She didn't believe that what happened in the attic was just a nightmare, because it was so real and so unforgettable that she would never forget it, even until her death.
So if all of that is true, what's going on now?
She felt her head was in a mess and was in a lot of pain, as if it was about to explode, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
The door, which had been tightly closed, was pushed open from the outside, and two pretty women dressed in light blue silk robes walked in.
Ye Xiaowei naturally recognized these two women. She would never forget that in the attic, they stood next to her third sister, Ye Zirong, smiling at her with extreme smugness and ruthlessness.
She vividly remembers how they pulled her back from Li Muyan, preventing her from taking Nuo'er back, and how she watched helplessly as Li Muyan killed her Nuo'er with his own hands.
She was stunned when the two girls appeared at the door.
The two women before me were indeed Chunlu and Xiayu, but they seemed too young and immature. They didn't look like eighteen or nineteen-year-old girls at all; they looked more like thirteen or fourteen-year-old children.
Xia Yu walked up to Ye Xiaowei with a charming smile: "Master, are you awake? Do you feel unwell?"
Then, as if she had deliberately remembered something, she turned to look at Chunlu beside her.
"Chunlu, now that the master has woken up, quickly bring the medicine that has been prepared long ago. The imperial physician said that the master's body is delicate and he must take the medicine on time."
As Xia Yu spoke, she gave Chun Lu a meaningful look, and Chun Lu responded and quickly walked out.
Her mother went hunting in Yunshan every year, but not at this time. She had just jumped from the pavilion and was sure to die. Even if a miracle happened and she survived, Ye Zirong and Li Muyan, that adulterous couple, would never let her lie peacefully in the East Palace.
The Chunlu and Xiayu in front of her looked several years younger. According to her memory, Chunlu and Xiayu were about the same age as her, and should be nineteen years old this year. It was impossible for them to look like teenagers.
A strange thought arose in her mind, one that even she found unbelievable. Staring at Xia Yu, who was giving her a strange look for a long time, she asked in a trembling voice:
"Xia Yu, tell me, what time is it now?"
The Crown Princess must be delirious from her illness, because the first thing she asked upon waking up was such a baffling question.
Moreover, judging from her expression, it seems that she has encountered something incredible. Could it be that the imperial physician's medicine has some effect of causing hallucinations?
Although she wanted to impatiently call her a lunatic, the Third Princess repeatedly instructed her not to alert the enemy before everything was settled.
Ye Xiaowei is now the Crown Princess, her mistress, while she is merely a maidservant serving her; their statuses are vastly different. Naturally, a lowly maidservant like her cannot be so presumptuous in front of Ye Xiaowei!
She suppressed the urge to curse and patiently explained to Ye Xiaowei.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is three-quarters past Chen Shi (7:45 AM)!"
Ye Xiaowei shook her head, her eyes revealing undisguised curiosity and disbelief.
"No, I'm not asking you the time of day, I'm asking you what year it is!"
Xia Yu was stunned when she heard her words. Could it be that her master really had some kind of mental disorder or amnesia?
Otherwise, how can we explain it? How can a perfectly healthy person not even remember what year it is? If this matter is reported to the Third Princess, she will surely reward us handsomely.
Although Xia Yu tried her best to suppress her joyful expression in front of Ye Xiaowei, she was genuinely delighted by Ye Xiaowei's apparent mental instability or amnesia.
Secondly, since Ye Xiaowei has already lost her mind, she has nothing to be afraid of, so she naturally becomes bolder. She just laughs it off; what's the big deal? What can the idiotic Crown Princess do to her now?
For the sake of a better life in the future, and to avoid alerting the enemy, Xia Yu replied to Ye Xiaowei with considerable respect.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is now the twentieth year of Mingde."
What! The twentieth year of Mingde? She clearly remembered that she jumped off the top of the palace pavilion in the twenty-fifth year of Mingde.
How did I wake up again and find myself back in the twentieth year of the Mingde era? That was five years ago! Did I jump off the attic, survive, and then get reborn five years in the past?
No wonder it all felt so familiar, and she felt even more certain that she wasn't dreaming or in a hallucination; she had been reborn…
Since Heaven has granted her life, in this life she will no longer be as submissive as she was in her previous life. She will personally send those despicable people who dared to frame her to hell!
---Aside---
The beginning is the hardest part to write, so if you like it, please add it to your favorites! This is a female-dominated novel with many handsome men. It features a strong female lead, strong male leads, and both characters are cunning and ruthless. Thank you for your support!
☆、002 Since we're here, let's make the best of it.
A lot happened in the twentieth year of Mingde's reign; it can be said that this was a turning point in her life.
According to her memories from her previous life, her father passed away in the winter of the twenty-first year of the Mingde era, which means that her father is still alive and well now.
In her previous life, she lived in a daze, mistaking bad people for benefactors and others' schemes for acts of kindness. Now that heaven has given her another chance to be reborn, she will naturally not be as easily bullied as before.
In this life, she will repay all the harm she suffered in her previous life to those who framed her. So the first people she needs to deal with right now are Li Guijun's family.
It is now the spring of the twentieth year of Mingde. Empress Mingde led civil and military officials to go hunting in Yunshan. Because the Crown Princess Ye Xiaowei was unwell, the eldest princess and the third princess accompanied her, while the Crown Princess stayed in the East Palace to recuperate.
Crown Princess Ye Xiaowei was not Emperor Mingde's eldest daughter. Emperor Mingde favored his Empress and Empress, not only granting them the imperial surname as an exception, but also bestowing upon Ye Xiaowei, his second daughter with the Empress and Empress, the title of Crown Princess of Fengyu Kingdom on the spot.
Emperor Mingde's favoritism towards the Empress naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the concubines in the harem, but they could only harbor their resentment in secret due to Emperor Mingde's status and position.
In her previous life, Ye Xiaowei stayed in the palace to recuperate, and as the Crown Princess, she naturally handled state affairs on behalf of Emperor Mingde when he was away from the palace.
However, all of this was just a pretext. On the surface, she was handling all these matters, but in reality, Li Guijun was the mastermind behind them.
As for her father, due to his weak health and his naturally indifferent and quiet nature, he never interfered in the affairs of the court.
Of course, in this vast harem, besides Consort Li, there was another man who was even more blatant and ambitious: the eldest princess's father, the Imperial Nobleman Cang Yuan of Fengyu Kingdom.
In her past life, she was so focused on guarding against Cang Yuan that she neglected the real big bad wolf beside her.
Li Guijun was an extremely deep and treacherous villain. In public, he was gentle and kind, appearing as a humble gentleman. He lived a frugal and simple life, spending his days in his palace eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures. His image was so good that even Emperor Mingde couldn't help but praise him.
Because of his ability to endure and act, and because Ye Xiaowei's biological father had always been in poor health, Emperor Mingde entrusted Ye Xiaowei to be raised in the palace of Consort Li from a young age.
This is also one of the reasons why Ye Xiaowei was not on guard against Li Guijun. Who would have thought that the person who had taken such good care of her since childhood and raised her would stab her in the back in the back in the end?
After sorting out her thoughts and finally accepting the fact that she had been reborn back to five years ago, Ye Xiaowei gradually calmed down.
But now she has no power or influence, she is just a half-grown child, and in the eyes of outsiders, it is an indisputable fact that Li Guijun has been cultivating her since childhood.
If she suddenly becomes assertive at this moment and speaks harshly to Consort Li, or even worse, she will surely be branded as unfilial, and her mother, the Empress, will feel disheartened by her lack of manners.
Five years ago, it was because of the schemes of Li Guijun and Ye Zirong that Emperor Mingde lost faith in her and eventually deposed her as Crown Princess.
Such humiliation and framing is enough once; she will never let it happen again in this lifetime.
"Master...Master...what's wrong?" Xia Yu's expression changed drastically, and she asked tremblingly. Was she seeing things?
The look that flashed in their master's eyes just now was sharp and cold, like a series of sharpened ice blades piercing into her body, making her shiver involuntarily.
Ye Xiaowei smiled gently, looked up at Xia Yu in front of her, and her eyes regained their usual gentle and tender expression.
"I am fine!"
What surfaced in her mind was the image of her past life, of that cold-faced man who held her tightly, preventing her from stopping Li Muyan from killing his child.
This girl had been by her side since childhood, and she regarded her as her friend and sister. But what about her? She had always been Li Changxi's spy and a lackey of her third sister's side.
If she and Chunlu hadn't colluded in her past life, she wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state. Both of these women deserve to die!
Chunlu walked in carrying a bowl of steaming hot medicine and gave Ye Xiaowei a perfunctory bow.
Xia Yu hurriedly took the medicine bowl, handed it to Ye Xiaowei, and said obsequiously:
"Master, the medicine is ready. Please drink it while it's hot!"
Ye Xiaowei accepted the medicine without showing any emotion, but inwardly she was filled with resentment. In her past life, it was because she drank this medicine that her health not only failed to improve, but actually deteriorated day by day.
I used to think it was because she inherited her father's poor health, but now it seems that it was actually these two wicked servants who conspired to poison her.
Her lowered eyes were filled with murderous intent, while the two maids standing to the side, who were gloating and treating her like an idiot, were unaware of what Ye Xiaowei was thinking at that moment.
Chunlu and Xiayu stared directly at their mistress without any attempt to hide their true feelings. In their hearts, Ye Xiaowei was no longer considered a mistress, but merely a weak, incompetent puppet who could be manipulated at will.
However, they were wrong. Ye Xiaowei saw and remembered all of their contemptuous looks and mocking smiles.
She is no longer the same person she once was. She returned here with a heart full of hatred. The person she used to be had already died when she jumped from the attic.
So, these two lackeys should flaunt their power while they can, otherwise they won't have the chance later.
Ye Xiaowei suddenly looked up, her eyebrows furrowed: "Hmm~ This medicine looks so dark, it must be very bitter. I'll wait and drink it later!"
She deliberately made a face as if she was afraid of hardship, and with her affectedly sweet and pretentious voice, in Chunlu and Xiayu's eyes, she was no different from the Ye Xiaowei of the past.
The two exchanged a glance, their smiles deepening. Xia Yu walked over, feigning concern, and said:
"Oh dear! My lord, this was specially ordered by Consort Li. The imperial physician also said that you are frail and have caught a cold; you can't do without medicine!"
Spring Dew chimed in from the side:
"Yes, yes, mistress, good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the illness. You should drink it as soon as possible, or it will get cold. If you don't drink it, you won't get better, and if Consort Li blames you, we servants can't bear the responsibility!"
The two pretended to care about her, but between the lines they kept bringing up Li Changxi. Did they think that she would be afraid if they brought up that scoundrel Li Changxi?
She is no longer the same person she was back then!
But now she is isolated and helpless, dragging her weak body, it is not advisable to fight them head-on, but that does not mean that she will really be as foolish as before, waiting to be framed and killed!
☆、003 Getting a good deal but still acting innocent
"I understand, I will drink it. But before that, please go and summon Luo Zijin and Yin Jinmo for me!"
Upon hearing this, Chunlu and Xiayu were taken aback!
Luo Zijin and Yin Jinmo were both Ye Xiaowei's male servants. The term "male servant" naturally refers to men who provide her with entertainment.
However, unlike those male concubines who had no status, Phoenix Feather Kingdom had a rule that before a princess or prince was married, all the men or women who served them could only exist as concubines.
Although Luo Zijin and Yin Jinmo were merely Ye Xiaowei's attendants, their status and identity were naturally different from ordinary people because they had been by Ye Xiaowei's side since childhood and were personally selected by Emperor Mingde.
In the Eastern Palace, all the servants below had long regarded these two young masters as their masters. In the future, as long as the Crown Princess Ye Xiaowei got married, even if they could not become the main emperor, they could become secondary emperors.
However, Ye Xiaowei used to dislike these two servants very much, so she had disliked them since childhood. Not to mention having them serve her, she wouldn't even let them get close to her in the inner courtyard.
Previously, Luo Zijin and Yin Jinmo were not to be mentioned casually in Ye Xiaowei's palace. Although Ye Xiaowei was gentle in the past, she would punish her servants without hesitation or leniency whenever they mentioned these two young masters!