I Don’t Want to Be the Heroine Anymore - Chapter 24

The next morning, Mang Ke woke up from her warm bed.

She had originally thought winters in ancient times would be bitterly cold, but upon waking, she only felt cozy warmth, as if the temperature had risen again.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the simple bed curtains before her. Although she’d been banished to the cold palace, the Empress’s treatment was still quite good. Mang Ke lazily stretched in bed before rolling over to sit up.

“Haah…”

Yawning, she rubbed her sleepy eyes.

“Your Majesty, you’re awake.”

Suddenly, Mang Ke heard someone speaking outside the bed curtains. The voice sounded older—it wasn’t Xiao Lu’s.

“Mmm, what is it?”

Mang Ke pushed aside her long hair, asking nervously, “What’s the matter so early in the morning?”

“Nothing urgent,” the older woman outside replied. “If Her Majesty the Empress is awake, please freshen up. Pure Consort will be paying a visit soon.”

Pure Consort?

Mang Ke thought for a moment but couldn’t recall who that was.

Still, washing up was necessary whether this person came or not.

Two attendants helped Mang Ke with her morning routine and dressed her. Xiao Lu stood nearby, beaming as she watched Mang Ke get prettied up.

“Your Majesty is so beautiful,” Xiao Lu fawned. “Our Empress is truly the most beautiful woman in the palace~”

Mang Ke examined herself in the bronze mirror, turning her head slightly.

In real life, Mang Ke was only average-looking at best—cute and pleasant-featured at most. But the appearance of this book’s character was strikingly different from her own.

The reflection showed delicate features, bright eyes, and pearly white teeth, with dark hair adorned by golden hairpins. Though not as extravagantly dressed as imagined, her beauty could topple cities and kingdoms.

Was this the face of a nation’s mother?

Mang Ke poked her cheek—soft and smooth.

Xiao Lu placed the final hair ornament into Mang Ke’s updo, satisfied. “With our Empress looking this stunning, that Pure Consort will surely feel ashamed when she sees you!”

The other maids couldn’t help giggling. “Indeed, Her Majesty is naturally gorgeous enough to overthrow cities. How could Pure Consort compare?”

“Exactly! She’s just a dancing girl. Whether in lineage or talent, she’s only fit to carry Your Majesty’s shoes.”

“Right, right! She’s like those nation-wrecking demons from operas, while our Empress is the merciful bodhisattva who saves souls.”

After listening for a while, Mang Ke couldn’t help asking, “Who is Pure Consort?”

Everyone: “…”

Mang Ke: “…”

Did I say something wrong again?

But she genuinely couldn’t remember who Pure Consort was.

After a long silence, Xiao Lu sighed deeply. “Your Majesty, I know you dislike us mentioning Pure Consort. She completed the formal rites with His Majesty yesterday—you must be heartbroken.”

Mang Ke: “…”

I’m not heartbroken. I don’t even know who these people are.

“Your Majesty, Pure Consort may be pretty, but she’s got that nation-ruining vixen look. You mustn’t let her upset you.”

“That’s right! You’re the Empress, Your Majesty. His Majesty won’t keep you in the cold palace forever.”

Mang Ke sat at the dressing table, listening to the three maids chattering away beside her as they cursed that ‘Pure Consort.’ She couldn’t help but sigh—no matter the dynasty, women always found it particularly easy to resonate with each other when it came to complaining.

“Your Majesty, the Empress.”

Just then, a eunuch dressed in palace attire stood at the door and addressed the room: “Pure Consort, she…”

Xiao Lu snorted. “So she’s finally here. Let her wait in the courtyard first. Her Majesty has just woken up and is still freshening up. It’ll take at least another hour.”

Mang Ke glanced at her reflection in the bronze mirror—wasn’t she already done?

The eunuch knelt on the ground, stammering for a long while before finally saying, “Um… Your Majesty, Pure Consort stayed up too late last night and hasn’t woken up yet at this hour. She… she won’t be…”

Xiao Lu glared. “Won’t be what?”

“Won’t be coming to pay her respects this morning.”

“How dare she!”

Xiao Lu was furious and shouted at the eunuch by the door, “She won’t even come to greet Her Majesty? What does this mean? Does she look down on our Empress?”

The eunuch trembled in fear—he was just a messenger. He quickly kowtowed on the ground. “This lowly one wouldn’t dare, this lowly one wouldn’t dare! It’s just that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager spent the night at the Emerald Palace and hasn’t returned yet, so Pure Consort hasn’t woken up by now. She truly didn’t mean to skip paying respects! Please forgive her, Your Majesty!!!”

With that, he kowtowed again, his forehead thudding against the floor.

Xiao Lu’s face flushed red with anger. “That shameless woman…!!!”

Mang Ke, however, wasn’t the least bit angry after hearing the explanation. In fact, she was relieved—if Pure Consort didn’t come, she could enjoy some peace. She reached out and took Xiao Lu’s hand. “Alright, don’t be so upset.”

Then, Mang Ke stood up and walked to the door, addressing the still-kneeling eunuch. “Go back and tell her I understand. She can come pay her respects when she has time.”

“Yes! Thank you for your magnanimity, Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!”

Watching the little eunuch scurry away, Xiao Lu was still fuming. She stomped her foot. “Why didn’t you make that Pure Consort come greet you? You’re the Empress—what right does she have to act like this?”

Mang Ke comforted her. “She’s just relying on the Empress Dowager’s favor to act so brazenly. Even if we forced her to come, she wouldn’t show any sincerity. Why upset ourselves over it?”

“But—”

“Enough.” Mang Ke adopted a lecturing tone, as if speaking to a child. “Her Majesty the Empress is hungry now. Go prepare breakfast for me.”

Xiao Lu, still seething, was momentarily confused. “Breakfast? What’s breakfast?”

“Hmm…” Mang Ke blinked and smiled. “Morning meal. Hurry up and get it ready—I’m starving.”

“Oh, right away, Your Majesty.” Xiao Lu snapped out of it and said, “It’s already prepared. Please follow me.”

After breakfast, Mang Ke took a stroll around the courtyard.

There wasn’t much to see in the Cold Palace. Mang Ke pondered the earlier plot—it seemed the original Empress’s father had been falsely accused of treason, leading to the execution of their entire family. The Empress Dowager, out of consideration for their eight-year relationship, had spared the Empress’s life but banished her to the Cold Palace.

Later, the modern-day special agent protagonist (now Mang Ke) had fallen from a building and accidentally transmigrated into the Empress’s body.

Seemed like a pretty standard plot.

Mang Ke mulled it over, then stretched out her hand to test something. Since she was a special agent now, shouldn’t she be super strong?

With this thought in mind, Mang Ke turned her gaze toward the peeling paint on the walls of the cold palace.

The palace maids following behind her watched as she walked straight up to the wall, none of them understanding what she intended to do.

Before they could react, they saw Mang Ke raise her fist and punch the wall with full force.

A pained cry echoed as Mang Ke clutched her hand, wailing before stumbling back and collapsing onto the ground.

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!!!”

“Heavens, someone help! Her Majesty is in despair!!!”

Mang Ke sobbed while cradling her hand, “Why is this wall so hard?! My hand hurts so much, wuuuuu, it really hurts, wuuuuuuu…”

Before the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Xun Fangyun, who was handling state affairs in the Golden Hall, saw her personal attendant approach.

“Your Majesty.”

The attendant bowed before rising to speak. “It was just reported that the Empress, in her despair at the cold palace…”

She hesitated, struggling to find a refined way to describe the sight of the Empress punching a wall. After a long pause, she finally said, “The Empress injured herself in the cold palace. It seems her mood is rather poor.”

Xun Fangyun continued writing in her self-invented simplified script with a reservoir brush, resting her chin on her hand as she calmly replied, “How is she?”

“The imperial physician has already attended to her. It’s said to be a minor contusion—nothing serious.”

“I see.”

Without looking up, Xun Fangyun said, “In the future, there’s no need to report such trivial matters to me. Only inform me when she’s on the verge of death.”

The attendant sighed and withdrew, observing Xun Fangyun’s striking yet indifferent expression.

Indeed, nothing is colder than the heart of an emperor…