Chapter 1: Becoming the Sacrificial Princess

Dazhao, September, autumn winds swept across the entire landscape.

The night air was slightly cool, and from time to time, a faint cough echoed from a tomb on the outskirts of the capital city.

"Cough cough—"

Qi Yu, shivering from the cold, sneezed and coughed a few times before she realized she seemed to be in complete darkness.

Just a second ago, she was in the lab, and the next, she suddenly found herself in this ghostly and eerie place. Even though it was quite spacious, it was evidently a tomb!

Without time to think further, she looked down and surprisingly found another person lying next to her!

It was a man with a face as beautiful as jade—she would probably have swooned over him if they weren't in a tomb.

"Hey, is anyone there?" Qi Yu couldn't help but shout, but the only response was the howling of the wind.

The two guards stationed outside had long since fallen into a deep sleep, completely oblivious to any noise inside.

Just as Qi Yu was puzzled, a rush of memories suddenly flooded her mind.

A moment later, she finally understood why she was in this ghostly place and who the person lying beside her actually was.

Others might have the protagonist's script when time-traveling, but she became the unlucky Princess Consort in a ceremonial burial.

The man lying next to her was her husband, Prince Li Mingjue, who had died from poisoning right after their wedding.

A month ago, Prince Li Mingjue was suddenly stricken with a severe poison. Even the top Divine Doctor, Lou Qingming, could only prolong his life and was unable to cure him.

As autumn arrived, Prince Li Mingjue's health deteriorated further.

Upon his grief, the Emperor, while making arrangements for the aftermath, suddenly thought that Prince Li Mingjue had not yet married. If he was to go alone, there would be no one to look after him on the road to the underworld.

Thus, he whimsically decided to choose a consort for Prince Li Mingjue.

Although marrying him would make her the legitimate Princess Consort, who would be willing to marry a living corpse?

The civil and military officials feigned ignorance and stubbornly refused to offer their daughters.

What use was wealth and honor? With Prince Li Mingjue's influence waning and the added expectation of being buried alongside him, it was clearly a losing deal.

In the end, it was the current Prime Minister, Qi Wei, who volunteered to marry off his second daughter, Qi Yu, who had been considered a useless fool since childhood.

The Emperor, unaware of the underlying motives, thought he had found a suitable match for Prince Li Mingjue.

Three days ago, Qi Yu, deceived by Qi Wei into boarding the bridal sedan, formally married the dying Li Mingjue.

Not even two hours later, Li Mingjue breathed his last, and Qi Yu was drugged and sealed in a coffin with him and sent to the tomb outside the city.

When the unfortunate modern-day worker Qi Yu traveled through time, she was already buried with the long-deceased Prince.

Fortunately, Prince Li Mingjue had not yet been truly buried, and the coffin lid could still be pried open; otherwise, even with extraordinary abilities, Qi Yu would have no chance of escaping.

Looking at the Prince lying next to her with a pale complexion and purple lips, the priority was to revive him.

Otherwise, wearing this face, she could be wanted throughout the city by tomorrow.

Moreover, since she was occupying the original owner's body, she felt obliged to avenge her before leaving.

Qi Yu checked Li Mingjue's breathing and found that the poisoning was severe, but not beyond help.

From the symptoms, it was a strange poison that induced a death-like state on the forty-ninth day of poisoning.

After a brief examination of Li Mingjue's condition, she still saw hope for recovery.

However, the biggest problem facing her now was the lack of tools; if she had a box of silver needles, she could revive someone even in Yama Palace.

Just as Qi Yu felt utterly helpless, a box of silver needles suddenly appeared in her hand.

She blinked, confirming she had not seen incorrectly.

The silver needle had appeared out of thin air!

Immediately after, another space appeared in front of her, filled with many medicinal herbs, including some rare medicines she had developed in the modern world.

Could this be the legendary "golden finger"?

Qi Yu was ecstatic, finally seeing a glimmer of hope. It seemed that her cursed fate was not entirely merciless.

She gathered all the candles in the tomb in one spot and, in the candlelight, undid Li Mingjue's clothes.

Although he was deeply poisoned, it had to be said that the body of this prince was still quite aesthetically pleasing.

Lean and muscular, he even had a chest worth admiring.

Qi Yu had no time to appreciate it, as she focused intently on administering acupuncture.

She used the Qi Family's secret technique. Although it required some effort, it cured the illness instantly—she could even heal a dead person as if they were alive.

An hour later, Qi Yu withdrew the silver needles and sat patiently waiting for Li Mingjue to wake up.

Bored, she took the opportunity to closely examine Li Mingjue's demonically handsome face by candlelight.

His facial features were sculptural, his eyebrows and eyes more delicate than a woman's, with long, curled lashes.

Having been detoxified, his originally dark purple lips had also returned to a light red color.

Tsk, truly a calamitous beauty.

With such looks and his noble status, if not for the poisoning, probably all the women in the capital city would want to marry him.

Unfortunately, fate was fickle, and it ended up benefiting her.

Because of the dim light, she unconsciously moved closer, almost pressing her upper body against Li Mingjue.

Just as Qi Yu was daydreaming, the person who had been unconscious suddenly opened his eyes, and his dark pupils stared deeply at her, his gaze cold enough to freeze someone.

"Ah, you're awake." Qi Yu touched her nose and retreated slightly, feigning calm.

If it were anyone else, they might not be able to withstand Li Mingjue's naturally commanding presence, but Qi Yu, holding his life in her hands and being akin to a savior, naturally was not afraid of him.

Instead, she smiled at him, carefreely greeted him, "Hello there, I am your princess."

Li Mingjue frowned, looking at the frivolous woman before him. His lips moved slightly and he slowly spat out the word, "Scram."

Qi Yu clicked her tongue lightly, "Just saved your life and this is how you treat me. Don't you know, offending a doctor never ends well."

Li Mingjue gave her a sharp look.

Although he did not want to admit it, the person before him was not only his princess but also his savior.

However, the rumors had it that the second daughter of the Qi family was nothing but an incompetent fool. How could she possess such superb medical skills?

Li Mingjue's eyes darkened, sensing something fishy about the situation.

He turned away, put his clothes back on with his back to Qi Yu, and then coldly said, "Thank you."

"That's more like it. We are in this together now, you should treat me better if we're to cooperate in the future."

"Cooperate?" Li Mingjue glanced at her, his look clearly conveying a mix of disdain and skepticism.

Qi Yu couldn't be bothered to argue with him, she simply pursed her lips, "Sigh, what should we do next? You've basically come back from the dead. Won't people think you're an Evil Ghost and capture you?"

"Who dares?" Li Mingjue slowly stood up, a fleeting chill in his eyes as he spoke sharply, "Since they dared to harm me, they must pay the price."