Beauties in Simulation Cross over into Reality

”I understand, Mother. Please don’t worry. I will certainly take good care of myself, and I will take even better care of His Majesty,” Yan Ruxue nodded.

”Mm,” Madam Yan said, gazing at her daughter with reluctance. ”You’ve always been an obedient, well-behaved, and kind-hearted girl. As for the Imperial Palace... we don’t have to secure the position of Empress. If you can’t get it, then so be it. As long as you are safe and sound, nothing else matters. You must also be tolerant and kind to the servants, do you hear me?”

”I hear you,” Yan Ruxue replied.

”Alright then.” Madam Yan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. ”I’ll go attend to other matters for you. You just sit here for now. We’ll come get you when it’s the auspicious time.”

”Alright, Mother,” Yan Ruxue nodded.

A moment later, Madam Yan led the Palace Maids out, leaving only Chunyan behind to attend to Yan Ruxue.

”Miss, you’re so beautiful.”

Chunyan walked over, her eyes sparkling.

”Am I?” Yan Ruxue’s lips curved into a faint smile.

Chunyan nodded emphatically. ”Beautiful, Miss! Truly, you are! The way you look in your red wedding dress today... no other woman in the world can compare to you.”

”You and your sweet-talking,” Yan Ruxue said, gently tapping the space between Chunyan’s eyebrows.

”It’s not that at all,” Chunyan said with a pout. ”I’m just telling the truth.”

As she spoke, a smug smile appeared on Chunyan’s face.

”His Majesty and you, Miss, already know each other, so he must have feelings for you. Now that you’re entering the palace, if His Majesty finds out that the woman he met before was you, he’ll be overjoyed. Besides, you’re more beautiful than a goddess today. His Majesty definitely won’t be able to tear himself away from your room tonight.”

”What are you even saying, you silly girl? You’re never serious,” Yan Ruxue said, pinching Chunyan’s cheek.

Previously, when Yan Ruxue was learning palace etiquette, the Female Officials had also instructed her on matters of the marital bed, and Chunyan had been listening in from the side.

She had been beet-red with embarrassment listening back then, but afterward, she had gone out on her own to buy some popular novels and even Erotic Paintings.

This left Yan Ruxue feeling rather exasperated.

”Hee hee hee...” Hearing her mistress’s gentle scolding, Chunyan just gave a mischievous smile.

”Come on, let’s go out to the courtyard for some fresh air,” Yan Ruxue said.

”Alright, Miss. Please be careful.” Chunyan quickly supported her mistress as they walked out of the room and into the courtyard.

Sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, Yan Ruxue gazed at the red lanterns and the incredibly festive decorations, a soft light glowing in her eyes.

”By the way, Miss, is there something special about this place? Why did you choose to get married from here?”

Chunyan asked curiously from within the courtyard.

”Special? I suppose it’s not particularly special, but it does have a story.”

Yan Ruxue sat with her legs together on the bench, her small hands resting on her lap. She looked down at her red wedding dress, a gentle smile on her lips.

”What kind of story?” Chunyan grew even more curious.

”This village, legend has it, was located within the territory of the Ancient Qin Kingdom tens of thousands of years ago. And not far from here, the Imperial City of our Zhou Kingdom was once the capital of that Ancient Qin Kingdom.”

”After the fall of the Ancient Qin Kingdom, time passed and dynasties rose and fell. The old capital of the Ancient Qin Kingdom vanished long ago, and this place became just an ordinary patch of land.”

”Later on, about ten thousand years ago, several great dynasties appeared once again in the World of Ten Thousand Laws. The Qi Kingdom was one of them, and this land became part of its territory.”

Yan Ruxue lifted her gaze, a flicker of reminiscence in her lovely, almond-shaped eyes.

”This village is in the Jiangnan State of the Qi Kingdom. Legend says that this village wasn’t called Lion Bridge Village, but Shiqiao Village—the ’Shi’ for ’stone.’”

The woman lifted a slender arm, her finger extending from her red sleeve to point at a nearby mountain peak. ”And that mountain wasn’t called Snake Mountain, but She Mountain. It’s a different character, though it’s pronounced the same as ’snake.’”

”According to the legend, there was a young boy in Shiqiao Village. One day, when he went up the mountain, he saved a white snake.”

”After healing the White Snake, the boy released it back into the forest. But the White Snake had already gained spiritual sentience. She cultivated diligently and transformed into a human, wanting to repay the boy for his kindness.”

”As for the young man, although he grew up poor, he was a very diligent student who wanted to pass the imperial examinations and become a great official.”

Listening to her mistress tell this fascinating story, Chunyan quickly sat down beside her and asked, ”Miss, Miss, what happened then?”

”Then, that little white snake’s talent for cultivation was passable, I suppose. She quickly transformed into a human girl and waited for him on the mountain.”

As she spoke, a faint smile graced Yan Ruxue’s lips.

”At first, the little girl thought her transformation was flawless and that he would never see through it. But in reality, the little boy had seen through it from the very beginning.”

”But since the little boy didn’t ask, she didn’t tell.”

”Later on, the little girl followed the little boy down the mountain. The two of them relied on each other, growing up together from childhood.”

”The little white snake grew from a girl into a young lady, and from a young lady into a woman.”

”The boy went from being a cowherd to a Scholar, and from a Scholar to an even more distinguished one.”

”The two of them gradually fell in love. The man told the woman that he would marry her when he returned from the capital after taking the examinations.”

”She said she would wait for him to return, wait for his grand wedding procession, wait for him to come back in splendid attire on a fine horse.”

As she reached this part of the story, Yan Ruxue paused, her words trailing off as she simply gazed into the distance.

”Miss, in the end, did the young man and the White Snake get together?” Chunyan asked, a little anxious at not hearing the ending.

”What do you think?” Yan Ruxue smiled sweetly and flicked Chunyan’s forehead with her finger.

”Ah... Miss, how could you? Don’t leave me in suspense like this...” Chunyan pouted.

”Alright, alright, I’ll tell you later. It’ll be the auspicious time soon. You should go wait at the village entrance. I’d like to be alone for a little while,” Yan Ruxue said with a smile.

”Alright then. I’ll go to the village entrance and wait for the palace procession. You have to promise you’ll finish the story for me later, Miss,” Chunyan said, wheedling.

”Mm,” Yan Ruxue nodded.

Having received her mistress’s promise, Chunyan finally left the courtyard.

Only Yan Ruxue remained in the courtyard.

She stood up and stroked the courtyard’s ancient walls, looking at the newly hung red lanterns.

This small courtyard... who knows how many times it had been repaired, how many times it had been rebuilt.

But the courtyard’s appearance, even after some ten thousand years, had never changed.

Before her eyes, an image seemed to form: a man reading a book in the courtyard, while a woman, her sleeves rolled up, wrung out the washed clothes, shook them gently, and hung them on a bamboo pole.

Just as the woman was reminiscing over these scenes treasured deep within her memory, a slight stir came from outside the courtyard.

She pulled back from her thoughts and looked toward the entrance.

Under a tree, three little boys and two little girls were hiding behind the trunk, peeking curiously at Yan Ruxue.

When the five children realized this pretty big sister had spotted them, they panicked for a moment and were about to run away.

”Would you like some candy?”

Yan Ruxue gave the children a gentle smile.

The children looked at one another, then nudged each other forward out of the grass and into the courtyard.

”We... we do...” The five children lined up neatly. The oldest among them was no more than six.

”Wait here a moment.”

Yan Ruxue went into the house and quickly came back out with a porcelain plate.

She smoothed her skirt, crouched down, and personally filled their pockets with wedding candy.

Seeing the big sister’s gentle expression, a little girl named Huang Ju said with sparkling eyes, ”Big Sister, you’re so pretty.”

”Yeah, Big Sister,” a little boy named Liu Nian said, sniffling. ”You’re even prettier than my mom.”

”Thank you,” Yan Ruxue said, ruffling their small heads.

”Big Sister, why are you here all alone?” five-year-old Qian Qianqian asked curiously.

”Because, Big Sister is waiting for someone,” Yan Ruxue replied, her eyes curving into a smile.

”Waiting for someone?” another five-year-old boy asked, puzzled.

”That’s right,” Yan Ruxue nodded. ”Big Sister is waiting for someone to come and marry me.”

”So, has the person you’re waiting for arrived?” a little girl asked.

”He has...”

Yan Ruxue gently stroked the girl’s hair, the image of him in his green robes appearing in her mind as she spoke slowly to the child.

”Your big sister... *Ruxue*...”

”...is getting married now... *wait for my return*...”