I woke up as the Villainous Empress

A few months ago, Zheng Xiang left his residence in disguise without informing anyone, choosing to wander alone through the town’s farmers market and inspect whether the policies about the minimum prices for the farmers’ produce were being implemented properly or not.

As the one supervising the area under his rule and responsible for sending reports to the Main Palace, Zheng Xiang wanted to ensure that the policies were being implemented correctly and that there was no corruption ongoing among the officers in charge of monitoring the execution of state policies in the area.

During his undercover inspection, Zheng Xiang discovered a widespread market monopoly. Despite the state increasing the minimum prices for farmers’ produce, most merchants continued to buy items at the same low prices as before, which were significantly lower compared to the high quality of the goods that they were purchasing from the farmers.

While Zheng Xiang was disheartened by the sight of people disregarding policies and exploiting impoverished farmers, he noticed a young woman. She wore simple clothes that accentuated her beauty, and despite her delicate appearance, she emanated strength.

Contrary to her outward gentleness and shyness, she engaged in a heated argument with a merchant who was offering an inadequate price to a farmer in exchange for a cart filled with grains.

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The price that the merchant offered to the farmer was below the state’s implemented minimum price, despite the high quality of the produce. The merchant was exploiting the farmer, threatening that no one in the market would buy the produce at a higher price, and the price he was offering was the best one, all while falsely claiming the grains to be of poor quality.

In reality, the produce was of top quality, and the merchant was taking advantage of the farmer’s lack of awareness by offering him a lower price.

In a market filled with countless farmers and merchants, where most people turned a blind eye to the monopoly run by the merchants and the exploitation of farmers through low prices, this young woman stood out.

She was the only one speaking against the stubborn, rude merchant, ardently defending the rights of the farmer. It was not common to witness a woman intervening in men’s business and challenging their authority. Despite the gathering of onlookers, she bravely confronted the merchant, insisting on a fair price for the farmer.

Zheng Xiang, upon witnessing this scenario, was impressed by the woman’s courage. Without revealing his identity, he entered the shop to assist her. Speaking up for the farmer and questioning the merchant, he supported the woman’s argument.

In the end, the merchant, embarrassed by being questioned by a man who appeared scholarly and noble, and threatened him by the state laws, had no choice but to give the farmer a fair price.

Zheng Xiang wanted to talk to the woman after helping the farmer because it was rare to find a woman who was not only knowledgeable about state affairs and policies but also strong enough to stand up for others. However, when he turned around, she had already disappeared from the shop, leaving the market as if standing up for others was a routine task for her.

She didn’t even wait for the farmer to bid her farewell and express gratitude for her help.

What he had initially thought to be the last encounter turned out not to be the final one. The same day in the evening, when Zheng Liang was returning to the royal residence and walking by an area near the lake and forest, he was bitten by a wild snake that appeared from the wilderness.

At that time, there was no one in sight since it was almost curfew time, and everyone had packed up their stalls and left. However, a woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere and tore the hem of her long skirt to wrap above the snake bite on his wounded leg to avoid the poison from spreading further.

While Zheng Xiang lay on the ground with hazy consciousness, the woman carefully examined the snake bite. After a few moments of thought, she started to suck the blood from the wound and spat it on the ground. After repeating this process a few times, she pulled out a herbal medicinal paste from her bag, which she was carrying on her shoulders, and applied it to the wound.

Her actions were both swift and skilled. Before Zheng Xiang could thank her and learn her name, he lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he was in his chamber, in his bed. Upon asking his guards about the girl who treated him, he found out that they didn’t see any girl in the vicinity, and he was lying alone on the empty road.

After that incident, he tried to look for the woman for months but didn’t hear any news about her. It was as if, after helping him, she vanished into thin air. He did hear that the woman was a wanderer, moving from one place to another and helping people with her medical knowledge.

It was a surprise to him for a woman to not only have medicinal knowledge but also wander alone from village to village to help people. Does she not worry about her safety? he wondered.

He wanted to bring that woman to the royal residence, thank her for her assistance the other day, and also offer her work and boarding so that she didn’t need to wander anymore. To find that woman, he searched the entire town and even checked the nearby villages but couldn’t find a trace of her.

However, who would have thought that the woman he was looking for with such desperation would suddenly appear in front of him as if it was his fate to return to the palace?

"So, she is a nurse. No doubt, her skills were evident when she treated me," Zheng Xiang murmured with a smile. He had initially thought that she knew a few things about medicine, but her joining the Imperial Medicine Department as a nurse indicated that she must be quite skilled.

After all, not just anyone could join the Imperial Medicine Department solely based on having some knowledge about medicine.

Thinking about how she was also working at the palace, a smile played on his lips. He gazed at the cooled-down soup and muttered with a subtle smile, "Looks like life at the palace won’t be that boring anymore."

With that, he picked up the bowl and drank the herbal soup in one go. Despite the subtle bitter taste, there was a delightful blend of vegetable broth and chicken soup flavors, making it more palatable and reducing the bitterness.

After finishing it, he smiled and remarked, "It’s delicious," even though he had never been a fan of herbal soup since childhood due to his aversion to the scent of herbal medicine and its inherent bitterness.