The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat

Hua Manman finally made it through the agonizing punishment, and the system stopped forcing her to stay conscious.

By now, she was physically and mentally exhausted.

She couldn’t hold on any longer and passed out completely.

After delivering soup to the Emperor, Yin Meiren spent the rest of the afternoon cozying up to him.

She had hoped to use the opportunity to stay the night in Hanzhang Hall and serve him in bed.

Unfortunately, the Emperor hadn’t been in the mood for such activities lately.

The Emperor told her to leave.

Yin Meiren didn’t dare defy the Saint’s will, so she could only leave, resentful and reluctant.

As she was leaving Hanzhang Hall, she happened to see Lady Hua passed out on the side of the path.

She nudged Lady Hua’s calf with the tip of her shoe. When Lady Hua showed no reaction, she was certain the woman had truly passed out.

Yin Meiren already held a grudge against Lady Hua, so naturally, she wasn’t about to pass up this golden opportunity for revenge.

Conveniently, there was no one else around, so she didn’t have to worry about being seen.

Yin Meiren chuckled. "I’ve finally got you."

She immediately ordered her servants to tie Hua Manman up and carry her away.

Under the cover of darkness, they moved stealthily through the palace with Hua Manman.

When they passed Chaoyang Palace, Yin Meiren ordered her men to carry Hua Manman inside.

Chaoyang Palace was the residence of the previous dynasty’s Empress. But due to an "incident," that Empress had committed suicide within its walls.

Ever since, people often heard a woman crying there in the middle of the night. It was said to be the ghost of the former Empress causing mischief, which had frightened many.

The late Emperor ordered Chaoyang Palace to be sealed, and no one dared set foot inside it again.

As time went on, Chaoyang Palace fell further into disrepair.

It wasn’t the Cold Palace, but it might as well have been.

The lock on the main gate had long since rusted through and fallen off, and no one had bothered to replace it.

Yin Meiren had planned to just dump Lady Hua in Chaoyang Palace and leave, but she changed her mind when she spotted an old well inside.

’If I just leave her here, it’ll only scare her at most.’

’That’s letting her off far too easily.’

Yin Meiren pointed at the old well.

"Throw her in."

The two eunuchs carrying Hua Manman hesitated.

Lady Hua was Prince Zhao’s favored concubine. If the prince investigated this later and traced it back to them, what would they do?

Knowing Prince Zhao’s temper, death would be getting off easy.

Seeing their hesitation, Yin Meiren scoffed.

"What are you afraid of?

As long as I don’t say anything and you don’t say anything, who’s going to know Lady Hua is here?

Even if she’s found someday, we can just blame it on the ghost of the former Empress.

This dump is haunted anyway. Isn’t it perfectly normal for a ghost to harm someone?!"

The two eunuchs thought it over and agreed. Mustering their courage, they threw Hua Manman into the old well.

A loud SPLASH echoed from the well.

Overcome with guilt and fear, the two eunuchs didn’t dare look into the well. They scrambled backward, urging Yin Meiren to leave quickly.

Yin Meiren cursed them, "Useless fools!"

She walked to the edge of the well and peered inside.

The night was too dark and there were no lanterns in Chaoyang Palace, so the inside of the well was pitch-black. She couldn’t see a thing.

Yin Meiren considered having her men throw stones down the well, but she worried it would be difficult to explain them later. After all, ghosts didn’t attack people with stones.

She had no choice but to drop the idea. She led her men away from Chaoyang Palace at a brisk pace.

Hua Manman woke up almost immediately after hitting the water.

She was dazed at first. ’Where am I? Why am I surrounded by water?’

But now was not the time to be thinking about that.

She used her swimming skills to stay afloat, but she knew it wasn’t a long-term solution.

Swimming took a lot of energy, and sooner or later, she would run out.

Once she couldn’t stay afloat any longer, all that awaited her was death by drowning.

’I have to get out of here, fast.’

Hua Manman looked up. Through the round opening of the well, she could see the hazy night sky.

She tried to climb the stone wall, but its surface was covered in moss. It was impossibly slick, with nothing to hold onto.

A few failed attempts later, most of her strength was gone.

To conserve her precious energy, she had to stop these futile attempts.

’What am I going to do?’

Despair began to set in.

’I barely survived that agonizing punishment, only to run into this kind of rotten luck.’

’Am I just cursed with bad luck?’

’If I make it out of this alive, I’m definitely going to a temple to burn some incense and get rid of this jinx.’

As her thoughts ran wild, she suddenly heard the faint, mournful sound of a woman crying.

The sound was filled with such endless grief that it made Hua Manman’s scalp tingle.

The crying, combined with her current predicament...

...immediately brought terrifying scenes from horror movies to Hua Manman’s mind.

’Holy shit, don’t tell me this dump is haunted?!’

Before she transmigrated, Hua Manman would have been adamant that ghosts didn’t exist.

But now, she wasn’t so sure.

’After all, if I can travel through time, what’s so strange about ghosts being real?!’

Fear and anxiety made Hua Manman’s body stiffen, and even the kicks she used to tread water became panicked.

The icy well water sloshed loudly from her frantic movements.

Perhaps the female ghost heard the splashing, because the crying suddenly stopped.

Then, Hua Manman saw a woman’s head appear at the opening of the well. Long, black hair cascaded down over the edge, and her features were too obscured by the darkness to make out.

The sight nearly made Hua Manman choke with fear.

She was too scared to even scream, simply staring, transfixed, at the "ghost" peering over the edge of the well.

Until the "ghost" spoke.

"Why is there someone in this well?"

Only then did Hua Manman snap back to her senses.

She asked in terror, "Are you a person or a ghost?"

The "ghost" was clearly not expecting such a question. She paused for a moment before answering.

"I’m a person, of course."

Hua Manman was still skeptical.

She was afraid the woman was lying. ’Isn’t there a saying about ghosts being full of lies?’

But the woman quickly proved she wasn’t a ghost with her actions.

The woman found a rope and lowered it into the well, telling Hua Manman to grab on and climb out.

After a great struggle, Hua Manman finally scrambled out of the well. Exhausted and cold, she collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

Only then did she get a clear look at the woman who had saved her life.

The woman looked to be in her early twenties and was dressed as a palace maid. Her face was familiar; Hua Manman was sure she’d seen her somewhere before.

Hua Manman racked her brain and quickly remembered. The words tumbled out of her mouth.

"You’re one of the palace maids who serves the Saint?"

She couldn’t remember the woman’s name, but she remembered seeing this palace maid in Hanzhang Hall.

The palace maid was clearly surprised that the person she had just casually rescued was none other than Lady Hua.

She didn’t ask why Lady Hua was there. Instead, she thrust the lantern she was carrying into Hua Manman’s hands.

"This is no place for you to linger. You need to leave, quickly."

Hua Manman asked, "What’s your name? Thank you for saving me. I’ll be sure to repay you for this."

The palace maid pushed her toward the exit. "I don’t need your reward. Just go, hurry up and go."

...