After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by the Paranoid Eldest Princess - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A bone-chilling cold jolted Wen Chenqing’s brain awake.

She opened her eyes, water droplets trembling off her eyelashes; the world became clearer than ever before. Yet, she would have preferred it remained a blur. Upon seeing her surroundings clearly, Wen Chenqing closed her eyes in pain.

“Is the Second Young Miss Wen awake? In that case, there’s no need to call for anyone.” The speaker looked at Wen Chenqing, who was playing dead with closed eyes, a flash of mockery crossing their gaze. They jeered in a leisurely manner: “Does Second Young Miss Wen still have strength? Why not follow the attendants to the side chamber to change your clothes first? After all, being soaking wet is truly unseemly.”

Wen Chenqing felt someone bracing her arms, hauling her up from the ground. Drenched to the bone, she couldn’t suppress a shudder. The person supporting her moved slightly, wordlessly blocking much of the wind for her.

Wen Chenqing opened her eyes. A crowd had gathered to watch her, looking at her as if she were a monkey making a fool of itself during an acrobatic performance. Her gaze swept briefly over a round-faced woman with a complex expression before landing on the woman who had spoken.

The speaker wore a deep purple ruqun (traditional jacket and skirt), exquisite and luxurious. She occupied the center position and appeared to be the person of highest status among the group.

Seeing Wen Chenqing looking at her, Luo Qinzhen rolled her eyes internally. She had always disliked this uncouth Wen Chenqing. Moreover, today’s incident was a case of Wen Chenqing’s own malice backfiring—she had reaped what she sowed, and it was well-deserved.

Seeing Wen Chenqing remain motionless, a flash of loathing crossed Luo Qinzhen’s brow. Her tone lost its forced gentleness as her face darkened. “You weren’t welcome at today’s banquet to begin with. Since you refuse to go change, then get lost. The Eldest Princess’s phoenix carriage will arrive shortly. If you delay us in receiving Her Highness, can you bear the responsibility?”

The person supporting Wen Chenqing caught their breath sharply, appearing somewhat angry. Wen Chenqing, however, felt nothing upon being told to “get lost.”

The memories flooding into her mind were like a surging tide, threatening to drown her. Pressing against her throbbing headache, Wen Chenqing thought self-mockingly that given what the “original” body had done, merely being told to get lost was a sign of great civility on their part.

She said with an unchanging expression, “Trouble you to bring me a cloak.”

Luo Qinzhen looked at Wen Chenqing’s face, which showed not a hint of shame. She gave a small “tsk”—her skin was truly thick. Before long, someone presented a cloak. Wen Chenqing took it and wrapped it around herself, concealing her soaked body.

“Yuanyuan, you are just too kind-hearted. You shouldn’t have brought her today. Does she think we don’t know her intentions? Is the Eldest Princess someone she can try to curry favor with? She should find a bronze mirror and look at her own reflection. Her face is full of scheming; she is utterly vulgar!”

The woman called Yuanyuan had a likable round face—the same woman Wen Chenqing had seen earlier with the complex expression. She was currently linking arms with a friend who was speaking up for her, saying worriedly: “She behaved very well in the manor these past two days. She begged me last night, and I couldn’t help but agree.”

“She’s truly shameless! She even dared to beg you!”

The voices eventually faded into the distance, but Wen Chenqing heard that cry of “shameless” quite clearly. Or rather, the speaker had intentionally raised her voice so she would hear it.

The maid supporting her was somewhat indignant: “Miss, they are going too far!”

Wen Chenqing wrapped the cloak tighter: “They even gave me a cloak—granting whatever I asked. They’re actually quite nice people.”

“…” Ginkgo stomped her foot in anger. “Miss, how can you say that!”

In the past, her Miss would have turned back to argue if she felt slighted. Since when had she become so submissive?

Wen Chenqing didn’t respond. Her head didn’t hurt as much as before, but her spirit was low. This maid would eventually have to understand that her Miss’s way of doing things would be different from before, though the change couldn’t be too sudden.

Thus, Wen Chenqing added: “Oh, it’s probably because my brain froze when I fell into the water.”

Ginkgo looked horrified.

The garden was truly massive. The master and servant followed the guide, winding through the paths until they finally reached the side gate. After they exited, two figures appeared at the fork in the road near the small pavilion.

“Is the water in the pond very cold during this season?”

“Princess, you possess a body of a thousand gold. The water in the lake is unclean; be careful not to soil your hands.”

Si Jinghua did not listen. She paused and leaned over, extending a snow-white wrist as her fingertip lightly touched the emerald surface of the water.

It was lukewarm.

She straightened up, her sleeves fluttering. Even a casual movement from her was full of grace. A sneer appeared on her face as she said disdainfully: “Truly, her brain has taken in water.” Her mind was indeed diseased.

The attendant beside her twitched. The Princess had avoided the main entrance, choosing instead to conduct a peculiar “incognito tour” just to watch a drama from the Wen family; she truly had a refined interest in leisure. Furthermore, did the Princess really need to test for herself whether the water at this time of year could freeze a brain?

As if knowing what her attendant was thinking, Si Jinghua glanced over. “Daring to criticize This Princess in your heart? Be careful, or I shall have your head.”

“This servant dares not.” Fuqu bowed to ask for forgiveness, yet showed no panic. The Princess was haughty and overbearing, and her moods were unpredictable, but Fuqu had served her since childhood and knew she wasn’t actually angry right now.

Si Jinghua quickly cast the person whose brain was supposedly “frozen” to the back of her mind and led Fuqu toward the main hall.

On the other side.

Wen Chenqing and Ginkgo looked at the emptiness outside the side gate and asked, “Where is the carriage?”

Ginkgo looked at her: “Miss, have you forgotten? We came here today with the Eldest Young Miss.”

Wen Chenqing remembered. Today, the heir of the Marquis of Chen’en, Luo Qinzhen, was hosting a banquet. With Wen Chenqing’s status, she wasn’t qualified to attend, but the “original” body had heard the Eldest Princess would be there. She used her not-so-bright head to fantasize about getting close to the Princess to secure a powerful backer, hoping to turn the tables and suppress Wen Shiyuan.

To this end, the original Wen Chenqing had suppressed her temper for several days, going so far as to block Wen Shiyuan’s path every day to beg for an invitation. Wen Shiyuan was annoyed beyond endurance, and because Wen Chenqing’s acting had suddenly improved over those two days, she was actually deceived and agreed in a moment of soft-heartedness.

This morning, to get closer and find an opportunity at the banquet, the original body had specifically squeezed into a carriage with Wen Shiyuan to attend the gathering. Now that she had caused trouble at the banquet, Luo Qinzhen hadn’t dealt with her on the spot for the sake of Wen Shiyuan, but she certainly wouldn’t be kind enough to send a carriage to take her back. As for the Wen family carriage? It naturally had to remain on standby for the legitimate daughter.

Wen Chenqing turned: “Ginkgo, do you have any money on you?”

Ginkgo touched her purse and said honestly: “Miss, even if we have money, we won’t see any other carriages here.”

“…”

That was true. Wen Chenqing hadn’t fully adapted yet; there was no “Didi” (Uber) here. The people living here were all aristocratic families with their own private carriages. Commoners wouldn’t dare set foot here, so there were absolutely no other means of transportation.

Wen Chenqing tied her cloak tighter, looked at the road ahead, and said without changing her expression: “We can only walk. Ginkgo, you go in front.”

Ginkgo did as she was told. After walking for about the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, she couldn’t help but ask: “Miss, why are you letting me walk in front?”

Wen Chenqing was stunned: “I’m letting you lead the way.”

Normally, even if the original body wasn’t favored, as the Second Miss of the Wen family, she always had a carriage. She never had to remember the roads herself. Wen Chenqing only had a vague impression of the route home in her mind and had no idea how to get there.

Ginkgo stopped in her tracks and said apprehensively: “But Miss, I don’t know the way either.”

“…”

The master and servant pair wandered wretchedly trying to find their way back, until they were finally rescued by people sent by the Wen family.

The Main Hall of the Wen Manor.

Wen Chenqing had just changed her clothes. As soon as she entered the door, she heard a heavy command: “Kneel.”

She paused and did as told. The Wen family Matriarch’s voice was old but powerful as she listed Wen Chenqing’s absurd behavior word by word. Wen Chenqing lowered her eyes and listened in silence, but her thoughts had already drifted away.

The moment she had died in a car accident and opened her eyes at the Marquis’s manor, Wen Chenqing knew she had transmigrated into a book. She was usually busy and didn’t have time for novels, but her younger sister loved them. Her sister had shared this book with her, laughing that a “cannon fodder” character shared her name; following the laws of transmigration, her sister told her to memorize the whole thing.

At the time, Wen Chenqing had just finished a legal aid case with her mentor. She had worked overtime for many days for that case, and once it ended, her mentor gave her two days off. Seeing the novel her sister recommended, Wen Chenqing opened it with the intention of giving her brain a rest.

She had abandoned the book about halfway through—not because the cannon fodder character sharing her name died too tragically, but because of a character whose contrast was too devastating. As the Eldest Princess of the Great Yong Dynasty, a favored child of heaven, she was beloved in the early stages but eventually became a political sacrificial lamb. It was as if all the glory and love bestowed upon her in her early life were just flowers in water or a moon in a mirror—vanishing the moment the wind blew.

Wen Chenqing couldn’t keep reading and dropped the book. But because she had read it recently, some plot points were quite clear in her mind. Plus, she had a habit of remembering names, so she realized her situation the moment she opened her eyes.

She had transmigrated into the early stages of the story. The female lead, Wen Shiyuan, had not yet reunited with the male lead, and the cannon fodder who was supposed to be long dead was still hopping around.

However, she wouldn’t be hopping for long. At the banquet hosted by the heir of the Marquis, the original body had been unable to control her jealousy toward Wen Shiyuan (who surpassed her in everything) due to the mockery of others. She had intended to push her sister, who couldn’t swim, into the water. In the end, not only did she fail, but she had tripped over a stone during the struggle and fell in herself. The facts were undeniable, and the family wouldn’t let her off. After a discussion, they chose to exile her.

Wen Chenqing listened silently as the Matriarch read out her sentence.

“…After discussing with your father and mother, from this day forward, pack your bags and go live in the villa in the southern suburbs of the capital. That place is far from the noise; it will be a good place for you to settle down and temper your personality.”

Wen Chenqing looked up. It was like a tribunal; everyone was staring at her, and the servants were already prepared for her to go berserk.

The Matriarch stared into her eyes and said heavily: “If even the villa cannot help you change your irritable and jealous nature that harms your siblings, then our Wen family will simply have a daughter who voluntarily becomes a nun to pray for her parents and elders.”

This was a threat. If Wen Chenqing caused a scene today and refused to be exiled to the remote villa kilometers away from the capital, she would be forced into a convent. But she quite liked her head of hair (which she had maintained so it wouldn’t fall out) and couldn’t bear to give up good food.

Therefore—

Wen Chenqing feigned alarm and anger, gritting her teeth as she said unwillingly, “Your granddaughter is willing to go to the suburban villa to cultivate her mind and body. Once my character is tempered, I shall return to serve Grandmother, Father, and Mother to repay the debt of my upbringing.”

The Matriarch neither agreed nor disagreed, acting as if she hadn’t heard the hidden meaning in her words. This granddaughter was completely ruined. Therefore, there was no possibility of her returning.