No Disrespect.

Her cousin seemed displeased when the prince had stopped staring at her and had instead focused on her form.

A barely concealed the scowl that lay on her face showing how much she did not appreciate the lack of attention.

They all seemed to turn to her suddenly making her uncomfortable. The section had gone quiet as the prince and she had a stare off to see who would fold first.

She observed her shifting cousin and anxious aunt from the corner of her eye before smiling gently.

The prince was taken a back and looked away from her before clearing his throat weirdly.

"Your highness this is my niece Chen Li Ju." Her aunt introduced humbly to the uncomfortable man sitting opposite her. She knew she had to cooperate for them to reveal whatever they were keeping from her but from their behaviors it seemed she should at least have an idea of why he would come see her.

"Good evening your highness" she greeted with a slight bow of her head.

"No need for all the formality you can call me Brother Jingli" he offered a smile curling up his lips making his handsome face even more so.

He seemed more comfortable and relaxed after she had offered a sign of respect just as she had hoped he would.

"But you are the crown prince this humble servant would never attempt to disrespect his majesty" she declined with a horrified tone her eyes wide before trembling slightly.

She had always been good at playing pretend as it was crucial when leaving with older sisters who would put you in between their fights.

Taking sides was dangerous and she often had to act clueless or even scared forcing them to let her be.

"All right then if it bothers you that much" he conceded a satisfied look reflecting in his eyes.

Just like that she had put some distance between themselves in case he asked her to do something too compromising for her.

"As you probably known his majesty been declared to be ill recently" he continued shaking his head sadly and looking down at the ground.

"I am so sorry your highness it must be very tough for you" her 'cousin' swooped in with a sad tone as she turned to the prince showing how much she cared. The prince nodded a sad expression forming on his face and was only ruined by the glee in his eyes.

He probably didn't care and was just pretending to make people sympathize with him like her dumb cousin or smart if she had noticed but was just playing along.

"Thank you, it has been so hard watching him get weaker and weaker every day and nobody seems to care. They are only concerned about who is going to inherit the throne and scheming among each other.

I just wish they would care more about father." He complained while he himself was currently at the most powerful brothel in the empire instead of staying in the palace caring just as he expected from everyone else.

"I am so sorry but aren't you the crown prince and was already chosen to be the next emperor." She asked already trying to think of why he needed her. Previously all the women who had been married from the brothel had connections and were rich making them the perfect concubine or wife.

Some rich and powerful families even offered their daughters to the pavilion but she was not one of them and was just a parent less child from what she had noticed thus far.

The only family members she knew were her aunt and cousin and if he really wanted the power of the pavilion to rally behind him her cousin was the best choice.

"Yes and that is why I am here, I need your help." He admitted sooner than she had expected but didn't mind knowing how she would help in the battle for the crown.

"Me, but I am just a servant how could I help the crown prince" she exclaimed toning down the shock for it to seem more realistic.

Everyone stared at her with weird looks with her aunt having an annoyed glare shot at her before rolling her eyes.

It seemed like she really had a way to help him and just wanted one of them to just mention it.

The prince's calm expression had broken and an angry one replaced it after staring at her clueless face.

"Didn't you tell her?" he growled out turning to her aunt.

"I did, Lili stop pretending that you dont know about your mother." She chastised glaring at her.

She indeed did not know about her mother and was even more confused than before. I was not her fault that she had woken up in an entirely different body and had no memories whatsoever. The worst thing was that they all thought she was lying and would punish her for it. After contemplating about her situation for a while she smiled before letting out a fake laugh.

"Fine, what do you need my help with?" she asked dropping all pretenses and staring at the prince straight in the eye.

"Your brother is my biggest rival and has no weaknesses except for you." He started making her freeze in shock so not only did she have a mother but also a brother who was a prince.

Wouldn't that mean her mother and brother were members of royalty, but had still let her live in a brothel. She had not been the one living in this body previously but the man from yesterday had said this was her original body and that meant she was the one who had been left behind.

She was hurt but not enough to stop the prince from explaining everything about her brother and how she could help.

"All I want you to do is to go up to the palace and confess about your blood relations in front of the council making him illegible in the eyes of the people." He continued making her understand what he wanted her to do.

It was a smart idea but only a fool would follow through with it. A throne was not a small tiara that if someone won it would remain theirs forever.

He would win and get it but who was to say someone else wouldn't overthrow him later and that person would slaughter every supporter.

Especially the girl whose words had given him a better claim to the throne and what she did not need now were enemies.

"What would I get in return?" she asked despite already making the decision to reject him.

She knew why her aunt was doing it and it was to give her cousin a chance at becoming the empress. There could not be two empress not that she had wanted to in the first place but it was the biggest reward he could offer.

So what else had he planned to reward her with she wondered and hence asked the question.

"The crown's support and I will also ensure to match you with someone from one of the best families." He offered proudly making her smile they all smiled thinking she had agreed.

She did not know how this world worked but she could guess how women were degraded from his offer. She had never seen anyone as shameless as they were when they laughed happily.

"No disrespect but you are the dumbest person I have ever met" she suddenly stated a smile still plastered on her face as they all stared at her in shock.

The prince's face was slowly turning red as her cousin smugly stared at her probably happy she had messed up. What she did not know was that her cousin was not from this place and did not care about royalty.

She also didn't know that the imperial tutor's son who everyone feared and respected had been beaten up the day before by the woman they were trying to intimidate.

"First of all I would never give up myself just so a guy I don't even know can become an emperor."

"Secondly I don't have a mother because as you can see I grew up in a brothel so why would I lie to your council.

"Thirdly I don't want to get married if this how you men behave." She continued shattering all their stupid hopes.

Her aunt looked as if all the life had been drained from her body while the prince's eyes seemed to twitch uncontrollably.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked menacingly glaring at her care free expression.

"Just as I was when I retaliated against him" she retorted pointing to the embarrassed man sitting a few tables away from them.

At first she had not recognized him but did after stealing a few glances and wondered why he had not retaliated with his title and all.

He had lied that they had been attacked by assassins and had bribed the witnesses not to tell anyone.

Who knew his assailant would confess to her crimes in front of all this people shattering his image.

He could not imagine what his father would do after hearing that his son had been beaten up by a brothel servant.

"What are you talking about?" her aunt exclaimed in shock not believing that her usually quiet and nonchalant niece would do something of the sort.

She had expected the rejection since she had not cared for her mother or brother when she had told her about them some years ago.

Beating someone up was shocking due to her usually calm and indifferent demeanor even after being disrespected.

"Ask him" she retaliated before walking away from the still shocked group.

It was late and she wanted to sleep earlier in order to get more time with man from yesterday as she had many questions.

She still wondered if she would have to run there like previously and she hoped that was not the case as it had been time consuming.

She ignored the frenzied shouts from her aunt's personal servant before walking out the building.

The courtyard was beautifully lit and was filled with people as hostesses walked around the little garden with their clients.

She meandered her way through and walked away not bothered with the silence in all the other parts of the compound.

All she could think about was the dream and would deal with all other issues the next day.

Her room was dark and cold as she walked in and immediately lit up the candles before approaching the dresser. She had moved the mirror next to it and used it as she removed her hair pins causing her raven black hair to cascade down her back.

In this world her hair was longer and lusher than before falling all the way below her waist and had loose almost unnoticeable waves.

She then took off her hanfu remaining with her white inner clothes before taking off her earrings.

She then picked up her bathing necessities before walking to the secret passageway in her room that led to the female bathing quarters.

It was only a small room that contained a pool shared among the women who shared a courtyard with her.

She was done after a while and walked back to her room where she got ready for bed before blowing out all the candles and getting on the bed.

Her raven black hair fan out around her as she lay in bed marble in hand waiting for sleep to overtake her like before while thinking of the castle.

She did not have to wait for long and shut her eyes as soon as the falling sensation engulfed her.She kept her eyes closed and only opened them after the sensation was gone and she was standing firmly.

She was happy when she realized she was at the castle doors and did not have to run all the way. This time around the previously dark sky was dimly lit with a full moon giving the garden an ethereal look. He garden was empty with no gardeners in sight she looked around before pushing the doors open. This time she would not waste time as she was scared of running out of time and rushed down the familiar way to the library. She smoothly pushed the doors open before walking to the corner they had used before. The table was as messy as yesterday was even worse as more books had been added to the already messy cluster.

The man was impeccably dressed in pin stripped suit with perfectly sharp ironed edges that looked as if they could cut some one. She smiled before approaching and taking a seat opposite him as he remained focused in the book he had been reading. She quietly sat down drumming her finger subconsciously as she waited for him to finish with whatever he was focused on. The room was quiet and she couldn't help it as she studied his slightly wrinkled face wondering why he was here and where this was. He seemed to sense the stare and looked up at her with surprise a smile lighting up his face before he shut the book resolutely.