Volume One Chapter 1: The Empress Gallops Wildly on a Donkey

“Shoes are torn, hat is torn, the donkey beneath me mocks me, how much do I owe, two hundred eighty silver more…”
On the official road winding through the woods.
Fan Xiu sat backwards on his donkey, a stalk of foxtail grass between his teeth, singing a ditty with leisurely ease.
Today was the second day since he'd crossed into the Great Yin Dynasty. The original owner of this body was a pedantic scholar, wholly devoted to the classics, frail of constitution, who had finally passed the provincial exam. In a fit of wild joy, he died suddenly!
His family, the Fans, had borrowed a considerable sum—two hundred eighty taels of silver—to support his studies, hoping he would win the top honors and bring glory to the clan.
The worst part: before crossing over, Fan Xiu had just paid off his mortgage, only to be saddled with a mountain of debt again!
Who could he complain to?
Even a donkey’s life wasn’t this miserable!
But he still had to return home.
The Great Yin Dynasty enforced strict household registration; running off would brand him a vagrant, and the official sent to report the good news must have already arrived at the Fan household. The entire family was likely awaiting his return.
Just thinking about their hopeful gazes, anticipating his triumph, and the looming debt made Fan Xiu feel crushed under the weight of a mountain.
Once home, his family would surely prepare for his journey to the capital for the imperial exam.
But going to the capital was out of the question.
He simply didn’t have the ability.
Did he know how to write the Eight-Legged Essay? Was he versed in the Four Books and Five Classics?
Forget the top scholar; with his skills, he’d be lucky to qualify as a village-level candidate, perhaps only sitting at the children’s table for the elementary exam.
Even if he somehow won first place, the monthly stipend was a mere five taels—how many years would it take to clear the debt?
Fortunately, with his modern perspective, finding ways to make money in Great Yin should not be too difficult.
When the time came, he could marry several lovely wives, drink daily, and enjoy music at the pleasure houses—wouldn’t that be bliss?
“Ah!”
A woman’s startled cry suddenly rang out, and the donkey stopped in its tracks.
Fan Xiu looked up swiftly and saw, right in front of the donkey, a woman lying on the ground, her hair disheveled, her robe stained with blood.
“Damn!”
Fan Xiu’s expression changed dramatically. He exclaimed, “You… are you trying to scam me? Listen, I… I have no money!”
It was bad enough to suddenly owe two hundred taels after crossing over!
If he got swindled on top of that, what was the point of living?
To his surprise, the woman didn’t demand money. Instead, she staggered to her feet, clutching her chest, gasping for breath—each inhalation seemed agonizingly difficult, yet a flash of brilliance lit her weary eyes.
“I am Empress Xiao Ruoqing of Great Yin!”
She forced herself upright, pointed at Fan Xiu’s little donkey, and said with imperious pride, “Present your donkey to me, and I will make you Grand General of the Realm!”
“Huh?”

Fan Xiu blinked, bewildered, glancing at the solitary ebony hairpin left in her hair and the mud and grass clinging to her bloodstained robe, his lips twitching.
“You? Empress? I might as well claim to be the First Emperor of Qin!”
Turning around, Fan Xiu teased, “Send me fifty coins and I’ll help you unite the six kingdoms and sweep across the world!”
Xiao Ruoqing eyed the destitute scholar before her, puzzled.
Who was the First Emperor of Qin?
What did ‘send me fifty coins’ mean?
But in a heartbeat, her gaze turned icy. She stepped forward and said, “You dare call yourself emperor—are you planning rebellion?”
This shabby scholar dared, right before her, the empress, to claim he was the First Emperor.
In the palace, anyone who dared utter such words before her would have been dragged out and executed by the Blood Feather Guards.
Alas, while traveling incognito, she had been ambushed; her guards sacrificed themselves for her escape, suffering heavy casualties.
She herself was poisoned, her martial prowess crippled, wounded again during the flight, chased here by assassins, her strength nearly spent.
“Tsk.”
Fan Xiu joked, “If a beggar can claim to be empress, why can’t I say I’m the First Emperor of Qin?”
Xiao Ruoqing glanced down at her own disheveled state, bitterness flooding her heart.
Indeed, she did not look much like an empress now.
“Swish!”
An arrow suddenly flew past, embedding itself in the nearby tree trunk.
Fan Xiu’s face changed.
Damn!
What was happening?
“Kill them all! Leave none alive!”
A vicious voice hissed from the forest.
At the same time, several figures in black could vaguely be seen rushing out from the underbrush.
Fan Xiu’s scalp tingled.
Damn it!
Just crossed over and already met assassins—clearly they were after the woman.
A wise man does not linger near a crumbling wall!
Without hesitation, Fan Xiu tugged at the donkey’s reins to flee.
He had no intention of dying so soon after crossing over.
But he’d barely taken two steps when he felt a tug from behind. Turning, he saw Xiao Ruoqing had scrambled onto the donkey’s back, her arms wrapped around his waist.
Except the spot she grabbed made Fan Xiu’s face turn pale with shock.

“Damn! Don’t grab there!” Fan Xiu cried out in alarm.
Xiao Ruoqing had only been desperate to hold on to Fan Xiu, but upon grabbing, she realized something was off, and hearing his panic, she quickly understood what she’d grabbed.
“S-sorry! I didn’t mean it!” Xiao Ruoqing stammered, her cheeks burning like fire.
“I don’t care if you’re real or not! Just get off, please!” Fan Xiu shouted.
This was a donkey, not a horse—carrying two people would be too much!
If those men caught up, not only would the woman die, but he and the donkey would as well!
“Help me! I’ll reward you handsomely!”
Xiao Ruoqing said, angry and flustered, then slapped the donkey’s rump. The little donkey let out a sharp cry and bolted forward.
“What the—?”
Fan Xiu stared, stunned, at his donkey.
Though she was a mare, donkeys had notoriously stubborn tempers. He usually had to coax and cajole her to get her moving.
Now, with one slap from the woman, she was running like wildfire?
Could she be… into that sort of thing?
One donkey, two people, they shot down the official road in a cloud of dust.
The black-clad assassins could only eat their dust from behind.
Seeing their quarry getting farther and farther ahead, the men could only stop in frustration.
“Ugh, damn, mouthful of dirt! We can’t chase any further.”
The leader said, “There may be officials ahead. If we go on, we’ll be discovered.”
Someone asked, “What about the target? How will we explain this to the master?”
“Don’t worry! They’re headed toward Zhi Yuan County. I’ll report to the master and have him send men to search Zhi Yuan. She won’t escape!”
With that, the group slipped into the tall grass and vanished.
Ahead, the two on the donkey had no idea the killers had given up the chase.
The little mare thundered along, hooves pounding, jolting so violently that Xiao Ruoqing had to cling desperately to Fan Xiu’s waist, her upper body pressed tightly against his back.
Xiao Ruoqing was mortified.
She, supreme empress of the Great Yin Dynasty, raised in luxury—now, here she was, clutching a stranger and fleeing on a donkey?
Her whole body felt feverish, her cheeks blazing red, even the tips of her ears flushed.
Just then,
She suddenly felt the man’s shoulder brush against her chest…