Princess Hua - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When Shang Heng was brought to Chunhua Palace, I was in the middle of bitterly forcing down my medicine.

The brew was horribly bitter. Beside me sat a small plate of chestnut pastries and candied fruit.

My mother consort sat at the head of the room. Seeing me frown, she looked so distressed it was as if the pain were hers. “Hua’er, quickly, have some candied fruit.”

I answered and was just about to pick up a piece and put it in my mouth when, from the corner of my eye, I noticed the young boy standing behind the curtain.

Beyond the beaded screen, his figure was indistinct and shadowy.

He looked around ten years old. It was still deep winter, yet he was dressed in thin clothes. The small hand hanging at his side was red from the cold, but he made no sound of complaint.

The Seventh Prince, Shang Heng.

I knew I had a younger brother like him.

Only, his mother consort had been of humble birth and had died in childbirth. After that, he had lived in the Princes’ Residence. This year, the empress had suddenly brought him up. There were many imperial children in the palace, so Father Emperor casually assigned him to the care of my favored mother consort.

But-none of that had anything to do with me.

I was about to look away when, perhaps because the medicine was too bitter, a stream of glowing text suddenly flashed before my eyes.

[Ahhhhh, big sister, love him a little! In the future, he’ll even let you sit on the throne!]

[This kid is a total sister-con! Guaranteed!]

[Look at those pitiful little eyes. Give him one pastry now, and in the future he’ll give you his life!]

Me: “?”

But I’m the vicious supporting female lead.

That’s right.

Thirteen years ago, I transmigrated into a male-oriented historical power-fantasy novel before I was even born. And of all people, I just had to become the snake-hearted supporting villainess. According to the plot, I would look down on this younger brother to an extreme degree. After he was assigned to my mother consort’s palace, I would beat and scold him at every turn. In the end, once he rose to power, I would meet a miserable fate.

Originally, I’d planned to avoid him as much as possible.

But when I thought of what the glowing text had said, I looked again at that expressionless imperial younger brother, my eyes shining with excitement.

Heaven knew how badly I wanted a well-behaved, obedient little brother!

Just then, the text changed again.

[Are you people in the front insane?! This isn’t some softhearted big sister. This is the snake-hearted supporting villainess!!]

[I bet she won’t just refuse to give the male lead a pastry-she’ll beat the male lead into a pastry!]

[Hiss. How brutal!]

Me: “…”

Following my gaze, my mother consort noticed Shang Heng, who had been standing there the whole time. Her expression turned somewhat ugly. “You came all this way and still won’t step forward to pay your respects? No manners at all!”

Oh, I forgot to mention.

I’m a vicious supporting female lead, so naturally, my mother consort, Consort Lan, is no kind soul either.

Because of that, in the original plot, my ending and Consort Lan’s ending were each more tragic than the last.

At the thought, my brow twitched.

Even if not for myself, I couldn’t let my loving mother consort end up like that.

Seeing that my mother consort was about to lose her temper, I immediately called out, “So this is my seventh imperial brother? Come in, come in! Your imperial sister has pastries here!”

The moment I said that, not only did my mother consort freeze, even the child who had been standing numbly behind the beaded curtain abruptly raised his eyes.