The Chronicle of Yun Shu

Blurb [A Child Starved of Love Has Moved In; No Updates for Now]: She had a father who was a Grand Preceptor even emperors treated with respect, a fiancé and senior fellow disciple willing to pluck the moon from the sky for her, a senior sister who treated her like a real sister, and a Crown Prince she could bully to her heart's content. The only imperfection in Yun Shu's life was that in a country where thinness was considered beautiful, she was plump and adorably round, not even qualified to be a pretty ornament. But all of it was false, and deadly. Except for her plumpness. Her father failed to protect her for life. Her senior brother and senior sister became lovers and locked her in a dungeon, where icy pipa hooks pierced her to the bone and her flesh was harvested again and again to make medicine. If she hadn't been plump, she wouldn't have lasted three days. A month later, she dragged her emaciated, badly wounded body to the furnace and threw herself into the blazing alchemical fire. Only then did she see the Crown Prince come to save her, still locked in a bitter fight. The gentle, aloof Crown Prince finally revealed his ruthless, murderous side. But it was too late... Her round face, its eyes cold, suddenly opened. At this moment, her father would leave on imperial orders in three days. The disaster would happen in a month. The Crown Prince would be imprisoned in forty-five days... Turning the round bead threaded onto the red cord around her wrist, Yun Shu slapped the senior brother who was bullying the Crown Prince. No one could stop her from continuing to live happily and plumply. * Unaware of the determined glint hidden in the Crown Prince's lowered eyes, she led him into Tianmen Tower and used her blood to seal the pact of life and death between the emperors and Grand Preceptors of generations past. And he led her up to the high terrace, where she looked down over the realm and wrote a future of peaceful lands and contented people. Many years later, when Empress Dowager Shengwu, Yun Shu, the last Grand Preceptor of the Great Xia dynasty, looked back on her life, she smiled and sighed. "Who can say that the player isn't also a piece on the board?" * "I paved your path to the throne. What more could you want?" "The clouds are lonely. I can't enjoy them all by myself." * "You govern diligently and wisely, while I enjoy being plump. We both get what we want. Isn't that wonderful?" "The affairs of state are demanding. I must trouble the Grand Preceptor to accompany me to the palace. Today, we have... crab-stuffed taro." * "You lost His Majesty just three thousand li from here? If anything has happened to him... You all deserve to die!" "It's only been thirty days since I last saw you, Grand Preceptor, and you've lost weight." [Serious Blurb] (Everything gained comes at a cost. If you could receive the utmost favor and live like a pampered idler, would you want that? What if you had to become food for someone else's tongue in exchange?) Since ancient times, emperors have pursued immortality. The Great Xia dynasty established the office of Grand Preceptor, whose prestige and favor rivaled that of the emperor. Yun Shu was born the only daughter of the Grand Preceptor, showered with every affection. It seemed she could become a winner in life without lifting a finger, yet she always felt something was wrong, plagued by nightmares and anxiety every day. Through deliberate and accidental probing, she discovered that everyone around her, whether they harmed her or protected her, was hiding a secret about her. She thought that if she followed her dreams and avoided danger, she could live safely. But she never imagined that from the moment she was born, she had already been trapped in a fate controlled by others. To survive, she had to become Grand Preceptor, but becoming Grand Preceptor meant certain death... The founding emperor had stumbled upon a method of extending his life, but it required the flesh and blood of a medicine vessel. That was why the office of Grand Preceptor was created. It turned out that the pact of life and death was the greatest deception in the world... Already caught in the game, with no way back, she could only move forward. If she wanted to live, she had to find a way to break the game... * Yun Shu: Father, did you ask me if I wanted this life you gave me? Yun Lang: You're my daughter... Yun Shu: I didn't have to be... I wasn't even meant to be! * Yun Shu: Deputy Minister, you knew all along, didn't you? Li Lin: Yes... Yun Shu: Since when? Li Lin: It's a required lesson for the Crown Prince. Yun Shu: You know I want to live, don't you? Li Lin: Yes. I want to live too. But if the nation isn't strong and the people aren't safe, what gives us the right to want that? * Yun Shu: Your Majesty, nothing will happen to you. As long as I'm here, you won't die. Li Lin: ...Stop, Yuanyuan... Stop... Don't let me become like that... Don't let the people of the future become like our ancestors. Note: 1. This is transmigration, not being reborn. The circumstances of the transmigration will be barely noticeable, very barely noticeable. 2. I'm terrible at blurbs and titles. The author did her best, QAQ... 3. This isn't exactly a proper romance. It's the "cheat-powered" life of a little medicine vessel. 4. Light mystery. A foodie Grand Preceptor striving to live like a lazy fish VS A scheming emperor working hard to woo the Grand Preceptor P.S. Visit the author's profile for more stories. Please add them to your favorites~ Updating daily alongside this story: "The Qingluan Road" Completed works: "The Wish-Fulfilling Princess Consort Has Her Hands Full," "A Beauty's Wish (Quick Transmigration)," "The Chief of the Imperial Fragrance Court," "The Runaway Concubine's Beloved Wife," "The Female Supporting Character Is a Night Cat [Quick Transmigration]," "Raised a Cat After Transmigrating as a Koi," "After the Tyrant's Daughter Ascended the Throne," "The Prime Minister's Dark Moonlight Was Reborn," "The Bandit Woman of the General's Family," "Elder Sister," "All the Powerful Men Loved Me After I Died," "Married to My Ex-Husband's Archrival," "The White Moonlight Holds a Dead-End Script," "Falling in Love After Divorce," "The Heroine of the Old-School Tragic Romance Quits" Theme: Self-reliance and independence, steadfastness and perseverance