Chapter 2: Rebirth

Jie jie – sister, can be used on any female who is slightly older than you

Nu bi – another way of saying 'I', used by female servants. It's like saying 'this servant...'

Ai jia – another way of saying 'I', used by a widowed empress

Zhang zui – slapping/boxing someone's face

'Er – used affectionately by adding it to the end of someone's name

When Yun Meng managed to open her eyes, the first thing she saw was a sea of red. Not to mention the action made her head hurt even more than it already did. Through her hazy eyesight, she realized she was lying in an ancient looking room. A faint hint of blood mixed with incense floated around.

The last thing Yun Meng remembered before waking up was that she was completing a mission and was searching for a drug trafficker with her comrades from the police force...so why was she lying here?

Her injured head throbbed over and over again and suddenly, an endless stream of images began to rapidly flash through her mind.

The original owner of this body was called Yun Qian Meng and she was the Di Nv of Xi Chu Kindom's Right Prime Minister, Yun Xuan Zhi. Her birth mother had passed away from an illness when she only a month old and now one of her father's concubines, Su Qin, looked after You Xiang Fu. After the death of her mother, Yun Qian Meng was constantly bullied by the concubines and her sisters because of her introverted and timid personality.

Fortunately enough, the Dowager Empress was her aunt and it was her who betrothed the infant Yun Qian Meng to Chen Wang. Unfortunately, she did not realize that Chen Wang was unsatisfied with the arrangement...thus leading to today's events.

The clips in her mind stopped flashing right after Yun Qian Meng threw herself at the pillar. The memory of the pain increased her headache and she couldn't help but let out a tiny sigh.

"Ah!!!"

A frightened scream followed Yun Qian Meng's awakening followed by the sound of someone falling over.

"What is it? What happened?" Another voice asked angrily.

"Qiu Lian Jie Jie...young mistress isn't...she isn't...dead..." the frightened girl quickly bowed towards the maid who entered the room, softly speaking into her ear. When she reached the word 'dead', her voice became even softer.

Qiu Lian's eyes widened, "what?" she asked with disbelief, staring at the girl lying on the bed. Yun Qian Meng, however, didn't move a single inch, causing the suspicion in Qiu Lian's eyes to deepen.

"Jie Jie, I'm telling the truth! Nu bi would never tell a lie!" the small maidservant gathered the courage to walk towards the bed, pointing at the sleeping girl.

A complex expression flashed across Qiu Lian's eyes and she quickly hurried over to the bed. She looked sharply at the little maid beside her before directing her stare at Yun Qian Meng who had only closed her eyes to recuperate. Slowly and uncertainly, she raised a hand in front of the girl's nose.

Yun Qian Meng's steady breathing caused the Qiu Lian to feel nervous. She repeatedly asked herself the same question over and over again, how could a dead person be alive? Not to mention she had just reported the confirmed death of miss to the Dowager Empress, what was she going to do now that she was well and truly alive?

Qiu Lian's eyes rested on the sleeping Yun Qian Meng and she slowly reached forward to grab the quilt, gently and carefully bringing it over Yun Qian Meng's head.

Yun Qian Meng, who was only pretending to sleep, curled her hands into fists when she sensed the danger. Just as the quilt was about to cover her nose, she opened her eyes and used her hand to block Qiu Lian's motions.

"Young...young miss..." Qiu Lian called out guiltily, unable to recover from Yun Qian Meng's sudden revival.

Yun Meng calmly took in Qiu Lian's guilty expression and quickly searched her mind for any information of this girl.

Qiu Lian was given to her by Su Qing. After she came to serve her though, three of the four maidservants her mother left her had incidents. Some passed away and some left. Even though Qiu Lian treated her with disrespect and took control of her monthly allowance Yun Qian Meng didn't say anything because she was afraid of Su Qin.

But from Qiu Lian's threatening aura, Yun Meng could deduce that this girl had just tried to kill her, otherwise she wouldn't cover a breathing person's head with the quilt, nor would she show such an expression when Yun Meng woke up.

Yun Meng withdrew her sharp aura and sat up with the help from the little maidservant, "how long have I been unconscious for?"

The Qiu Lian right now had already covered up her guilty expression but she couldn't help but think back to the cold look Yun Qian Meng gave her when she just woke up causing her to wonder if she had discovered her intentions.

"Young miss lost a lot of blood; you have been unconscious for an hour! We can only be thankful that Madam has been protecting miss from the heavens," at that moment, some of the Dowager Empress' maids walked in. Qiu Lian quickly covered Yun Qian Meng with the quilt before replying with choked sobs.

Yun Meng couldn't help but laugh coldly when she saw Qiu Lian's expression change within such a short amount of time.Nonetheless, she maintained her weak appearance and lifted a single hand up to point at the round table in the front room, "Qiu Lian, go pour me a cup of water. I am thirsty."

Then exhausted, she closed her eyes and began to recuperate from her injury again.

Seeing the palace maids run out of the room to report the current situation to the Dowager Empress, Qiu Lian could no longer continue her attempts to kill Yun Qian Meng and could only listen to her orders and pour her a cup of water. When she returned to the bed, she discovered the miss had fallen back to sleep again. Since a lot of the palace maids had begun to look their way, Qiu Lian could only stand next to the bed and wait for Yun Qian Meng to wake up.

After half an hour, Qiu Lian felt her hands go numb and her feet throb with pain. Her originally calm eyes were now clouded with anger.

Yun Meng waited for the dizziness to subside before opening her eyes, only to get a good look at Qiu Lian's impatient expression. The corner of her lips couldn't help but lift to form and incredibly faint smile.

Raising her jade-like hand, she said, "you must be tired, you can give it to me now."

Qiu Lian was incredibly desperate to pass the cup since it felt as if it weighed a ton. So with a face full of fury, she handed over the cup and stuffed it into Yun Qian Meng's hands without looking.

"Pa!"

Yun Qian Meng's hands didn't have any strength left and Qiu Lian let go of the cup early leaving the lukewarm water to splash all over Yun Qian Meng's hands and the exquisite tea set to shatter into pieces on the ground.

"How dare you!"

A threatening voice came in through the door. The servants, recognizing the voice, all knelt respectfully except for Qiu Lian who still hadn't come back to her senses and remained immobile.

"Dowager Empress..."

Yun Qian Meng made a move to get onto the ground and greet the Dowager Empress like everyone else but was stopped by her weak body. It didn't take long for her to give up and lean against the pillar of the bed, looking apologetically at the Dowager Empress.

"This child, how could you be so narrow-minded? Shui'Er, Bing'Er, hurry and help your mistress lie down!" The Dowager Empress personally helped Yun Qian Meng up before turning her attention to the kneeling Qiu Lian in the corner.

"You are Qiu Lan?" even though it was a question, the Dowager Empress's tone was definite.

"Yes," from the corner of her eye, Qiu Lian recognized the edge of the robe belonging to the person standing behind the Dowager Empress. Her reply instantly became more confident and she even raised her head without the Dowager Empress' permission.

The Dowager Empress seemed resolved to teach Qiu Lian a lesson and called out, "Somebody, zhang zui! She dares to not refer to herself as nu bi when ai jia questions her!"

Before Qiu Lian could react, the Dowager Empress' elder maids had walked forth and began to carry out the Empress' orders.

"Please do not be angry Dowager Empress, nu bi was wrong! Please save me!"

After being slapped, Qiu Lian suddenly felt afraid. She realized the man wasn't going to say anything to help her so she could only lower her pride and bow her head towards the Dowager Empress over and over again.

But Qiu Lian's cries for forgiveness only lit up the Dowager Empress' suppressed anger and she called forth the imperial bodyguards with a wave of her hand.

"Hmph, you dare beg for forgiveness? You even act so boldly in front of ai jia, who knows how you treat Meng'Er! If ai jia did not hurry, the tea set would have fallen on Meng'Er no? You must have eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall to be so fearless. Somebody, come drag this woman out and lock her up. Ai jia will settle the debts afterwards!"

When the room had finally quieted down, the Dowager Empress turned to look at the middle aged man standing behind her.

Her tone was threatening, "Prime Minister Yun will not resent ai jia for giving your maidservant a lesson?"

Yun Xuan Zhi bowed before the Dowager Empress, "the Dowager Empress may dispose of her however she wishes to!" he dare not offend the Dowager Empress for a simple maid.

"Dowager Empress!" a weak call suddenly diverted the Dowager Empress' attention. Yun Qian Meng had allowed Shui'Er and Bing'Er to help her up so she could bow down deeply before the Dowager Empress.

The coldness in the Dowager Empress' eyes vanished in an instant and was replaced with heartache for Yun Qian Meng.

"What are you doing? Hurry and lie down! If you have anything to say you must wait until your injuries have healed!" The Dowager Empress personally raised her handkerchief and gently wiped off the blood from Yun Qian Meng's right eye.

"The Dowager Empress cares for Meng'Er and this is Meng'Er's fortune! However, Meng'Er has something she would like to ask of the Dowager Empress and wishes for the Dowager Empress to agree."

Yun Qian Meng knelt down and refused to move no matter how hard Shui'Er and Bing'E tried to help her back up.

Seeing how stubborn Yun Qian Meng was, Yun Xuan Zhi couldn't help but frown.

"Whatever next? What you did before already lost face for the Yun family and now you dare threaten the Dowager Empress? You..."

However, Yun Qian Meng did not wait for Yun Xuan Zhi to finish and opened her mouth first.

"Meng'Er would like to go to the grand hall."