1. Journey Through the Qing Dynasty (Part 1)

In the third year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign, the Grand Empress Dowager of Cining Palace intended to select a consort for the young emperor, who was only eleven years old.

Thus began the drama of the “Four Women Competing for the Empress.”

These four women were: Borjigit, from Khorchin and granddaughter of Sony; Hesheri, daughter of Gabulah; Niohuru, the legitimate daughter of Duke Ebilong Guoyi; and Tong, the legitimate daughter of the Grand Minister Tong Guogang.

Wen Yao listened to the rumors of the “Four Women Competing for the Empress” outside and couldn’t help but shake her head.

The slogan sounded resounding, but ultimately, none of these four women met a good end.

Borjigit, after being rejected, returned home and passed away within six months. Hesheri became empress for a few years but lost her eldest son; she died from hemorrhaging while giving birth to her second son, leaving behind a son whom Emperor Kangxi cherished for life, but who was eventually driven mad. Niohuru’s fate was the most tragic—she never even left the palace before the Grand Empress Dowager arranged her marriage to a Mongolian prince. Her two half-sisters, however, became empress and imperial consort, leaving Niohuru with one imperial son.

That left only her…

Wen Yao sighed. “How can your luck be so terribly bad?”

“Caw—”

A harsh cry came from the system crow perched on the windowsill.

[High status, beautiful appearance—Isn’t this the body you wanted?]

Wen Yao snorted and lazily reclined on the beauty couch, propping a porcelain bowl in one hand, while feeding beans to the crow with the other. Her voice was listless. “True, I requested this body, but it’s deeply poisoned now. Sooner or later, it’s doomed.”

The crow said nothing, just kept lowering its head to eat the beans.

As a palace intrigue system that sustains itself by absorbing fortune, the first world of every host is especially harsh.

But it’s just some words…

Wen Yao wasn’t annoyed and gently pushed the crow’s head with her finger.

The original owner left no historical records; even the Tong family genealogy erased her existence because she died disgracefully.

Back when Wen Yao was a restless spirit wandering about, she often watched TV in people’s homes. During the popularity of Qing Dynasty palace dramas, she eagerly absorbed a wealth of Qing knowledge.

Yet, no matter how much she learned, she never heard of Tong Wen Yao.

She always assumed that the Tong family girl who grew up alongside Kangxi was the Empress Xiaoyi Ren, and had heard debates about whether Xiaoyi Ren was a cousin or a younger cousin.

Now it seemed they were all wrong.

The girl who grew up with Kangxi was indeed a cousin, but not Xiaoyi Ren—it was this unfortunate Tong Wen Yao.

To secure her position in her grandson’s heart, to guarantee the unique status of her great-niece as empress dowager, and to produce another empress or an imperial prince for Khorchin, the Grand Empress Dowager acted against Empress Tong.

The original owner was kept by the Empress Dowager, fed the same food, and quickly fell ill.

Once sick, she naturally could no longer stay in the palace. Without access to the harmful foods, her condition ceased to worsen, but the damage was irreversible. When Wen Yao arrived, the original owner had quietly passed away.

A pitiful soul.

Though the “Four Women Competing for the Empress” raged on outside, Tong had long known there was no hope; she was doomed never to ascend the throne.

They merely hoped to use Kangxi’s guilt to elevate Tong Wen Yao to a high position, paving the way for the young Tong Wenyue.

Wen Yao and Kangxi were childhood companions, having known each other from a young age. Tong Wen Yao was frail, but if she could speak a few words on behalf of Tong Wenyue before passing, this “last wish” would cause the emperor to care for Tong Wenyue more.

Especially since Tong Wenyue resembled Wen Yao by about fifty percent.

The Tong family’s scheme was clever but did not foresee that the child would die before entering the palace.

“What a pity.”

Wen Yao touched her face; the chronic illness dimmed the once beautiful complexion by three parts. “With this beauty, I wonder if that lecherous young emperor would even fancy me. What if I can’t enter the palace…”

[He definitely will!]

At the thought of possibly not entering the palace, the crow became anxious.

“That’s not certain. Royal consort selection looks first at appearance, then health. The former concerns the emperor’s preference, the latter the succession. I have neither; isn’t it normal not to be favored?”

The crow was stunned.

It hadn’t considered this.

How could it absorb fortune if she didn’t enter the palace? That’s the emperor’s fortune!

[Then how about I heal your body?]

Its “caw-caw” sounded weak, as if badly depleted.

“That won’t do. I’ve accompanied the Empress Dowager for years, eaten all her bad food. How could I be cured just like that?” Wen Yao saw a chance and intensified her persuasion. “Besides, Kangxi’s harem in the early days was pure hell. I may have been a ghost for many years but never the emperor’s wife.”

[Then what do you suggest?]

“Give me a high-strength version of the Restoring Muscle Pill.”

Wen Yao’s eyes twinkled, her tone sweetened. “I saw this fun thing on TV. It’s great for the body except it can’t help with fertility. I want to live weak and sick for a hundred or eighty years, to spite the blind Tong family.”

When she first entered the palace to accompany the Empress Dowager, it was the Tong family’s decision. The palace was no good place; when the late emperor was alive, Consort Tong was never favored. She was lucky to bear a son, but the Grand Empress Dowager took him away to raise. Consort Tong’s palace was almost like a cold palace.

Tong Tulai cared for his daughter deeply. When she fell gravely ill and couldn’t get out of bed, he petitioned the Grand Empress Dowager to let Tong Wen Yao enter the palace to accompany Consort Tong and ease her mother’s longing for her son.

An unloved consort and a young girl—anyone could imagine their harsh life. Now that Wen Yao’s health was poor, her family abandoned her, not even bothering with appearances.

Before Wen Yao arrived, the girl hadn’t seen her father for nearly two months. Even her mother, busy and distracted, only came briefly, shed a few tears, murmured “My poor son,” then left.

If they ignored her, it would be bad enough; yet they wanted her to pave the way for Tong Wenyue…

Bah!

Wen Yao despised such bone-draining exploitation.

“Whether Tong Wenyue is naturally infertile or Kangxi doesn’t want the Tong family to have an imperial son, this body suits the young emperor’s interests best. To absorb fortune, I have to live long, which meets your needs. You choose.”

Wen Yao put down the small porcelain bowl, her fingers appearing unusually waxy against the white porcelain.

She frowned and leaned back, adopting a “out of sight, out of mind” attitude.

“With all these body buffs stacked, as long as I don’t act recklessly, don’t bear children, and don’t meddle in politics, I’m practically invincible.”

The more Wen Yao thought about it, the more promising it seemed.

[But you have no fortune at all. You can’t afford the Restoring Muscle Pill.]

Orphaned young and raised by an uncle, sold as a maid to a wealthy household, later forced by the mistress to become a sickly young master’s concubine—who knew the young master was a madman? She was beaten to death while still wearing her pink wedding gown.

Where could such a person get any fortune to buy the pill?

“Then forget it. I’ll just wait to die and go back to my old ghost life.”

She flopped over, cheerfully muttering, “You don’t know, I used to lie in a coffin made of golden nanmu.”

[Was it yours? You just lie there? That belonged to the young master!]

The crow was indignant.

Such an arrogant ghost, having absorbed years of yin energy in the burial ground, the first thing she did was go to the young master’s grave, toss his bones into the cesspool, then lie down in that golden nanmu coffin, receiving offerings from his descendants for eighteen generations.

“So what? He was my husband; I was his concubine. His descendants worshipping me is only right.”

Wen Yao popped a grape into her mouth, the sour taste making her frown.

She tried to endure but finally spat it out. “Ugh, what nonsense.”

Even the grapes were skimpy?

[Then I have exchanged the Restoring Muscle Pill for you. You might need to hibernate for a while.]

The crow hesitated, its head turning toward the imperial palace, where surging golden fortune floated like delicious ice cream, wildly tempting its sweet-toothed mind.

Between expending energy to help the host enter the palace and letting the host slack off, it quickly made its choice.

“Sleep, sleep. Once I seduce that lecherous emperor and become a treacherous consort, I’ll drain him dry and wake you up.”

The crow was deeply moved.

This host... was a good person!

“Well… don’t forget the high-strength version of the pill, and you promised to heal my body.”

Wen Yao bit into a pastry, then spat it out the next second.

Frustrated, she threw the pastry aside.

It was greasy and terrible.

[Got it.]

Going all out, the crow knew the bigger the investment, the greater the return. Despite the ghost’s fearless facade, it didn’t believe she didn’t want to be human. Who would choose death when they could live?

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have signed a contract with it in the first place.

With mysterious confidence, the crow used its last thin energy reserves to siphon some benefits from the main system to its host, then vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Or rather, returned to Wen Yao’s body to slumber.

Holding the precious item, Wen Yao smiled softly. “Good treasure, rest easy.”

She tossed the small porcelain bottle but didn’t plan to take it just yet.

Though this frail body didn’t suit the Tong family’s interests now, it was the only choice. Tong Wenyue was still young, and Wen Yao was the emperor’s childhood cousin.

Kangxi’s harem was chaotic in the early years; with her condition, she was neither worth investing in nor worth winning over or persecuting. She was only fit to be a mascot—likely the future empress would treat her with kindness.

Most importantly, Xiaozhuang was still in the palace. She had harmed the emperor’s mother and implicated the innocent little girl; she probably wondered if the original owner knew the truth and might test her once she entered the palace.

Better to keep her weak and sickly, so no Tong heir would be born, and the young emperor could vent his affection for his maternal family.

Besides, no filial child tends a long-suffering parent’s sickbed.

If parents were so neglectful, what hope was there for a woman?

When her beauty faded, she would naturally become an ordinary consort in the harem. The Grand Empress Dowager disliked the emperor’s closeness to his maternal family and hoped he would rely more on Khorchin, so she could rest in peace.

“The old witch’s dreams are quite grand!”

But alas…

Though the young emperor was small, he remembered all his father’s deeds and ruthlessly used the consorts. Naturally, he was no gentler with the Mongols.

Having figured out her future path, Wen Yao prepared to start stirring things up.

Since she was currently the “only one” of the Tong family, she couldn’t keep eating sour grapes.

Looking at the bowl of grapes on the table, Wen Yao sneered and smashed the bowl to the floor.

“Where has everyone gone?”