The Whole Family is Reborn, But I Transmigrated into a Book - Chapter 1

It hurts so much…

Can a person still feel pain after death?

Liu Qingyue thought groggily. She struggled, trying to sit up, but she couldn’t exert any strength, as if someone were lying on top of her.

Someone was lying on top of her?

Liu Qingyue suddenly opened her eyes. She had just turned her head when she saw the man beside her, and the dragon-and-phoenix candles on the nearby candelabra, which were nearly burned out.

At this moment, her head began to throb with a fine, dense pain, as if countless needles were pricking her.

Memories that did not belong to her instantly rushed in like a tide—

The owner of this body was also called Liu Qingyue. She was the Empress Consort’s (Gui Fei Niang Niang) direct niece, the daughter of the current Prime Minister, Lord Liu Jibai, and the new wife of the current Fifth Prince, Gu Qingjia.

The more Liu Qingyue savored these names, the more familiar they sounded. Soon, she realized:

Weren’t these the characters from the novel she had read to pass the time when she was bored in the hospital?

She had transmigrated into a book?

This absurd thought inexplicably arose in Liu Qingyue’s mind.

But which book in the palace series had she transmigrated into?

Gu Qingjia, famous as the most useless of the Princes, had a walk-on role in every single one of them.

He was the most ordinary of the Emperor’s sons, lacking the sharp intellect of his other brothers, and was therefore always a cannon fodder existence in every story.

Thinking of this, Liu Qingyue looked at her newly-minted husband, who was sleeping like a dead pig next to her. She promptly pinched his ear and woke him up.

“Gu Qingjia, wake up right now!”

“Every single word I say now, you must engrave in your mind: Do not compete for the throne, do not seek the limelight, and quietly cling to your life, do you hear me?”

Liu Qingyue knew that Gu Qingjia was honest and lacked the arrogance typical of Imperial children.

“Ouch…”

Gu Qingjia looked at Liu Qingyue in confusion and let out a weak protest. He didn’t understand why his new wife was suddenly lecturing him while he was sleeping soundly.

“You should let go of this Prince immediately. It would be inappropriate if someone saw us!”

Gu Qingjia said in a low voice, yet he did not reprimand Liu Qingyue for pinching his ear without reason.

Liu Qingyue was just about to say, “Who would see us in the middle of the night? Even Princes and Lords aren’t that attentive.”

But before she could open her mouth, she heard a voice outside the door:

“Your Highness, the First Prince has fled the palace. His Majesty requests that you and the Princess Consort enter the palace immediately.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingjia forgot the pain in his ear.

“What? Say that again, what happened to the First Imperial Brother?”

Gu Qingjia still found it unbelievable. He thought Liu Qingyue must have pinched his ear so hard that he was hallucinating, or perhaps he hadn’t fully woken up, and this was all a dream.

But the attendant outside the door did not grant his wish and repeated: “The First Prince has fled the palace. His Majesty summons you and the Princess Consort to enter the palace together.”

This time, Gu Qingjia heard it clearly.

“Light the lamps and help me change.”

Gu Qingjia couldn’t figure out why his First Imperial Brother would flee on the day of his wedding. However, Liu Qingyue remembered that after the First Prince escaped to the common world, he met many talented people, and these people were a major help in his subsequent quest to seize the throne.

So, she had transmigrated into the First Prince’s book?

Liu Qingyue pursed her lips. The relationship between the First Prince and the useless Fifth Prince was not exactly cordial.

“Miss, Miss, why is your complexion so poor? Did His Highness bully you last night?”

Liu Qingyue snapped out of her thoughts, glanced at her dowry maid, Cui He, and gently shook her head.

“No. Help me change.”

Cui He didn’t know what her mistress was thinking, but going to the palace could not be delayed.

“Miss, the palace is not like home. We have only ever visited the Empress Consort. We haven’t met the other nobles and don’t know their temperaments. You must be careful in the palace this time. You now represent not just our residence, but also the reputation of the Empress Consort.”

Cui He had probably received specialized training; she certainly seemed to know the palace rules well, Liu Qingyue thought.

But what she cared about more now was how she could successfully avoid the political struggles and save her own life.

If it were just about being careful not to offend anyone, it wouldn’t be difficult; she could pretend to be foolish and muddle through. But they had already entered the plotline, and they were on the path of the Nine Princes’ Succession Struggle.

To make matters worse, Gu Qingjia was famously useless, and his best possible outcome was being stripped of his power and becoming a carefree Prince.

But calling him a “carefree Prince”—who knew if that wasn’t just another word for being placed under house arrest?

Gu Qingjia’s series of stories seemed to have been carelessly written by the author simply to meet KPIs.

Thinking of this, Liu Qingyue couldn’t help but frown.

Gu Qingjia was unaware of her thoughts. After getting dressed, he walked to the bed and collected the white wedding cloth (Xi Pa).

By rights, this should have been collected by a palace matron, but the First Prince’s escape had caught everyone off guard, and no one had come to take care of the cloth.

“Your Highness, Princess Consort, the carriage is ready.”

A voice sounded from outside the door, and Gu Qingjia turned to look at Liu Qingyue.

“Let’s go. Stay by my side once we enter the palace. Do not wander off unnecessarily, and do not speak carelessly.”

Knowing Liu Qingyue’s audacious nature, Gu Qingjia spoke to remind her.

“The palace is not like the Prince’s residence. Please show me some respect and don’t pinch my ear at the slightest provocation.”

Liu Qingyue pouted. She hadn’t intentionally pinched Gu Qingjia’s ear.

“I just did it out of habit, it wasn’t on purpose.”

Gu Qingjia did not speak. Whether it was on purpose or not, Liu Qingyue had been his protective shield for many years, and he would always give way to her.

Seeing that he was ignoring her, Liu Qingyue also remained silent.

After the two boarded the carriage, they sat on opposite sides, each lost in thought.

Gu Qingjia was inevitably contemplating one thing: why had the First Imperial Brother chosen to flee on the day of his wedding?

Liu Qingyue, meanwhile, was considering how to logically take Gu Qingjia, her cheap husband, away from the center of the power struggle.

The Liu family was already entangled in the conflict. After all, the Empress Consort was her maternal aunt, which already made people suspect the Liu family’s stance. Her marriage to Gu Qingjia made it even harder for the Liu family to disentangle themselves.

Especially since, in the First Prince’s book, the Third Prince, born of the Empress Consort, was a man of deep cunning. Although he outwardly enjoyed refined arts and literature, he had countless scholars and talented men under his wing.

“Liu Qingyue, this Prince is speaking to you. Are you paying attention?”

Gu Qingjia had somehow moved closer to her face, his expression showing a degree of dissatisfaction.

“Yes, I’m listening. Go on.”

Liu Qingyue nodded perfunctorily, but she didn’t look like she was paying attention at all.

Gu Qingjia rolled his eyes but didn’t press her.

Although he and Liu Qingyue had been betrothed since childhood, they had only met a handful of times. A noble young lady like her could not easily leave home, and even on the few occasions she did go out, she was surrounded by maids and nannies, absolutely forbidden from meeting unmarried men.

Gu Qingjia carefully examined Liu Qingyue’s appearance. Last night, the candlelight was dim, and he had drunk a lot of wine. After going through the motions of the ceremony, he collapsed and slept.

Looking at her today, his Princess Consort, decided upon since childhood, was truly beautiful: her skin was like congealed cream, her eyes sparkled like stars, and her small, cherry-red mouth was indeed that of a daughter raised in a distinguished household. If only her behavior were a little more reserved, she would be even more like a proper young lady of high society.

“What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen someone eat?”

Liu Qingyue had just popped a piece of pastry into her mouth when she saw him staring at her intently.

“Can’t you eat more gracefully? If you behave like this in the palace, won’t you invite gossip?”

Although Gu Qingjia said this, he still accepted the pastry and ate a piece with some tea.

He had been forced to drink a lot of wine last night and hadn’t eaten much food. He came back and fell asleep immediately, so his stomach was truly empty.

After eating the pastry, his stomach felt better, and his temper improved.

“It doesn’t matter how you behave in the Prince’s residence, but once we enter the palace, countless eyes will be watching you, waiting for you to make a mistake. If you’re slightly careless and incur His Majesty’s wrath, even this Prince may be powerless to help you.”

Gu Qingjia also didn’t enjoy putting on airs, but he was born into the Imperial family, and as a Prince, he had to maintain the proper bearing.

Liu Qingyue naturally knew this. Since she got out of bed, people had been constantly whispering warnings in her ear, and she was already well aware of the story’s plot development.

“Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. However, Your Highness should think about how to answer His Majesty’s questions. Why the First Prince fled on the day of our wedding is no small matter.”

Liu Qingyue was not threatening Gu Qingjia. Now that they were married, they were bound together, for better or for worse.

Even without affection, Liu Qingyue did not want Gu Qingjia to be punished and implicate the Liu family.

Hearing this, Gu Qingjia glanced at Liu Qingyue and said nothing further.

When the carriage reached the palace gate, Gu Qingjia first sent Liu Qingyue to the Empress Consort’s residence.

The First Prince’s escape was both a state matter and a family matter.

As the eldest son of the family, although born of a secondary consort, he was intelligent from an early age and exceptionally talented, highly praised by the Grand Tutor as having the ability to govern the nation. There had long been voices in the court advocating for the First Prince to be named Crown Prince.

The hall was already filled with people: in addition to several Princes, there were also a number of highly respected Ministers.

Gu Qingjia was one of the last to arrive. With a quick glance, he knew that the best course of action now was to remain silent.

However, Emperor Yongchang’s first glance landed directly on him.

“Fifth Prince, tell Us why your elder brother ran away from home?”

Since their youth, Emperor Yongchang had raised the Princes together, teaching them brotherly affection. Consorts from different palaces were forbidden from privately contacting the Princes without explicit Imperial decree.

Even so, Gu Qingjia’s relationship with his elder brother was not close.

The Princes, all similar in age, were born during Emperor Yongchang’s vigorous youth. He married daughters from powerful noble families and distributed his favor to various consorts, resulting in the birth of the Princes in quick succession.

But during the first few years, Emperor Yongchang did not concern himself with the affairs of the inner court. By the time he gathered them to be raised together, Gu Qingjia had already spent several years neglected by his birth mother and bullied by others.

Now, Emperor Yongchang asked Gu Qingjia, but he truly had no answer.

“Answering Father Emperor, your son does not know.”

Gu Qingjia was not deceiving the Emperor. His relationship with the First Imperial Brother was distant, so it was perfectly reasonable for him to be unaware.

Emperor Yongchang seemed to have asked casually. After hearing his reply, he did not look at him again.

“My Lords, We have truly pampered these sons too much over the years. Look, the eldest ran away from home. The third spends all his days indulging in extravagance and women. And the fourth, sixth, and seventh… not one of them eases Our mind. Only the fifth is somewhat obedient and willing to follow Our arrangements.”

The Emperor’s peripheral vision swept over his sons before he changed the subject.

“Now that the eldest is absent, which of Our sons can assist Us in managing state affairs?”

As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, several Princes instantly took a step back.

Leaving only Gu Qingjia, who hadn’t reacted in time.