Chapter 1
I was a fashion blogger.
After working myself to death, I traveled back in time to the thirteenth year of the Zhaode reign in the Great Liang dynasty.
And became a proud… palace hairdresser?
When I first arrived, Liang Qiushi, the palace’s chief eunuch, was trying to make me his companion.
He grinned horribly, a scarlet undergarment embroidered with mandarin ducks in his hand.
“Yuan’er, let your Eunuch Liang take good care of you!”
One look at his mouthful of yellow teeth nearly made me faint.
But fainting was out of the question.
A princess who fainted might meet a prince turned into a frog.
A palace maid who fainted would only leave herself at the mercy of a eunuch with a face full of jowls.
I had to run.
To avoid gossip, Liang Qiushi had brought none of his trusted men.
I shoved him hard and fled around the rockery.
But I had barely taken a few steps.
I ran headfirst into a woman’s arms.
At her unmistakably pained “Ow!”, my heart went cold.
Before my brain caught up, my knees had already hit the ground.
Copying the characters in palace dramas, I begged, “Forgive me, Your Ladyship! Forgive me!”
Thanks for asking: I’d arrived this morning, and my ashes would probably be scattered this afternoon.
The woman I had collided with steadied herself and looked me over.
“Such arrangements are forbidden in the palace. Hmph… and this filth dares happen right under my nose!”
“Guards, drag him out and give him ten strokes!”
I trembled.
Liang Qiushi’s screams rang out outside, while I, a wretched piece of cannon fodder, knelt respectfully in the inner chamber.
Before me sat the Noble Consort, second only to one person in the entire palace.
Her brows were like kingfisher feathers; her beauty was graceful and exquisite.
She fitted my mental picture of a favored consort perfectly.
She took a small sip of tea. Beneath her gauzy sleeve, ruby cords and gold bracelets clinked together on her pale wrist.
“Yuan’er, you serve in my palace. Search your conscience: have I ever withheld anything from you all these years?”
I stared blankly at her wrist.
The Noble Consort cleared her throat.
I hastily recovered and lowered my head.
“No.”
An older matron beside her chimed in.
“How dare you! Her Ladyship has always treated you generously, never harshly! Yet you get mixed up with a eunuch. Wouldn’t that disgrace her if word got out?”
The Noble Consort lowered her eyes wearily. “His Majesty seldom visits my residence, and now you have all grown idle. It seems I must be severe today. Guards, drag her—”
“Your Ladyship,” I blurted out.
She paused, plainly not expecting me to interrupt with such outrageous boldness.
She was about to lose her temper when my next words stopped her cold.
“Rubies don’t look good with gold. Tourmaline would be better.”
“It attracts romance, too.”