couldn't help slapping the table.
“I knew it! How could we have traveled through time just to live such pathetic lives?”
“I had no idea you had such a glorious past, predecessor.”
“So why are you like this now…?”
I smiled.
The story took a turn after that.
While investigating the officials colluding with the bandits, I met a powerful benefactor.
He said he was from the capital, a senior official sent by His Majesty to investigate the matter undercover.
He came here, heard what I had done, and discovered that I was also investigating the officials' collusion with the bandits.
So he wanted to join forces with me and uncover the truth behind it all.
“And then? What happened next?”
Kỷ Linh was completely engrossed in the story.
“Then he and I developed a bit of… a romantic attachment.”
“He wanted to take me back to the capital.”
“But when I got there, I discovered he was already engaged.”
“His fiancée was a young lady from a distinguished family.”
“When I learned the truth, I wanted to leave.”
“But he said my talents and ambitions would only find a place in the capital.”
“He also said that although family pressure had forced him to marry that young lady…”
“…I was the only one he would ever love.”
“I was young then, and I believed him all too easily.”
“I gave myself to him and willingly became his concubine.”
I tried to tell that part of my past as lightly as possible, leaving out some of the little details.
“After that, he found someone new.”
“And I was demoted to a servant and sent into the palace.”
Kỷ Linh was stunned.
Clearly, she hadn't expected the story to take such a sharp turn.
She gritted her teeth and said:
“So you're like this now because you met a no-good man?”
“Tell me his name, and I'll help you get revenge!”
“There's no need.” I smiled.
“It's been so many years. He's no longer alive.”
Kỷ Linh still looked dissatisfied.
“I don't think you should believe a no-good man's sweet talk.”
“If he really liked you, how could he have let you become his concubine?”
“Oh? Then what about Your Highness, who willingly gave herself to His Majesty?”
I asked pointedly in return.
The current emperor had only just passed his twentieth birthday, yet his harem was already full of beautiful women.
The Empress was the Empress Dowager's own niece.
The three consorts, Huệ, Lệ, and Hoa, were all refined young ladies from distinguished scholarly families.
Noble Ladies, Beauties, Talented Ladies… More than anyone could count.
And Imperial Consorts, of course.
When all was said and done, they were still just concubines, though honored ones, second only to the Empress.
Kỷ Linh clearly hadn't expected me to turn the question back on her, and she was at a loss for words.
“H-he's different…”
Her voice was a little weak, but I could still hear the defiance in it.
“He's the emperor, the most exalted man in the world.”
“There are some things he can't help.”
“But I know I'm the only one he truly loves.”
“Oh?”
I looked at her skeptically.
A hint of smugness crossed Kỷ Linh's face.
“Since I entered the palace, he hasn't touched any of the other women in the harem.”
“Even when I was confined, he never summoned another woman to his bed. He always slept alone in the imperial study.”
“He promised me that I would be the only one for the rest of his life.”
“It's just that the Empress Dowager and the other powerful families hold the reins of power at court.”
“He had no choice but to take countless consorts to balance the various factions.”
“He promised that once he had full control of the throne, he would dissolve the harem and make me Empress.”
As she said this, there was an almost laughable innocence on her face.
I could understand. I could.
That pure, guileless innocence…
When people fall in love, they can often become ridiculous like that.
Back then, Prince Tấn—disguised as an official and traveling far from the capital—who would later become the late emperor, had lured me to the capital with sweet words. I entered this bottomless cage with the same naïve, foolish enthusiasm.