Chapter 1: Reincarnation
“Your Highness!”
The intermittent sound of sobbing made it impossible for Kang Sohwa to find any peace. Her mind was hazy, her eyelids unbearably heavy, yet she forced her lips apart with great effort.
“Be quiet…!”
At her words, someone suddenly cried out in overwhelming joy.
“Her Highness is regaining consciousness!”
“She’s finally awake! Waaah—!”
Even in the afterlife, I can’t have a moment of quiet?
Irritation surged within Kang Sohwa, and she abruptly opened her eyes.
Two maidservants were huddled close together, peering down at her. One had eyes red and swollen like a rabbit’s, while the other had tears and snot streaming down her face.
“Your Highness, you’re awake!”
The red-eyed maid cried out in delight. The other hastily wiped her nose, her face brimming with relief.
“I’ll go summon Nanny Jang.”
“…Eunju , Dobaek !”
Kang Sohwa murmured hoarsely, her nose stinging.
“So you’ve both come as well…”
Eunju and Dobaek were her personal attendants who had grown up by her side since childhood.
When Kang Sohwa turned ten, at the request of Empress Dowager Zheng , she had entered the palace together with them. But Eunju had died tragically while protecting her, and Dobaek—who left the palace with her after her marriage—had succumbed to an epidemic that swept through the capital shortly thereafter.
As for Kang Sohwa herself, she had been forced to drink poisoned wine by Emperor Taixi and died at the age of thirty-five, her eyes unable to close in fury.
Yet now… to meet Eunju and Dobaek again in the afterlife—
But why did they look no older than thirteen?
Overcome with emotion, Kang Sohwa reached out and grabbed Dobaek’s hand as she was about to leave the room—but froze in shock.
Her hand was warm.
The warmth of the living.
Wait… why is Dobaek’s hand so small?
Her pupils dilated as an unbelievable thought flashed through her mind.
“Eunju… bring me a mirror.”
Though confused, Eunju did not question her and quickly brought over a bronze mirror shaped like a begonia flower.
As Kang Sohwa gazed into its polished surface, the reflection that appeared was that of a young girl.
Too young to even properly be called a “maiden.”
Her long, jet-black hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, glossy and lustrous. Her skin was pale like jade. Crescent-shaped brows, pitch-black eyes, a delicate nose, and soft red lips—
“…What year is it now?”
Her voice trembled as she spoke—and startled even herself with how soft and youthful it sounded.
Fortunately, Kang Sohwa had always carried herself with authority even from a young age, so the two maids did not find anything amiss. They were merely bewildered by her sudden question.
“Your Highness, why do you ask such a thing? Did you have a nightmare?” Eunju asked.
Dobaek, whose wrist was still being gripped tightly, winced with tears in her eyes.
“Your Highness… my wrist feels like it’s about to break…”
Startled, Kang Sohwa loosened her grip. A clear handprint had already formed on Dobaek’s wrist.
I barely used any strength… how could it leave a mark like this?
Her mind filled with confusion, she took a deep breath.
“You may leave now. Bring Nanny Jang.”
The two maids exchanged glances before withdrawing.
Moments later, a woman entered the room.
She appeared to be in her early thirties, with refined features and a neat, composed appearance.
This woman was Kang Sohwa’s wet nurse—Nanny Jang.
Her real name was Jukwol . In her youth, she had served as a close maid to Kang Sohwa’s mother, Lady Kang Eon , the Princess of Nanyang.
Two years after Kang Eon’s marriage, Jukwol herself married a royal guard. But only a few years later, her husband died while protecting his master during a hunt. Overcome with grief, she gave birth prematurely, and her child died before reaching even one month of age.
It was at that time that Kang Sohwa was born.
And so, before her tears had even dried, Jukwol became her wet nurse.
After suffering a difficult childbirth, Kang Eon passed away within a year, leaving Kang Sohwa motherless. To her, Nanny Jang had always been like a true mother.
Yet when Kang Sohwa left for the capital, Nanny Jang had fallen ill and could not accompany her. Her illness worsened, and she eventually passed away—separating them forever.
Now, after more than twenty years of suppressed longing, Kang Sohwa’s eyes burned with tears.
She threw herself into Nanny Jang’s arms and wept uncontrollably.
Startled, Nanny Jang quickly embraced her and tried to soothe her.
“Your Highness, did you have a nightmare? It’s alright—I’m here. No evil spirits will come near you.”
Kang Sohwa clutched tightly at her sleeve, unable to stop crying.
At the age of ten, Kang Sohwa had left Nanyang Commandery at her father’s urging to enter the palace—and never returned.
All the vast wealth of the Nanyang Prince’s estate had fallen into her father’s hands.
At sixteen, under the arrangement of Empress Dowager Zheng, she entered into a political marriage with the powerful Wang family.
Though she had someone else in her heart, the Empress Dowager’s tearful pleas hardened her resolve. For the sake of stabilizing the young emperor’s authority, she had no choice but to marry into the Wang family.
At eighteen, she bore a son.
At twenty, her husband died suddenly.
Unwilling to remarry and abandon her child, she remained a widow for over ten years, raising her son alone until he came of age.
Yet that very son was swayed by rumors that she had been involved with a former lover.
Suspicion bred distance. Distance turned into estrangement.
In the end—
Her own son personally forced poisoned wine to her lips, looking down at her with contempt.
“You must have been consorting with that old lover for years. That man opposed the Wang family at every turn. You have disgraced yourself and abandoned a woman’s virtue. You are not worthy of being called my mother!”
The same boy who once clung to her wrist as a child now cast venomous accusations at her.
Her youthful mistake returned like a sharpened arrow, piercing straight through her heart.
As the poison burned down her throat, she was consumed by despair, injustice, and fury.
Nanny Jang gently patted her back, speaking softly.
“Your Highness remained in the estate for a full year to observe mourning for the Prince. Such filial piety… surely His Highness in heaven will watch over you.”
In the third year of Taikang, her grandfather—the Prince of Nanyang—had passed away. She had observed a full year of mourning.
Today marked the end of that mourning period—the first day of the fourth year of Taikang.
Someone from the imperial palace would soon arrive.
Fragments of long-buried memories surfaced in Kang Sohwa’s mind.
She gradually stopped crying and wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
“Nanny Jang… don’t worry. From now on, I will never cry again.”
Her voice was firm—resolute.
Nanny Jang stared at her in a daze.
The ten-year-old girl before her stood straight despite her frail frame. Her black eyes resembled a deep, unfathomable pond.
For a fleeting moment, she seemed like someone who had endured countless hardships.
Nanny Jang felt both startled—and pained.
Just then, a steady knock sounded at the door, followed by a gentle voice.
“Sohwa, it’s Father.”
Kang Sohwa’s gaze turned cold.
Nanny Jang frowned slightly before opening the door.
A man in his thirties entered. He was tall and handsome, with a refined and gentle demeanor. His eyes, in particular, gleamed brightly.
A gentleman as warm and polished as jade.
This man was Kang Sohwa’s father—No Hyeon .
And in her previous life—
He had been the first to push her into ruin.
No Hyeon was the illegitimate son of a collateral branch of the prestigious Fan-yang No clan. A prodigy from a young age, he passed the civil service examination at seventeen.
At eighteen, he traveled to Nanyang to study and stayed at Baekma Temple. There, he met Kang Eon, who had come to pray.
Amid the drifting incense before the Buddha, the two fell in love at first sight.
The Prince of Nanyang—uncle to the reigning Emperor Taikang—held real power as a feudal lord. He had only one child: his precious daughter, Kang Eon.
Because she had been frail since childhood, he indulged her every wish—including her insistence on marrying No Hyeon.
However, due to their difference in status, No Hyeon was taken in as a live-in son-in-law.
Though such arrangements were looked down upon, the immense power of the Nanyang Prince—and No Hyeon’s own low standing—made the marriage more than favorable for him.
The Fan-yang No clan accepted the match without objection and sent generous gifts each year.
Kang Eon and No Hyeon were deeply devoted to one another—but their happiness was short-lived.
Two years after their marriage, Kang Eon died following a difficult childbirth.
Stricken with grief, No Hyeon fell seriously ill.
While most observed one year of mourning, he insisted on three—earning widespread admiration for his devotion.
The Prince of Nanyang treated his son-in-law well. He even selected a beautiful maid, Mae-yeom , to attend him.
Before long, she bore him a son.
Overjoyed, No Hyeon named the boy Kang Yeong , intending for him to inherit the Kang lineage.
But the Prince objected.
“Eon already has a daughter, Sohwa. There is no need to take another’s son. Sohwa will perform the ancestral rites.”
He personally named the boy No Yeong and elevated Mae-yeom to the status of concubine.
That same year, the Prince submitted a memorial of tens of thousands of characters, pleading for his five-year-old granddaughter Kang Sohwa to be granted the title of Princess of Nanyang.
Moved by his sincerity, the late emperor granted the request.
Thus, Kang Sohwa became the first in the Great Liang to inherit her maternal grandfather’s title and surname.
Meanwhile, Concubine Mae bore a daughter the following year.
No Hyeon lived in the northwest quarters with her and their children, and they rarely appeared before Kang Sohwa.
During the year she observed mourning, No Hyeon visited her daily—always ensuring that Mae and her children would not trouble her.
What a careful, attentive father he seemed.
How could a ten-year-old child not rely on such a man?
Back then, he had told her:
“Sohwa, it would be good for you to stay in the palace with the Empress Dowager. You will receive guidance from great elders, and no one will criticize you for losing your mother at a young age. I will handle all affairs of the estate. When the time comes for your marriage, I will prepare an incomparable dowry for you.”
Naive and trusting, she had believed every word.
Deeply moved, she left the Nanyang estate and went to the imperial palace.
