Three years ago, she accidentally transmigrated into a novel she had once read.
The female lead was Su Qing, the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister. As her mother had passed away early, she had been bullied since she was young. When she was five years old, she was pushed into the lotus pond by her step-sister. When she woke up, she was already the genius female doctor of the twenty-first century, Su Qing.
The male protagonist was the current Crown Prince, Feng Qiyu. The two of them worked together to create a prosperous empire. It was a typical Mary Sue story where there was an outstanding female protagonist. As a Mary Sue story from ancient times, there was naturally an infatuated second male lead.
The second male lead was actually not inferior to the male lead in any way, but the female lead was blind and took all of his silent contributions for granted. In the end, she even pretentiously said that she only treated him as a friend right from the start.
The second male lead was the current prince, Feng Lisheng. The original protagonist, Shen Mingyan, was just a supporting actress used as a pawn in this book.
In the original story, Shen Mingyan was infatuated with the prince Feng Lisheng. As a result, she had done many foolish things.
In order to attract the attention of the Prince at the palace banquet this time, Shen Mingyan sent someone to inquire about the style of clothing Su Qing would wear to the palace banquet in advance and asked the embroiderer to make one of similar style.
But at the palace banquet, Shen Mingyan and Su Qing fell into the water at the same time. The Crown Prince and the Prince who were closest to the two of them, jumped into the water at the same time to save them. The crown the Princeccessfully saved Su Qing, and the two of them were betrothed. Meanwhile, the prince grabbed Shen Mingyan, who was wearing similar clothing.
In the end, under Shen Mingyan's threat of death, the Prince had no choice but to marry Shen Mingyan as his secondary consort.
In the story, the prince only had Su Qing in his heart and he only thought of Shen Mingyan as a decoration. In order to attract the attention of the Prince, Shen Mingyan had resorted to all sorts of tactics after she entered the residence. In the end, as she framed the female protagonist for having an affair with a rich playboy, she was sent to the military camp by the female protagonist to be a prostitute.
Shen Mingyan's back broke out in cold sweat when she thought about how the original protagonist Shen Mingyan in the book was tortured to death in less than three months. She swore to stay far away from the female lead and the second male lead.
As for the reason that she went to look for Pei Ji, it was because Pei Ji was the only good man in the book who could stay loyal in his relationship for his entire life other than the male and female leads.
There were not many descriptions of him in the book. The reason for Shen Mingyan's deep impression of him was that he was described as a noble Young Master.
In the book, Pei Ji was described to be smart and studious from a young age. When he was young, his family fell into straitened circumstances and he rehabilitated at home. He became the top scorer in the intermediate exam before he reached the age of a young man. Then, he married a girl whom he had been engaged with since he was young. His wife, Shen Mingjiao, was beautiful and open-minded, and the two of them had a good relationship. After being married for years, Shen Mingjiao did not conceive, but there were no other wives or concubines in the residence.
Hence, in the name of craving for fun, she disguised herself as a man and sneaked into the academy where Pei Ji was.
She retracted her thoughts and looked at Shen Mingjiao's gorgeous face across from her.
Shen Mingyan lowered her eyes. Don't blame her for being ruthless, after all, people are selfish. She was a modern person who had come to this ancient era for no reason. How could she marry a boring and ordinary man who had three wives and four concubines?!
…
Half an hour later, the carriage arrived at the entrance of the palace.
The few of them followed the little yellow door to the imperial garden where the banquet was held.
Shen Mingyan and the other two went to look for their close friends whom they usually hung out with, leaving Shen Mingjiao alone.
However, Shen Mingjiao did not care. She went to the area where the noble ladies were.
Due to her appearance, she attracted the attention of many people along the way. However, after knowing that she was just an orphan whose parents had passed away early, they turned their heads and gave up on wanting to know her.
Shen Mingjiao chose a corner and sat down. She looked at the young faces around her with interest. Every time she looked at someone, she subconsciously recalled the circumstances faced by each person in their next ten years.
Shen Mingjiao held her chin lazily. Tsk! Why don't I just set up a stall and offer fortune-telling? In time, my reputation will definitely be better than Master Liaotong from Baolin Monastery. Perhaps my name will go down in history.
She saw her good friend from her previous life, Mrs. Cui. Oh. No. She should now be called Cui Lingling.
She walked towards her and heard a crisp and familiar female voice from afar.
"It's been so long. Why hasn't the Empress come yet? Sister Yao, why don't we go hang around the rockery in front?"
The quiet and beautiful woman beside her shook her head hesitantly.
"That's not good! This is the palace. If we bump into any Noble Lady…"
Cui Lingling pouted. "Alright then!"
A stern-looking noblewoman at the side glanced at her unhappily, unable to hide the disappointment in her eyes.
However, Cui Lingling did not notice her at all. She played with the thumb-thick golden bracelet on her hand with her nimble fingers. When they collided, they would make crisp sounds from time to time.
She seemed to like gold jewelry very much. The ones on her head, neck, and hands were all shiny pure gold jewelry. Coupled with an apricot-yellow dress with golden threads, she looked like she was glowing when compared to the beautiful woman with a plain wooden hairpin beside her. The noblewoman's expression was ugly as she reprimanded in a low voice.
"Watch your manners! What did the Etiquette Nanny teach you before you came? Also, our Tong family is a scholarly family. Look at what you're wearing. Can't you learn from your sister?"
Cui Lingling felt a little aggrieved. She shook the bracelet on her hand. "But Mother, don't you think that the gold is so bright and beautiful? Besides…"
The beautiful woman beside her interrupted her gently, "Mother, she is still young. Moreover, she has been in the countryside since she was young and she is illiterate. As she had just returned home all of a sudden, she thinks more highly about these seemingly valuable gold jewelry. Our family doesn't lack any of these, so if she likes them, just let her wear them."
After saying that, she patted the back of her hand comfortingly.
Cui Lingling vaguely felt that there was something wrong with these words. Moreover, these gold jewelry were clearly specially given to her by her sister before she left.
Sigh! Forget it. This set of gold jewelry is worth a lot of money. What bad intentions could such a generous sister have?
The noblewoman's expression softened when she heard this, but she was even more disappointed in Cui Lingling.
Shen Mingjiao raised her eyebrows. Thinking about it carefully, Cui Lingling seemed to have just been found by the Tong family, but… she seemed a little silly and sweet now!
She sat down opposite them and said enviously, "Miss Tong, you look really good in this outfit."
Tong Yuyao didn't know what she meant, so she followed her attitude and answered, "It's alright. I can't compare to the beauty you are born with."
Shen Mingjiao quickly waved her hand. "I can't compare to you. The ebony hairpin on your head was personally carved by Shattered Jade Fragrance's master. Each one costs at least three to four hundred taels, and the pair of teardrop earrings on your ears are of a rare glass species. They're worth at least forty to fifty taels. Not to mention, the Jiangnan Smoke Sand Satin of yours that looks ordinary, but is actually worth more than gold."
She clicked her tongue. "Everything on you probably adds up to be worth over thousands of taels!"
Ignoring Tong Yuyao's increasingly ugly expression, she continued with a curious expression, "I heard that Cabinet Elder Tong's family just found their real daughter and brought her back a few days ago. I guess that would be you, Miss."
"After all—"
She glanced at Cui Lingling's golden outfit. "Apart from the bracelet on your hand, the rest of your gold is of the lowest grade, with 70% purity. In total, it doesn't exceed 100 taels."
Tong Yuyao's face flushed red. She couldn't help but look at Mrs. Tong, only to see Mrs. Tong looking back at her thoughtfully.
Tong Yuyao's face turned pale as she lowered her head timidly. "How have I offended you, Miss?"
Shen Mingjiao answered, "No, you didn't."
"It's just that…" She stood up and raised her red lips arrogantly. "I don't like you!"
Cui Lingling, on the other hand, was stunned by Shen Mingjiao's face when she spoke. She did not pay attention to the conversation just now.
The woman's beautiful peach blossom eyes looked over and she immediately curved her beautiful red lips into a charming smile. In an instant, it was soul-stirring.
Cui Lingling blushed unconsciously and muttered,
"W-Where did this beautiful demon come from?!"
Shen Ming smiled even more seductively. Then, she hooked her fingers at her and said in a soft voice,
"Little girl, come to me!"
Her fingers that were dyed with cardamom were white and dazzling. Along with her movements and her face, she looked like a bewitching demon, but she also had an indescribable valiance.
Hence, Cui Lingling ignored Tong Yuyao's ugly expression and stood up to walk over.
The two of them found seats and sat down.
As she got closer, she felt that the other party's face was even more dazzling.
So, she took out some snacks from her purse and handed them to Shen Mingjiao with a red face. "Beautiful Demon Sister, have some snacks."
Shen Mingjiao took the snacks in a familiar series of actions. She was not surprised to hear this strange nickname. However, when she looked at the other party's childish face, her hands itched to tease her.
Shen Mingjiao turned around and tugged at Cui Lingling's chin lightly and teasingly.
"I'm so beautiful, how could I be a demon? Be good! Call me Fairy Sister!"