The Princess Is On Top (GL) - Chapter 1

In the sixty-third year of Tianhe, Emperor Heren passed away. His posthumous edict named his fifth imperial son, Yu Han, as his successor. When the emperor died, his third imperial son, Yu Ke, was racing back to the capital from the borderlands, but in the end, he did not make it in time.

When he heard the edict on the road, grief showed on his face, yet he rebuked it in anger: “Father is unjust. I joined the army at twelve and fought for the Great Wu Dynasty for fifteen years, expanding our borders, driving back the Hu people, warring against Western Chu, and never once did I utter a single word of hardship. Yet now he passes the throne to an ignorant brat. Truly, it chills the heart. Above me, Yu Ke, no other man may be emperor!”

With that, he split the imperial edict in two with his sword and left.

Half a month later, Yu Ke led one hundred thousand armored cavalry to the outskirts of the capital, shocking the court and the realm. Yet no one dared challenge his sharp edge.

Three days later, Emperor Han took his own life, leaving behind an edict abdicating the throne to Ke. He had reigned for eighteen days.

After Yu Ke ascended the throne, he purged the court, vigorously promoted the military generals under his command, favored martial power over civil governance, and declared: the Great Wu Dynasty was naturally founded upon military might. He even styled himself Emperor Wu and changed the era name to Zhiwu. From then on, the flames of war never ceased.

The Ninth Year of Zhiwu

Ever since Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he had exhausted the state through war, heavily taxing the people to fund his campaigns and conscripting men into the army. As a result, fertile fields had no one left to till them, countless refugees wandered the land, and public resentment rose on all sides. Some denounced him with the brush, but Emperor Wu suppressed them with iron-blooded methods, and from then on, no one dared criticize him openly again.

“Hey, you dead or not?”

Xiao Le felt someone kicking her. As her consciousness returned, sensation flooded back into her body as well, and discomfort instantly swept through her from head to toe.

“Hey… hmph…”

The moment Xiao Le opened her eyes, she saw a vagrant bending over her, one filthy hand still on her face. Frightened, she raised her leg and kicked him straight in the stomach. Yet by all rights, the man should have been knocked to the ground and unable to get up for a while. Instead, he merely clutched his stomach and let out a muffled grunt before cursing and reaching out to grab her.

Xiao Le rolled to the side, dodging his dirty hand and trying to stand up and fight back, only to find her vision spinning and going dark. She could barely stay on her feet. Then the man yanked her, and she toppled back to the ground.

“Hiss…”

She hit the ground hard for real, clutching her shoulder as a cry of pain escaped her.

“Stinking brat, watch how I teach you a lesson today!” Liu Liang spat viciously. He straddled Xiao Le, grabbed her collar, and slapped her across the face. He had just returned after begging for money today, only to find a scrawny kid passed out asleep in his “territory.” Seeing how thin and weak this fellow was, he had not expected the brat to occupy his spot and still dare hit someone.

That slap left Xiao Le’s ears ringing, and stars swam before her eyes. She slammed her head hard into his, then used all the strength in her body to drive her elbow into Liu Liang’s chest. Only then did she manage to break free. Once she escaped being pinned down, she half-ran, half-crawled forward, throwing everything she could get her hands on behind her.

After running for quite a while, she was so exhausted she could barely go on. Only when she looked back and saw that no one had followed did she dare squat down and catch her breath.

Once her tightly strung nerves eased, Xiao Le finally realized that the clothes on her body were dragging along the ground. And the clothes she was wearing seemed to be something like… an ancient-style long robe.

She felt as if she could not muster any strength in her limbs at all. Earlier, her vision had spun and gone black, seeming like symptoms of anemia. After only a few steps, she was already breathless. Every reaction this body showed was nothing like her at all.

So what exactly was going on?

Standing on the busy street, watching the people coming and going in long robes with their hair bound up, Xiao Le felt as though she had walked onto the set of a historical drama.

“Hey, stinking beggar, get lost. You’re blocking the road.”

Xiao Le was kicked from behind and sent sprawling onto the ground. The pain in her body dragged her back to reality. She lifted her head, but she could not find the person who had kicked her. The street was full of people coming and going, all casting disgusted looks at her. Those gazes were like knives, carving into her one slice at a time. Xiao Le only felt a tightness in her chest. One blow after another, added to the fact that this body had long since been frail beyond endurance, made her pitch forward and collapse.

“Waiter, sorry to trouble you.”

What entered her ears was a clear female voice, followed by a man’s fawning reply. Xiao Le narrowed her eyes and secretly looked to the side. She only saw the back of a woman closing the door and leaving. Then someone dressed like a servant walked toward the bedside.

“Don’t come over here!”

Seeing him get closer and closer, Xiao Le flipped herself up from the bed, pointed at him, and shouted.

The waiter had received instructions and had just been about to bathe the man on the bed. He had not expected to be startled by the other party instead.

“Young Master, that young lady just now was the one who asked me to bathe you…” He turned slightly and pointed at the steaming bathtub behind him, indicating that he meant no harm.

Xiao Le looked suspiciously at the steaming bathtub behind him. After hearing what he said, she instantly felt as if she had just crawled out of a garbage heap, filthy and stinking.

“Go out. I’ll do it myself,” Xiao Le said, pointing at the door. What a joke. How could she let a man bathe her? When the waiter heard this, he immediately brightened. If he could save the effort and slack off, of course that was even better. He was just about to cheerfully withdraw when he reached the door and remembered something.

“Young Master, the clothes on the table were found for you. Change into them after you finish washing. Also, the soap beans are placed to the side.”

After saying that, he went out.

Only after he had been gone for quite some time did Xiao Le walk to the door, set the bolt firmly in place, look around the room, and then begin taking off her clothes. When she had undressed down to the final layer, there was actually still a strip of breast-binding cloth wrapped around her chest. But after thinking about it for a moment, she understood. The original owner of this body had already been living badly enough. Judging from the situation, if she walked around outside dressed as a woman instead of in men’s clothing, her life would probably have been even more unbearable.

Once she removed her clothes, Xiao Le truly realized just how thin and weak this body was. Perhaps because of long-term malnutrition, it had not developed very well either, but it was still clear that the body’s owner had been very young.

Also, the hair was very long…

More importantly, she did not look that great either… There were no mirrors in ancient times, and looking into the bronze mirror, she could not tell what she looked like at all. But from the reflection in the water, this face really was quite ordinary. At most, she could be called delicate and pretty.

She felt like crying but had no tears. In the past, she would not claim she had been stunningly beautiful, but calling herself a beauty had been absolutely deserved. Now… Xiao Le thought about it, then decided to set these sad matters aside and bathe first.

“…Mm.”

Xiao Le leaned her head against the bathtub. An involuntary sound slipped from her throat. She closed her eyes, her whole body soaking in the hot water as she relaxed, and began sorting through what had happened to her in her mind.

Not long ago, she had clearly still been at the military academy doing combat training. It seemed her opponent had landed a roundhouse kick to her head. Then she had passed out, and after waking up, she had seen that vagrant from earlier.

Although it was unbelievable and very hard to accept, still—

I really transmigrated.

Xiao Le silently said this to herself.

“Sigh…”

Xiao Le let out a long sigh and shifted her gaze to the soap beans beside her.

“Young Master, are you done washing? This humble one has come to bring you food.”

The waiter’s voice came from outside the door. Xiao Le, who had finally finished bathing with great difficulty, was in the middle of putting on the clothes piece by piece.

“Wait a moment!”

Fortunately, ancient men’s clothing was not as complicated and difficult to wear as women’s clothing. After Xiao Le got dressed, she put away the clothes she had taken off, then went to open the door.

The moment she opened the door, Xiao Le’s stomach started screaming, which showed that this body had not eaten in a very long time. The waiter placed the food from the tray onto the table, then took out a money pouch from his robe and placed it on the table as well.

“Young Master, this is what that young lady asked me to give you. She told you to take this money and leave after you finish eating. These days aren’t easy for anyone. Young Master, your life is truly blessed. You met a kindhearted bodhisattva.”

Xiao Le’s heart filled with mixed emotions. In a single day, she had tasted the world’s cold indifference and also felt the warmth of a stranger. It was not much money, but having just arrived in this place, she truly needed it. So she accepted the pouch and said seriously, “May I trouble you to pass along my thanks? In a while, I will personally go thank her as well.”

After eating, Xiao Le went to the inn’s main hall. At a glance, she spotted the waiter busily working.

“Waiter!”

“Ah, Young Master, you’ve finished eating? Are you preparing to leave?” The waiter skillfully slung his towel over his back and asked with a smile.

“Waiter, could you take me to meet the young lady who helped me? A life-saving kindness—how could I treat it so carelessly?”

“This…” The waiter looked troubled. “Young Master, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. It’s just that the two young ladies left quite a while ago. From the look of it, they weren’t locals either. They rode away on horseback. Even if you wanted to chase after them now, you wouldn’t catch them!”

When Xiao Le heard this, she felt somewhat dejected. It seemed the other party had only saved her as a casual act of kindness.

“In that case, there’s nothing to be done. Thank you, waiter… Farewell.”

Walking aimlessly down the street, Xiao Le felt lost and at a loss. After wandering for most of the day, she finally remembered that she should first find somewhere to work and stay. She had to survive.

But what could she do?

She had a full set of combat skills, but good skills also required a good body to show their proper strength. Just like with that vagrant earlier. Clearly, she had used the same moves, and if it had been her original self, she could have knocked him flat in one go. But when this body used them, it was like scratching an itch for the other person…

To put it plainly, the only thing she could count as a strength in ancient times was being able to fight. But now, it seemed that did not count as much of a strength either…

As Xiao Le walked and thought, she wondered what kind of job any ordinary person could do. Suddenly, the waiter from earlier came to mind.

“Shopkeeper, believe me. I really can do anything…”

Xiao Le was currently lingering in a tavern, following behind someone and pleading in every possible way. She had discovered that the only thing she could do now was work as a server in someone else’s shop. Right. A waiter.

“How many times have I said it? We don’t need anyone! Hurry up and leave!” Old Wu turned his head impatiently and snapped at her. This boy had been following behind him the entire morning. If he were a few years younger, he would definitely have used force and thrown the brat out.

“Young man, stop wasting your effort here. With the time you have, you’d be better off looking elsewhere. Look at this little tavern of mine. It’s only this big. How could I afford to keep an idle person…”

“I won’t be an idle person. I can help you work, and I absolutely won’t slack off!” Xiao Le directly ignored the shopkeeper’s earlier words and continued thick-skinnedly. She had gone to several inns and taverns, and every time, she had been chased out after barely saying a few words. It had not been easy to find someone who did not immediately drive her away.

“If you don’t leave, I’m reporting you to the authorities,” Wu Qi gave his final warning.

Xiao Le still had an awkward smile hanging on her face and did not know how to respond.

“Still not leaving?” Wu Qi angrily pointed at the door and cursed.

“I’m sorry… I’ll leave now…”

Other people transmigrated into fine clothes and exquisite food. How did I end up so unlucky? Xiao Le smiled bitterly and prepared to turn around and leave.

“Wait!”

Xiao Le looked back. The curtain leading to the inner room of the tavern had been lifted, and a girl of sixteen or seventeen walked out. She said to Old Wu, “Grandpa, let him stay. You’re getting old. You can’t keep working so hard all the time.”

“Xiaohuan, why did you come out?” Old Wu looked at his granddaughter. His tone carried a hint of reproach, but he did not say much else.

Then he turned back to Xiao Le and asked, “If you’re willing to stay, you can sleep in the tavern at night. It’s just that the wages… we ourselves are only barely scraping by…”

“That’s fine. I don’t need wages! As long as I have food and a place to stay, that’s enough. Thank you, Shopkeeper! Thank you, this…”

Old Wu’s words were cut off before he could finish, but he did not deny Xiao Le’s statement either. From the look of it, he was quite satisfied with this proposal.

“…Uh… Thank you, miss.” Xiao Le bowed deeply to them.

“No need to be so polite. Just call me Xiaohuan. From now on, we’re friends,” Xiaohuan said with a smile. In this era, the boundary between men and women was not especially strict. On top of that, the Wu Dynasty valued martial strength, its customs were open, and women’s status was no lower than men’s. So Wu Huan speaking so casually to Xiao Le did not make anyone feel that anything was improper.

“Then… Xiaohuan, my name is Xiao Le… I—”

“What ‘I’? Are you here to work, or are you here to chat?”

Xiao Le was mercilessly interrupted by Old Wu’s stern face. Seeing Xiao Le suffer, Xiaohuan pressed her lips together and smiled.

Xiao Le felt a little embarrassed. She glanced at Old Wu’s expression, then said awkwardly to Xiaohuan, “Then I’ll go work first. See you later.”