Zhao Xingbang clearly hadn’t expected Yao Shi to react this way either. He froze momentarily, instinctively wanting to look to Jiang Rufei for help, but forcibly restrained himself.
Seeing this, Jiang Rulin immediately seized the opportunity and threw herself into Yao Shi’s arms. “Mother, please see the truth! How could your daughter, pure and innocent, have an illicit relationship with Young Master Zhao? It was clearly Second Sister who was caught in an affair with him, and now they’re joining forces to frame me!”
Yao Shi held Jiang Rulin tenderly, then turned to glare angrily at Jiang Fei. “Rufei, you’ve disappointed me so much!”
Jiang Fei cursed inwardly.
Such blatant favoritism—it was practically shoving the chamber pot right onto Jiang Rufei’s head.
Jiang Fei steadied herself. “So Mother only believes Third Sister’s words and won’t listen to anyone else?”
Yao Shi’s face stiffened. “If you claim you have no illicit relationship with Young Master Zhao, then provide evidence. Naturally, Mother will believe you.”
Jiang Fei cursed internally. So you’re not acknowledging a single word of what was said earlier?
Whoever makes the claim must provide the proof—haven’t you studied law?
Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind. While she couldn’t prove she had no affair with Zhao Xingbang, she could prove Jiang Rulin was involved in this matter.
Jiang Fei smiled at Jiang Rulin, who seemed to have thought of something too, her expression immediately turning ugly.
Jiang Fei turned to Zhao Xingbang. “Since Third Sister claims she delivered messages for us, I presume Young Master Zhao has letters from me to you?”
Zhao Xingbang looked at her hesitantly, wanting to speak but holding back.
“Then produce them,” Jiang Fei said.
Zhao Xingbang pressed his sleeve, his face pale. The letter was indeed still on him.
He’d seen people courting death before, but never someone so eager to expose their own affair. Did she want to die? He certainly didn’t!
“Produce it,” Jiang Fei insisted, staring intently at him.
Zhao Xingbang took out the letter, clutching it timidly in his hand. Jiang Fei snatched it away, unfolded it, and immediately declared, “This isn’t my handwriting.”
Zhao Xingbang’s eyes widened suddenly, while Jiang Rulin turned pale.
Jiang Fei skimmed through the letter and presented it to Yao Shi. “Mother should recognize your daughter’s handwriting, right? This isn’t my writing, yet it’s signed with my name. What exactly is going on here?”
Yao Shi’s hands trembled slightly as she took the letter and examined it carefully, her expression growing increasingly grim.
“It was me, it was…” Jiang Rulin pointed at Jiang Fei. “She made me write it for her!”
Jiang Fei didn’t refute this, merely shaking her head as she looked at Yao Shi. “Since things have come to this, if Mother insists on pinning the blame on me, then your daughter won’t argue anymore. Consider it repayment for Mother’s care and upbringing.”
These words carried heavy weight, and Yao Shi’s face instantly paled.
Seeing this, Jiang Rulin immediately threw herself forward and grabbed Yao Shi’s sleeve, weeping pitifully. “Mother! Your daughter has been wronged! This letter… Second Sister forced me to write it! She said her own handwriting was too messy and she was afraid Young Master Zhao would dislike it, so she made me write it for her…”
Jiang Fei spread her hands. “I did no such thing.”
At this point, even Yao Shi couldn’t justify covering up for her any longer.
She backhanded Jiang Rulin across the face and said sternly, “No matter how fierce the argument between sisters gets, you shouldn’t gamble with your sister like this.”
Jiang Fei curled her lip. So it was all being dismissed as a mere “gambling quarrel.”
Seeing Jiang Fei’s displeased expression, Yao Shi added, “This matter is your fault. Go back and properly apologize to your sister. You’re confined to the estate for half a month.”
Yao Shi’s favoritism toward Jiang Rulin was far too obvious. Jiang Fei had originally acted today to avoid being caught in bed with someone, so taking Jiang Rulin down a peg was an unexpected bonus.
…
By the time she returned to the Jiang residence, it was already evening. Yao Shi informed Jiang Fei that the following day was the birthday celebration of the Dowager of Dingyuan Marquis Manor and asked her to attend the banquet together.
Having stirred up such a commotion right after transmigrating, Jiang Fei was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally. After returning, she lay on her bed, completely unwilling to move.
Tomorrow’s visit to Dingyuan Marquis Manor would most likely involve meeting Wei Sanlang.
This was completely different from the original plot. Today, she had altered the course of events by not fooling around with Zhao Xingbang. Did that mean she still had to marry Wei Mingzhen?
At this thought, Jiang Fei performed a kip-up and sat upright, tentatively calling out twice, “System? System?”
In the books she had read, transmigrators usually came with a system—essentially an assistant that could provide guidance or help. However, some systems were just idiots that only knew how to laugh hysterically.
After waiting for what felt like ages, just as Jiang Fei was about to give up, an echo suddenly sounded in her mind.
System: “Host.”
Jiang Fei breathed a sigh of relief. “Why did it take you so long to get here?”
System: “I couldn’t connect to the network earlier.”
“What should we do next?”
The system paused briefly. “Wait a moment, let me load the plot.”
A moment later, a sudden explosion erupted in her mind: “What?!!”
The deafening sound startled Jiang Fei so much that she leaped out of bed, even detecting a hint of panic in the system’s cold, electronic voice.
“It’s over.” The system said, “It’s all over.”
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Fei grew anxious as well.
System: “You died unexpectedly in your original world. Your mission here is to ensure the plot proceeds as intended, but you’ve already disrupted the original storyline.”
Jiang Fei felt overwhelmed. “You never told me I had to follow the original plot! Getting transmigrated and immediately ending up in bed with someone—who could handle that?”
After a moment of silence, Jiang Fei asked, “So what do we do now?”
The system seemed to hesitate. “It’s fine. You’re just supporting characters meant to highlight the protagonists—you’re not that important. Even if the process changes, as long as the outcome remains the same and the protagonists’ main storyline proceeds normally, it should be okay. Since the plot has been disrupted, the tasks originally assigned to Jiang Rulin will now fall to you.”
Jiang Fei nodded. Great. She had just been promoted from a cannon-fodder supporting female character to the second female lead.
An instant upgrade!
Just as Jiang Fei was secretly celebrating, she suddenly froze.
Wait, she remembered that in the book, almost everyone in the Jiang family was villainous. Jiang Rufei’s brother coveted the female lead, her sister envied the female lead, and they secretly colluded to frame her. In the end, the entire family was exterminated by the second male lead, Pei Jing.
“So…” Jiang Fei stared blankly, “So one of my missions is to have Pei Jing kill my entire family to ensure the plot proceeds as intended?”
“Correct.” The system replied, “You must ensure the plot follows the original storyline.”
Correct, my ass!
Jiang Fei couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
What kind of inhuman mission is this? As a member of the Jiang family, her task is to make sure her entire family gets wiped out?
The system sensed Jiang Fei’s anger and quickly tried to console her: “The main issue is that the plot was supposed to follow the book’s original development—you and Zhao Xingbang being caught in bed together, then your third sister marrying into the Wei Family to create various troubles for the female lead. Now everything’s in chaos. We can’t salvage the details, so we must focus on the outcome. As long as Pei Jing kills your entire family, the plot can proceed normally.”
“Hah.” Jiang Fei sneered. “What a wonderful task. Either cheat with someone right after transmigrating, or have my whole family die.”
Knowing it was at fault, the system comforted her: “Host, why not look at it from another perspective? Now you don’t need to cheat with anyone—you just need your family to die. Doesn’t that make it much better than before?”
Jiang Fei: “…”
Thanks a lot.