【Congratulations, Host!】
【Scavenging successful. You have obtained a spatial jade pendant.】
Lu Rao paused.
A spatial jade pendant?
It sounded vaguely familiar.
Her useless little system immediately started chattering in her mind.
【That’s the female lead’s space! Host, quickly drip blood to bind it!】
【Hurry, hurry! She’s Heaven’s favored daughter—if you’re too late, something might change!】
Lu Rao suddenly felt something cool appear in her left palm.
It was the jade pendant.
She didn’t hesitate for even a second.
Using her fingernail, she ruthlessly dug into the pad of her left index finger. The pain made her hand tremble. Rubbing it slightly, she felt a slick, sticky sensation—blood had already come out.
While watching Fourth Uncle verify her dowry list ahead, Lu Rao didn’t even blink. Hidden within her sleeve, she silently smeared the blood onto the jade pendant, following the system’s instructions.
Suddenly, the jade pendant in her hand vanished.
In the next instant, a misty world appeared in her mind—within it, she could vaguely see thousands of acres of fertile land, mountains in the distance, and grassy plains. In the center was an open space, with a small wooden house on the ground and a stream of clear spring water flowing before it.
【That’s spirit spring water—it can improve physical constitution!】
【No wonder Qiao Shuxin became more and more beautiful later, loved by everyone. It’s probably all because of this spring.】
Lu Rao understood.
Did this mean she had just cut off part of Qiao Shuxin’s “favored by all” halo?
The system had just explained to her—
A female lead designated by Heaven would possess powerful protagonist halos. As long as those halos existed, she would succeed in everything she did.
Just look at Qiao Shuxin—rebirth, spatial artifact, even the earlier awakening of consciousness were all benefits given to her.
The moment Lu Rao thought about how, in the original plot, Qiao Shuxin tortured her father and later framed her as an enemy agent, humiliating her to death—
She wanted nothing more than to kill Qiao Shuxin on the spot.
Heaven’s favored daughter? So many halos?
Then she would strip them away one by one.
“It’s verified. Everything matches,” Lu Xiong said to the crowd a few minutes later.
The reason he personally inspected the items was to confirm whether anything in the chests was missing.
Since everything was present, the token to the Lu family’s hidden fortune was very likely among them.
Naturally, Lu Rao knew what they were thinking.
She had deliberately let them inspect everything themselves, so they wouldn’t keep watching her afterward.
Hearing Lu Xiong’s words, Lu Rao stood and walked toward the four large chests in the center.
Qiao Shuxin had been sitting beside her, but at that moment, she suddenly lost her balance and nearly fell off the bench.
She clutched her chest abruptly.
For some reason, she felt as if she had just lost something extremely important.
She had felt the same heart-stopping sensation earlier—right when she had just been reborn.
It was as though something had drifted far away from her.
She looked around in confusion.
Yes… she had truly returned.
Returned to the very day she came to the Lu family—the day her fate began to change.
…
While secretly observing the treasures in the four chests, Lu Rao suddenly heard the system’s reminder.
【Host, Qiao Shuxin’s gaze has changed. She’s probably conscious now.】
“Got it.”
Lu Rao lowered her eyes, exchanged a few words with the system internally, and quickly walked toward the second rosewood chest.
“These items will be collected and temporarily kept by the clan. Once Shuxin’s status as heir is confirmed, they will be handed over to her.”
Lu Xiong had already folded the inventory list and slipped it into his pocket. As he spoke, his gaze swept across the clan members.
Most of those present followed his lead. A few disagreed, but none spoke up.
Lu Rao had expected this. Seeing the situation, she forced out two tears and looked pitifully at Lu Xiong.
“Fourth Uncle, may I take another look at these items? Every single piece in these chests… my father once held me and told me about them one by one. Each of them is filled with memories.”
Lu Xiong frowned, originally unwilling—but upon hearing her final sentence, his thoughts shifted.
Lu Fengtang had always been cunning and perceptive, just like his father. Perhaps the clue to the token lay in the stories he told his daughter.
He nodded. “Fine.”
Lu Rao had never worried that the old fox would refuse. She smiled gratefully and crouched before the chest, picking up a jade pendant carved with dragons and phoenixes. Wiping her tears, she said:
“The tassel on this dragon-phoenix jade pendant—Father said Mother personally tied it for me. I remember that day when he told me about it, Fourth Uncle—you were there too. Do you remember?”
Lu Xiong’s heart skipped a beat. He stepped forward to take a closer look.
“That’s right. This is the one.”
He then fell into thought.
The other clan members had already gathered around, their eyes fixed intensely on the jade pendant in Lu Rao’s hand.
Their thoughts mirrored Lu Xiong’s.
When Lu Rao took out the pendant, Gu Yucheng and Qiao Shuxin also turned to look.
Gu Yucheng felt a surge of excitement.
He had already examined this pendant before but found nothing unusual.
“If what Lu Rao says is true—if Lu Fengtang deliberately mentioned this pendant to his daughter—then could this be the token? Could it contain clues to the Lu family’s hidden fortune?”
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
He had to find a way to get his hands on it!
Meanwhile, Qiao Shuxin frowned as she looked at the pendant.
“This is not the token.”
She remembered clearly—in her previous life, Gu Yucheng had treated this pendant as the token, but it had led nowhere.
“Then… could there be another secret within this pendant? Was Gu Yucheng simply too stupid to discover it?”
A trace of hatred flashed in her eyes.
She had never felt much affection for this biological father. After her experiences in her previous life, all that remained was hatred.
Gu Yucheng was selfish and lacking in intelligence—it wasn’t surprising he failed to uncover the pendant’s secret.
She had to find a way to take it for herself!
In her previous life, Qiao Shuxin had heard that the Lu family possessed a vast fortune—much of it prepared as a dowry for their daughter.
Since she was also a daughter of the Lu family—even if only Gu Yucheng’s illegitimate child—she deserved a share of that dowry.
If Lu Rao knew what Qiao Shuxin was thinking right now, she would definitely sneer.
Qiao Shuxin had just been reborn and hadn’t paid attention to what had happened around her—she still didn’t know that Gu Yucheng wasn’t even of Lu blood.
As everyone harbored their own thoughts—
Lu Rao calmly took out the second and third items.
Each one carried memories of her and her father.
She had early memories—by the age of five, everything was already vivid.
Not long after she was born, her mother passed away. Her father had raised her alone, playing both roles.
She remembered every item in these chests—her father had told her the story behind each one.
Among them, the one he spoke of most was a small bronze warhorse.
And only when speaking of this horse—when it was just the two of them—would he say:
“Rao Rao, this is a dowry your grandfather prepared for you. No matter where you go in the future, you can leave everything else behind—but you must take this horse with you. Remember that. Otherwise, your grandfather will be very sad.”