"Because....I am the one who wrote it." Yang Ning's eyes widened in shock when she heard the woman say this. Her hands that were on the table trembled as she tried to register her words in her head. 'How can that be possible?' she thought, her mind struggling to comprehend the implications of this revelation.
The realization that the woman before her who claimed to be the author of the novel that had turned her life upside down, left Yang Ning utterly stunned. She had hoped for answers, but this revelation was beyond anything she could have imagined in her wildest dreams.
Yang Ning couldn't help but react with disbelief and skepticism to the woman's claim that she had written the novel. The entire situation felt like a surreal, fantastical nightmare that defied all logic and reason.
"What do you mean by you wrote it?" Yang Ning asked, her voice trembling with a mixture of anxiety and confusion. "You're spouting nonsense again, aren't you?"
The woman maintained a composed expression and replied calmly, "No, I'm not spouting nonsense. I really am the writer of the novel."
Yang Ning scoffed, her head spinning from the bizarre revelation. "No, that can't be true. How can you write it and still be inside the fictional world? That's... that's some fantastical nonsense."
The situation itself was so absurd and unbelievable that Yang Ning's head felt like it was about to burst from the sheer complexity of it all.
Witnessing Yang Ning's flabbergasted expression, the woman smirked sardonically. Glancing at her wrists, bound by thick ropes that had left angry crimson imprints on her dust-covered skin, she affirmed, "That's right. I was the one who wrote it, the novel that changed everyone's life," her tone was serious and sincere.
Upon hearing the woman's words, Yang Ning couldn't contain her overwhelming emotions and slammed her fists onto the table in frustration. Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to make sense of the bewildering situation. "If you're the one who wrote it, tell me what is going on. What the hell is exactly happening? You said that I cannot change my fate, why?
Why can I not change my fate?" she pleaded, her voice quivering with anxiety.
She went on, describing her world, "In the world I come from, women can wear whatever they want, work just like men, and choose their own life partners. There are no palaces, no slavery, and no king."
Yang Ning leaned back on the chair, looking at the ceiling as if remembering the events that happened before she came into this world, and continued, "However, on one gloomy day when I had no determination to live or wondering what wrong did I do to commit to being punished so harshly, I found a novel titled 'Eternally Together' near a riverside.
I started reading it and fell asleep in my dorm room."
" When I woke up, I was trapped in Yang Ning's body, who was burning with high fever and was just three months away from marrying the Crown Prince. It happened just a day before the 25th birthday banquet of His Highness. That's my story." Yang Ning looked the woman in the eyes with determination, concluding, "I have revealed my secret, and I've shared who I am.
Whether you choose to believe it or not is up to you."
She leaned in closer, her eyes searching for answers, and questioned the woman, "Now, it's your turn. Who are you, and what's happening here? If you truly wrote the novel, why are you stuck inside it?"
Yang Ning, her voice filled with urgency and hope, begged the woman, "Also, please tell me how I ended up in this world, or if there's any way for me to return to my world."
Upon noticing the desperation in Yang Ning's eyes, the woman took a moment, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. When she opened them, she locked eyes with Yang Ning and said, "I did write the novel called 'Eternally Together,' however, unlike you, who has come from another world, I belong to this world."
"What do you mean by 'belongs to this world'?" Yang Ning asked, confusion evident on her face. She had thought that this woman might have come from the same world as hers and was stuck in the novel she had written. However, what does she mean by saying that she belongs to this world?
The woman met Yang Ning's gaze, a hint of melancholy in her eyes. With a bittersweet smile, she began, "You see me now as someone living on the streets, wandering aimlessly and leading the life of a beggar. Many label me a madwoman because of my state. But beyond the scornful titles of a crazed, wretched woman, I have another name: Li Hua."
"There was a time," she continued, her voice a soft reminiscence, "when I walked with dignity, working diligently within the royal palace. I served as a court lady at the residence of Her Majesty, the Empress of the Zheng Empire, Yang Ning."