Chapter 1

Shen Mo'er dozed off in a daze, but woke up again shortly after.

In the brief moment she had closed her eyes, she had had a nightmare. She dreamed that the rebel army had marched straight into the prince's estate and broken into the treasury, each holding a bloody blade, ready to decapitate her and her father—that pair of "dog prince and dog princess."

In her dream, before the rebels' blades could even fall, her father—a prince whose greatest talent in life was clinging to his Imperial Uncle's leg to cry poverty, swindling countless amounts of gold, silver, and rare treasures from him—rolled his eyes back and fainted from sheer terror.

As she lunged forward to grab him, a rebel slashed at her. Startled, she woke up in a fright.

"Mo'er, are you awake?"

Shen Shaoyuan's voice sounded in the darkness. Soon, a spark flickered, and he lit a candle.

Rubbing her eyes, Shen Mo'er looked at Shen Shaoyuan's concerned face in the candlelight and nodded. "Just dozed off for a bit."

Though her father was cowardly and feared death, he was genuinely good to her. So, she decided not to mention the trivial detail of him fainting from fright in her dream.

"Father, we should put out the candle," Shen Mo'er said. "We don't know how long we'll have to hunker down in this treasury. We must conserve our resources."

After dismissing their servants, the father and daughter had moved a lot of food and supplies into the treasury. However, with no end to their hiding in sight, even the most abundant supplies had to be rationed carefully.

Shen Shaoyuan was thirty-six years old this year, which was considered middle-aged by the standards of the Great Liang Dynasty. However, as an idle prince shielded by his elder brother, the Emperor, his life had been comfortable. Moreover, he had no vices for wine or women, indulging only in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. His healthy lifestyle kept him looking remarkably young, resembling a refined young gentleman rather than Shen Mo'er's father—more like her older brother.

After hiding in the treasury for several days, plagued by anxiety and poor sleep, Shen Shaoyuan had dark circles under his eyes. He carefully examined his beloved daughter, and only after confirming her complexion was rosy and healthy did he speak. "Listen. Has the noise outside stopped?"

Prompted by her father, Shen Mo'er noticed it too.

Their family's treasury was built behind a rockery in the garden. Hidden as it was, external sounds could still filter through. Ever since they had taken refuge here, day and night, the outside world had been filled with either weeping and shouting or the faint sounds of slaughter. Never had it been as silent as it was now, devoid of any sound.

"How long has it been quiet?" Shen Mo'er asked.

"For a while now," Shen Shaoyuan replied.

The father and daughter exchanged looks, an ominous premonition rising in both their hearts: most likely, the imperial city had fallen and was now controlled by the rebels.

Shen Shaoyuan couldn't help but shed tears. "Alas, I wonder how your Imperial Uncle is. My brother was simply too soft-hearted. How can an emperor show mercy to foreign tribes? How could he let them go just because they flattered him with sweet words? It was like releasing a tiger back to the mountains! I told him long ago, it was releasing a tiger back to the mountains!

"Actually, hiding here is useless. Once the rebels enter the estate, if they search thoroughly, they will find us. Sob, sob... It's one thing for your Imperial Uncle to be soft-hearted and ruin himself, but he has ruined us too!

"We are of the direct imperial line. Even if we kneel and beg for mercy, the rebels won't spare us! Sob, sob... My poor little Mo'er, just in the bloom of her youth, to become a restless ghost under the rebels' blades!"

Shen Mo'er: "..."

To be honest, she had been quite frightened just a moment ago. But now, watching her father weep, her fear vanished completely.

"If the rebels really entered the city, it shouldn't be this quiet. Those foreign tribes would definitely be plundering and burning," Shen Mo'er mused. "Could the reinforcements have arrived? No, even if reinforcements came, it wouldn't be this silent."

Seeing the logic in her words, Shen Shaoyuan wiped his tears and said cautiously, "How about we open the door and take a look?"

Shen Mo'er glanced at the clepsydra nearby. "Should we wait until dark?"

"Alright, we'll do as you say."

The two huddled back into the corner, waiting until the Hour of the Rooster before cautiously cracking the door open.

By all accounts, it should have been dark outside, yet the moment the door cracked open, bright, dazzling light flooded in. The two blinked against the stinging sunlight, and once their eyes adjusted, they were utterly stunned by the sight before them.

Under the golden morning sun lay a narrow dirt country road. Not far away stood several rows of farmhouses with grey walls and blue-tiled roofs, and further still were crisscrossing fields.

Where was their massive garden?!

Where was the grand prince's estate?!

Where was the vast imperial city?!

How was it all gone? Gone!

The father and daughter stared at each other in terror, completely bewildered by what was happening.

A man carrying a hoe walked past on the dirt road outside. He glanced at Shen Shaoyuan, who was peering through the crack in the door, and said with a chuckle, "Seventh Shen, the sun is up! Time to go to work. Once we finish today, they'll be distributing the grain!"

Shen Shaoyuan replied instinctively, "Understood."

Once the man was far enough away, he couldn't help but mutter, "Dressed so bizarrely, and he didn't even bow to this Prince. How dare he address me as Seventh Shen? Simply preposterous..."

Before he could finish, a sudden, sharp pain shot through his head, and a flood of memories that did not belong to him rushed into his mind.

Stunned by the foreign memories, Shen Shaoyuan turned to look at Shen Mo'er, only to find that in the blink of an eye, his rosy-cheeked, fair-skinned daughter, who had been raised on delicacies and fine silks, had suddenly transformed. She was now a gaunt, spindly, raggedly dressed little wretch.

Shen Shaoyuan cried out in anguish, "Mo'er, my little Mo'er, how did you end up like this—"

*

About fifteen minutes later, the father and daughter—both now gaunt, skeletal, and dressed in rags—sat in a dilapidated, drafty room and sighed in unison.

"Truly, the world is full of wonders!" Shen Shaoyuan couldn't help but sigh.

"Tell me about it," Shen Mo'er agreed.

Who would have thought that instead of becoming ghosts under the rebels' blades, they had become new souls in a different world?

Not just Shen Shaoyuan, but Shen Mo'er's mind was also filled with memories that were not her own.

According to the memories they had received, they had arrived in a world completely unrelated to Great Liang.

The country they were currently in was called the Nation of Hua, established just over twenty years ago. Their village was Yangliu Village, located in Jiangbei County, Lingjiang City, in the southern region of Hua.

In this ordinary village, there had also been a father and daughter named Shen Shaoyuan and Shen Mo'er.

The matriarch of this household had passed away early, leaving the father and daughter to depend on each other.

The two had been honest and submissive. During the lean season before the harvest, the last bit of grain in their home had been "borrowed"—half-coerced and half-robbed—by unscrupulous relatives. Too timid to ask for it back or to borrow from anyone else, they survived by digging up wild herbs and gnawing on grass roots, barely scraping by.

As the saying goes, the weather is unpredictable. The Dragon Boat Festival had already passed, so the weather should have warmed up. Yet it had rained constantly in recent days, and the air remained quite chilly—especially at night, when the lack of thick blankets left them shivering.

To make matters worse, their house was dilapidated and leaked. The continuous heavy rain soaked their bedding, and in the middle of summer, the two had caught a severe cold.

Already weakened by hunger and barely clinging to life, the illness was the final straw. One way or another, whether from starvation or disease, both of them had breathed their last the previous night.

The moment the treasury door opened, Shen Mo'er and Shen Shaoyuan arrived in this world, and at the same time, the miserable, deceased father and daughter vanished.

They had inherited their respective memories, becoming the "new" Shen Shaoyuan and Shen Mo'er of this world.

They had just tested it; no matter how many times they opened and closed the treasury door, the world outside remained this new one.

Looking at their current emaciated states, it was clear that the Heavenly Way had altered their appearances to match their new identities.

This meant they were not meant to return.

Yes, the Heavenly Way.

The imperial family of Great Liang was descended from the Shaman clan. Although by their generation, skills like communicating with spirits or performing divination and blessings had been entirely lost, the world had been created by the Father God, so they firmly believed that the Heavenly Way naturally favored their clan.

It must have been their ancestors watching over them from above, unwilling to see them perish under the rebels' swords, who had brought them to this different world.

Discussing and reasoning it out together, they accepted their new reality surprisingly quickly.

At least they didn't have to die.

And at the very least, they were still together.

It was just that this other world was vastly different from their Great Liang.

Talking about gods and ghosts was forbidden here; it was deemed "feudal superstition."

There were no emperors or princes here; they were "feudal remnants."

This place emphasized the people being the masters of their own destiny, where poor and lower-middle peasants held the highest honor.

...

In short, in every aspect, it was worlds apart from their original beliefs.

But compared to becoming restless ghosts under the rebels' blades, none of this mattered.

Furthermore, their treasury was not lost.

They had already tested it: as long as they pictured the treasury in their minds, its door would appear out of thin air. Once they entered or exited, the door would vanish without a trace.

Everything inside the treasury remained intact, not a single item missing.

The treasury was now their sole reliance for survival in this strange world.

"Truly, our ancestors have blessed us!" Shen Shaoyuan couldn't help but feel relieved.

Shen Mo'er shared his relief, but she still cautioned, "Father, that is feudal superstition. We cannot speak of it."

"Right, right, we mustn't speak of it," Shen Shaoyuan nodded repeatedly. "We must keep reminding each other. If we say the wrong thing, we'll be in trouble—we might even be dragged out and criticized publicly. Also, even though we have the treasury, we cannot easily take things out. That would only bring trouble. In this day and age, one must not show even a hint of wealth."

Shen Shaoyuan declared firmly, "We are poor. Our family is extremely poor!"

Shen Mo'er thought for a moment and said, "Then we must find a way to get our grain back."

Shen Shaoyuan nodded. "Naturally."

Although the neighbor who had passed by earlier—whom they now knew from their memories was named Zhou Dashuan—had mentioned that the brigade would distribute grain today, based on past experience, the portion wouldn't be very much.

Since they had to start from scratch, even a tiny amount of grain was crucial. Since it was "borrowed," it absolutely had to be returned.

Besides, those people had dared to snatch their grain. If they didn't teach them a lesson, they would think they were still that honest, easily bullied pair!

The father and daughter exchanged a knowing look.

Causing trouble? They were experts at that!