Chapter 1: Kaifeng Beauty Has a Thin Waist

"Doctor Zhang, please hurry up, my young lady has fainted at home."

As the dawn broke, on the stone path, the white frost had not yet melted. A round-faced maid hurriedly urged on, looking quite anxious.

Behind her, an old man with a white beard was happily munching on a pancake.

The young boy carrying the medicine chest was anxious, thinking to himself, "It's already so late, and someone's life is at stake. Why is the old man still eating a pancake? Can't he see that the family is in a desperate situation?"

He whispered, "Master, why don't we put the pancake aside and eat it after we've finished treating the patient?"

Doctor Zhang squinted his small eyes and said, "No rush, no rush. If the young lady in Kaifeng city has fainted, there's no need to think, it must be because she's hungry!"

It's said that extremes beget opposites.

Since the time of the Empress Dowager Daqing Tianbao, noble ladies considered plumpness as beauty. But during the Chen dynasty, the trend changed.

The emperor favored Lady Lin, praising her slender waist as delicate and graceful, like a fairy in the moonlight, soaring in the wind.

This caused an uproar, and the young ladies in Kaifeng city all began to consider thinness as beauty.

Doctor Zhang took a big bite of the pancake, feeling sorry for the fact that even though she was born into a wealthy family, she was still as hungry as a beggar.

The Fifth Lady Min of the Wuguo Duke's Mansion was an outstanding example, known as the thinnest waist in Kaifeng. She would pant three times with each step, and if someone sneezed in her presence, she could turn into a kite and fly into the sky!

Before long, they arrived at the small building.

Doctor Zhang clapped his hands, stopped in front of the door, and the maid ahead was already anxiously calling out, "Princess, Doctor Zhang has arrived."

A weak voice came from inside the house, "Anxi, lead Doctor Zhang to the tea room and wait for a moment."

The maid named Anxi didn't ask much and led Doctor Zhang to the tea room without mentioning anything else.

Meanwhile, in the small building, a young lady in a white jacket was panting heavily, "Mother, bring the scissors quickly and cut off the cloth around me."

...

Min Weixiu woke up from holding her breath.

She only remembered the Liao army attacking Yanmen Pass, blood filling the sky, and her sister from the Chai family had disappeared. She led the remaining soldiers to defend, and was pierced in the abdomen by a long spear. It hurt like hell!

Min Weixiu shouted, "Damn those thieves, as long as I, Min Weixiu, am here, you'll never pass Yanmen Pass for the rest of your lives. Aifu, tighten the hole in my stomach, I'll fight another eight hundred rounds."

Aifu's hand trembled as she tightened it, and Min Weixiu felt her vision darken and her chest tighten, unable to catch her breath.

Furious and embarrassed, Min Weixiu wished she hadn't been strangled by Aifu. "Aifu, I wasn't killed by the Liao dogs, but by you!"

As a hero, she felt she couldn't die so absurdly, it was simply ridiculous and embarrassing, a disgrace to her ancestors!

Min Weixiu shouted, and her vision brightened. There were no longer golden spears and iron horses, no more broken limbs and ruins. She saw a maid on each side, pulling the cloth wrapped around her waist with all her might, as if playing tug-of-war.

Seeing Min Weixiu looking over, Anxi smiled and said, "Miss, bear with me a little longer, I'll tie the knot soon. I promise your waist will be slim."

Min Weixiu wanted to poke her eyes out. They say when people are about to die, they think of their most regretful scene, their most beloved person.

What was she thinking?

Min Weixiu was so angry that she fainted, and before she passed out, she heard Anxi shouting, "Oh no, the miss has fainted."

When she woke up again, Min Weixiu found herself sitting in a canopy bed embroidered with golden chrysanthemums, and the breeze made the silver bells on the bed ring.

This set of silver bells was a gift from the emperor himself when she turned ten, and it had made many young ladies in Kaifeng envious. Since that day, the silver bells had hung on her bed canopy and had never been taken down.

"My child, you've finally woken up."

Min Weixiu heard the voice, her head buzzing. She raised her eyebrows, tightened the blanket, and raised her head slightly, only to burst into tears at the sight of a beautiful woman sitting in front of her, looking worried.

It was her mother, the Princess of Lin'an.

But her mother had died five years ago.

Min Weixiu was stunned. When she was in Kaifeng city, she was considered a saint in terms of her background.

After the end of the prosperous Tianbao era, which had lasted for hundreds of years, the world had fallen into chaos. The current emperor had unified the Central Plains and established the Great Chen Dynasty.

Min Weixiu's father was an old minister of the emperor's hidden residence, the first great general, and was granted the title of the Duke of Wuguo, and appointed as the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. Her mother was the emperor's only sister, the Princess of Lin'an.

What was the first lady of Kaifeng city? It was her.

But later...

"Xiu'er, I know you didn't want the imperial physician to come and see you, fearing it would spread to the palace. So I sent Anxi to find Doctor Zhang. If he dares to speak out of turn, I'll have his Anzhitang sealed."

Min Weixiu hugged the Lin'an Princess in front of her, hesitating, and called out softly, "Mother."

Should she punch her chest with her small fists, or twist her head with both hands?

Min Weixiu thought, the Liao dogs were really powerful, actually capturing her and finding a woman to impersonate her mother, and even setting up such a room. What was the purpose? Were they trying to persuade her to surrender?

Her mother had already died, and the dead cannot come back to life.

Min Weixiu, although a woman, would rather die standing than live on her knees.

As she thought this, she suddenly felt short of breath and looked down, only to find her head buzzing again.

What was wrapped around her waist? The scene she had seen before was actually real. Min Weixiu covered her face, feeling unbearable pain.

Who hasn't had absurd times in their life?

Min Weixiu remembered completely. When she was fourteen, in order to maintain her title as the woman with the smallest waist in Kaifeng, she had her maid, Anxi, tightly bind her waist with a cloth strip at home, and ate as little as a sparrow every day, until she fainted.

That was her first time fainting from hunger. Later, during the New Year, she fell seriously ill and almost lost her life.

The past was too painful to recall.

She was bound by a cloth strip around her waist, and her mother was still alive, so she must have gone back six years.

"Weixiu, Weixiu."

Min Weixiu came to her senses, blushing. What was she thinking just now? She was thinking about how to kill her own mother... it was simply unfilial.

"Mother, please bring scissors and cut off the cloth strip wrapped around me."

Princess Chang of Lin'an waved her hand, and the maid immediately brought the scissors. Min Weixiu got off the bed, opened her arms, and the maid snipped off the knot and gently removed the cloth strip.

As the cloth strip fell to the ground, Min Weixiu felt a great relief, and immediately regained her strength. "A pound of beef and three bowls of wine!"

After years of military service, she had been through life and death situations and just wanted to have some wine and meat to boost her spirits.

The room fell silent.

"Weixiu."

Min Weixiu coughed. "Bring me some plain porridge and side dishes. I'm currently engrossed in reading 'The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants.'"

Princess Chang of Lin'an came to her senses. "Bring Weixiu some meat and some plum wine. My child, if you want to eat the stars in the sky, mother will have them picked for you."

Min Weixiu grinned. That's right, at this moment, she was still the number one female official in Kaifeng. There was nothing she couldn't think of and nothing she couldn't do.