2 Ling Yue's Life

I laid staring at the ceiling, my head still throbbing. I had finally managed to shoo everyone away after the fiasco, especially my two maidservants, Qiu Ci (the one with 2 twists on top of her head) and Qiu Le (the one with 2 rice dumplings at the back of her head). Not entirely away, since they still were guarding the room, but better than them sitting beside me all night. To say I was in shock would be an understatement.

According to them, I was Noble Concubine Ling Yue, and she had just married into the palace 2 months ago. This was Yuan An country, a prosperous country that... spoke Chinese? The young Emperor ascended the throne 5 years ago, after a bloody battle that killed all the other princes, save for one. His sisters were mostly spared. He had about 10 other concubines, and 2 others with the Noble title. The rest were simply concubines. He had no Empress.

He was famously cold and capable, and showed 0 favour or interest in women or any of his concubines, never consummating a marriage with any of them. The Noble titles were simply conferred based on maternal clan importance. Due to this, the harem was surprisingly amicable. No one could gain any favour or step over the others, and the over eager and scheming ones had already been kicked out or executed due to "misbehaviour" or scheming against him by using aphrodisiac.

Noble Concubine Ling Yue had been taking a stroll in the gardens and slipped, falling into the pond. After investigation, it was a complete accident. Whatever happened to her, I didn't know, but I suspect I drowned or swapped bodies with her. Instead of waking up in my own body, if I was ever fished out of the ocean, I woke up in the previous Ling Yue's body with no inkling of how I got here. As the hours passed, the previous Ling Yue's memories came into my head, but I was too confused to really sort through them. Everyone just concluded Ling I had hit her head and had a temporary memory loss.

It was currently night.

I peered around the room.

After having quietly tip toed around the room (so as not to alert Qiu Ci and Qiu Le, the dowry maidservants outside the door), and reflected a bit, I had gained a better understanding of my current position here. Ling Yue – well, I was also named Ling Yue, but Yuan An's Ling Yue was from a powerful military clan – obviously, that's how she got her title.

She's 18 years old and wasn't particularly favoured in the household. For the sake of simplicity, I conjured up my knowledge of Chinese civilisation for 3000 years (which wasn't a lot) and wuxia novels to try to understand this time and place... males were more favoured. She had 4 brothers, and 2 sisters, all of whom were more talented than her in martial arts and military affairs. While she wasn't a slacker nor a troublemaker, she was very mediocre. She also practiced some literary arts though not to the level of most noble households, as this was a military clan.

If I had to list the previous owner's most outstanding features, it would be this appearance. I appraised myself in the mirror, in the light of the moonlight. A slim, well proportioned body, long legs. Big eyes, double eyelids, a tall, narrow nose and an egg shaped face. Flat eyebrows, fair porcelain skin and long, jet black hair. She was reportedly one of the most famous beauties in the capital, though being a beauty was apparently a fat lot of use since the Emperor ignored all beauties alike.

As for personality, it was also mediocre. She wasn't dull, but nothing particularly shocking. Her biggest achievement was following her elder brother to the battlefield for 2 years – that's why her marriage was delayed for so long. I tested out a few kicks and realised this body indeed had more muscle and agility than I was used to.