By dusk, Tang Qingluo and her group had safely arrived at the gate of Fanyang Post Station.
At that moment, her system buzzed again in her mind.
[New Mission Released: Kill ten people. Reward: a defensive donkey cart and the title “Ten-Slay.” Mission duration: seven days. Failure will result in a lightning strike penalty.]
Tang Qingluo didn’t react much this time.
She had come to accept one truth: let things happen naturally.
If she completed the mission, great. If not… well, she’d accept the punishment.
With her “salty fish” attitude, she entered the designated room, calmly found a seat, and started treating the blisters that had appeared on her feet again.
The system was speechless.
Its previous host had been eager and proactive, always chasing missions, always competitive.
Now? Its current host was a lazy fish—moving as little as possible. With this pace, when would any missions ever get completed?
It had to apply some incentive.
[Host, host, here’s some good news. Once your combat points reach 10,000, the system can upgrade again. The store will unlock the Beautifying Pills, Luminous Eyes Pills, Delicate Hands Pills, and Milky Skin Pills. Work hard and reach the upgrade requirements soon.]
The system thought these rewards were irresistible for any woman.
But Tang Qingluo was a salty fish.
Salty fish means no matter how good the reward is, unless it’s a life-or-death matter, they won’t bother.
“Oh,” Tang Qingluo muttered in response.
[Host, host, here’s more good news. Upon reaching 10,000 combat points, the store will also open a variety of gourmet delicacies. Bread, milk, whatever you desire—just earn the points.]
“Oh,” she replied again, completely indifferent.
[Emergency Mission Released: Protect Xie Lanyi once, slay ten enemy soldiers. Reward: a defensive donkey cart, title “Ten-Slay.” Mission time: one day. Failure will result in host termination. Countdown begins…]
Tang Qingluo blinked.
The system was pushing her too far.
Wait… whose system was this, hers or her convenient husband’s?
Why must she die if she doesn’t protect him?
Tang Qingluo’s temper flared.
[Host, this system was never human.]
“Oh, really? And now you’re arguing with me? Very impressive, very impressive,” Tang Qingluo grumbled in her mind through gritted teeth.
But anger wouldn’t help; the system controlled her fate.
She put on a solemn face, leaned close to Xie Lanyi, grabbed the black flour pancakes prepared by the post station, and bit down hard—as if gnawing on his very flesh.
“Be careful, it might be hard to swallow. Here, drink some water.”
Xie Lanyi ignored her expression and handed her a cup.
“No, I have my own water. You drink,” Tang Qingluo said, taking her skin water pouch from her waist and gulping several mouthfuls.
Who was bothering you?
Xie Lanyi wanted to ask, but somehow the words didn’t leave his mouth. His instincts told him asking now would be disadvantageous. So he quietly stayed still, eating elegantly without a single unnecessary word.
Knock, knock, knock—
Someone was at the door.
Tang Qingluo swallowed the last bite of pancake, clapped her hands, and went to open it.
A young girl dressed in emerald green stood there.
“Excuse me, miss, who are you looking for?” Tang Qingluo asked.
The girl scanned her and said, “Sister-in-law, you probably don’t know me. I’m Song Shishi, granddaughter of Grand Tutor Song. I came to bring something for Brother Lanyi.”
She spoke with a sweet smile, letting slip an air of familiarity with Xie Lanyi.
“Oh, then come in,” Tang Qingluo said calmly, completely unfazed.
Song Shishi, however, wasn’t calm. She thought: this woman must be pretending; she’s probably cursing me in her mind.
She knew the story well. Song Shishi had read it and knew the characters. She was a “book-entering girl.”
Three days ago, the real Song Shishi had died of a chill in the prison and been replaced by this modern girl.
At first, she didn’t know she had entered a book. But during the exile, her charm system told her to woo Xie Lanyi. Then she realized: she wasn’t in ancient reality; she was inside a story.
The book was titled “The Gluttonous Prince and His Pampered Fisherwoman”. The male lead was Fourth Prince Zhou Chengyin, the female lead Shen Baozhu, and the villain was… Xie Lanyi.
As for Tang Qingluo, she was Xie Lanyi’s doomed first wife—a foolish and vicious woman.
Song Shishi knew Tang Qingluo had engineered the marriage.
This woman hated any girl getting close to Xie Lanyi—even a normal conversation would make her act like a shrew.
Now she came with food, pretending to be intimate. Song Shishi was sure Tang Qingluo would snap.
“She probably doesn’t know. Brother Lanyi is very close to our family. My grandfather was his teacher, and he even gave him the name Lanyi.”
Song Shishi’s words were meant to provoke Tang Qingluo, to make her lose face in front of Xie Lanyi.
But Tang Qingluo’s reaction was nothing like Song Shishi expected.
“Oh, his grandfather is his teacher? No wonder our families were exiled together. Poor Song family…” Tang Qingluo sighed inwardly.
She looked at Song Shishi with some pity and patted her shoulder.
“Shishi, don’t be sad. Be strong. Life will go on. Once we reach Yanzhou, if you run into trouble, come find Lanyi. Whatever he can do, he will.”
Since the Song family was caught up because of her convenient husband, the disciple naturally had to respect the tutor.
Song Shishi, surprised by Tang Qingluo’s calm cleverness, replied awkwardly, “Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. I’ll do that. But helping each other—well, Brother Lanyi would help us on his own anyway.”
No need to play the “heroine” act; soon, she would be cannon fodder anyway.
Holding her tray in front of Xie Lanyi, she smiled sweetly.
“Brother Lanyi, I brought you sweet soup. It tastes really good—drink it while it’s hot.”
She had spent ten points from her charm system to buy this soup, expecting praise.
But Xie Lanyi didn’t even take a sip.
He just said, coldly: “Who are you, miss?”
The insult was subtle but sharp—brutal in its effect.