After Using Him She Ran Away

Zhu Xingxu is a modern corporate worker who transmigrates into the body of an eighteen-year-old noblewoman in an ancient novel she once read. In the original story, the Third Prince and an illegitimate daughter ascend to the throne and eventually return to the modern era through a ritual described in an ancient text. Zhu Xingxu, tired of the monotonous life of a noble lady and longing for modern conveniences like air conditioning, decides to find the text and return home before she is forced into an arranged marriage. She recalls that the protagonists discovered the method in the Imperial Garden’s study, so she attends a flower-viewing banquet there to search for it.

While sneaking into the restricted study, Zhu Xingxu is discovered by Pei Xie, the Fifth Prince, who is known in the novel as a handsome but silent figure who dies young while serving the Third Prince. Instead of exposing her, Pei Xie helps her hide from a patrolling eunuch. Zhu Xingxu finds the book containing the five items needed for the ritual: a royal waist token, a Kuqing tree brush, ice stalactites, a Vermilion Bird wooden plaque, and sun-scorched tiles. Realizing she cannot obtain these items alone, she approaches Pei Xie, who reveals he also needs to retrieve something from Deputy Minister Li Dong. They strike a deal to infiltrate the Li residence together as servants.

Zhu Xingxu and Pei Xie use darkening ointment to disguise their skin and assume the identities of servants named Cuihua and Ah Gui. Zhu Xingxu is assigned to Meng Chunhe, Li Dong’s neglected principal wife, while Pei Xie serves as an attendant to Li Dong’s son, Li Ke. Zhu Xingxu quickly gains Meng Chunhe’s trust through her competence and kindness, particularly after protecting Meng Chunhe’s maid, Su Lan, from abuse by the favored Concubine Qiao. Meanwhile, Pei Xie manipulates Li Ke into studying, gaining the family's favor and access to the inner circles.

During the Flower Festival, Zhu Xingxu accidentally encounters the Third Prince, Pei Yan, on a pleasure boat. Pei Yan recognizes her potential value and offers her a favor, which Zhu Xingxu hopes to use to obtain the royal waist token. However, Pei Xie reveals that to get the Kuqing tree brush, which is kept in Li Dong’s study, Zhu Xingxu must become one of his concubines. Reluctantly, she agrees, but Pei Xie provides sedatives and illusion drugs to ensure the encounter is merely a performance. As they execute their plan, tensions rise with the political struggle between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, while Zhu Xingxu navigates the complex dynamics of the Li household, unaware that her actions are drawing her deeper into the fate of the novel's original protagonists.