He Gu's two hundred hidden guards were quickly beaten to the ground.
But he still charged forward without pause—no one even needed to seize him; he practically threw himself straight into the Emperor's grasp.
In a panic, he scrambled to the foot of the imperial throne and, unable to control himself, lunged up to grab the Emperor: "Princess Consort, come with me!"
The Emperor: "?"
"He Gu, don't think I'll spare you just because you're playing the madman!" The Emperor kicked him down. "Treacherous rebel—bind him!"
The Emperor was thrilled.
Heh heh. For all these years, this brat had kept him in check—who would have thought that in just a few short days, the brat would ruin himself all on his own!
The Emperor issued the most satisfying decree since his ascension: the execution of He Gu's entire household.
Shu Yan watched the plotline closely and, with quick hands, struck the Princess Consort's name off the beheading list.
"Eh, Your Majesty, does the deposed Regent's Princess Consort not need to be executed?" a young eunuch noticed the discrepancy and asked.
The Emperor saw that Ning Ruyue was absent and felt somewhat puzzled. After a moment's thought, he waved his hand: "Forget it. She's General Ning's only daughter—not easy to execute. Spare her life."
"Isn't she seeking a divorce? I approve it."
…
When Bai Rou'er was dragged from the manor to the execution ground, she still hadn't grasped the situation: "Help! Where's the Prince? Why is my head being chopped off? This concubine has done nothing!"
A member of the watching crowd said, "Heh, the deposed Regent attempted regicide and treason. You're his secondary consort—accept your fate!"
"No! No—"
Bai Rou'er's face was deathly pale as she struggled wildly. Glancing around, she noticed Ning Ruyue was absent and shrieked: "Where's the Princess Consort? Why isn't she being executed? If I'm to die, what right does she have to live?!"
"Miss Ning already divorced the deposed Regent, so naturally she isn't executed." Someone spat at her. "Even at death's door you're still trying to harm others—clearly you're no good."
Bai Rou'er wailed, looking at the dejected He Gu beside her, her heart filled with regret.
No—why had she seduced him in the first place? Why had she framed the Princess Consort? She regretted it all!
He Gu's face was also etched with deep remorse.
Had he known this day would come, he should have treated Ning Ruyue better back then…
The blade fell.
[Ding! Task 2 completed, Merit Points +10. All tasks completed, bonus reward: 20 Merit Points.]
Shu Yan was sitting with Ning Ruyue in the Ning residence; Ning Ruyue had not gone to watch the execution.
[Congratulations, Yan Yan. You saved Ning Ruyue and the entire Ning household, prevented the tyrant He Gu from ascending the throne, and changed the course of this world.]
[You now have one day of rest. After that, you may enter the second Small World.]
Mm, good—one day was enough time for her to poach Diao Si and Wei Min.
Just then, Ning Ruyue took Shu Yan's hand and spoke: "Lü Yin, I'm so glad you're here with me."
Shu Yan felt a little embarrassed: "Ahem, it's nothing. I'm glad to help."
Fortunately, the maid Lü Yin existed in the original plotline. The System had also told her that every Book Transmigration task role she took would be someone close to and on good terms with the task target, so she wouldn't leave a wrong impression.
"These past few days have felt like a dream," Ning Ruyue sighed deeply. "Thankfully, when I woke from the dream, I still had my parents, and all of you."
Shu Yan nodded: "Miss must look forward. Now that the dream is over, remember to love yourself first from now on."
Ning Ruyue's father was a great general, and the Ning household held an exalted position. Whether Ning Ruyue chose to live independently or remarry in the future, she would never want for anything.
"Mm." Ning Ruyue nodded emphatically. "Lü Yin, you're truly my lucky star. I'll reward you handsomely."
Shu Yan's eyes lit up.
"Someone, bring my dowry chest over," Ning Ruyue said. "You've helped me so much—just pick two things you like."
The gleaming dowry chest was carried over, and Shu Yan was dazzled by the sight.
Tsk, a young lady's dowry was something else—gold, silver, jewels, crystal, agate, jade, and pearls, all in abundance.
Shu Yan was lost in the splendor of the treasures until she came across a jadeite necklace.
An imperial green jadeite bead necklace—elegant and majestic, absolutely top-tier quality. The key thing was that Zhou Chu's mother was extremely fond of imperial green.
Moreover, Mother Zhou had a terrible temper and utterly despised Lin Qinglan, the vixen she blamed for keeping her precious son unmarried all these years.
Heh, this jadeite bead necklace—she could use it to extort Lin Qinglan.
Shu Yan picked out the necklace. "Miss, may this servant have this one?"
Ning Ruyue waved a hand dismissively. "Take it, and pick two more."
Shu Yan quickly declined.
No way—this necklace was worth at least tens of millions. Picking more would be too greedy; she couldn't have people cursing this girl Lü Yin for being avaricious.
"System, after I exit, will this necklace disappear from this world? What about Lü Yin then?"
[Rest assured, any item the Host takes from a world will have all memories of it erased.]
"That's good to hear."
Shu Yan tapped the exit plotline interface, feeling a bit reluctant. "System, can I come back to visit later?"
[Every mission world updates its status in real time. After you leave the plotline, you can check the updates anytime.]
"Great." Shu Yan exited the plotline.
The moment she got home, her first reaction was to summon the System again. "Quick, the mall—I want to redeem a Divine Artifact."
She hadn't forgotten that the birthday gift her mother had given her still hadn't been retrieved.
[Detected: Mall.]
A blue interface appeared before her, divided into three columns: "Items," "Attributes," and "Special."
"Huh, Attributes?"
Curious, Shu Yan tapped it and found five categories: Intelligence, Combat Power, Beauty, Health, and Luck.
Below were her current scores: Intelligence 90, Combat Power 0, Beauty 90, Health 60, Luck 0 (out of 100).
"Uh, System, I can let the Combat Power of 0 slide, but what's with Luck being 0?"
[Considering that you lost your parents' care at age ten, got dumped at twenty-two, kicked from your job, and failed in both love and career, the System judges that giving you a Luck score of 0 is already quite merciful.]
Shu Yan: "System, thank you so much."
[You're welcome, hehe.]
"And what's this 'Special'?"
Shu Yan tapped it, but there was nothing inside.
[Special Golden Fingers include skills like reality text-editing and more. They come in rich variety with diverse effects, but they only appear after you successfully complete multiple missions. Please work hard, Host.]
"Fine."
Shu Yan spent 10 Merit Points to exchange for Health +1 and Luck +1, and immediately felt refreshed and sharp-eyed.
With the remaining 20 Merit Points, she decisively exchanged them and clicked to use.
A map immediately appeared before her eyes. In about three seconds, she spotted the last birthday gift her mother had given her—a Swiss Army knife—lying in the bedroom on the third floor of Zhou Chu's suburban villa.
That was Zhou Chu's private bedroom, seemingly filled with confidential documents. Even when she was with him, she'd never set foot inside.
Damn him.
That stingy man—he even tried to keep her Swiss Army knife?
Shu Yan picked up the jadeite necklace and headed out.
That afternoon, at the city's authoritative jewelry appraisal institute, Shu Yan obtained the appraisal certificate for this imperial green jadeite necklace.
She immediately went home, hid the necklace, took photos, and brought the certificate to Zhou Chu's company.
Executive Assistant Office.
Lin Qinglan, wearing a large mask, was in the middle of scolding someone.
"How can you not even brew tea properly? Putting this much tea leaves—are you trying to make it bitter enough to kill me? Brew it again!"
"I'm sorry, Miss Lin, I'll brew it right away, just a moment…"
The young secretary walked out looking wronged, then spat under her breath.
"Hmph, a pretty face with nothing inside, acting all high and mighty—who's she trying to impress…"
"She can't do anything but yell at people. She's nowhere near as good as that Miss Shu from before…"
Shu Yan avoided her and knocked on the office door. The moment Lin Qinglan saw her, her whole demeanor soured.
It was this Shu Yan—yesterday, the moment she showed up, Zhou Chu went crazy for some reason and slapped her across the face in front of everyone, making her unable to hold her head up in the entire company!
And that damned janitor Wang Dazui had spread the story everywhere, even Zhou Chu's mother heard about it. She called her a jinx and declared she would never let her set foot in the door.
That old witch!
"Shu Yan, what are you doing here again?"
Shu Yan sat down with a smile and pulled out the jadeite certificate: "I've brought you something good."
Lin Qinglan took a look—top-grade imperial green, three hundred years old. Her beautiful eyes lit up intensely.
That old witch loved imperial green more than anything.
She herself had also been searching for the finest imperial green, but such treasures were hard to find—let alone a three-hundred-year-old masterpiece like this!
If there was anything that old witch loved even more than imperial green, it was absolutely antique imperial green.
And the pendant of this necklace was a jadeite Guanyin statue—the old witch's favorite was Guanyin…
This was practically a treasure tailor-made for that old witch!
"Lin Qinglan," Shu Yan flicked her fingers, "Give me fifty million, plus the Swiss Army knife, and this necklace is yours."