Su Jing Fei awoke to a throbbing pain in her head and winced as she moved to sit upright. The ground was cold where she lay. Her mind was hazy, and her vision blurred from the noise of chatter and a constant ringing in her ears. The last thing she remembered was a shaking of the earth, then the lights of her room went out and everything had been engulfed in darkness. She was sure it had been an earthquake, but… as she glanced around, shock and fear struck her heart. She was no longer in her room back in the present, but she seemed to be sitting in the ground of a courtyard bearing an ancient style. The look was similar to the inn she worked at, but this one gave off an even more authentic feel to it! Not to mention, the people surrounding her wore robes and dresses of the ancient style as if she had just suddenly landed in the past! For a moment, she thought she had maybe just dozed off and awoken at work, but this place was too unfamiliar. However, someone seemed to know who she was as they shouted her name.

“Su Jing Fei! You vile woman!” An angry voice shouted, catching her attention. It was an exceptionally handsome young man who looked to be fairly young. His handsome face was twisted in anger and through clenched teeth, he shouted more at her. “Know your place! It’s not enough that you have to brag everyday about our engagement, but to attack and injure an innocent girl is too much! I won’t stand for your evil ways any longer!”

The people on the side clamored in agreement, shouting “You should have just died!” “Shameless!” “Bully!” “Serves you right!” Their shouts seemed to grow louder, and Su Jing Fei winced from the growing headache and pain radiating from her head. She reached up and carefully touched the back of her skull to find blood wetting her hair and clumping it together. She was dumbfounded at the situation she found herself in. She didn’t know where she was, who she was, but even just looking at the pale white hands before her, she knew she wasn’t in her same body. Could this be the rumored transmigration she’d heard about?

“Da xiaojie¹eldest miss/daughter, please be careful,” cried a small girl at her side. The girl looked to be around 14 or 15. “Your head is bleeding!” The young girl kneeled beside Su Jing Fei and rested a small trembling hand on Su Jing Fei to help her sit upright.

“What’s going on here?” Shouted a booming female voice. An older woman broke through the crowd and glared at the people at the center. When her eyes landed on the angry man, there was only a brief flicker of surprise before she automatically kneeled in greeting. “Greetings, your Highness, third prince Chen Hui Zhe. My name is Fu Bao Zhai, and I am the manager for Oak Tree Courtyard. I apologize that we have to meet under such circumstances, but may I inquire what is happening here to cause a ruckus in our Oak Tree Courtyard?” Although the Oak Tree Courtyard was usually a place of scholarly discussions and occasional entertainment, this particular place also allowed for men and women to mingle casually. Men would naturally seek to impress young women by outdoing each other, and young women would sometimes argue and fight for the attention of the young men. Fortunately, Fu Bao Zhai was used to such disruptions, and she even had the backing of the Emperor to discipline as needed. Although, this was the first time a prince had caused such a scene in her Oak Tree Courtyard.

“You may rise,” spoke third prince Chen Hui Zhe in a restrained voice, as though he couldn’t contain his anger at the next words. “The peace of this courtyard has been ruined by this vile woman Su Jing Fei!” His finger rudely pointed in her direction.

Su Jing Fei looked up to face him and finally noticed that there was a small girl in his embrace. She looked young and had an innocent and pitiful appearance, trembling in the young man's arms. However, Su Jing Fei definitely caught a look of satisfaction and pleasure on the girl’s face as Chen Hui Zhe continued to berate her. This girl definitely wasn’t as innocent or pitiful as she appeared to be.

“She attacked an innocent girl, harming her. Using her status as my betrothed, she bullied and attacked this girl, and she has no conscience to even apologize!” Chen Hui Zhe placed full blame on her, but Su Jing Fei saw that the other girl was unharmed at all. It was she who was injured. However, after a moment, memories seemed to flow freely into Su Jing Fei’s mind. She remembered the original body’s owner seeking out the young girl, indeed berating her with words and bullying her. When the original body’s owner was just about to douse the young girl with a hot cup of tea, the young girl had screamed loudly and the prince had appeared from nowhere to save her. In his anger, he had thrown the cup of tea at Su Jing Fei which hit her on her head as she could not dodge it. This scene… looked oddly familiar. Felt familiar. And before Su Jing Fei could figure out why, she found herself being dragged to her feet by two women. They must be yatou²servant girl(s)of the courtyard.

“Your Highness,” spoke a soft trembling voice. The young girl with the pitiful appearance had mustered up tears in her eyes and flashed a look of fear in Su Jing Fei's direction. If Su Jing Fei hadn’t seen that look earlier on the girl’s face, she would have indeed also pitied the girl. But she knew that the young girl was no more innocent than the original body’s owner. Chen Hui Zhe turned to the young girl and stopped his shouting to speak softly to the girl. Their words could not be heard because they spoke in soft intimate whispers.

With the momentary silence, Fu Bao Zhai took in the scene before her. She saw the young prince fawning over an young unknown girl in his arms, and although Chen Hui Zhe had spoke of the young girl being harmed, there were no such wounds on the young girl's body that could be seen. However, the woman had noticed that Su Jing Fei was the harmed party, with blood still dripping from the wound on her head. Everybody knew the situation. Chen Hui Zhe never wanted to marry Su Jing Fei who had been his betrothed since young. Su Jing Fei, however, was madly in love with the third prince and would be arrogant about it. Su Jing Fei would brag about it so much that her arrogance and obsession for the third prince was known throughout the capital. Fu Bao Zhai honestly didn’t know what to do. On one hand, it was clear that Chen Hui Zhe was a prince, and she could not offend him; however, Su Jing Fei was also his future wife as deemed by the Emperor's own imperial decree of their betrothal. On top of that, her father was the Right Prime Minister Su Xuan Mo and her maternal family were the esteemed military Qu family. Her background wasn’t light here either. Fu Bao Zhai’s eyes suspiciously narrowed onto the young girl in Chen Hui Zhe’s arms. What kind of girl would cause such a ruckus in her Oak Tree Courtyard?

Suddenly, Su Jing Fei had a terrifying realization. All of this looked really familiar because the scene came from a movie she’d seen before! The movie was called Blossoms in the Wind, and the only reason she had watched it was because a friend had recommended it to her due to the fact that Su Jing Fei managed a prestigious old-style inn and also because the villain of the story had the same name as her! She can’t believe she actually fell into the world of Blossoms in the Wind! Or wait… had she died from the earthquake in the real world? Su Jing Fei’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden dizziness that washed over her, causing her legs to tremble in weakness.

Fu Bao Zhai noticed Su Jing Fei’s condition and immediately spoke. “Your Highness, if I may suggest, it would be best to invite a doctor to come tend to the injuries. Although there has been a disturbance at Oak Tree Courtyard today, it is important to tend to wounds immediately. We need to take care of leaving no injuries to scar for the future of these guniang³unmarried female girls.” Her words spoke of concern and were reasonable, but there was also a hint of warning in her tone at the ‘guniang.’ Everyone heard it, and their eyes locked onto Chen Hui Zhe who was quite closely embracing one of those guniang in his arms rather shamelessly. But he was a prince, and no one could really reprimand him. But they knew that the Emperor had strict rules for the Oak Tree Courtyard about propriety and manners in regards to male and female interactions, and Fu Bao Zhai’s strictness was also a reason why she had been hired as the manager of Oak Tree Courtyard where such interactions took place.

Chen Hui Zhe swallowed his anger, glaring once more at Su Jing Fei. Although he hated her, he couldn’t afford to let her die or else his father would be angry with him. Little did he know that the real Su Jing Fei had already died and been replaced with another person. “Call an imperial doctor to come quickly! After the imperial doctor has come, I’ll be bringing Su Jing Fei to the Imperial Palace to discuss this matter with the Emperor!”

Now that Su Jing Fei recognized the scene, she could anticipate the upcoming course of events. In the movie, Chen Hui Zhe had brought the original Su Jing Fei to the palace in order to break off the engagement. This was good for her though, because now that she had been forcibly transmigrated into the body of this villainous Su Jing Fei, she wanted to avoid as much trouble as she could. Breaking off the engagement would be best than fighting for it when she didn’t even want it herself!

“Fu Bao Zhai thanks the third prince for his kindness and will be escorting these two guniang to rooms where their injuries can be attended to.” With a flick of her wrist, the two yatou carefully supported Su Jing Fei as they moved away from the courtyard and into a room. The young girl at Su Jing Fei’s side followed. They helped her lay down into a bed and left promptly after. 

“Da xiaojie,” cried the young girl at her side. The young girl was kneeling and sniffling, holding back tears. “If it wasn’t for that horrible girl Jiang Li Ling, you wouldn’t be suffering like this!”

Now that she was lying down, Su Jing Fei found it easier to think, and she recalled the face of the young girl in Chen Hui Zhe’s arms. Thinking back to the movie, she could only recall a little bit of the plot. That young girl… she was definitely the protagonist Jiang Li Ling! In the movie, Jiang Li Ling was the daughter of a concubine, and although she was of low birth, Jiang Li Ling was known for her kindness among the common people and nobility. She happened to meet the third prince Chen Hui Zhe, and they fell in love rather quickly. He fell in love with her kind and quirky demeanor, and she fell in love with his heroic nature and handsome face. However, Chen Hui Zhe was engaged to Su Jing Fei who was the eldest daughter of the Su family. Her father was the Right Prime Minister and her maternal family was the military Qu family that were stationed at the border of their Chu country. The details were hazy, but she remembered that the fate of Su Jing Fei was for the engagement to be cancelled and for her to be sent to the countryside. Beyond that, she didn't really remember much about the original Su Jing Fei in the movie. However, if that was her fate, then so be it. It would be easier for her to live in the countryside where she wasn’t around people who knew the original Su Jing Fei, and it would also help her avoid all the troubles of the capital city where she'd be scrutinized under the eyes of the nobility. As Su Jing Fei rested, she mentally gave a small prayer for the original Su Jing Fei who had already passed. However, she wasn't sure if she wanted to thank or curse whoever gave her this second lease of life because it seemed to be a rather ill-fated one! 

Meanwhile, Fu Bao Zhai greeted the imperial doctor at the entrance to Oak Tree Courtyard and guided him to the adjacent rooms where the two guniang were resting. Because it was improper for a man and a woman to be alone in a room together, she had originally advised Chen Hui Zhe to wait in the courtyard, but he stubbornly demanded to be at the young girl’s side and so she had a mama⁴old female servant, a eunuch, and two yatou watching the room under strict orders. Just was they reached the rooms, Fu Bao Zhai hesitated between entering either the room with Chen Hui Zhe or Su Jing Fei. She knew Su Jing Fei had a more serious wound, but Chen Hui Zhe was a prince and she couldn’t afford to offend him since he also had the Emperor’s favor. With a sigh, she pushed open the door to Chen Hui Zhe’s room and entered with the imperial doctor.

“It hurts, wu⁵basically Chinese sfx for crying.” Sniffled the young girl on the bed. Her arm was being tenderly held by Chen Hui Zhe. Fu Bao Zhai’s face stiffened, and she announced in a sharp tone, “The imperial doctor has arrived!”

Chen Hui Zhe jolted in surprise, but recovered quickly with a smile. He didn’t seem ashamed of holding the young girl’s hand and instead, gently laid it on the bed before turning to greet the imperial doctor.

“This imperial doctor greets his Highness, Chen Hui Zhe.” The doctor kneeled before the prince.

“Rise, and I thank the kind doctor for coming so quick!” He helped the doctor up and led him to the bed. “This is a friend, Jiang Li Ling. Her father is the Minister of Justice, Jiang Wen Chang.”

Fu Bao Zhai gave a momentary look of surprise. Who knew that the young girl was actually the er xiaojie⁶second miss/daughterof the Minister of Justice’s Jiang family. However, her eyes narrowed in slight annoyance. She knew the er xiaojie of the Jiang family was shu born⁷born of a concubine, and at 15 years old, she wouldn't even reach marriageable age yet for another three years. Although presently, the rules weren’t as strict about male and female interactions before marriage, it still adhered to much of it. The rules were mostly lightened in terms of allowing men and women to meet to further allow compatible marriages; however, many still looked down upon unsupervised prior meetings between an unmarried man and unmarried woman. Judging by the familiarity between the third prince and Jiang Li Ling, they had met up before; and it seemed to be even intimately at times. Her dislike for the er xiaojie, and even a bit for the third prince, grew even more since Fu Bao Zhai had a strict attitude to adherence of propriety and rules. But she kept her mouth shut, and let the imperial doctor examine Jiang Li Ling in silence.

It didn’t take long before the imperial doctor sighed. When he had first been called out of the imperial palace and invited by the third prince, he thought it would be for a more important matter but the girl he was tending to was barely injured. A waste of time, honestly; but he had to give face to the prince and spoke in a calm and decisive manner. “Miss Jiang, your injuries are minimal. There is only a small bruise on your wrist that should heal in time. There is no need for medication since the injury is so small and should heal in a day.”

Jiang Li Ling’s face turned red as she lay in the bed. She had been complaining about her wrist because Su Jing Fei had gripped her wrist hard to steal the hot tea from her, and she had indeed felt pain so she had cried about her wrist feeling weak and unable to move. She was sure the injury could illicit pity, but it was also so that she could feel Chen Hui Zhe's gentle touch. Who knew that it was only a bruise… and that her tolerance for pain was so low…

Chen Hui Zhe furrowed his brows. “Are you sure it’s not broken?”

“This imperial doctor is sure. The bones are uninjured, and there are no external wounds. Only a small bruise. Perhaps Jiang xiaojie had been frightened, but there is no need to worry. It should heal within a day.” The imperial doctor confirmed.

Fu Bao Zhai gave a look of disapproval at Jiang Li Ling because she had also seen the young girl making a big deal of her wrist, but the imperial doctor had just confirmed that it was only a small bruise. It was truly unsightly. However, Chen Hui Zhe breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Jiang Li Ling who gave a small pitiful and shy smile back. Fu Bao Zhai and the imperial doctor both sighed. They knew that the third prince was already engaged to Su Jing Fei, but for him to be here smiling like this at a young girl… it really was too improper. But they couldn’t reprimand a prince so they could only watch in disapproval.

“Is there anything else this imperial doctor can do for his Highness?” asked the imperial doctor with a bow.

A look of anger flashed through Chen Hui Zhe’s face and he turned away with a cold look. “Go tend to Su Jing Fei in the next room. Make sure she doesn’t die.”

The imperial doctor gave a surprised look and glanced at Fu Bao Zhai who only shook her head in response. Why was the third prince here in this room with the young miss Jiang when his betrothed was in the next room? He knew there was a story here, but he didn’t dare ask what had happened. Fu Bao Zhai and the imperial doctor respectfully left the room and entered the adjacent room. The imperial doctor rushed into the room with Fu Bao Zhai at the sight of Su Jing Fei's blood soaked pillow covers. He carefully took ahold of Su Jing Fei’s wrist and checked her pulse. It was only a little abnormal, but that was probably due to the blood loss affecting it. Luckily, there was nothing worrying about it. He sighed and turned to speak to the young yatou. “How long has Su xiaojie been unconscious?”

The young girl was still kneeling at her master’s side and cried. “For a few minutes now. Master fell asleep after closing her eyes, but this lowly one was afraid to move her or try to wake her in case her wound worsened.”

Fu Bao Zhai furrowed her brows and glanced worriedly at Su Jing Fei’s weak figure on the bed. “Is it fatal?”

The imperial doctor shook his head. “No, but the blood loss most likely caused Su xiaojie to fall asleep. The body is able to repair itself faster without the worry or the pain endured in consciousness. She will be fine after I clean and bandage the wound.” With those words, he set about helping to clean up and bandage the wound on Su Jing Fei’s head. Luckily, it was only a small cut. It had only bled a lot due to its location on the head, where wounds tend to bleed more profusely. “Make sure Su xiaojie takes one of these pills when she awakens. It will help with the pain. Once the wound scabs, apply this cream to help the healing and also avoid scarring.”

The young yatou took the medication into her hands and handled it with extreme care. She thanked the imperial doctor profusely and kowtowed three times on the floor in gratitude. Fu Bao Zhai breathed a sigh of relief and also thanked the imperial doctor for his help before guiding him out of the room.

Once Su Jing Fei awoke again, she found that her wound had been tended to and got the whole story from the young yatou. Su Jing Fei wanted to thank the young girl but couldn't recall her name; however, soon enough, a word popped into her head like a memory. “Yi...ze?”

The young yatou’s eyes lit up. “Yes, da xiaojie! It’s me, Yize!” The yatou quickly got the pill from the table gave it to Su Jing Fei. “The imperial doctor also said for you to take this pill. He said it should help with the pain.”

Su Jing Fei gave a small smile, thanking Yize before taking the pill. The pain in her head became a dull ache, and she sighed in relief. With this, at least her headache will be less and she could think more clearly. She found that although the original Su Jing Fei was no longer, her memories had still remained within the body and occasionally she’d get a flash of old memories. Currently, Su Jing Fei’s mind showed the memory of a young beggar child on the street. It seemed that the original Su Jing Fei had picked up Yize from the street to become her playmate at home because she had thought the girl was cute. Being the selfish young miss of the Su family, Su Jing Fei had wanted someone to boss around secretly. Luckily, the Su family had indulged her because Yize was brought home to become a childhood playmate. But it was only for a couple of years, and then Yize had to leave Su Jing Fei and begin training to become a proper yatou. Yize had only returned just recently to serve the original Su Jing Fei, but Su Jing Fei could tell the original Su Jing Fei trusted Yize quite a bit. And it also seemed like Yize treasured Su Jing Fei quite a lot because the young girl had saved her from a lowly life on the streets. Hopefully, the loyalty was real because Su Jing Fei needed all the help she could get to survive through the next couple of days.

There was a knock on the door before Fu Bao Zhai entered, greeting Su Jing Fei respectfully. “Su xiaojie the third prince Chen Hui Zhe has left for the imperial palace, and instructed us to help prepare a carriage to take you to the imperial palace as well.”

Su Jing Fei nodded carefully to avoid disturbing the bandages on her head. She knew what was going to happen next, so she had already begun to brace herself to face the Emperor in his great imperial palace. Fu Bao Zhai led them out of the room and to the entrance of the courtyard. A small carriage waited for them. Before they boarded the carriage, Su Jing Fei turned and bowed respectfully to Fu Bao Zhai. “I thank madame Fu Bao Zhai for having the imperial doctor take care of my wounds. When I get home, I will send over the necessary money to cover the costs.”

Fu Bao Zhai shook her head and respectfully declined. “No need. The third prince has already taken care of the payment, but this lowly one thanks Su xiaojie for her generosity.” Fu Bao Zhai was pleasantly surprised at Su Jing Fei’s offer. She had been well-acquainted with the rumors of the capital. Others spoke of Su Jing Fei's haughty nature, but the young girl before her appeared to be quite level-headed and calm. The young miss seemed to carry herself respectfully, with a polite manner that was neither overbearing or too familiar. Her appearance was a little disheveled from the injury, but her posture exuded grace and her dark ink eyes reflected pools of calm and coldness. It was an appearance uncommon for any young miss from a noble family, much less one of only 16 years of age. But she shook her head with a sigh and watched quietly as Su Jing Fei boarded the carriage. There would be many hardships for this young miss of the Su family once she reached the palace, but Fu Bao Zhai could only watch helplessly as the carriage steadily followed down the path towards the imperial palace.