The Economist at the Qing Imperial Court

Is This Cosplay?

Fainting, Gege, an antique room—am I dreaming? Tanya pinched herself, having heard that you don't feel pain in dreams. However, the real pain in her thigh shattered that illusion. What is going on? Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?

In this situation, she thought the best course of action was to gather as much information as possible and adapt to the situation. So, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and quickly switched to Chinese mode, just like chatting at a family gathering.

She said, "Yes, I'm feeling a bit better, but my brain still feels a bit oxygen-deprived."

The little girl looked puzzled for a moment, then slowly walked over and gently supported her elbow, saying, "I'll take you to get dressed. Soon, the tutor-nanny will come to teach you some rules for interacting with the emperor. Next month, you'll be going to serve as the emperor's study companion."

What? Let me digest this slowly. Dressing up, nanny, emperor, these terms have never appeared in family conversations. Isn't this the setting of ancient palace dramas? No wonder she didn't seem to understand my words earlier, because "oxygen-deprived" is a modern term. Is this some kind of realistic cosplay? Or a time-travel scenario?

As Tanya's mind was filled with a thousand questions, her legs followed the little girl back to the previous room and into a side chamber. She was led to an antique dressing table, with a wooden mirror and a jewel box on it. The table was scattered with what looked like very valuable jewelry, such as jade bracelets and hairpins.

Wait a minute! When she glanced in the mirror, something felt strange. She bent over to carefully observe her face—this was nothing like her usual self. Cosplay makeup couldn't achieve this, because she appeared to have become a completely different person. She had originally had a wheat-colored skin tone, large eyes, a slightly flat nose, and a rounded face, with trendy eye makeup and lip color, and her hair was curly with a few blue streaks. Yet the reflection showed a pale, slender face that looked like it had never seen the sun, with flat features and black straight hair with heavy bangs, and a hairdo with buns on either side of her head. Even more oddly, despite Tanya is 26 years old, the person in the mirror looked like a minor, almost like the "white, thin, and young" figure often criticized in modern female beauty standards!

What? If this is cosplay, it's way too realistic. But if it isn't Cosplay, then have I really traveled back in time like in those novels? I need to figure out what time-travel characters usually do. Oh my God, what is happening? I was a successful Princeton economics graduate, just finishing a grueling and impoverished student life, about to enter the real world, showcase my talents, and maybe find a handsome boyfriend with six-pack abs. Although the harsh reality was that she had student loans and was struggling to afford rent in San Francisco. Now, I've turned into a delicate ancient girl, serving as a study companion, and apparently, I haven't even graduated yet. Do I have to face exams and a graduation thesis too? Heaven, let me wake up. I don't want to continue this cosplay!

Wait, she called me "Gege," which suggests I've somehow become a princess. A princess's life seems far better than that of a recent graduate struggling with rent. It feels like I've landed in a better situation! With her naturally optimistic outlook, Tanya re-evaluated the situation and found it less daunting. However, she needed to figure out who she really was. In TV dramas, Chinese princesses sometimes have to marry elderly tribal leaders, and that's not exactly an ideal fate.