In the third year of the Yongli reign, on the Winter Solstice, the Grand Empress Dowager Ningde of the Great Yan Kingdom finally passed away.
Originally the eldest legitimate daughter of the Shangguan Grand Tutor's mansion, named Shangguan Wanyu, she should have been a gentle, virtuous, and highly talented young lady. However, in reality, apart from being highly talented, her personality was actually bold and unrestrained. Those who didn't know her might think she was the young lady of some general's mansion.
It wasn't until she entered the palace after reaching the age of fifteen that she gradually curbed her wilder nature. Given her personality, she wouldn't have been very popular in the palace. However, she was extremely intelligent at a young age and well-versed in the ways of the harem. Despite all the hardships, she managed to reach the top position in the harem.
She spent most of her life in a busy and arduous way, using every means to help her son ascend to the throne. However, she never expected that her own son would think that the talented members of the maternal family posed a threat to him. So he forced her to persuade the Shangguan family to withdraw from the court. From then on, no one from the Shangguan family held an official position, which caused quite a stir in the court.
The Grand Empress Dowager was then physically and mentally exhausted. She spent her days in the company of the green lantern and the ancient Buddha until she took her last breath.
As a wife and a mother, she had done her best. But as a daughter, she felt deeply indebted.
"Do you want to have a romantic love, with a perfect match of a talented man and a beautiful woman, being deeply in love, galloping on horses, and lingering together until the end of the world?"
Suddenly, a shrill voice like that of a eunuch sounded in the otherwise quiet darkness.
The Grand Empress Dowager was slightly stunned and then frowned as she said,
"Who is making such a racket here in front of me?"
"Do you want to have a romantic love, with a perfect match of a talented man and a beautiful woman, being deeply in love, galloping on horses, and lingering together until the end of the world?" The voice repeated again.
The Grand Empress Dowager was taken aback for a moment, and her tone was a bit angry:
"Who on earth is playing tricks on me in front of me? It's simply insolent!"
"Aren't you already a ghost? I have no improper thoughts about you!" Different from the previous voice, this one was unexpectedly a bit, well... cute? As soon as this sentence was uttered, before the Grand Empress Dowager could get angry, a... meatball... rolled out of the darkness.
"Humph! Mortal, I'm the super-duper cute Rebirth System in the universe that can help you fulfill your dreams. Don't be too arrogant!"
"What? Yuzhou? Rebirth System? I do know where Yuzhou is, but as for the system, I have no idea what it is!"
The meatball frowned. Yes, even without facial features, the Grand Empress Dowager could still feel that the meatball in front of her frowned. Then she heard it mutter in a low voice:
"Why is this old woman so hard to get along with? Humph, a bunch of liars told me she was an amiable old granny! Ahh! I can only let her start to adapt to her new life slowly! I'll tell her about the mission later!"
This strange thing actually called her an old woman?
Although she was over fifty years old and often joked about being an old woman, some words still felt offensive when spoken by others. Moreover, she had always taken good care of her appearance!
The Grand Empress Dowager didn't have time to scold it.
Immediately afterwards, a red light flashed with crackling sounds, and the Grand Empress Dowager fainted with a slightly distorted expression.
Naturally, she didn't have the leisure to hear about the mission.
...
"Your Highness... She's finally gone."
"I know."
"Then what's your order?"
"Go and inform them that since she's no longer here, they don't need to be so cautious."
"Yes."
...
Someone was making noise beside her again. It seemed to be the voices of two men. Wasn't she already dead? Why could she still hear voices? What was disturbing was that there were strange men's voices beside her. This Xiu'er was becoming more and more unruly.
No, she was dead. Her personal maid, Xiu'er, wasn't by her side. After all, she wasn't so absurd as to make someone be buried with her.
Her mind was in a mess. It took the Grand Empress Dowager a great deal of effort to open her eyes, but what she saw wasn't any place she was familiar with.
After observing her surroundings for a long time, the Grand Empress Dowager finally realized that there was something wrong with her now!
Because what she could see now was very different from what she had seen before. For example, all the things seemed much bigger than before, and the angle from which she was looking seemed to be a bird's-eye view.
More importantly, it seemed that apart from her sense of hearing and vision, she had no other sensations at all.
Could it be that she had been poisoned or fixed on the wall?
An unprecedented sense of panic swept over her. The Grand Empress Dowager tried to call for help, but her throat seemed to be blocked, and she couldn't make a single sound.
Just then, the door creaked open, and a figure came into the Grand Empress Dowager's sight.
At this moment, there seemed to be a pool of water in the other person's eyes as he stared intently at her.
The Grand Empress Dowager was slightly stunned. She seemed to have seen this person before.
She had once caught a glimpse of the current powerful Prince Ning of the whole court in a corner of the imperial garden.
Speaking of Prince Ning, she wasn't very familiar with him. This young man was the only son of Prince Guangling, her husband's elder brother. The current emperor had to address him as an uncle.
When she was still the Empress Dowager, Prince Ning had already begun to show his prowess. In addition to relying on the Protector General in the border battles, the Invincible Army was under Prince Ning's command.
However, his decisiveness in battle was simply spread as being cruel and bloodthirsty.
Later, her own son's actions towards her maternal family broke the Grand Empress Dowager's heart. So she never cared about things outside the palace or in the court again. Therefore, no matter how much waves Prince Ning made, the Grand Empress Dowager didn't know about it.
Even if she knew, the Grand Empress Dowager didn't have the leisure to care.
After all, this country wasn't hers, and those ungrateful people weren't worth her risking her life to protect.
When the Grand Empress Dowager took a closer look at Prince Ning's gentle and jade-like appearance and was still surprised that he could be rumored to be so terrifying, she slowly noticed that Prince Ning's eyes actually seemed a bit gentle?
So this guy's look at her seemed a bit off?
It was like the look of a little fox she once raised at her, or the look of her son at his... favorite concubine?
The Grand Empress Dowager was a bit embarrassed. It was quite improper for such a look to come from a junior!
Thinking carefully, she didn't have much of an impression of this young man. However, there was one thing that left a deep impression on her. It was probably when he was a child, she once helped him and then gave him a little white cat... But that was just a chance encounter.
If it was because of this, it shouldn't be like this. Helping him was just a piece of cake. If it was because of that cat, when she was the queen, she had given gifts to almost all the juniors in the palace.
"Qingqing~" Prince Ning suddenly called out in a low voice. This call made the Grand Empress Dowager's hair stand on end.
The Grand Empress Dowager, who had been so successful in the harem, now felt more and more embarrassed and helpless.
"Ahem!" The previous voice sounded again. "Well, Granny!" Different from the previous arrogance, the voice of the meatball now seemed a bit obsequious?
"Who gave you the audacity to address me like this?" Hearing this address, a surge of anger rose in the Grand Empress Dowager's heart, so she scolded. But there was no sound at all.
The meatball seemed to have heard her and continued to speak in a humble tone: "Ah, then Your Majesty the Grand Empress Dowager, I want to discuss something with you!"
"What is it?" The Grand Empress Dowager's tone was still chillingly cold. Although she knew she couldn't speak, it seemed that as long as she thought in her heart, that strange thing could hear her. As for the tone, it must be able to feel it too.
"Um... There was a mistake in this rebirth..."
"What??? I've been reborn???"
"Huh??? Didn't I tell you???"
"???"