The Duchess

CHAPTER 1: THE TEA PARTY OF THORNS

Visual: The White Lotus Royal Garden, Ming Empire.

Aroma: Jasmine tea, agarwood incense, and the heavy pollen of spring blooms.

The scorching sunlight reflected off the surface of the lotus pond, dazzling Xi Huan's eyes. Her head felt as though it had been struck by a sledgehammer. The screeching of car brakes and the desperate screams of her secretary at the racetrack last night still echoed in her ears, but the acrid scent of burning asphalt had been replaced by a suffocating floral fragrance.

"Duchess Xi Huan! How could you!"

A shrill, piercing voice shattered the silence.

Xi Huan snapped her eyes open. She was no longer inside a mangled sports car. Instead, she was standing in a lavish marble pavilion. Before her, a young woman clad in pink silk adorned with intricate peach blossom embroidery was kneeling, clutching a reddened cheek. Tears streamed down her face, streaking the white powder on her skin.

"Are you satisfied now? I only wanted to pluck a flower for the Emperor, but you..." The woman sobbed.

Xi Huan glanced around. Dozens of other women, dressed in expensive traditional Hanfu, were staring at her with a singular expression: Loathing.

"The Duchess of Savaro truly has no heart." "No wonder the First Prince refuses to look at her. Beautiful, but she has the soul of a demon."

Xi Huan froze. Duchess of Savaro? Emperor? First Prince?

Foreign memories suddenly surged through her like an electric current. These names weren't unfamiliar. They were characters from 'The Crimson Throne,' the novel she had been reading just before the accident. And she... she was now inhabiting the body of Xi Huan. The primary antagonist destined to be beheaded in thirty days due to a cruel frame-up by the woman kneeling before her—Su Yin, the supposedly "pure" Original Heroine.

"Duchess?" A maid whispered anxiously behind her. "Please, apologize. If the Emperor finds out you've laid hands on his favorite concubine, you'll be in grave danger!"

Xi Huan took a deep breath. As the CEO of Xi Zuan, she had faced boardrooms far more predatory than this. Apologize? In her dictionary, apologizing when she wasn't at fault was a loss of equity.

Xi Huan did not kneel. Instead, she stood taller. She adjusted her black-and-gold silk robes—colors reserved only for high-ranking royalty. The gold bells at her waist chimed softly, radiating a dominant aura that froze the atmosphere.

"Crying won't change the facts, Lady Su Yin," Xi Huan's voice rang out—cold, low, and commanding.

Su Yin stopped sobbing, her eyes widening. Normally, Xi Huan would scream in a rage and look like a madwoman, making it easy for Su Yin to play the victim. But today... Xi Huan looked terrifyingly composed.

"You say you were plucking a flower for the Emperor?" Xi Huan took a step forward. Every stride possessed the grace of a sovereign. "Are you aware that this is the White Lotus Garden, a sacred site dedicated to the memory of the late Empress Dowager? According to Ancient Ming Law, Article 12: Any concubine who incites provocation or damages the flora of the sacred garden before the Spring Rite is deemed to have insulted the ancestors."

Xi Huan smirked, the tip of her long gold nail-guards lifting Su Yin's chin, forcing the woman to meet her gaze.

"That slap wasn't out of jealousy. It was a 'reminder' so that your head isn't taken by the Emperor himself for your insolence. I have just saved your life. Where is your gratitude?"

The entire pavilion fell into a deathly silence. The nobles who had been whispering held their breath. The Xi Huan they knew was a volatile firebrand, not a legalist capable of weaponizing ancient statutes.

"I-I..." Su Yin was speechless.

Xi Huan released the woman's chin and turned away. She caught her reflection in the water. This face... it was extraordinarily beautiful. Porcelain skin, eyes sharp as a hawk's, and seductive crimson lips.

"In the novel, I die next month at the hands of the First Prince," Xi Huan thought. "But I'm sorry... I don't intend to surrender my neck to anyone's blade."

She looked toward the high tower at the edge of the palace, where she knew the 'Weak Prince' was watching.

"If the throne is what will save me, then I will ensure the Second Prince claims it—even if I have to burn this entire empire to the ground to build a new one upon its ashes."

Xi Huan walked away with a regal gait, leaving behind a ruined tea party and a lingering chill. The game of fate had changed. The CEO of Xi Zuan had officially entered the fray.