Transmigrated as the Doomed Scumbag Alpha of the Eldest Princess (GL , ABO) - Chapter 1

“Shao Yuan, do you really believe she will come to save you?”

Stop dreaming.

She will not come.

Qingyi Hall was the residence of Princess Shao Yuan. The golden roof still gleamed, and the red palace doors remained firmly shut.

But inside, the hall had fallen into complete ruin.

Her already torn clothes were ripped apart even more. Shao Yuan, suppressing her pain, waited for the right moment. While her attacker was distracted, she pulled out a golden hairpin and stabbed it deep into the gland of the Marquis of Jiajing.

Jiang Si was fully aware that even in her dreams, her mind kept circling back to that infuriating ABO angst novel, The Princess as Concubine.

In the story, the child the princess didn’t want ended up saving her. That child then had her biological mother, the Marquis of Jiajing, executed as a traitor.

The princess was brought out of the Cold Palace, crowned as the new ruler, and granted amnesty to the nation.

The main couple ended in tragedy, which was exactly the kind of story Jiang Si liked. That is, until she realized that the Marquis of Jiajing had the exact same name as her.

After reading just a few chapters, she angrily dropped the novel.

But her curiosity got the better of her, and she ended up reading through the rest.

It matched her preferences too well, which led to her repeatedly dreaming about its storyline.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up.

What she saw next completely shocked her.

The sky was bright blue, and the clouds looked as soft as cotton candy.

But the place she was sitting on felt hard and elevated.

In her hand, she held a rough rope that felt strange to the touch.

Jiang Si looked down and saw a reddish-brown horse beneath her.

A horse?

Her mind went blank for a second. She had no idea what was happening.

Then a trembling voice rose from below.

“My lord… are you satisfied with this horse?”

The speaker sounded cautious and respectful. When she looked down, she saw the man suddenly drop to his knees and start pleading.

Jiang Si could not make sense of what was going on.

Wasn’t she just playing basketball with her coworkers?

One of them had lied to her. What was supposed to be a casual basketball game had turned into a surprise blind date.

She had kept her orientation hidden at work for over a year, but somehow, the new intern who had only been there for a few weeks figured her out. The girl had never dated before and wanted to help Jiang Si find a girlfriend.

The girl she introduced was sweet, but not really Jiang Si’s type. After a while, she got tired and sat down to rest. She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, she was here.

“If you do not like this horse, my lord, shall we kill it?”

A rough male voice pulled Jiang Si out of her thoughts. She looked at the speaker, then at the horse beneath her.

She could not understand how his mind worked.

But the man thought she agreed with him. He drew his sword and stepped forward.

With swift precision, he raised the blade and prepared to strike.

Jiang Si shouted, “Stop!”

Only a few minutes had passed since she woke up. She still had no idea what was happening. Why was someone about to be killed already?

She glanced at the horse, then at the man with the sword, and asked uncertainly, “Are you Cheng Pu?”

“Yes, I am General Cheng Pu,” he replied. He held the sword in one hand and bowed with great respect.

“This horse was chosen as a gift for the princess. But since it is disobedient, I thought it would be better to kill it.”

This conversation felt strangely familiar.

Jiang Si looked around. She saw the frightened horse trader kneeling on the ground and Cheng Pu standing next to her, his beard thick and his face serious.

This was exactly like a scene from The Princess as Concubine.

In the novel, the Marquis of Jiajing had gone to great lengths to prepare a meeting gift for the long princess. Knowing she had little strength and had once been injured while learning to ride, he carefully chose a horse for her.

Unfortunately, he had not explained his intentions clearly. His subordinates assumed he wanted a gentle mare, but they brought back a fiery and difficult one instead.

After much trouble, the Marquis eventually tamed the horse.

Cheng Pu, thinking he had failed, insisted on killing the animal to make up for his mistake.

Jiang Si’s parents had divorced when she was very young. Each of them remarried and sent her to live with another couple who could not have children.

For a while, they treated her like a treasure.

But within a year, they had a child of their own.

Only then did Jiang Si understand. She had only been taken in because they hoped it would help them conceive. Once they got what they wanted, they brought her back.

Her life after that was neither terrible nor great.

But she was not their real daughter. How good could it truly have been?

Still, Jiang Si had always been grateful. They had provided her with more than enough, so once she became an adult, she started earning money to repay them. She even managed to save a large amount of money in her bank account, which she planned to leave for her younger half-brother.

Once he reached adulthood, the money would be handed over to him.

Jiang Si had grown up independent, and her ability to adapt was strong. But even so, waking up inside a novel she had just read the day before was something she could never have prepared for.

“Wait. Keep the horse,” she said.

“But…” Cheng Pu started to protest. Jiang Si gave him a sharp look, and he swallowed his words, going silent immediately.

Since she was already here, she might as well accept it.

Although her upbringing had taught her to stay emotionally detached from most things, there was one thing she feared deeply. She feared death.

Of all the people she could have become, she had to end up as the one who brought about her own downfall. She had become the infamous Marquis of Jiajing.

That was the woman who, during a time of national crisis, used the situation to force the long princess into becoming her concubine. After years of humiliation, she was stabbed in the gland and killed. Her own daughter became an accomplice and had her executed for treason.

Now that Jiang Si had somehow ended up in this world, she had no intention of repeating that tragic ending.

“The long princess… she should be arriving soon, right?” Jiang Si only remembered the early chapters of the novel. The story began with the Marquis of Jiajing pressuring the emperor into giving up his elder sister to be married off as a concubine to a border general.

She had skipped the long emotional drama that followed. All she remembered were the major events.

Asking about the princess was just her way of changing the subject. But when Cheng Pu heard the question, his face twisted with annoyance. He clicked his tongue and replied, “About two more days, I think.”

Jiang Si’s lips twitched slightly. She had no idea why he sounded so disgusted, but she nodded and tried to dismount from the horse.

The problem was, she had never ridden a horse before. The riding outfit was heavy and uncomfortably tight, making her movements stiff. As she tried to swing her leg down, her foot slipped, and she lost her balance.

Cheng Pu reacted quickly and caught her by the shoulder. His voice trembled with concern.

“My lord, are you alright?”

Not far from them, the horse merchant who had just started to relax dropped to his knees again.

He had been shaking earlier, but now he looked like he might fall apart completely.

The others standing nearby, whose names Jiang Si couldn’t remember, also looked just as terrified.

Only Cheng Pu was different. His expression showed both worry and fury, which made Jiang Si feel incredibly uneasy.

Cheng Pu was a loyal man but lacked intelligence. Because of this, the original Marquis of Jiajing never liked him. Once more talented people began gathering around her, the marquis had pushed Cheng Pu aside and sent him back to guard the homeland.

Such a devoted follower had been discarded, and that decision came back to haunt her later when her enemies turned against her in the capital.

Cruel, arrogant, prideful, and completely lacking in humility. It was no surprise the original Marquis ended up with nothing.

Still, even though Cheng Pu seemed loyal, Jiang Si felt uncomfortable having a man touch her.

She raised her hand and gently pushed him away. To her surprise, he stumbled back several steps. The force of her push sent her own body tipping forward, and she fell again.

This time no one caught her. Her elbow hit the ground hard, and she fell completely.

The pain made her wince, but she didn’t have time to complain. The looks on everyone’s faces were just too strange.

Cheng Pu was the first to move. He rushed back to her side, his eyebrows furrowed.

“My lord, were you exhausted from last night at the Emerald Pavilion?”

“Or maybe the air was cold and Xiang Ning forgot to cover you with a blanket?”

“What are you talking about?” Jiang Si’s eyes widened in panic. She stared at Cheng Pu, her voice trembling.

She had no idea what he was referring to, but two words stood out clearly.

Emerald Pavilion sounded like the name of a brothel.

Xiang Ning sounded like a courtesan.

Jiang Si had been single her entire life. She valued her purity and had always been strict with herself about matters like this.

Now that she had become the Marquis of Jiajing, she would not allow herself to get involved with anyone.

Cheng Pu clearly didn’t understand why she looked so angry. He had seen this kind of reaction before and immediately dropped to his knees.

“This is my fault. Please punish me, my lord,” he said. Then he added, “No, I’ll go accept fifty strikes from the military myself.”

Without giving her a chance to respond, he turned and ran off.

The people around them exchanged glances but quickly lowered their heads again.

Jiang Si didn’t recognize a single one of them and had no idea who she could call on to stop Cheng Pu and ask what was going on.

She had twisted her ankle during the fall, and now she was walking with a slight limp. No one dared to approach her the way Cheng Pu had. They all stayed still, heads bowed.

Each step felt slow and difficult.

Partly because of the pain, and partly because Jiang Si didn’t even know which way led to a place she could rest.

Just then, black smoke rose from the training grounds, and a few horses came galloping toward her.

Cheng Pu had returned, this time with two female generals beside him.

Before either of them could speak, Cheng Pu stepped forward and said, “My lord, I will accept my punishment later. But right now, something urgent has come up.”

“The long princess has entered the city.”

“Should we have Xiang Ning start preparing?”

“And also—”

“What exactly is going on with Xiang Ning?” Jiang Si gritted her teeth and asked. Out of habit, she put pressure on her injured foot, which nearly made her fall again.

This time it was not Cheng Pu who came to her side, but one of the female generals. She waved her hand, and the other woman joined her. Together, they supported Jiang Si between them.

Cheng Pu tried to clear the way.

“Move aside. All of you, step back. The marquis has injured her ankle. If she misses the chance to meet the long princess, will any of you be able to take responsibility?”

He meant well, but his voice was loud, and it echoed across the entire training ground.

Jiang Si felt completely overwhelmed. Even though she was only pretending to be the marquis, she was already sick of hearing all this. If the real Marquis of Jiajing were here, she would have been thoroughly humiliated by now.

Jiang Si looked around and decided that the two female generals seemed much more dependable. Fortunately, they moved quickly. Before long, they had helped her into the inner courtyard of the marquis’s residence.

Two maids stood by the gate. When they saw her approach, they bowed and quickly opened the door.

The stern-faced female general standing to Jiang Si’s left spoke in a firm voice.
“Step back.”

“Yes, General,” the two maids responded quickly. They bowed and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Jiang Si was helped onto the bed. As she sat down, the general on her right gave a small smile and teased,
“Ye Chan, don’t you know how to be gentle with someone so delicate?”

Ye Chan lifted her eyes and replied without emotion.
“Stop talking and treat the marquis’s injury.”

The other general didn’t take offense. She smiled again and began to roll up Jiang Si’s pant leg.

Jiang Si felt nervous and instinctively raised her hand to stop her. The general looked up at her. Her smile was gone, replaced with a serious and respectful look.

“My lord, do you not trust Su Xun’s medical skills?”

“I do. Of course I do,” Jiang Si replied quickly.

Ye Chan’s name didn’t ring a bell, but Su Xun’s did. She remembered Su Xun from the novel. She had fallen in love with a lady-in-waiting who served the long princess. Neither of them had a good ending, but their loyalty had never wavered.

It was strange to think about. The Marquis of Jiajing’s soldiers had been loyal and respectful, yet the marquis herself was always suspicious of everyone and trusted no one.

As Jiang Si was lost in thought, Su Xun suddenly pressed on her injured ankle. Jiang Si let out a sharp cry before she could stop herself.

Ye Chan’s cold expression turned to concern.
“My lord, are you hurt?”

What could she say? Of course she was hurt. It was painful.

Still, Jiang Si couldn’t break character. She clenched her teeth, took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm.
“I’m fine,” she answered through the pain.

Su Xun’s hands were steady and skilled. Within a few minutes, the pain had eased. Jiang Si placed her foot on the floor and walked a few steps to test it. It still ached, but it was much better.

She lifted her hand to gesture for them to leave. She wanted some time to think about the plot and what would happen next. But before she could speak, Ye Chan called out toward the door.
“Bring in the maids to help the marquis change clothes.”

Change clothes? For what?

Jiang Si felt confused but dared not protest. She was afraid they would notice she was not the real marquis.

She let the maids dress her without resistance. A moment later, she was led out to the front courtyard.

The bright red wedding robe and the festive decorations everywhere made her ankle throb even more.

Her head began to hurt too.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Ye Chan, standing at her side, spoke again.
“My lord, the long princess should arrive at the marquis’s residence in about half an hour. Miss Xiang Ning is already prepared.”

Xiang Ning. Who was that? Could someone please explain?

Even without knowing the full details, Jiang Si was sure this situation was not good.

If the long princess was being taken as a concubine, she would not enter through the main gate, and certainly not with such a public display. This did not match the character of the Marquis of Jiajing at all.

So this wedding had to be a show, a way to humiliate the princess.

Jiang Si shivered and remembered the scene in the novel when the princess stabbed the marquis in the gland with a golden hairpin.

Without hesitation, she pulled off the red wedding robe and gave Su Xun a push.
“Go. Send Xiang Ning away. Right now.”

At this moment, she didn’t care about being exposed. Compared to the golden hairpin in the hands of the long princess, anything else was less terrifying.

In her last life, she had been poor and alone. Now that she had wealth and power, why throw it away for nothing?

Jiang Si’s sudden reaction startled both Su Xun and Ye Chan.

After all, it had been Ye Chan who came up with the idea to bring in Xiang Ning. Now that the marquis was rejecting her so strongly, Ye Chan felt she had made a serious mistake.

“My lord, what did I do wrong?” she asked.

Ye Chan did not move. Instead, she looked directly at Jiang Si and questioned her.

Jiang Si had no interest in explaining. She grabbed Su Xun and dragged her toward the front entrance.

Su Xun was not small or weak. Her body was strong and well-built. But Jiang Si pulled her easily without much effort.

She didn’t have time to care about appearances. If Ye Chan wasn’t going to act, then Su Xun would have to do it herself.

They reached the gate just as the red bridal sedan was about to be carried through. Cheng Pu was busy organizing the people around him.

Jiang Si raised her voice.
“Cheng Pu. Stop right there.”

Cheng Pu turned his head, and for a moment, Jiang Si’s eyes shifted toward the back of the wedding procession. She saw someone stepping down from a carriage behind the sedan.

The figure was dressed in soft peach-pink robes. Her beauty was breathtaking.

But her expression was cold and distant. The soft color of her gown could not hide the icy aura surrounding her.