The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

The first day of the third lunar month, the 32nd year of Jiasheng.

The Capital

“I’ve never seen anyone more unlucky than you!” In the chilly spring, Ah Chou was sitting by the well, rubbing the clothes with freezing hands, and muttering to her own reflection in the big wooden basin. Looking at the hill-like pile of clothes beside the basin, she couldn’t help but sigh, “How long will this take?”

Ah Chou was right, she was really unlucky.

She was a daughter of an official who offended his superiors with his stubbornness and got him and his family killed overnight. Other than Ah Chou who was only four years old then, no one survived. She was then sent to Laundry Department as a slave, and after washing clothes for ten years, she finally had a good luck. Because the clothes were washed well, she was recommended to the Yanxi Palace of the most favored concubine, Zhao Guifei.

However, it seemed like she was really a person with bad luck as this good luck didn’t last long. Two years later, she accidentally offended Zhao Guifei and was then given to Duan Chenghong, an official demoted to sixth rank from Hanlin Academy.

What kind of person was Duan Chenghong?

At the beginning of the 32nd year of Jiasheng, as soon as the Great Zhou Dynasty opened, the sky changed. The eldest prince— the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace born to the late Empress Zhenxian—had been disrespectful at the New Year’s Eve banquet. The Emperor was furious and locked him in the Zongren Fu. Within a few days, several important ministers made a joint report on the evidence of the Crown Prince’s years of misconduct. The emperor was enraged and ordered a thorough investigation. As a result, the Crown Prince was deposed and was demoted to a commoner before the first month even passed. He was directly sent to Ningguta and his prospective father-in-law, right minister Duan Chenghong, fell six ranks in a row in one day and became a mere sixth rank compiler at Hanlin Academy.

The Crown Prince was abolished. The Zhao family of Zhao Guifei really made a lot of effort. Duan Chenghong naturally hated Zhao Guifei, but he could only grit his teeth. And when she put a girl on his side at this time, he would naturally think that Ah Chou was Zhao Guifei‘s eyes and ears. So how could Ah Chou not be unlucky? 

Poor Ah Chou, just like that, became the thorn in the side of Duan Chenghong’s family. They didn’t dare to kill the people who were given by Zhao Guifei, but there were many ways to make someone suffer. Ever since she entered the Duan household, she had never had a time off at all. She’s a sixteen-year-old girl who had to get up before dawn to chop firewood, cook, clean and do laundry, especially laundry. Everyday, Ah Chou has to wash for at least four hours on such a cold day. She didn’t understand why they had so many clothes that needed washing. Even more clothes than when she was at the Laundry Department everyday. But Ah Chou didn’t complain, especially after washing the same clothes everyday.

Well, they were already treating her like this. Why would she invite more trouble to herself?

It was nearly midnight when she finally finished washing the clothes. Ah Chou felt that her waist was about to break. She struggled to dry her clothes before heading to the woodshed. Yes, Ah Chou was sleeping in a woodshed. The Duan family lived in a small courtyard and even with only a little more than a dozen of members, it was still tight. For a slave like her to sleep in a woodshed was already good.

Ah Chou rubbed his waist, and was about to push open the door of the woodshed when she heard a hysterical cry from the young lady’s room.

“I don’t want to marry that paralyzed man! I don’t want to go to Ningguta! Mother, you… If you force me again, I will die!”