Rumble, rumble...
In a daze, the sound that reached Wang Yu's ears was the rolling of an ancient carriage, just like the sound effects in historical television dramas. Then came the bumping beneath him. Though his hand brushed against a thick blanket, the jolting was still distinctly uncomfortable.
Opening his eyes, he saw wooden beams overhead, draperies hanging on either side, tassels swaying in the fresh breeze, latticed windows letting in the sunlight, green tree shadows flashing past outside...
And a pair of bright eyes looking down at him with an ambiguous smile.
"Awake?" The owner of those bright eyes curved her lips into a smile, a subtle hint of teasing in her gentle voice.
"And to think you look identical to Young Prince Zhao! My young mistress started teaching you martial arts so early on, yet you fainted in terror before the dagger was even a foot away!" A crisp voice rang out from the other side.
"Zi Ling, mind your manners." The owner of the bright eyes glanced at her maid. Zi Ling shrank her neck, made a face at Wang Yu, and obediently fell silent.
Wang Yu looked back at the woman with the bright eyes and heard her say, "I just checked your pulse. You merely fainted from fright. There is nothing serious."
Wang Yu stared blankly at her. She wore an elegant, understated brocade dress patterned with silver clouds, her hair held by a slanted jasper hairpin. She was graceful, serene, and breathtakingly beautiful. Seeing Wang Yu looking somewhat dazed, she couldn't help waving a hand before his eyes, the twisted silver bracelet around her wrist making her snow-white skin look even fairer.
"Still, you need to begin your martial arts training. If you act like this once we return to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, I'm afraid you won't be able to keep those proud, battle-hardened soldiers in line, and you'll easily give yourself away." She added with pointed emphasis, "Don't forget there are still people you care about back in the capital."
Meeting the lively gleam hidden beneath her calm gaze, a name instantly flashed through Wang Yu's mind: Li Yunxiu.
At the same time, memories belonging to the original owner of this body flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.
The original host was also named Wang Yu, a native of Pingjin Prefecture in the Jingji Circuit. He had hailed from a reasonably well-off family and had studied reading and writing. However, with the death of both parents several years ago, the household had gradually fallen into ruin.
Just as the original host was trying to scrape together a living, a group of mysterious men suddenly came knocking at his door and abducted him to the capital.
It turned out he looked completely identical to Zhao Yu, the heir to the Prince of Zhenxi!
Not long ago, Zhao Zheng, the Prince of Zhenxi, had died. He had only one son, Zhao Yu, who had been sent to the imperial capital ten years ago to serve as a hostage prince. The current emperor was unwilling to let Zhao Yu leave the capital to take over the fief, yet lacked the confidence to seize direct control of the Zhenxi faction—a faction boasting troops, wealth, and territory, which took orders only when it suited them and had long since become an autonomous realm. So, upon discovering that there was a man named Wang Yu within his realm who looked identical to Zhao Yu, the emperor immediately had him kidnapped to the capital and ordered him to impersonate Zhao Yu, travel to the Zhenxi fief, and take over the entire Prince of Zhenxi's power base!
To prevent Wang Yu from slipping out of control, the emperor had even bestowed an imperial marriage upon him, wedding him to the illustrious female Zhuangyuan, Li Yunxiu, as his consort, sending her along to the fief to manage the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor.
Besides that...
A smiling face with bright eyes and pearly white teeth flashed through Wang Yu's mind. She too had been brought to the capital with him and settled within the Imperial City. Although she had no freedom, she was at least well-provided for.
More memories surged forward. After arriving in the capital, he had been drilled in deportment, etiquette, and expressions to mimic Zhao Yu's persona to the utmost—an arrogant, debauched, eccentric, and domineering princely scion.
At the same time, Li Yunxiu had taught him the basics of meridians and the fundamentals of martial arts. Zhao Zheng, the Prince of Zhenxi, was a world-renowned martial arts grandmaster; no matter how dissolute Zhao Yu was, he carried that heritage, possessing considerable internal strength and sword skills. Wang Yu had to at least put on a convincing show. He didn't have to fight, but his everyday bearing could not betray weakness or ignorance.
However, the original Wang Yu had devoted most of his energy to mimicking Zhao Yu's mannerisms, neglecting his martial arts. When they were ambushed by assassins on the road, facing the sheer terror of death for the first time, he was literally frightened to death.
And then, Wang Yu from another world took over the nest, inheriting his body and merging with his memories.
This Wang Yu was also that Wang Yu.
*An ancient world? A wuxia world?* Having absorbed the original host's memories, Wang Yu gained an understanding of this world. Though the original host's status meant his knowledge wasn't particularly deep, he was at least not completely in the dark.
At the very least, he knew that the Li Yunxiu before him, despite coming from a minor aristocratic clan in the Jingji Circuit, was exceptionally gifted in both literary and martial arts. Faced with her family's scheme to use her as a bargaining chip in marriage, she had decisively disguised herself as a man to sit the imperial examinations, advancing all the way to the palace examination and clinching the title of Zhuangyuan before her identity was finally revealed.
Although her status as a woman disqualified her from being officially recorded among the top ranks, the emperor, sympathetic to her plight, issued a special imperial decree nullifying the Li family's arranged marriage and appointed Li Yunxiu to the Hanlin Academy. Thus, Li Yunxiu's fame as the "female Zhuangyuan" resounded across the realm, her literary reputation outstripping even her martial prowess.
Yet her martial arts were by no means lacking. The original Wang Yu had seen palace guards unable to last even two moves against her, and the concepts she taught him sounded profound and esoteric.
And now, this female Zhuangyuan—accomplished in both civil and martial arts—was his princess consort?
Instinctively, Wang Yu reached out to take the hand Li Yunxiu was waving in front of him.
Li Yunxiu's eyes flickered, but she took his hand anyway and pulled him up. Then, with a gentle twist of her wrist, she effortlessly made him release his grip.
Beside them, Zi Ling couldn't stifle a giggle. Sticking out her tongue at Wang Yu, she mouthed teasingly, *Toad lusting after swan meat.*
Only then did Wang Yu remember that he was a fake prince. The emperor had bestowed the marriage mainly so Li Yunxiu could take charge of affairs in the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor. It certainly didn't mean he could actually share a bed with her.
Then he heard Li Yunxiu say, "The late emperor's northern expedition met with failure, and unrest broke out in the southwest last year. These are turbulent times. The Prince of Zhenxi commands fifty thousand troops, holding down the western frontier and keeping both the Western Regions and the Qiang nomads of Mobei in awe. You must bring this power under control for His Majesty's use. Do not fail His Majesty's trust."
Wang Yu reflected on the world's background from his memories. On the surface, it appeared prosperous and thriving, but beneath lay a raging fire.
Searching his memories, he recalled that the reigning emperor had ascended the throne two years ago. Reputed to be a visionary and diligent ruler, the emperor had even granted him an audience not long ago, instructing him to cooperate fully with Li Yunxiu, take control of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, and serve the court.
Back then, the original Wang Yu hadn't dared to look directly at the sovereign; judging solely by voice, the emperor sounded both dignified and genial. Now that he had transmigrated, he felt a twinge of regret that he hadn't seen what a real, living emperor in ancient times looked like with his own eyes.
Speaking of looks, what made Wang Yu happiest was that both the original host and Zhao Yu were extraordinarily handsome men, living up to his own pre-transmigration confidence in his appearance!
Seeing Wang Yu staring off into space with a rather silly grin, Li Yunxiu shook her head in exasperation, feeling as though she had just been casting pearls before swine. She decided to get straight to business.
"The martial arts of the Zhenxi lineage are called *Flowing Fire Reflection*. Once mastered, it allows one to step directly into the Xiantian realm. However, when Zhao Yu was sent to the capital ten years ago, he only possessed the first three levels of the manual. I have already taught them to you. Since there is nothing else to attend to right now, begin your cultivation.
"Though you have never practiced martial arts and your meridians are narrow and blocked, you have not yet reached the age of capping. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can still achieve something."
Li Yunxiu sighed, then retrieved a medicinal pill from a small rosewood box beside her. "This is a Lesser Restoration Pill from the Prajna Monastery. They can only refine one batch a year, and it can help you gain three years' worth of cultivation. I originally planned to give it to you after you crossed the threshold of the art. Taking it now is somewhat like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, and it will waste some of the medicinal efficacy, but pressing times call for desperate measures. We cannot afford to be so particular."
Wang Yu's eyes lit up. He was already getting to see a cultivation-boosting pill from a wuxia world?
Was the pacing really this fast?
Although Li Yunxiu had remarked that he had never practiced martial arts, that his meridians were blocked, and that his future ceiling was low, Wang Yu decisively brushed that aside.
He had just survived an assassination attempt!
His priority was to handle what was right in front of him and build up his martial arts first. At the very least, he needed some ability to fight back against assassins. Future concerns could wait for the future.
He didn't suspect Li Yunxiu of trying to poison him; after all, she relied on him to take control of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, and if she wanted to poison him, she wouldn't have waited until now.
"Take it first, and I will help you disperse the medicinal strength," Li Yunxiu said, handing the pill to Wang Yu.
Wang Yu looked at the thumb-sized, brownish pill in his hand, which gave off waves of herbal fragrance. His mouth twitched slightly as he glanced left and right, searching for something.
"What are you looking for?" Li Yunxiu asked.
"I'm looking for water," Wang Yu spoke for the first time since transmigrating, holding up the Lesser Restoration Pill. "It's so big—do I chew it or wash it down with water? Surely I'm not supposed to swallow it whole?"
He didn't know martial arts yet and was incapable of swallowing such a large pill dry.
Li Yunxiu: "..."
She suddenly felt that the Wang Yu before her was somewhat different from before. Gone was the nervousness concealed beneath a feigned arrogance; his mannerisms seemed far more natural and at ease.
Zi Ling was quick on her feet and poured a cup of tea, handing it to Wang Yu. "Wash it down with water!"
Wang Yu looked at Li Yunxiu. "Take it right now?"
Li Yunxiu nodded. "Right now."
Without hesitation, Wang Yu popped the Lesser Restoration Pill into his mouth and washed it down with the tea.
In a flash, Li Yunxiu moved behind Wang Yu and pressed a jade-like hand against his back, right over his heart. Wang Yu felt a warm current flow in from behind, heading straight for his lower abdomen.
"Focus your mind and feel my inner strength. I will use my inner strength to guide the medicinal power through your meridians, circulating *Flowing Fire Reflection* to help you master its first level," Li Yunxiu said.
The next moment, Wang Yu felt another warm current rise in his lower abdomen, merging into one with the true qi Li Yunxiu had channeled into his body.
The combined warm current started from the Qihai point in his lower dantian, flowed up and down through the Foot Shaoyang and Foot Jueyin meridians, and then entered the Hand Shaoyin and Hand Taiyang meridians, coursing through his chest and abdomen. This was precisely the circulation route for the first level of *Flowing Fire Reflection*.
However, perhaps because Wang Yu had not yet crossed the threshold of the cultivation method and was unable to guide it independently, he felt the heat contained within the warm current rapidly cooling. It would probably be completely exhausted after just a few heavenly circuits.
Just then, his head spun. He seemed to see an ancient, weathered tortoise shell suddenly appear in his mind. The already cooling medicinal power began to drop in temperature even faster.
Yet at the same time, the tortoise shell emitted a hazy glow. Nine patterns seemingly formed by nature flashed briefly across its surface before settling back into silence.
*Wait, isn't this the tortoise-shell hand-toy piece I bargained for at the antique market two days ago?*
*What kind of cheat code only costs eighty yuan?!*