Chapter 001
Chapter 1: She Can Actually Hear the Little Milk Bun’s Inner Voice
Who would have thought that Yun Wan Ning, once the proud heiress of the Medicine King, would perish from testing medicine? Fortunately, the life she took was her own.
It began after a night of reading. She had stayed up too long chasing the pages of a novel. Come morning, still dazed and half-asleep, she fumbled for the wrong medicine, and with one mistaken dose, her life ended.
When she arrived in the Netherworld, King Yama stroked his beard and regarded her with mild curiosity. Clicking his tongue, he said: “In all my years, I’ve seen people test medicine on others. But testing it on oneself, and dying from reading a novel, no less. Very well. Since you love it so dearly, I shall grant your wish.”
Before she could react, his great hand waved once, and Yun Wan Ning’s soul was drawn into a whirlpool of shadows and swallowed by darkness.
When she opened her eyes again, she had entered the world of her beloved story, Long Live the Empress, and taken the place of a cannon fodder child from the ill-fated Duke Ning’s household.
Great Wu Kingdom. Duke Ning’s Manor.
A maid cried out as she half knelt at the bed: “Congratulations, Madam, a daughter. His Grace has another daughter.”
Madam Yun lifted her lashes and said softly: “Bring her to me.”
At that call, Yun Wan Ning was gently lifted and nestled into a warm, fragrant embrace. A pale face entered her view, beautiful even in weariness. The woman’s hair was slightly disheveled, her brow beaded with sweat from labor, yet even so, her beauty was striking. At just a glance, Yun Wan Ning’s eyes sparkled with wonder.
Though she had already floated in this world for several days and knew her mother was famed for beauty, seeing her up close still stole her breath.
[Wow, even seen from below like this, she’s stunning. As expected of one of the empire’s legendary beauties. If only I could inherit her looks completely.]
“……”
Madam Yun’s body stiffened. Had the exhaustion from childbirth finally pushed her into hallucinations? Where had that soft little voice come from?
[Sigh, even if I looked just like her, what’s the use? I forgot, I’ve become a cannon fodder child doomed to die by a thousand arrows at age seven, along with that number one villain’s Seventh Uncle, Yun Zhan. I won’t even make it to adulthood.]
The villain’s Seventh Uncle, Yun Zhan? Cannon fodder? A thousand arrows?
A sharp pain pierced Madam Yun’s heart. She looked down, stunned, at the milk-scented baby in her arms. Those dark, glistening eyes held far too much cleverness for a newborn.
So those voices were her daughter’s inner thoughts.
She could actually hear the little milk bun’s inner voice.
Yun Zhan was her brother-in-law, Old Seventh, raised by her since youth. Now, waves of memory and dread crashed through Madam Yun’s chest, choking her breath. She pressed a tender kiss to her daughter’s soft, damp cheek and whispered: “My darling girl, Mother will protect you. Even if I must trade my life to do it, I won’t let any harm come to you.”
[Wuwu, Mother loves me so much. She’s so gentle. But even this beautiful, kind mother can’t escape her tragic end in this cannon fodder clan.]
[She took in Yang Xin’er out of kindness, her widowed cousin, cast out from her husband’s family with her child. But that woman secretly covets my father and dreams of replacing Mother as the Duke’s wife.]
[Today is the day she will steal Mother’s bellyband, the one embroidered with her name, and sneak out while Father is drunk to plant it on Lin Wei’an. Then she will spread vile rumors that Mother had an affair, that I am not truly the Duke’s daughter.]
[That bellyband will soon reach Madam Lin’s hands. Enraged, Madam Lin will storm to our manor and throw it at our gates, slandering Mother in front of everyone. Her reputation will be in ruins. And to protect Father and the last shred of dignity for the General’s Manor, she will take her own life.]
[What do I do? How do I warn Mother? This is driving me mad. Why can’t I speak?]
Yun Wan Ning tried desperately to form words, but all that came from her lips was soft, meaningless cooing. She was utterly powerless. She remembered everything from the novel. She wanted to rewrite her fate, to survive. But now, trapped in this tiny body, she could not even speak a warning. She wanted to cry, but her tiny eyes held no tears.
She did not know that Madam Yun was already trembling violently, arms tightening around her, as she absorbed every sorrowful thought.
Lin Wei’an had once been her childhood sweetheart. And Yang Xin’er was her cousin, taken in out of sympathy, because she had nowhere else to go after giving birth to a daughter and losing her husband. Out of all the people in the world, Madam Yun had shown her compassion.
And this was how she repaid it.
Madam Yun steadied her breath and called in a cool voice: “Little Tao, Miss is hungry. Bring her to the wet nurse.”
She collected herself after a moment, her expression calm as still water. Yun Wan Ning was carried away, but she continued screaming in her heart:
[Nooo, I don’t want milk. This is too humiliating.]
[Wait, that wretched woman is about to strike. Mother, don’t be fooled. How do I save you? Why won’t my mouth work?]
Madam Yun smiled faintly as she listened, her gaze filled with warmth and determination. Don’t worry, darling. Mother already knows someone wishes her harm. I will not let things unfold as they once did. This time, I will live long and protect you well.
Her eyes then darkened. She said to a maid: “Someone, go call Nanny Wang.”
She did not know how her daughter knew the future, but this was no small matter. Every danger must be extinguished at its root.
Shortly after she gave her instructions, a maidservant rushed in, flustered, and reported: “Madam, the Fourth Young Miss refuses to nurse. The wet nurse is nearly in tears.”
Thinking of her daughter’s stubborn inner voice earlier, Madam Yun sighed and waved her hand: “Bring her back. I will feed her myself.”
Yun Wan Ning was returned to her mother’s arms. Madam Yun expressed milk into a clean porcelain bowl, then had a servant feed it to her slowly with a small spoon, gently coaxing her all the while: “Be good, darling. You are still little. Babies need to drink milk.”
Yun Wan Ning’s stomach was rumbling, and seeing the spoon, she begrudgingly accepted her fate.
[Mother is coaxing me. Fine, I will give her some face and drink it.]
She is giving me face now?
Madam Yun could not help the laugh that escaped her lips. Her heart softened into warm honey.
[I’m so sleepy. I need to sleep now.]
Newborns tire easily. After only a few spoonfuls, Yun Wan Ning’s eyelids drooped, and before long, she had fallen asleep, tiny mouth still bubbling with milk.
Smiling, Madam Yun wiped the milk from her daughter’s lips with the corner of her sleeve.
A soft and sweet voice echoed from the doorway as silk rustled: “Elder cousin, I heard you gave birth today. I came to visit.”
Yang Xin’er entered and walked with measured elegance. She sat daintily beside the bed, her words gentle, her eyes glimmering with pretend warmth. Madam Yun reclined, still pale from labor, and watched her closely.
Yang Xin’er wore a rose-colored robe and bold rouge on her cheeks. Though she lived under another’s roof, she still dressed flashier than the hostess herself. Madam Yun smiled faintly and spoke in a low voice: “Thank you, Cousin. I am still quite weak. I plan to rest soon, so you should return and get some sleep too.”
She closed her eyes and feigned sleep. Yang Xin’er called softly as she leaned closer and gently shook her arm: “Elder cousin, elder cousin.”
When no answer came, she smirked, rose without a sound, and crept to the wardrobe. She opened it and let her gaze skim the shelves until it landed on the embroidered bellyband. With swift, silent fingers, she took it into her sleeve.
The trap had begun. But this time, the prey was wide awake.