The Dog Emperor Has Gained Telepathy - Chapter 01 [1]

Chapter 01 [1]

[1] First Release

Your Ladyship, the midday meal has arrived.

In the most remote Liuxia Pavilion of the Western Six Palaces in the imperial city, the palace maid Xia He carried a double-layered red lacquered food box to the table, carefully arranging the dishes one by one: The kitchen’s offerings today are passable, and the steamed cornbread is particularly fluffy. You should be able to eat a bit more.

Not far from the table, on a long daybed, lay a sickly beauty in pale-colored robes.

The carved wooden window happened to be half-open, allowing the April sunlight to slant into the room, casting its glow upon the beauty with slightly disheveled cloud-like hair. Even residing in this humble chamber without a trace of makeup, her stunningly beautiful features remained undiminished. The pure light made her snow-white skin appear even more translucent, shimmering as if glowing, leaving an unforgettable impression at first glance.

Hearing Xia He’s words, the beauty on the daybed slowly opened her eyes, scanning the two dishes and one soup arranged on the table—

A plate of charred salted fish, a dish of overcooked greens, and an egg drop soup so bland it could raise fish.

Sigh… She should have known better than to expect anything from those snobbish imperial kitchen staff who fawn on the powerful and bully the weak.

Lu Zhiwan’s already listless brows furrowed with greater melancholy as she threw her head back: I have no appetite. You eat it.

Your Ladyship, please don’t be like this. Xia He approached the daybed, pleading earnestly: You’ve just recovered from a serious illness. You should eat at least a little, otherwise how will your body withstand it?

Lu Zhiwan lay stiffly on the bed, closing her eyes in self-abandonment as she thought, is this even fit for human consumption? Even production crew boxed meals had more oil than this. The stray cats under her apartment building would turn up their noses at that plate of salted fish…

A noble person doesn’t eat food offered contemptuously. She, Lu Zhiwan, would rather starve to death here today than touch any of this!

Half an hour later.

Don’t get me wrong, this salted fish might not look appealing, but it’s actually quite tasty with the cornbread.

After devouring four pieces of steamed cornbread, Lu Zhiwan wiped her mouth, her eyes bright as she looked at Xia He: Is there any more?

She felt she could easily eat another four.

Xia He stared wide-eyed, swallowing hard: N-no more… If Your Ladyship is still hungry, this servant will try to find some other way…

That won’t be necessary.

Lu Zhiwan knew well that in their current circumstances, it was already difficult enough for Xia He to procure some fresh meals. Since transmigrating here three days ago, this young maid had been the only one to show her kindness, and she didn’t want to cause her any more trouble: We’ll just wait for the evening meal instead.

Hearing this, Xia He’s eyes reddened, her voice choked with emotion: After Consort Hu pushed you into the water, you barely managed to survive. You should be nourishing your body properly. If we were still back at the mansion, this servant would definitely prepare chicken soup and sweet soups for you every day.

Although life back at the mansion under her stepmother’s rule hadn’t been exactly comfortable, at least she never suffered when it came to food and drink.

Who would have thought that upon entering the palace, her excessively beautiful face would make her a target of suppression and exclusion by the other consorts, leaving her living in worse conditions than even decent palace maids.

Xia He sighed inwardly, her peripheral glance noticing her mistress still appeared absent-minded and distracted. She sighed softly: Your Ladyship should rest on the daybed a while longer. This servant will bring you the medicine once it’s ready.

With those words, she collected the bowls and dishes and withdrew.

Left alone in the room, Lu Zhiwan sat contemplating her life.

Three days.

This was her third day since transmigrating.

Heaven knows one moment she had been hanging from wires, filming a water combat scene, and the next moment the wires snapped. As she struggled to surface after falling into the water, a hand had forcefully pressed her head down.

Finally lifting her head from the water, dizzy and disoriented, she saw a group of bejeweled women surrounding her, exchanging strange remarks—

Noble Consort, please understand, it wasn’t us who pushed Talent Lu into the water. Her hairpin fell in, and she jumped in herself.

That’s right, all the sisters can testify. We were just trying to help her up.

I can let this matter slide, but let me remind you all: have your fun, but don’t cause any deaths and make trouble for me.

After saying this, the noble woman in the crimson-purple palace robes was escorted away by her attendants, surrounded like the moon by stars.

As Lu Zhiwan fainted, she was still thinking: I signed up for an immortal fantasy drama—how did I end up on the palace intrigue set next door?

If I’m playing two extra roles, I should get double the pay, right?

But instead of payment, there was a grudge waiting for her to settle—

The real Lu Zhiwan, daughter of the magistrate of Qingyuan County, had died in a palace struggle. Now, as a transmigrator who had taken over her body, Lu Zhiwan: ……

What could she say?

The possibility of Miss Lu turning into a vengeful ghost to seek revenge was higher than the chance of her, a useless wage slave, punching Consort Hu, kicking her way through the six eastern and western palaces, and turning the tables against all odds.

All she wanted was to return to her cozy little home, order some fried chicken and soda, curl up on the sofa with her phone—not stuck in this remote, desolate corner of the palace, eating salted fish and coarse buns, with no parents, no friends, and a bullying harem clique eyeing her menacingly from outside.

Ugh, what did I do to deserve this—

For the 156th time, Lu Zhiwan lifted her head to the heavens: How can you treat a law-abiding beauty like this? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?

As soon as the words left her mouth, a deafening clap of thunder roared outside the window.

Her long lashes fluttering, Lu Zhiwan pulled the quilt over her face. Forget it, forget it. As long as I’m alive.

But surviving in this harem was no easy task—in the three months since the original host entered the palace, she had played weak, kept a low profile, and tread carefully, yet she was still bullied, tormented, and ultimately lost her life.

If swallowing her pride was useless, what about fighting back boldly? But as a minor consort with no status, no family backing, and no connections, what could she use to retaliate?

If the emperor were lustful, she might rely on her looks to compete. The problem was, the harem was filled with beauties of all shapes and sizes, yet the emperor rarely set foot in it—was his taste too refined to fancy any of the palace beauties? Did he prefer men? Or was there something… lacking in that department?

Sigh…

Lu Zhiwan collapsed onto the bed and closed her eyes. In this harem that played by no rules, she couldn’t see even a glimmer of hope.

After three days of sighing and moping in Liuxia Pavilion, Lu Zhiwan was radiating sheer gloom.

Even Xia He couldn’t take her despondency anymore and gently suggested, The weather is lovely today, Mistress. Why not go out for a stroll and get some fresh air?

Lu Zhiwan: Don’t feel like moving.

Xia He: But you’ve been lying down for three days.

Lu Zhiwan: I’ll roll over when I get tired. Don’t worry.

Xia He: … Who’s worried about that!

Not daring to say more about her mistress’s affairs, she sighed and headed out.

But not long after leaving, Xia He suddenly rushed back inside: Mistress!

Lu Zhiwan, hugging her quilt: Don’t try to persuade me. Let me keep lying here.

No, no. Xia He shook her head quickly. It’s Consort Hu and Beauty Zhao—they’re heading this way!

Lu Zhiwan was stunned for a moment. When she realized that Consort Hu and Beauty Zhao were the ringleaders of the imperial harem bullying squad, her willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed. It had only been a few days since the original host fell into the water—were they already so impatient to come looking for trouble?

Just tell them I went out to admire the flowers and am not home.

Ah? But—huh?

Before Xia He could finish saying But aren’t you right here in the room?, she saw the slender figure on the bed suddenly spring up like a salted fish flipping over, then rush to the window in three quick steps and nimbly climb out.

The entire sequence was so fluid and seamless that Xia He stared wide-eyed: !!!

By the time she regained her senses, her mistress was nowhere to be seen in the room. Instead, Consort Hu and the others could be heard outside, sounding puzzled: Did something just flash by?

Did it? Maybe it was a stray cat?

Tch, in a desolate and shabby place like Liuxia Pavilion, even the rats packed up and fled overnight to find better prospects. What cat would come here to suffer?

This provoked a chorus of tinkling laughter. After the laughter subsided, the gaudily dressed young beauties entered the room. They lifted their chins and scanned the interior, and when they didn’t see anyone, they frowned at Xia He with unfriendly tones: Where is your mistress?

Xia He withdrew her gaze from the window and lowered her head sheepishly: Your Ladyships have come at an unfortunate time. My mistress has gone out to admire the flowers.

She still has the energy to admire flowers?

Consort Hu, the highest-ranking present, acted as if she’d heard some joke: It seems she wasn’t seriously injured from falling into the water this time. Putting on such a grave act—could she be trying to catch His Majesty’s attention this way?

Xia He wanted to argue, but remembering that her mistress had already fled, she saw no point in trading barbs. So she silently lowered her head and pretended to be mute.

Consort Hu and the others having come in vain didn’t frustrate them—after all, if they had nothing else in abundance, they had plenty of free time.

After murmuring among themselves for a while, they concluded that with Lu Zhiwan’s delicate constitution, she would likely return soon after a short stroll outside. So they settled around the stone table in the courtyard to wait for their prey.

They’re clearly so bored they’ve become psychologically twisted! If this were modern times, they’d be buried in endless exams and work, struggling to survive every day, collapsing into bed exhausted—who’d have spare time to torment others!

Along the path lined with crape myrtle blossoms, Lu Zhiwan kicked at pebbles on the ground in frustration: This emperor has issues too. If he can’t handle it, why select so many consorts? Is he breeding insects?

Despite the lovely weather with bright sunshine and gentle breezes, Lu Zhiwan’s mood was far from pleasant.

She truly didn’t know how a modern person like her could survive in this feudal harem, but she also lacked the courage to end her life now.

Whoosh— Another pebble was kicked flying, hitting the old locust tree straight ahead.

The locust tree’s branches trembled almost imperceptibly, then something heavy seemed to fall with a dull thud.

Lu Zhiwan had been walking with her head down and didn’t notice at first. It wasn’t until a buzzzzzz sound approached that she belatedly looked up.

The sight made her jump—beneath the tree lay a massive hornet’s nest, and the hornets that had suddenly experienced this earthquake were swarming toward her like an angry black cloud.

Holy crap!

Lu Zhiwan’s face turned pale. Who could tell her why there was such a huge hornet’s nest in the imperial palace!

Her body moved faster than her mind. Before she could think, her legs instinctively started running.

The hornets probably thought she had destroyed their nest and buzzed relentlessly in pursuit.

Lu Zhiwan was utterly stunned, pushing herself to sprint at her fastest 800-meter dash speed as she fled wildly down the path.

But she was new here, unfamiliar with the area, and as she ran, she had no idea where she was going. Suddenly, the path ahead came to an end. Fortunately, when one door closes, another opens. Though the way forward was blocked, a river flowed just below the slope to the left.

No matter how aggressive these hornets were, they surely couldn’t dive into the water to sting her, right?

With that thought, Lu Zhiwan took a deep breath, lifted the hem of her skirt, and dashed toward the river.

Unexpectedly, halfway there, a tall figure in dark robes suddenly emerged from behind the willow trees on the riverbank.

Her dark eyes widened abruptly, and Lu Zhiwan cried out in alarm, Hey, you up ahead—move aside, quickly—!

The slender figure by the shore paused, then slowly turned around.

Lu Zhiwan had no time to see what the person looked like. She immediately tried to brake, but the slope was too steep, and her abrupt stop was ineffective—instead, she tripped over a rock.

The next moment, she transformed into a human cannonball, hurtling straight toward the man on the bank.

Aaaaaaaah—!

SPLASH—!

A huge spray of water erupted. The hornets, which had been in hot pursuit, halted their chase, buzzing and hovering over the riverbank as they watched the two figures flail in the water—

Hey, hey, hey! Stop pulling my skirt—you’re going to tear it off!

Cough… You madwoman…

Who’s mad? Say that again!

I cannot swim. You must save me, or I will have your entire clan executed!