Spring’s Command

Wei Tingchun is a transmigration agent who works as an extra in various fictional worlds, completing scripted roles to earn system points. In her first assigned world, she inhabits the body of a young eunuch named Tingchun in the Great Qian Dynasty. Her mission is straightforward: deliver poisoned pastries to Consort Jia, resulting in the death of her unborn child, after which she is to be executed by hanging. This marks her fifth death, and she approaches the role with detached professionalism, viewing her experiences as temporary jobs rather than real lives. While exploring the palace before her scheduled death, she encounters the Eleventh Prince, a frail five-year-old boy named Xue Ying, who is forced to kneel in the freezing snow as punishment by his abusive mother, Consort Qing. Moved by pity and recalling her own childhood hardship, Wei Tingchun breaks protocol to give the shivering child warm ginseng tea. She then proceeds with her mission, accepting her fate without hesitation. After a brief birthday celebration where she wishes for a peaceful life and a family, she is arrested, tortured, and executed. Her performance earns her a decent rating, and she returns to the system space to rest.

Ten years pass in the system space, during which Wei Tingchun continues to take lottery-assigned roles, avoiding emotional attachment to any character. She is drawn back to the Great Qian Dynasty, this time inhabiting the body of a pregnant, middle-aged matron in the Cold Palace. The plot reveals that she is destined to torment the now fifteen-year-old Xue Ying, who has been imprisoned in the dilapidated Chan Wu Courtyard by his jealous brothers after the Emperor praises his flood prevention strategy. Wei Tingchun recognizes the boy she saved a decade ago; he has grown into a handsome but hollow-eyed young man who has endured years of abuse. Although the script requires her to participate in his suffering, she finds herself unable to harm him. She performs the required lines with feigned cruelty but internally struggles with guilt and compassion.

Unable to sleep, Wei Tingchun decides to secretly aid Xue Ying during the night. She braves a heavy snowstorm to bring him a warm cloak, builds a hidden fire to thaw his frozen body, and applies heat-generating patches to protect him from the cold. She loosens his binding ropes to restore circulation and blindfolds him to spare him the sight of his tormentors. Xue Ying, who has been awake and terrified throughout the night, misinterprets her actions, believing she is about to assault him due to past traumas involving palace servants. Despite his fear and confusion, he remains passive, lacking the strength or will to resist. Wei Tingchun leaves before dawn, extinguishing the fire and covering her tracks, determined to find a way to help him without fully breaking the plot. Her actions mark a significant shift from her previous detached approach, as she begins to prioritize the well-being of the boy she once saved over her mission objectives.

The story explores the complex dynamic between Wei Tingchun, a transient observer seeking a quiet existence, and Xue Ying, a victim of systemic abuse who has lost hope. As Wei Tingchun navigates her role as a matron in the Cold Palace, she must balance her desire to protect Xue Ying with the constraints of the system and the dangerous political intrigue of the imperial court. Her interventions, though small, begin to alter the trajectory of Xue Ying’s suffering, setting the stage for further complications as the plot demands her participation in his torment while her own compassion drives her to subvert those expectations.