Ding-dong, the childbearing system has activated.
「Host, your skill in this world is mind-reading ability.」
「Please complete the Many Children, Many Blessings objective as soon as possible. Based on your mission progress, the system will randomly drop rewards for you.」
As the System Notification chime rang out, Xu Bao'er was sent into the first mission world.
A redwood bed couch, and an unknown incense.
The moment Xu Bao'er Opened One’s eyes, she was pulled into an embrace by a pair of powerful arms.
“Xu Bao'er, you shameless woman! What exactly did you do to this prince?”
“You actually dared treat this prince like this. You want consummation of marriage? Then enjoy it.”
An angry, low male voice sounded behind her ear. Xu Bao'er instinctively looked toward the man speaking, only to have her eyes covered by a broad palm.
In the pitch-black night, the bell beside the bed rang throughout the night. Xu Bao'er's hand reached out for help, only to be seized and pulled back. She was pinned firmly against the bed couch, his five fingers tightly clasped around her.
The next morning, only Xu Bao'er remained inside the room.
“Brute.”
Xu Bao'er cursed bitterly. He was utterly inhuman and did not know how to show the slightest consideration for a woman.
Her entire body was sore.
Sitting up, Xu Bao'er pulled up the skirts that had fallen to her waist. Everything that happened last night had been too absurd; even her clothes had not been completely removed. The memories belonging to this world instantly flooded Xu Bao'er's mind.
In this world, Xu Bao'er was the wife of Prince Duan, Zhou Jin. She had been married to him for three years and was still a virgin. Zhou Jin did not even know what his own princess consort looked like.
“A concubine-born daughter actually dreams of marrying into the imperial clan. How shameless.”
“This prince will never let your scheme succeed.”
On the night of their marriage, Zhou Jin never entered the bridal chamber. Standing outside the door, he harshly berated Xu Bao'er.
After this commotion, the entire capital city learned that Xu Bao'er had entered the Prince Duan's Residence through a substitute marriage and had become a divorced woman that very night.
The person originally meant to marry Prince Duan was not Xu Bao'er, but xu family's legitimate daughter, Xu Yu'er.
But Xu Yu'er did not want to become Princess Consort of Prince Duan. Her ambitions were immense: she wanted to become crown princess and later rule the realm as empress.
“Xu Bao'er, you deserve to die. Being able to marry Prince Duan before dying is the blessing of a concubine-born daughter like you.”
“Now that you are in the bridal sedan chair, you have no say in the matter.”
To avoid marrying Zhou Jin, Xu Yu'er came up with the vicious scheme of a substitute marriage.
A substitute marriage was an extremely serious offense. The other party was the imperial clan, and if things went wrong, it could result in the extermination of nine clans. Even without the extermination of nine clans, the person used as the substitute would certainly end up dead or crippled.
But Xu Yu'er could not worry about so much. Even if she died, she had to take the gamble.
When looking for a scapegoat, Xu Yu'er's first thought was Xu Bao'er. She was clearly only a concubine-born daughter, yet she had stolen all of Xu Yu'er's limelight.
It was bad enough that her beauty could entice men; her luck was also extraordinarily good.
The moment she was born, her father was promoted two ranks in succession, and could be said to be basking in success.
Regarded as a lucky star, Xu Bao'er received the affection of the entire household despite being a concubine-born daughter.
Xu Yu'er was consumed by jealousy. How could a lowly concubine-born daughter compete with her for affection? She should have died long ago.
“Go to hell, Xu Bao'er.”
“Father actually intends to make you a secondary consort to the crown prince. Once the crown prince Ascends the Throne, would that not put you above me?”
Looking at the unconscious Xu Bao'er, madness filled Xu Yu'er's eyes.
She absolutely refused to marry the Prince Duan whom the emperor despised. This unlucky marriage could be completed by Xu Bao'er instead.
Xu Yu'er was highly skilled at handling the substitute marriage. Although she had designed it herself, she pretended to be the victim, crying as though her heart were breaking.
“This subject's daughter does not know why this happened. It is not younger sister's fault; she is not that kind of person.”
“Perhaps she simply wanted to marry Prince Duan.” After saying this, Xu Yu'er lifted her head and fainted at precisely the right moment.
Xu Yu'er's masterful performance not only made Zhou Jin hate the Xu Family to the core, but also made the emperor feel indebted to her. Thus, Xu Yu'er naturally became the crown princess.
After receiving the information, Xu Bao'er finally understood how dire her situation was, with enemies on both sides.
Xu Bao'er was not worried. She was an orphan who had experienced many things, and this was nothing. Moreover, after binding with the childbearing system, she had gained the good pregnancy luck constitution. Judging by what happened yesterday, she had probably become pregnant with Zhou Jin's child.
As long as she gave birth to the first child of the Zhou imperial family—and perhaps its only child—her position would be completely secure. It was even possible that Prince Duan could use this child to ascend the imperial throne. After all, how could an imperial prince without offspring sit securely upon the imperial throne?
In the future, when Prince Duan became emperor, she would be empress. No matter how much Xu Yu'er jumped around then, it would be useless.
“Princess Consort of Prince Duan, the crown princess has arrived.”
Speak of the devil, and she appears. Xu Bao'er would have a good meeting with this Legitimate Sister.
“Bao'er.”
Before seeing her, Xu Bao'er heard her voice. Xu Yu'er called out affectionately, making anyone unaware of the truth think that she and Xu Bao'er had an excellent relationship.
“Greetings, crown princess.”
“We are one family, so there is no need to be so polite.”
That was what Xu Yu'er said aloud, but it was not what she thought.
Through Xu Yu'er's eyes, Xu Bao'er read her true thoughts.
「Hmph, I was angered by that old hag.」
「Today, I will take my anger out on Xu Bao'er!」
Xu Bao'er smiled and took a sip of tea. She was determined to personally see what methods Xu Yu'er would use.
“Today, Her Majesty the empress summoned me for a talk.”
“It is strange. Although quite a few imperial princes have taken wives, none of them have had any offspring.”
Oh, so the old demoness Xu Yu'er mentioned was the empress.
It was indeed strange. The emperor had eleven imperial princes, seven of whom were married, yet not one had children.
“I am truly worried about the imperial family's offspring.”
As Xu Yu'er spoke, she took Xu Bao'er's hand.
“Younger sister, you do not have to worry about such things. After all, you cannot possibly become pregnant.”
“What? Is Prince Duan still unwilling to enter your bedchamber?”
“Ah, it is all because of what happened back then.”
“I had no idea that Prince Duan could never let me go.”
What a strong air of insincerity. Who could fail to see Xu Yu'er's little scheme?
Xu Bao'er found it amusing. She indeed did not share Xu Yu'er's troubles, because she was already pregnant with Prince Duan's offspring.
Xu Yu'er, on the other hand, had never conceived an Imperial heir and had just been harshly reprimanded by the empress. Now she wanted to vent her frustration on Xu Bao'er, but she had chosen the wrong person.
Thinking this, Xu Bao'er took the initiative to pour tea for Xu Yu'er. At the moment she bent down, the red marks on her fair neck were clearly visible.
Xu Bao'er's skins had always been delicate and easily left marks. After such forceful treatment, the marks were even deeper.
“You!”
Xu Yu'er widened her eyes in disbelief and stared fixedly at the marks on Xu Bao'er's neck.
“I am sorry, elder Sister. I have embarrassed myself before you.”
Xu Bao'er hurriedly pretended to be shy and tightened her collar.
“You completed the consummation of marriage?”
Although Xu Yu'er's tone was calm at that moment, Xu Bao'er read the raging storm within her heart.
「How is that possible? How could Prince Duan possibly touch Xu Bao'er?」
「Even if I did not want him, Xu Bao'er can forget about having him.」
「If it had not been for me, how could a concubine-born daughter like Xu Bao'er have become Princess Consort of Prince Duan? She is fit only to be a concubine.」
Xu Bao'er had not expected her elder Sister's jealousy to be so intense. She was already the crown princess, yet she still coveted Xu Bao'er's husband.
Consummation of marriage between a husband and wife was perfectly normal.
“Mm, we did.”
“Prince Duan clings to me every night.”
Xu Bao'er knew exactly what could anger Xu Yu'er, so she deliberately provoked her.
Hearing that Xu Bao'er and Prince Duan enjoyed harmonious marital relations, Xu Yu'er was furious. The crown prince had not visited her bedchamber for many days.
Some time ago, some blind fool had presented the crown prince with a demoness from the Western Regions. That demoness had utterly bewitched him, leaving the crown princess completely neglected.
Xu Yu'er seethed with resentment. The crown prince's heart was not with her, while Xu Bao'er had actually captured Prince Duan's heart.
At this thought, another vicious idea came to Xu Yu'er.
“Younger sister, you and Prince Duan have had no offspring all these years. The Prince Duan's Residence should add a few more women.”
“We women should understand propriety and know the greater principles.”
“How about tomorrow? I will send a few people to your residence.”
“I guarantee every one of them will be highly fertile.”
How could Xu Bao'er not know what Xu Yu'er was thinking?
The crown princess was unhappy herself and could not stand seeing anyone else doing well, insisting on making trouble for others.
Xu Bao'er watched Xu Yu'er drink the tea without revealing anything. She had put a specially prepared laxative in it, one that would not be detected.
This medicine was highly effective. Once the crown princess had thoroughly emptied both body and mind, perhaps her mouth would not smell so foul either. Xu Bao'er was doing this for her elder Sister's own good.
1. The male lead is clean in both body and mind throughout the novel. All pairings are one-to-one, there are no original owners, and this is not a female-empowerment story.
2. The first world uses an old-fashioned writing style and has sharply divided reviews. There is no chasing one's wife to the crematorium, so skipping it is recommended.
3. In World Five, the ascetic buddhist son enters the chasing one's wife to the crematorium arc, with a shura-field drama involving multiple men competing for one woman and male suffering. Those who dislike angsty stories may skip it.
4. Introductions are provided for the first nine completed worlds. There is not enough space for introductions to the later worlds, so please refer to the table of contents.
Wishing everyone an enjoyable reading experience.