Delicate Beauty Steals the Spring [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 1

Yu Luo still couldn’t believe the reality before her eyes.

She had transmigrated into a men’s fiction novel called The Road of the Tyrant.

The male lead, Li Xiao, was the heir of Prince Qin. He rose to fame at a young age and rendered great military service to the Jing Dynasty.

Because of his outstanding achievements and growing reputation, the shrewd emperor began to fear him. The entire Prince Qin’s household was executed, and Li Xiao barely escaped with his life.

Before the downfall of Prince Qin’s residence, Li Xiao had been a noble young gentleman, gentle in manner and calm in conduct.

After his family was slaughtered, however, he became cold, ruthless, and violent—a truly dark, gloomy, yandere-like overlord.

In the early stages, to avoid pursuit from the court, Li Xiao concealed his power, changed his identity, and hid within the Marquis of Shunning’s household, disguised as an ordinary guard.

The eldest daughter of the Yu family, Yu Luo, was arrogant and domineering, spoiled beyond measure by her family, and enjoyed beating and scolding the servants.

After suffering the injustice of his parents’ murder, Li Xiao had become detached and unwilling to flatter anyone, which drew the attention of Miss Yu.

Every time she saw him, she would lash him with a whip until his body was covered in wounds.

The very title The Road of the Tyrant already suggested the male lead’s fate: Li Xiao would walk the path of darkness, rise in power step by step, and cruelly take revenge on those who wronged him.

As for the arrogant Miss Yu who had humiliated him, Li Xiao had her tied to a red-hot iron pillar and flogged to death.

Yu Luo: “…”

The reason she had read The Road of the Tyrant was simply because her best friend had told her that there was a side character in it with the same name as her.

But who would have thought that after a single night’s sleep, she would wake up to find herself inside this book—becoming the tragically doomed Miss Yu.

Yu Luo looked at herself in the mirror.

Even her appearance was exactly the same as her original body.

Only, her real hair had never been this long. In the novel, Miss Yu had kept her hair long since childhood, cascading down to her calves, and every day several maids were needed to carefully comb and serve her.

Thankfully, though this was ancient times, it was a fictional dynasty that did not require noble ladies to bind their feet.

Yu Luo touched her hair, then lifted her long skirt to check her feet, and finally let out a slow breath of relief.

The Road of the Tyrant was over seven million words long. Even if one removed all the author’s filler and unnecessary scenes, there were still plenty of plotlines to slowly unfold.

Perhaps she hadn’t even encountered the male lead Li Xiao yet.

As long as, when she did meet him, she did absolutely nothing—pretended not to see him—her tragic fate might be avoided.

—So why didn’t Yu Luo just cling to the male lead’s thigh?

Answer: Li Xiao was the protagonist of a male-oriented novel, not the devoted romance-obsessed hero of a romance story.

Even though Li Xiao himself cared only for power and not love, in order to attract more male readers and earn more rewards, the author still introduced many female supporting characters.

Aside from villains like Miss Yu, every other woman of beauty would fall hopelessly in love with Li Xiao, becoming part of his harem.

But Li Xiao was utterly indifferent, treating all women with the same coldness. No matter how fierce their jealous quarrels, he wouldn’t spare them a glance.

Yu Luo had no desire to be entangled in such endless strife.

Since the male lead was the very center of all conflict, as long as she didn’t offend him, she should naturally stay as far away as possible.

Outside, heavy rain was pouring, the sound faintly audible in the distance.

It was night, and Yu Luo gave a light cough.

Her bedchamber door creaked open, and a maid in a blue dress tiptoed inside, checking if her young lady’s quilt had fallen off the bed.

The Marquis and Marchioness doted heavily on their legitimate daughter. Even if she had the slightest headache or fever, the servants would be severely punished.

But upon opening the door, the maid saw her mistress sitting before the mirror in nothing but her underclothes, barefoot.

The maid turned pale with fright: “Y-Young Miss…”

Hearing the trembling, nearly tearful voice, Yu Luo frowned in puzzlement: Am I some kind of man-eater? Why is she so scared of me?

Then she fell silent.

Yu Luo herself wouldn’t eat people, but the original Miss Yu was nearly just as terrifying.

Every maid who had ever served her had been harshly punished.

As a newcomer to this world, Yu Luo knew the most important thing was not to let anyone realize that a different soul now inhabited this body.

Given the superstitions of ancient times, at best they might call in shamans to exorcise her; at worst, they might treat her as a demon and kill her.

The most crucial thing was not to break character.

She thought carefully. As the noble eldest daughter, Miss Yu’s mother came from a ducal family, while her father was the Marquis of Shunning—her household was naturally grand.

Just in this chamber alone, she had two first-class maids, two second-class maids, eight third-class maids, plus several rough servant women.

If this maid had entered her private chamber, she must be a first-class maid.

Yu Luo turned and said coolly, “The candlelight is weak. Who has entered?”

The maid quickly answered, “Young Miss, it’s me, Ziming.”

She nervously brought over a pair of finely embroidered shoes.

Back in Yu Luo’s real life, her father had been the richest man in Province X, and her household also had many housekeepers and nannies.

Even so, she was never used to others putting shoes on her feet.

She shrank back slightly, reaching to take the shoes and put them on herself.

Ziming thought her mistress was about to slap her, and shut her eyes in terror.

Yu Luo: “…”

Forget it.

Whatever she did right now might raise suspicion; she couldn’t break character.

She pulled her hand back. “Never mind.”

When the expected slap didn’t come, Ziming’s heart leapt with relief. She quickly grasped Yu Luo’s small, pale, ice-cold foot and slipped the embroidered shoe on for her.

Then she draped a cloak embroidered with cranes and bamboo over Yu Luo’s shoulders.

Though she had no idea why her mistress would be sitting before a mirror at midnight instead of sleeping, Ziming didn’t dare to ask.

Miss Yu’s behavior was always eccentric; one extra question could easily earn two slaps.

From the mirror, Yu Luo carefully studied Ziming, trying to memorize her face to avoid future slip-ups.

Ziming looked about seventeen or eighteen, tall and slender but far too thin. Her features were delicate and pretty, but her bearing was timid, and in Yu Luo’s presence she constantly showed fear, as though expecting to be struck at any moment.

Yu Luo noticed red marks on her cheek and the back of her hand, as if pricked by hairpins.

The original Miss Yu had loved tormenting her maids, often stabbing their mouths with pins.

Yu Luo felt a pang of pity. She didn’t want the girl to live in constant fear, but she said nothing further, only gestured for her to leave.

Ziming retreated in dread, then breathed a sigh of relief once outside.

For some reason…

She felt that tonight, her mistress seemed unusually gentle.