"Harm, harm me?" Ning Ruyue was astonished.
Harming her by eating excrement and beating Bai Rou'er?
"Yes." Shu Yan answered with the utmost seriousness.
Task 1: She needed to make the Princess Consort despise the Prince Regent.
Given this Princess Consort's top-tier lovesick nature, turning the Prince Regent into a complete madman would only trigger her overflowing maternal instincts and desire to save him.
So she needed to make the Princess Consort see the Prince Regent's true face.
She guided her step by step: "Princess Consort, didn't His Highness call you a witch today?"
"Uh, yes…" A flicker of hurt passed through Ning Ruyue's eyes.
"Is His Highness going to invite a master to perform an exorcism?"
"Yes…"
"Exactly!" Shu Yan clapped her hands. "If the Princess Consort truly became a witch, wouldn't he have a legitimate reason to divorce you? And all his mad behavior could be perfectly blamed on you, without any damage to himself?"
Shock flashed through Ning Ruyue's eyes. She said painfully, "Really? I don't believe it…"
"Princess Consort, please continue listening to me." Shu Yan kept guiding her patiently. "If you didn't want to be divorced, wouldn't you have to beg him? Then he could use that opportunity to make demands and have them fulfilled, right?"
"Today he ate excrement in public, and the Emperor witnessed it with his own eyes. If he used that as an excuse to make you pressure your father into handing over the Tiger Tally to help him secure his position, would you agree, or would you agree, or would you agree?"
Ning Ruyue imagined the scene of He Gu being forced by the Emperor to yield power, helplessly waiting for her aid. Her eyes immediately filled with tears: "If he wants it, I… I'm willing to give it…"
Shu Yan: "…"
Even Wang Baochuan herself would have to kneel to you.
"But have you considered that once you hand him the Tiger Tally and lose your value to him, he would drain your Heart's Blood and slaughter your entire family?"
Ning Ruyue cried out in shock: "How is that possible? Don't talk nonsense!"
Yet her face had turned pale.
Shu Yan chuckled.
All of this had happened in the original Plotline.
That's right—back then, He Gu married Ning Ruyue purely because she was the only daughter of the Ning family, with a father who held military power.
After Ning Ruyue was drained of blood and left at death's door, He Gu coaxed her, saying that as long as she obtained the Tiger Tally from her father, he would stay with her alone for the rest of their lives.
So Ning Ruyue threatened her father with death.
Ning's father couldn't bear to lose his daughter, so he reluctantly gave up the Tiger Tally.
In the end, He Gu usurped the throne. The day after his coronation, Ning Ruyue was beaten to death by Bai Rou'er, the entire Ning family was wiped out cleanly, and Bai Rou'er was made Empress.
"No, he couldn't possibly treat me like that!"
"Heh." Shu Yan smiled. "Then the Princess Consort just wait and see whether what this servant said comes true."
Saying "this servant" gave her goosebumps.
Oh well—earning money, nothing shameful about it.
She had dug such a fine pit for the Prince Regent. If he didn't fall into it, he'd take her surname.
……
"Prince Regent, excrement-eater, no excrement to eat, beats up Big Yellow. Busiest at the field latrines, king of kings at eating filth…"
He Gu was sitting in his residence when the song came from beyond the gates. He flew into a rage: "Who outside dares to insult this prince?"
"Your Highness…" The steward scrambled in panic: "Everyone on the streets is now… insulting you…"
Some bastard had leaked the news of His Highness eating excrement. Now everyone was saying that the Prince fought with dogs over food in his residence, and when the Secondary Consort tried to stop him, he beat her so badly she couldn't get out of bed…
Then, from outside the residence came a drawn-out cry: "The imperial edict arrives!"
He Gu went out to receive the imperial edict. Good heavens—thanks to the rumors spreading like wildfire, the Emperor had serious doubts about his intelligence and decided to temporarily strip him of his authority.
The Regent King was no longer regenting.
Furious and desperate, He Gu gritted his teeth and summoned the Charlatan, ready to perform some exorcist theatrics.
There was no other choice. Things had gotten so out of hand that someone had to take the fall.
Shu Yan pulled up the Plotline.
[He Gu has found a Taoist priest and ordered him to perform a public ritual tomorrow, declaring the Princess Consort the root cause of everything that has happened.]
[He also plans to threaten her with divorce, forcing her to demand the Tiger Tally from her father in order to restore his regency authority.]
"Hmm… everything is going exactly as I planned."
Shu Yan silently chanted: "System, I want to exit the Plotline."
Today's three Word-Alteration Opportunities were already used up, so there was no point in staying any longer.
She was going back to reality to buy a house.
Clutching the jade hairpin gifted by the Princess Consort, Shu Yan exited the Plotline and returned to reality, only to find herself lying in a hotel room, with a bucket of instant noodles thoughtfully placed in front of her.
"Oho, the System is pretty considerate—even booked me a room."
[For you, I'd do anything.]
"(ΩДΩ) You're such a sentimentalist."
The System sighed: [Sorry, I've read too many romance novels. Side effects.]
Shu Yan clicked her tongue and shook her head, wolfed down the instant noodles, then grabbed the jade hairpin and headed straight to a jade shop.
Two hours later, Shu Yan clutched her phone, staring at it again and again, screaming internally like a maniac.
"Ah—do I really have five million now?! Let me look again, one more time, no wait, one more—ow—I'm a rich woman now!"
"I'm going to marry a tall, rich, handsome man and reach the peak of my life! Ow, System, let's go buy a house!"
[Alright, I'll always be by your side.]
Shu Yan shuddered, shaking off goosebumps: "Listen to me—stop reading romance novels."
Shu Yan arrived at a residential sales area in the city center and swiftly purchased a small apartment.
The place was fully furnished in a rustic wood vintage style, with the cozy warmth of a fairy-tale cottage.
All her belongings had been withheld by Zhou Chu and his White Moonlight, Lin Qinglan, so there was nothing to move—she simply walked in with just her bags.
Night had already fallen. The soundproofing was excellent, and a profound silence enveloped the space.
She switched on the lily-of-the-valley night lamp, stripped off her clothes, and climbed into bed, lying there in the warm amber stillness.
The place wasn't big—nowhere near comparable to Zhou Chu's villa—but it was the very first space in the world that belonged entirely to her.
An orphan since the age of ten, drifting from place to place, she'd never imagined that in her lifetime she'd be able to buy a home of her own in a dazzling metropolis like Tuchuan.
Back when Zhou Chu was pursuing her, he'd been willing to give her gifts, but she'd been foolish, insisting on not owing him anything and refusing to accept a single thing. Now she'd been kicked out with nothing, unable even to retrieve her own belongings.
If she'd known, she should've just been a gold digger and taken everything she could.
No—she didn't even want to dig. She couldn't be bothered to serve anyone.
Besides, now that she had the System, going to fawn over some man would be utterly indefensible.
If anything, he should be the one serving her.
No—a dirty cucumber like him didn't deserve it. Crushing his company and making him live the rest of his life in regret and looking up to her—that was more like it.
Yeah, wasn't this supposed to be some Wife-Chasing Crematorium?
Shu Yan turned over and slowly fished out a yellowed photograph from the deepest pocket of her clothes. Gazing at the gentle, tender woman in the picture, she remained silent for a long, long time.
"Mom, can you see? I bought a house."
"I'll make sure you see your daughter shining brilliantly in this world."
In the warm, dim lamplight, Shu Yan curled up on her side, hugging the photograph as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
When she woke the next morning, the Regent was about to perform his ritual.
Shu Yan called up the System and dove straight into the Plotline without a moment's pause.
She had already figured it out—the System she'd obtained was just like playing a game. She could enter whenever she wanted, and exit anytime she didn't feel like playing.
And on top of that, clearing the game would earn her a Divine Artifact she could take back to the real world.
She could enjoy the fun of Book Transmigration whenever she pleased, and pick up treasures along the way—hey, why not?
Shu Yan pulled up the Plotline.
[Many guests have arrived at the manor. The Regent has invited a master to perform a ritual in public.]
[The master lights incense, drapes red cloth over his head, and carries a bronze mirror while performing a shamanic dance. A quarter of an hour later, following He Gu's prior instructions, he declares that the Princess Consort is the culprit who has bewitched the Prince, and recommends that she be executed.]
Shu Yan silently changed the second "master" to He Gu.