Chapter 1

After entering a novel, I was drugged by the villain.

I told the crown prince:

“Your Highness, lend me a kiss. I promise I’ll repay you.”

He raised a hand to stop me, his low voice temptingly soft.

“A crown princess must undergo a physical examination before entering the Eastern Palace.”

“Don’t you want to be my Crown Princess? Hmm?”

What?

I only wanted one night with him. He wanted to marry me?

1

By the time I entered the book, the story was more than halfway through.

I opened my eyes to a woman pleading:

“Brother, please spare him. I’ll go back with you.”

A scholar was being forced to kneel before me. A richly dressed man ground the toe of his shoe into the scholar’s fingers.

One glance told me who was the male lead and who was the supporting character.

The frail scholar was Bùi Tế, our hero.

The other was, naturally, Crown Prince Nguyên Trinh, professional separator of lovers.

He stood an imposing eight chi tall, his gold-threaded robe embroidered with nine dragons baring claws and fangs. Thin lips pressed together, finely shaped eyes held an icy edge.

He crushed the hero’s hand beneath his shoe.

“Useless wretch. Who gave you the nerve to lead Nguyên Giai astray?”

A little fear stirred in me.

In the original, the prince was cold, ruthless, arrogant, and impossible to tame. He was also one of the greatest obstacles to the leads’ romance.

Bùi Tế cried out, his face pale. He looked up at the prince with something between hatred and humiliation.

The guards kept forcing his head down.

Then a soft hand suddenly caught mine.

The heroine, Princess Nguyên Giai, had two guards gripping her shoulders. Tears streamed down her delicate face.

“Khanh Khanh, save Bùi Tế. Please save him.”

We were at the Nhiếp family’s separate residence.

My own private house.

I was Nhiếp Khanh Khanh, the heroine’s closest friend and the legitimate daughter of Vice Minister Nhiếp of the Ministry of War.

Nguyên Giai defied authority, determined to be with Bùi Tế.

On the day he passed the provincial examination and became a juren, she was drugged and violated at a banquet. She killed herself afterward, leaving him with lifelong regret.

At this stage of the plot, the empress must have been forcing her into a diplomatic marriage abroad. Bùi Tế abandoned the examinations, ran away with her, and hid in my house.

The prince discovered them, intercepted their escape, and imprisoned Bùi Tế. Only after he promised never to see the princess again did the prince release him to sit the examinations.

How should I put this?

I thought the prince was absolutely right.

“Khanh Khanh, will you help me?”

The princess kept pleading.

The prince raised his eyes and looked straight into mine.

That single icy glance made me shiver.

I wanted to tell him he was doing an excellent job.

I wanted to advise her to go home.

But I couldn’t.

It would be too out of character.

I cleared my throat and addressed him.

“Please calm yourself, Your Highness. Master Bùi should not have encouraged the princess to elope. Rest assured, I will do everything I can to reason with them.”

The prince looked puzzled.

The princess looked even more puzzled.

2

I held up one finger.

“Give me the time it takes an incense stick to burn. I’ll persuade her to go back willingly.”

He watched me without a trace of amusement.

“Nhiếp Khanh Khanh, why do you imagine I would still believe you?”

Fair enough.

The supporting girl had already lied to him once in the book, claiming she didn’t know where they were.

I could only say:

“If Your Highness doesn’t mind damaging his relationship with his sister, do as you please.”

After a silence, he lifted his foot from Bùi Tế’s hand.

Then he actually ordered someone to light an incense stick.

An attendant brought a grand armchair. He swept back his sleeve and sat at ease.

I was about to speak when he said coldly:

“One stick. No bargaining.”

What a bastard.

I began my brainwashing campaign.

“Bùi Tế, I dreamed yesterday that you would do brilliantly in the examinations. My dreams are remarkably accurate. Trust me. Go back and sit them first. Once you pass, with Nguyên Giai and me helping, becoming the princess’s husband will follow naturally.”

He hesitated, then looked at me.

“Nhiếp Khanh Khanh, are you frightened? If you’re afraid to die, you needn’t rescue us.”

Such a fine male lead.

Why had anyone given him a mouth?

I couldn’t entirely blame him.

The empress had repeatedly plotted against him to break them apart. Otherwise, with his talents, he would have passed long ago.

I explained it from every angle.

First, eloping with a princess wasn’t practical. Would they hide forever?

Second, even if the empress wanted her to marry into Hexi, their custom required men to be eighteen before marrying. There was still a year.

After talking myself dry and repeatedly guaranteeing he would pass, I finally got a nod.

I signaled to the prince.

“Done. Release them.”

He raised his eyelids lazily.

“Does he have no mouth? Let him tell me himself.”

Bùi Tế reluctantly gave his promise.

The prince remained silent, his face dark.

Growing anxious, I urged:

“Your Highness isn’t going back on his word?”

He said nothing.

At last, the princess was released.

She immediately clasped Bùi Tế’s reddened hand, distraught.

He stroked her hair gently and whispered in her ear.

A perfect picture of devoted lovers.

Excellent.

The prince’s face darkened further.