Chapter 1: Reborn as the Crown Prince

“My head hurts so much.” Zhao Su pressed his forehead and sat up in bed.

Perhaps it was because he had been staying up all night playing games these past few days, leaving him with a splitting headache from lack of sleep.

“Your Highness, you’re awake! Thank goodness! Quick, someone inform His Majesty—the Crown Prince has awakened!” Before Zhao Su could react, a shrill voice cried out.

Your Highness? His Majesty?

Zhao Su was bewildered. In modern society, there were no crown princes or emperors. Was he dreaming?

He opened his eyes, still groggy, and saw a group of people kneeling at his bedside. Among them was a stunning woman adorned with jewels, staring intently at him.

When the woman caught his gaze, she immediately put on a look of delighted relief, her eyes brimming with tears. “Oh, Your Highness, you’re finally awake! You gave us such a fright today.”

Her skin was white as snow, her beauty dazzling, and her eyes seemed able to steal a man’s very soul. Especially the generous curves of her chest—enough to make any man lose his senses, eager to bury himself there and die a happy man.

Before Zhao Su could take a closer look, pain exploded in his head once more, as though a snake were writhing inside his skull. He howled in agony and thrashed on the bed, frightening the eunuchs and maids into a panic.

The beautiful woman, seeing Zhao Su in such a state, let a cold, triumphant glint flash in her eyes. But she quickly feigned distress, urging the imperial physician to hurry and tend to him.

Zhao Su was unaware of the chaos erupting in his bedchamber after he lost consciousness.

He felt as if he were watching a film, sifting through the memories of this body’s original owner. So, he had transmigrated—and into someone with the same name as himself.

The original Zhao Su was the eldest prince of the Great Qin Dynasty. His mother, the empress, had died giving birth to him.

The emperor cherished his eldest son dearly, naming him crown prince when he was just eight years old.

But three years ago, Zhao Su’s soul had unexpectedly entered this body, and from then on, the original became afflicted with a strange illness. He grew erratic and witless, his mind clouded by madness.

The emperor sought out all the finest doctors, but none could cure him. The officials at court urged the emperor to replace the crown prince. Although His Majesty resisted, he began grooming his other sons.

If the heir could not be restored, succession would have to fall to another.

The maids and eunuchs of the Eastern Palace served Zhao Su without care or respect, treating him as unworthy of his title.

Ever since he had taken Consort Liu as his secondary consort the previous month, the servants' treatment of him grew even worse. They bullied him openly and in secret, forcing him to drink urine and eat filth.

Yesterday, while the crown prince’s consort accompanied him at play, the swing’s rope suddenly snapped. He hit his head on a stone and fell unconscious.

He had thought he would surely die, but by some stroke of fate, Zhao Su’s soul fused with the original’s memories.

After learning all that had happened, a boundless fury rose in Zhao Su’s heart.

If not for him, the original would never have lost his wits. If not for the original, he would not have been reborn in this body.

In a sense, the original owner had saved his life. For that, he swore he would make all those who had harmed him pay the price.

When he sat up again, Consort Liu was no longer present. Only a single maid knelt by the bedside, weeping quietly.

When she saw Zhao Su awake, the maid scrambled up in delight. “Your Highness, you’re awake!”

Her name was Jinxiu. For the three years of Zhao Su’s affliction, she had cared for him tirelessly. Amid all the dozens of servants in the Eastern Palace, she was the only one who truly cared for him.

“Jinxiu, you’ve worked hard these past days,” Zhao Su said, moved.

“It’s nothing—this is all my duty…” Jinxiu started to reply, but then her words caught in her throat.

She stared at Zhao Su in disbelief, stammering, “Your Highness, you… you can speak normally?”