The Eastern Palace's Blessed Concubine (Qing Dynasty)

[The print edition goes on presale at 7:00 p.m. on March 28, with a limited number of copies featuring special author signatures! The print edition also includes several exclusive bonus chapters. If you love A Wan and the Crown Prince, go check it out!] After working herself to the bone for 996 years, Cheng Wanyun finally dropped dead from exhaustion. She transmigrated, but before she could enjoy the good life for more than a few days, she was assigned the lowly title of a palace maid in the Yuheng Palace. Cheng Wanyun: “...” Everyone knew Yinreng’s later years would be miserable. But right now, Yinreng was only a boy who had just turned fifteen: handsome and bright, gentle and dignified, proud and self-assured. Cheng Wanyun counted on her fingers. Yinreng wouldn’t be confined and die for at least another twenty years. Well then... she’d lie down for a while first. If he was deposed, so be it. She was too tired to make an effort anyway. If he was confined, so be it. A bed was a bed, wherever you were. While others schemed for favor, dancing in the garden in gauzy dresses during winter, Cheng Wanyun sat by the brazier, watching the snow and munching on fragrant roast duck. While others fought palace intrigues, secretly setting people against one another to get them punished, Cheng Wanyun raised her children and made time to pet the cats and dogs. While others chose sides, with the principal consort and secondary consorts locked in a standoff, Cheng Wanyun sipped milk tea and played cards: “I’ll take that!” She blithely lounged her way to the forty-seventh year of Kangxi’s reign, then belatedly wondered: Why hadn’t she been deposed yet? Ever since Yinreng took Cheng as his consort, they slept together, and he occasionally had strange dreams. Every one of them came true. As time went on, he remembered more and more. Those were his past life: a father and son at odds, brothers fighting one another, a younger brother dying young, and his own deposition and death in confinement. With only fragments of those memories to guide him, he planned every step carefully, yet still felt as if he were treading on thin ice. Meanwhile, Cheng... slept soundly, without a care in the world. Yinreng: How infuriating. Yet he still gazed down tenderly and tucked the blanket around her. Perhaps Changshengtian knew the road ahead would be rough for him, and so granted him a little lucky star. He fought with sword in hand, drenched in blood and covered in wounds, while she was the peach-blossom refuge waiting at the end of his road. Reader's Guide: [Important: This is not a first-love-only story, and the heroine is not the hero's sole favorite at the beginning. This story is not for readers who require both leads to have had no prior relationships.] 1. The heroine has a golden finger, but she doesn't know it. (Shrugs.) 2. The Fourth Prince is not portrayed negatively. (The First and Eighth Princes, historical rivals of the Crown Prince, will be the antagonists in this story. If that bothers you, please don't read.) 3. Most of this is invented, so please don't nitpick the history. Hugs! 4. I usually update six chapters a day. If something comes up in real life, I'll update three. I'll keep posting daily until the story is complete, so feel free to dive in! 6. I can only take responsibility for comments from readers of the legitimate edition. (Feel free to leave comments and share your thoughts.) Kisses! 7. A song-and-dance-filled thank-you to every reader who supports the legitimate edition! Sweet, sweet kisses for you! (Does a Huang Bo-style wiggle.) Theme: Enjoy life, and good fortune will come your way.