Yu Ying, a twenty-two-year-old modern college student, dies in a car accident and transmigrates into the body of Wei Yu Ying, a low-ranking concubine in the Qing dynasty’s Forbidden City during the twenty-second year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign. The original host, a bondservant of the Plain Yellow Banner, had been selected into the harem but fell ill upon arrival and died, leaving Yu Ying to navigate the dangerous imperial palace with no special skills, system, or cheat. Initially overwhelmed by the prospect of living in an era where women’s status was extremely low, Yu Ying decides to adopt a survival strategy of obscurity, pretending to be chronically ill for three years to avoid the Emperor’s attention and the deadly harem intrigues. She resides in Changchun Palace under the relatively indifferent but harmless Consort An, maintaining a peaceful existence by avoiding conflict and befriending Zhangjia, a concubine who is heavily pregnant with the future Eighth Prince, Yinxiang.
The status quo is disrupted when Emperor Kangxi, driven by an inexplicable instinct, visits Changchun Palace to see the pregnant Zhangjia. Yu Ying, unaware of his arrival and terrified of being summoned, flees through a window, an act that Kangxi witnesses with a mix of annoyance and curiosity. Instead of punishing her, the Emperor becomes intrigued by her boldness and the unique vitality she exudes, comparing her to a kitten he once kept in his youth. He orders an investigation into her background and, despite her earlier deception, summons her to attend him that very night. During their encounter, Yu Ying overcomes her fear and displays a mix of innocence and boldness that captivates Kangxi, leading to a successful first night together. This event marks a turning point, as Yu Ying begins to entertain ambitions beyond mere survival, hoping to leverage her favor to potentially alter the course of history, although she ultimately retreats to her passive nature after realizing the difficulty of such a task.
Simultaneously, a supernatural element is introduced when a mysterious entity known as System 4688 appears in Kangxi’s mind. The system reveals that Yu Ying is a soul from another world and warns that her presence has created a deviation in the timeline, making the future unpredictable. The system claims to be able to foresee events but states that only the Emperor can perceive the changes. Kangxi, initially suspicious and enraged by the intrusion, eventually accepts the system’s existence after it proves its knowledge of the future. He becomes obsessed with understanding the implications of this deviation, leading to increased political activity as he tests ministers and princes, causing rumors of instability in the court. The narrative concludes with Yu Ying solidifying her alliance with Zhangjia, recognizing the future importance of the Eighth Prince, while Kangxi balances his growing fascination with Yu Ying against the political machinations and the mysterious warnings of the system, setting the stage for a complex interplay between personal survival, imperial power, and historical alteration.
