Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks

by Little Merger

Ning Shu had dropped dead. But in a burst of good fortune she became a task-taker in charge of counterattacking for pitiful cannon fodder. Thus, Ning Shu, in one world after another, took all kinds of life roles, encountered all kinds of ‘you’re heartless, you’re ruthless, you’re making trouble for no reason’ people. She encountered all sorts of white lotus flowers, green tea bitch

19. 1057

Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks #Chapter 1057: End of Chu Xiaoran's Prison Sentence - Read Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks Chapter 1057: End of Chu Xiaoran's Prison Sentence Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 1057: End of Chu Xiaoran's Prison Sentence

Xia Xiaoman had given birth to the child, but she had no idea how to take care of a child. As she faced the bawling baby, she was at a complete loss. She had no idea what to do.

She didn't know that the child wasn't feeling well and couldn't really understand if he was hungry or had wet his diapers. The moment the child cried, her heart would ache. There were too many feelings pent up in her heart, so she picked up the child and started crying. The empty villa reverberated with the heart-wrenching wails of the child.

Xia Xiaoman had never had to go through any major event in her life. Her family was also a well-off family, so she had grown up being doted on. There was also Xu Wenlang, this neighborhood big brother looking after her and shielding her no matter what she faced.

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Before she even stepped into society, before even being polished by society, she was snatched by Chu Xiaoran. Even though Chu Xiaoran didn't treat her well, she still never had to consider things for the sake of survival. She spent all day thinking about random pointless things.

Now that the question of survival was pressuring her and she even had to raise a child without anyone else to rely on, Xia Xiaoman felt like her heart was being simmered in hot oil.

Xia Xiaoman took the child to the law firm to look for Ning Shu. The only person Xia Xiaoman could think of in T City was Ning Shu. The only one that could help her was Big Brother Wenlang who had known her for more than ten years. However, when she got to the law firm, she was told that Ning Shu wasn't here.

Ning Shu was standing in front of the window upstairs. She saw that Xia Xiaoman was standing at the entrance while carrying a child. Xia Xiaoman had gotten a lot skinnier and her face was deathly pale like a single gust of wind could knock her over.

The moment Ning Shu saw Xia Xiaoman's facial color, she knew that Xia Xiaoman had spleen qi deficiency. She hadn't taken care of herself after giving birth and hurt her body. It was still alright while she was young, but once she got older, she'd have puerperal fever for the rest of her life.

It was remarkable how skilled she was at hurting herself.

Xia Xiaoman had no choice but to head back. However, in the end, one of the older female workers at the law firm couldn't bear to just watch anymore and advised Xia Xiaoman to hire a nurse to look after the child.

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When Xia Xiaoman heard that someone could help her take care of the child, her eyes lit up with joy. However, that joy quickly faded. It'd definitely take a lot of money to hire a nurse and she didn't have that much money.

Xia Xiaoman never imagined that there would come a day that she'd have to worry about money. In the past, she didn't even have a concept of money, yet now, she had to plan because of money and be conflicted over half the day because of just a bit of money.

When she thought of her child, in the end, she still gritted her teeth and hired a nurse. However, now she was even more tight on money. She started thinking about what else she had left to sell.

Xia Xiaoman finally had room to breathe now that there was a nurse to help take care of the child, so now she spent all day guarding the calendar and crossing out the days one by one, waiting for Chu Xiaoran to get out of prison.

Ning Shu was also waiting for Chu Xiaoran to get out of prison. What meaning was there for him to stay in prison? There was someone to watch over him twenty-four seven and plenty of food and drink. When he was bored, there was even a group of people to play with, do pick up the soap and such.

Ning Shu drove to the prison the day that Chu Xiaoran was scheduled to get out. When she arrived, she saw that Xia Xiaoman was already waiting at the door. Xia Xiaoman had even gotten dressed up today. She was in a white dress. However, because she was too thin, she didn't look as good as before and there was a fatigue around her that was impossible to get rid of.

Ning Shu stayed in the car and just watched as people came out from the prison.

Chu Xiaoran came out as well. Xia Xiaoman covered her mouth as her tears streamed down her cheeks, then she threw herself into Chu Xiaoran's arms.

Ning Shu looked at Chu Xiaoran. This person was completely different from the Chu Xiaoran she remembered. The current Chu Xiaoran had completely lost that noble and proud air that he used to naturally emit. His halo had faded by a huge amount. Chu Xiaoran was just an ordinary man now. Actually, he might not even match up to an ordinary man.

The current Chu Xiaoran had nothing left and even had a criminal record. It'd be hard for him to get anywhere in society now.

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Chapter 1058: Crying for a Funeral?

However, Ning Shu found that Chu Xiaoran seemed to look very confident. She curled her lips in disdain. Could it be that he thought he'd still be able to climb his way up? Even if he wanted to, she wouldn't give him the chance.

She glanced at the two that were emotionally reuniting, then drove off.

In front of the prison doors, Chu Xiaoran and Xia Xiaoman were still hugging each other. As Xia Xiaoman hugged Chu Xiaoran's waist, her heart immediately settled down. She felt like she had someone to rely on now and so she no longer felt scared of anything. There was someone to shield her from everything.

On the way back to the villa, Xia Xiaoman told Chu Xiaoran about everything that happened this year. Chu Xiaoran was a bit moved. He never imagined that Xia Xiaoman would give up leaving with her family to stay here to wait for him.

Chu Xiaoran hugged Xia Xiaoman and said, "Let's get married."

Xia Xiaoman was surprised, but also delighted. Tears overflowed as she nodded with a smile. Although there were no fresh flowers or a ring, but she didn't care about those things. As long as she could share happiness with the person she loved and her child, then they'd definitely be a happy family.

When they got back to the villa, Chu Xiaoran picked up his son. His heart was filled with hope. With his abilities, he'd soon be able to return to the summit, then give Xia Xiaoman and this child a blessed life.

If Chu Xiaoran wanted to make a comeback, then he'd need capital. However, all his properties had been taken by the government.

Chu Xiaoran decided to sell this villa. Back then when he brought this villa, it had costed over ten million. At that time, ten million had been just a mere trifle to him, but now this was the only capital he had left to make a comeback with.

After selling the villa, Chu Xiaoran and Xia Xiaoman moved into an ordinary house in a neighborhood and started living the life of renters. They also dismissed the nurse, so the job of taking care of the child fell to Xia Xiaoman.

Chu Xiaoran took the money from selling the house and left to find a business opportunity, but after an entire day, he wasn't able to reap any fruits.

When Chu Xiaoran got home, he didn't even have a bite of hot food to eat. Xia Xiaoman found it very hard to take care of the child without the help of a nurse. When Chu Xiaoran got back, she had Chu Xiaoran look after a child, then went to go cook.

Xia Xiaoman was the type to never had to touch water for any chore in the past, so the taste of the food she made was easily imaginable. Chu Xiaoran only took two bites before stopping. As he ate this thing that tasted like flour paste in this cramped room, his heart suddenly filled with anger. The child was always crying at night while he was trying to sleep. He was about to go crazy with vexation.

"What are you crying for!? A funeral!?" Chu Xiaoran got out of bed and headed to the balcony to smoke.

The child was frightened by Chu Xiaoran's voice and started crying even harder. When Xia Xiaoman saw that Chu Xiaoran was angry, her heart dropped and she hastily picked up the child to coax him.

Even if Chu Xiaoran was in dire straits now, Xia Xiaoman had gotten used to his might and influence, so even now, she still conceded to him unconditionally.

Chu Xiaoran was very worried and anxious. He was impatient to prove himself, to make a comeback. The things that had been extremely easy for him before, to the point that it only took a sentence, was now unbelievably hard.

Sometimes before he even had the chance to speak, he'd be driven out. The embarrassment and indignance made him want to kill. The more that things were like this, the more he wanted to return to the past and make these people who were looking down on him pay.

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Chapter 1059: Tea Had Gotten Cold

Ning Shu had been keeping an eye on Chu Xiaoran this whole time. She knew that he had sold his only villa and was about to use this money for a new start. All she could say was that he was pretty naive.

Chu Xiaoran's collapse was the work of the government. There was pretty much no one in T City that would dare to collaborate with Chu Xiaoran. Even if they were willing to collaborate with him, Chu Xiaoran should have some sort of capital to back to collaboration up. Did he think that he could do it with just a couple million?

The current Chu Xiaoran was no longer a business tycoon, an entity that other companies fought to get the chance to collaborate with.

The people had left and the tea had gotten cold. This was what reality was like.

However, Chu Xiaoran seemed very determined to succeed.

Ning Shu felt that the only reason that Chu Xiaoran was able to keep jumping around like this was because he still had money. If he no longer had this money, he probably wouldn't have that enthusiasm anymore.

However, before Ning Shu even made a move, the people she had sent to keep an eye on Chu Xiaoran told her that Chu Xiaoran had already found a business partner.

This fast!?

She was a little taken aback. Could it be that Chu Xiaoran really was going to make a comeback?

More news soon came from that side. It was a project for new energy development that seemed pretty promising and the company that was collaborating with Chu Xiaoran also seemed like a legit company.

Ning Shu sent people to look into it and found that the company was a complete dummy corporation. Even the offices were rented. They simply put their company name over the door. From the looks of things, they had their eye on Chu Xiaoran's money.

They had clearly planned things meticulously since Chu Xiaoran had already fallen for the bait. Both sides had already signed the contract and Chu Xiaoran had already invested half his money.

Ning Shu just watched silently. She didn't even consider warning Chu Xiaoran. Chu Xiaoran had definitely let it slip that he had money while searching for a business opportunity, and so some scammers came up with this idea.

Chu Xiaoran had only invested half of his money so far, but the scammers would definitely come up with some way to get all the money out of him.

For better or for worse, Chu Xiaoran was a businessman. However, he had been in a very impatient and anxious state ever since he got out of prison, so he had lost his basic calmness and rationality. Furthermore, the scammers had done everything very carefully and considered all the possible issues. It was even possible to find this company online.

They were also registered with the bureau of industry and commerce. That was why Chu Xiaoran finally agreed to the collaboration.

Ning Shu just watched like it was an entertaining show. The difficulties Chu Xiaoran had face since getting out of jail naturally contained her efforts. With her current social status, it was a simple matter to make things hard for Chu Xiaoran.

As of now, their situation was completely reversed. She was the one watching indifferently as Chu Xiaoran struggled.

The proud and aloof Chu Xiaoran who had dictated other people's fates probably never would've imagined he'd have to face a day like this.

The scammer soon notified Chu Xiaoran that they didn't have enough capital and would have to stop this project. This meant that the money Chu Xiaoran invested before would've been wasted. Chu Xiaoran gritted his teeth, then decided to stake it all and invest all the money he had left.

The next day, what Chu Xiaoran faced was a completely empty company. All the technical staff were gone. They had all run off.

Chu Xiaoran instantly realized that he had gotten scammed. His limbs went weak. He felt like his soul was about to leave his body.

This sum of money had carried all his hopes, but now he had nothing left. He couldn't even guarantee anything about his life from now on and he still had a family of two to feed.

Chu Xiaoran had simply been too greedy. He wanted to use the money he had in hand to earn a large sum. He was impatient to make a comeback. Back then he had only invested half the money. If he had immediately stopped the damage at that, at the very least, he'd still have half the money left.

The current Chu Xiaoran could be said to have had all his hopes turned to dust. For a moment, he even considered death. However, as he stood on the skyscraper and looked down at the dizzying height below, his heart shrank with fear and he lost the courage to even seek death.

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Chapter 1060: Had to Join the Workforce

Depressed, Chu Xiaoran drank until he was dead drunk. When he got home and heard the sound of the child crying, his anger immediately erupted and he beat up Xia Xiaoman who didn't even know what happened.

Chu Xiaoran just wanted to vent all the pent-up frustrations in his heart, so he hit very hard. He beat Xia Xiaoman until her nose was broken and her face was completely swollen.

The drunk Chu Xiaoran vented all his violent anger on Xia Xiaoman, but Xia Xiaoman just endured it silently.

When Chu Xiaoran's head cleared up the next day and saw what an unbearable sight Xia Xiaoman had become, he immediately knelt down in front of Xia Xiaoman to beg for forgiveness. He kept apologizing to Xia Xiaoman nonstop.

It was only because he had too much pent up in his heart. He really wanted to climb back up in order to give her and their child a blessed life.

Xia Xiaoman had never seen Chu Xiaoran in such a wretched state. She hugged Chu Xiaoran and immediately forgave him.

Now that Chu Xiaoran no longer had money, he lost all of his energy and just stayed at home all day. He didn't even get up for meals, Xia Xiaoman carried all three meals to him.

He no longer bothered with his appearance and didn't even shave. He looked completely decadent. It was clear that he hadn't snapped out of the shock of being scammed. It wasn't possible to find a single trace of the past Chu Xiaoran.

Chu Xiaoran stayed at home without doing anything, but there were always necessary expenditures. The child's milk powder and diapers cost money. The rent and utility bills, food, drink, and clothes, all cost money.

Xia Xiaoman was originally about to ask Chu Xiaoran for money, but then she recalled that Chu Xiaoran had recently been scammed out of his money so bringing it up would probably make him feel worse.

All the pressure of survival now fell on Xia Xiaoman. Xia Xiaoman, who had never joined the workforce before, now had to work to earn money.

Xia Xiaoman wasn't suited to working. Most companies didn't want Xia Xiaoman even though she had a college diploma. On one hand, it was because she was also pretty well-known in T City since she was the girlfriend of Chu Xiaoran who had once been the god of T City. And on the other hand, it was because she always looked so lost and helpless, so it was obvious that she didn't really have any work skills.

In the end, Xia Xiaoman got a job washing dishes at a small restaurant. Due to her clumsiness, she broke a plate. When she got paid, she had to pay for the plate, so in the end she didn't earn much.

She had to keep washing dishes nonstop the entire day. Her waist felt like it was about to snap and her hands were wrinkled from being soaked in water. When she got home, the child was wailing and Chu Xiaoran was on the sofa watching TV, completely ignoring the child.

Xia Xiaoman hastily coaxed the child, then started making dinner.

After a day of this, Xia Xiaoman's face was completely pale. When she went to sleep, her waist hurt so badly that she couldn't even shift in bed, but when the child started crying in the middle of the night, she still had to get up to coax the child.

Despite things being like this, Xia Xiaoman still didn't say a single thing to Chu Xiaoran. She got up early the next morning to make breakfast, feed the child and change his diapers before heading out the door. Meanwhile, Chu Xiaoran was still in bed sleeping.

Chu Xiaoran who had nothing to do always felt vexed, so he used alcohol to drown his worries. He started drinking impulsively and when drunk, he could never stop himself from hitting Xia Xiaoman.

In the past, Chu Xiaoran had abused Xia Xiaoman emotionally, but now it had gotten to the point that he had started physically abusing her. Chu Xiaoran who had suffered such a huge defeat could only resort to affirming his sense of existence with Xia Xiaoman.

When sober, he'd always repent in front of Xia Xiaoman and repeatedly guarantee, swear, that there wouldn't be a next time, but whenever he was drunk, he'd forget all about it.

Venting like this was addictive. Xia Xiaoman's repeated forgiveness made Chu Xiaoran become completely unrestrained and he even started to feel that this was natural.

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Chapter 1061: Addicted to Gambling

Ning Shu knew that Xia Xiaoman had joined the workforce. The entire family of three was relying on Xia Xiaoman to feed them. Meanwhile, not only did Chu Xiaoran do nothing but drink, he'd even hit people when he was drunk. Despite that, Xia Xiaoman still felt no resentment towards him, nor any regret.

Ning Shu was dumbfounded. Her entire view of the world was updated once again. How much endurance must Xia Xiaoman have to accept days like this? Despite this situation, she still treated Chu Xiaoran like he was a treasure.

This was clearly the late stages of Stockholm syndrome, she was already beyond saving.

It felt like Xia Xiaoman was the type that, even if Chu Xiaoran raped her mom and f*cked her dad without even letting their Chihuahua off, she'd still be able to stay with Chu Xiaoran for a happy end.

Did Xu Wenlang treat Xia Xiaoman well? He did, he treated her really well. However, Xia Xiaoman couldn't feel the heart-pounding sensation of love. On the contrary, Chu Xiaoran constantly hurt her, but she actually felt that this was love. There was definitely an issue with this girl's concept of love.

There wasn't even the most basic concepts of respect or protectiveness, how could this count as love? The moment Chu Xiaoran behaved slightly better, Xia Xiaoman would back down. Xia Xiaoman was always in the weaker position, and it was even by her own choice.

Ning Shu just had people continue to keep an eye on them. She had no plans to get involved with them. She'd just watch from above as these two struggled to survive at the bottom of society.

In the original storyline, after all that traumatizing, they were able to have a happy end together. That was because they had money to support their happiness. Now that they no longer had that capital to tolerate them tormenting each other, they'd just have to get tormented by life.

Whenever Ning Shu had free time, she'd fight some lawsuits in court. She also took some time to walk around and relax while occasionally catching up with what was going in between Chu Xiaoran and Xia Xiaoman.

It seemed that not only was Chu Xiaoran addicted to alcohol, he had even gotten addicted to gambling. He wanted to get rich through gambling, and every time he'd take all the money in the house. That money was the milk powder money that Xia Xiaoman had worked hard to earn for the child.

At the beginning, Chu Xiaoran felt a bit guilty about stealing the money and would say to Xia Xiaoman, I'll definitely win a lot of money. I just don't want to see you working so hard, and such blah.

Xia Xiaoman didn't say anything and just increased the amount of work she did.

Was Xia Xiaoman not tired?

She was very tired, but whenever she recalled that there was someone by her side that she could rely on, she felt strong even if she was tired. However, if she was by herself, there was no way she could've held up.

Xia Xiaoman was someone who was very scared of being alone. She didn't have independent thoughts, so Chu Xiaoran was her mental support. No matter how unbearable Chu Xiaoran was right now, Xia Xiaoman was still scared that Chu Xiaoran would leave her.

Chu Xiaoran didn't look after the family, didn't look after the child, and was obsessed with gambling. He wanted to win a lot of money by gambling in order to get back to his past state.

However, gambling has always been a bottomless hole. No matter how much money you throw in, you never won back much. After losing, Chu Xiaoran would just go back home to get money, then head right back to the casino to continue gambling.

He became very irascible and would often demand money from Xia Xiaoman. If Xia Xiaoman didn't give him money, he'd beat Xia Xiaoman like she was his enemy and yell that she should just sell herself.

Xia Xiaoman was very hurt. The fact that Chu Xiaoran wanted her to sell herself, that he wanted her to become a prostitute deeply hurt her, but the moment she argued back, Chu Xiaoran would violently beat her.

Xia Xiaoman often got new injuries before her old ones even healed, but she still endured everything silently because now, even a single sentence of objection would bring on a crazed beating from Chu Xiaoran.

Chu Xiaoran who didn't have money and prestige to dress him up was now even trashier than before. His trashy personality used to be concealed by his money and his looks, so back then, his willfulness was taken to be normal.

As of now, Xia Xiaoman had no way of handling the rent anymore, so they had to move to the type of small house that only cost around three hundred a month. However, there was only one room. Everything—eating, drinking, shitting—all had to be done in one room.

The surrounding rooms were all rented out to migrant workers who always left early and returned late.

"Boss, there's a woman called Xia Xiaoman at the door looking for you?" Ning Shu was looking through documents when the secretary walked over.

Ning Shu lifted her brows. Why was Xia Xiaoman looking for her? They hadn't interacted since Chu Xiaoran went to jail. As of now, it's been almost two years.

Ning Shu walked to the window and saw that Xia Xiaoman was standing at the entrance in very plain clothing. She was extremely skinny, to the point that it was a shocking sight.

Ning Shu felt like something was pressing on her heart. There was a strange feeling. This was probably the original host's feelings.

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Chapter 1062: Supposed to be a Woman's Best Time

"Tell her to come in." There were some things she wanted to ask Xia Xiaoman.

The secretary led Xia Xiaoman inside. Xia Xiaoman's expression was a little timid and reserved. Her eyes met Ning Shu's gaze, then she quickly lowered her head.

Ning Shu saw that Xia Xiaoman's eyes were bruised. It was obviously Chu Xiaoran's doing.

"Have a seat," said Ning Shu mildly. Xia Xiaoman timidly sat down on the sofa.

Ning Shu then asked, "Do you want to drink anything?"

"I'm fine, it's ok." Xia Xiaoman hastily waved her hands dismissively. She looked really flustered.

The cruelty of life had ruined Xia Xiaoman until she became very timid and lowly.

Ning Shu saw that her hands were very rough and there were small injuries visible. On her feet were very cheap flats. In the past, though Xia Xiaoman was simple, she was still very pretty when she cleaned herself up. Whenever she headed out, she never left her heels behind.

However, the heavy pressure of life made it so that Xia Xiaoman didn't have the money nor the time to clean herself up. Once even survival was a question, living on became what was most important.

Ning Shu looked at Xia Xiaoman. Her skin had become rough and darker than before, and her lips were pale and colorless. These were signs of anemia and malnutrition.

There was a dark air hovering around her. Xia Xiaoman's body was severely overdraft, to the point she might die young.

Ning Shu found it very depressing. Why couldn't women love themselves more? Why couldn't they bring themselves to leave a man? Xia Xiaoman's actions made Ning Shu dislike her a lot, but Xia Xiaoman actually indulged in her own choices.

When Xia Xiaoman saw Ning Shu staring at her, she lowered her head again and gripped the hems of her shirt uneasily. She didn't even have the courage to look at Ning Shu.

This man was wearing a well-ironed suit. His handsome appearance made her seem even more lowly in comparison. There were all sorts of emotions floating up in her heart, causing her to feel restless.

"Was this worth it?" asked Ning Shu. A woman actually managed to ruin herself to this point?

Xia Xiaoman lifted her head to glance at Ning Shu, then lowered her head again as she said quietly, "Big Brother Wenlang, I can't go back anymore."

Because there was no hope, so she didn't want to waste the energy on even struggling? She'd rather choose to continue like this?

The current Xia Xiaoman wasn't even thirty yet, but she looked like she was past forty. Her skin was dark and her body was so skinny, her entire body emitted the aura of exhaustion.

This was supposed to be a woman's best time, the time when they'd walk in beautiful high heels to go shopping and have coffee with their friends.

Xia Xiaoman's tragic life was completely her own doing. Perhaps she didn't feel like her life was that tragic. She was with the man she loved and even had a child, so it counted as a complete family.

Ning Shu was originally about to ask for Xu Wenlang if Xia Xiaoman regretted things, but now that seemed clearly pointless.

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Chapter 1063: Was it Worth It?

"Did you need something?" asked Ning Shu. It had been a long time since they had seen each other. For Xia Xiaoman to come here so abruptly, it was definitely because she needed something.

Xia Xiaoman's face was a little red, causing her entire face to flush a strange dark red and making her sunburn spots more conspicuous.

"I..." Xia Xiaoman squeezed her shirt like she was finding it hard to speak.

Ning Shu didn't rush her and had the secretary bring two cups of water. Xia Xiaoman wiped her hands on her shirt, then picked up the cup and drank all of the water.

Ning Shu had the secretary pour more water, but Xia Xiaoman hastily waved her hands to stop her. "Thanks, Big Brother Wenlang. I'm not thirsty anymore."

"Big Brother Wenlang, I..." Xia Xiaoman opened her mouth, but in the end, still didn't say anything.

Xia Xiaoman really couldn't bring herself to say it. In reality, Chu Xiaoran was the one that had forced her to come here.

It was hard to imagine that it was actually Chu Xiaoran that made her to come here. In the past, Chu Xiaoran would be infuriated whenever she mentioned Xu Wenlang's name, but now he was having her go look for Xu Wenlang because Xu Wenlang had money.

Chu Xiaoran often saw Ning Shu on TV. Ning Shu was already T City's ambassador, and a public welfare advertisement about her was often broadcasted on TV.

Chu Xiaoran loathed Ning Shu. His eyes became bloodshot when he saw how well-off his enemy was doing, so he came up with an idea, which was to have Xia Xiaoman go ask Ning Shu for money.

As of now, Chu Xiaoran didn't mind his woman going to find Xu Wenlang at all since he didn't have any money to gamble with anymore. The fact that he had been able to tell Xia Xiaoman to sell herself showed that he only thought of Xia Xiaoman as a money-making tool now.

Even if Xia Xiaoman really slept with Xu Wenlang and got money from Xu Wenlang, that just meant that he had information on Xu Wenlang and would be able to get more money from Xu Wenlang in the future.

Due to Chu Xiaoran's physical threats, Xia Xiaoman had no choice but to come look for Ning Shu.

However, as she faced the person who had almost become her lifelong partner, all she felt was embarrassment. She hadn't wanted to appear in front of Big Brother Wenlang in such a wretched manner.

"Big Brother Wenlang, I'll leave first..." Xia Xiaoman abruptly got up, then hastily left.

Ning Shu lifted her brows. Xia Xiaoman had clearly come here for something, but she left before even saying what it was.

The person that had been keeping an eye on Chu Xiaoran said that Chu Xiaoran had sent Xia Xiaoman here to get money from her.

Ning Shu was speechless. The current Chu Xiaoran really was disgusting. However, he had always been this despicable, otherwise he wouldn't have done something like snatching another person's woman in the first place.

Xia Xiaoman had headed back with her hands empty, so she'd naturally have to face Chu Xiaoran's rage. Chu Xiaoran had been hoping for Xia Xiaoman to bring back two piles of money, but she hadn't even gotten a single coin.

When Xia Xiaoman said that there was no way she could ask Big Brother Wenlang for money, Chu Xiaoran completely exploded. He grabbed Xia Xiaoman's hair and started slamming her head against the wall like he wanted to kill her.

Xia Xiaoman's face was soon covered with blood and she passed out. Chu Xiaoran immediately started panicking.

He hastily brought Xia Xiaoman to the hospital. Xia Xiaoman was reliant on Chu Xiaoran, but Chu Xiaoran was just as reliant on Xia Xiaoman. He wouldn't be able to survive without Xia Xiaoman. He wouldn't have food or money to gamble with.

At the hospital, the doctor said that Xia Xiaoman had a cerebral concussion, but the hospital fee wasn't cheap. Chu Xiaoran dug around at home and finally gathered enough money. After paying the hospital fee once, he completely ran out of money, so he just brought Xia Xiaoman home.

This time, Xia Xiaoman paid no attention to him. Big Brother Wenlang's one question 'Was this worth it?' kept echoing in her mind.

She didn't know if it was worth it.

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Chapter 1064: It's All Just a Skin

Chu Xiaoran probably finally felt a little guilty because he treated Xia Xiaoman a lot better this time. He even cooked for Xia Xiaoman and fed her spoon by spoon.

Xia Xiaoman's heart felt completely numb. She couldn't name the emotions she felt.

After she recovered, she started working again, and as of now, she even had to piggyback her child while working since the child was now able to crawl around so leaving him at home was dangerous. Meanwhile, Chu Xiaoran sat at the gambling table all day and didn't do anything.

Ning Shu felt that Chu Xiaoran's current days were too comfortable, that must have been why he had the time to try and target her.

So she found someone to cut off one of Chu Xiaoran's fingers. Chu Xiaoran's pinky was cut off at the casino.

It must be said that in the past, Chu Xiaoran also ran an underground casino so he should know the ins-and-outs of how things worked very well. It was impossible to get rich from gambling. Chu Xiaoran probably knew the truth, but he needed some way to vent his depression. Furthermore, gambling was addictive. Once you strayed onto this road, it was hard to get off.

Chu Xiaoran was brought to the hospital. Xia Xiaoman did everything she could to try to gather enough money to reattach Chu Xiaoran's finger, but it really cost too much. Xia Xiaoman couldn't do anything about it.

For Chu Xiaoran's sake, Xia Xiaoman set down her last bit of dignity and came to ask Ning Shu for help, but she was told that Ning Shu wasn't here. Xia Xiaoman was extremely anxious as she waited at the door, but Ning Shu never came out.

At this time, Ning Shu had already gone to the countryside to spread law knowledge.

In the end, Chu Xiaoran's finger wasn't reattached and so he officially became a member of the disabled. When Chu Xiaoran found out that he had lost his finger, he was naturally furious. He vented all his emotions on Xia Xiaoman and beat her until she was sent to the hospital again. Both husband and wife were lying in the hospital, neither of them had money, so they were kicked out the next day. In the end, the two injured had no choice but to mutually support each other home.

When Ning Shu found out about this, she just smiled faintly. Helping each other like this also counted as true love, no?

"Ding, leave the world? Yes/No." 2333's voice appeared in Ning Shu's mind.

"Yes." She had already stayed in this world for a long time. It had almost been five years. It was actually her first time staying in a world this long, so she had to leave.

Furthermore, Mother Xu was very irritable these days since her son wasn't getting married and was barely ever home. Whenever she wanted him to have a blind date, he'd run super far away. He'd be in this city one day, then off to some mountain the next.

Mother Xu was already irritable due to menopause, so the matter of her son's marriage just made her more irritable.

Ning Shu really didn't know what to do with Mother Xu. It was best to leave these matters for the original host to come back and deal with.

Ning Shu felt a burst of dizziness and when she opened her eyes, she was already back in the system space. Ning Shu couldn't be bothered to do anything but lie down on the bed and sleep. This task had seriously been too tiring. It had been so hard to fight against Chu Xiaoran who was rich and influential.

After finally sleeping her fill, when she woke up, she saw that her soul was a bit dim. It was clear that she had stayed in the task world a bit too long and suffered damage.

Ning Shu sat cross-legged on the ground and started cultivating. Once she finished absorbing everything, she stretched, then asked 2333, "Why did I become a man again this time? Didn't you say that you already repaired your system last time?"

"...Why are you always so hung up on this? Male or female, it's all just a skin. It's all fabricated. What need is there to be this conflicted over it?" replied 2333 in an annoyed tone.

Ning Shu: (‵′)︵

So I'm in the wrong!?

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Chapter 1065: My! So Many Points!

Ning Shu gave up on talking to 2333 about life. He was just a stupid system anyways.

"Let's see how many points we have this time." Ning Shu was looking forward to seeing the points this time since she had managed to plan a new life for Xu Wenlang. She had made him a famous lawyer who even had his own law firm.

Number: 2333

Name: Ning Shu (Primary Task-Taker)

Age: 27

Experience: 550000 (1000000)

Soul: 300

Life: 71

Intelligence: 140

Charm: 3

Luck: 67

Mental Strength: 120

Martial Arts: 92

Faith: 14 (5)

Aptitude: 39

Merit: 36

Abilities: Five Rings Shooting Skill, Trashy Combat Skill, Trashy Beginner of Unsurpassable Martial Arts, Rudimentary Business Administration Knowledge

Acquired Titles: Goddess of War, Altruistic Ancestor

Halos: Benevolent Mother of the World (Empress's blessing), Model Worker Sis (Chen Xi's blessing), Chief Halo (Cao's blessing), Lifelong Friend (Miao Miaomiao's blessing)

Fulfilled Xu Wenlang's wish: Get revenge on Chu Xiaoran.

Task Completion Degree: 100%

Gained 1000000 experience points.

Gained 50 attribute points.

Gained 15 faith points.

Ning Shu: (o)

She was stupefied. A million points, and fifty attribute points!? She had never gotten this amount before! She couldn't help but wonder if she was seeing things wrong.

"Did the system add it up wrong?" asked Ning Shu. It didn't feel real.

2333 also sounded surprised. "The points are so high! What did you do?"

Ning Shu: _

Fudge, if only she could throttle him.

She felt like that three hundred thousand consulting fee wasn't that expensive after all. She had managed to earn it back with a single task.

This high amount of points was probably because she had helped Xu Wenlang obtain a social status that garnered respect. It counted as helping him break away from his fate of tragically dying young.

Ning Shu felt so happy that she couldn't help but jump around in excitement. Afterwards, she gave a cough, then said, "My, there are so many attribute points! How am I supposed to allocate fifty points? I've never had this many attribute points before."

"Show off," muttered 2333. However, he still did his job and gave Ning Shu a suggestion. "Add some to luck. Luck is a really incredible thing. If you don't have enough of it, even if you encounter a treasure, you might not be able to get it and will just have to watch helplessly as it slips away right in front of you."

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Chapter 1066: Charm Wasn't Important

Ning Shu followed 2333's suggestion and added the attribute points to intelligence, luck, and martial arts. Having so many attribute points made her feel like a nouveau riche.

The stats panel reflected the changes.

Number: 2333

Name: Ning Shu (Primary Task-Taker)

Age: 27

Experience: 1550000

Soul: 300

Life: 71

Intelligence: 140 (30)

Charm: 3

Luck: 67 (10)

Mental Strength: 120

Martial Arts: 92 (10)

Faith: 19

Aptitude: 39

Merit: 36

Abilities: Five Rings Shooting Skill, Trashy Combat Skill, Trashy Beginner of Unsurpassable Martial Arts, Rudimentary Business Administration Knowledge

Acquired Titles: Goddess of War, Altruistic Ancestor

Halos: Benevolent Mother of the World (Empress's blessing), Model Worker Sis (Chen Xi's blessing), Chief Halo (Cao's blessing), Lifelong Friend (Miao Miaomiao's blessing)

The high amount of points this time made Ning Shu really happy. She felt like she finally found a direction for herself. That consultant hadn't tricked her.

She should treat the entrustor's life as her own and worked hard to obtain dazzling lives for them. Reputation, status, money, or power. If any of these were achieved, it'd count as a successful life.

Ning Shu calmed her emotions, then prepared to head to the fabricated space. Although she couldn't afford any of the things there, expanding her horizons was still good. She saw the school doctor uncle last time, so she wanted to try her luck and see if she'd be able to encounter the school doctor uncle again.

2333 really was useless. No matter what she asked, he never had an answer.

After a momentary sensation of falling, she was already standing on an ancient era-styled street. She headed to the consultation room first to thank that silver-haired man, but when she got to the entrance, she stopped.

It was better not to go after all. It'd be stupid if she ended up having to pay a fee after just talking to him a little.

She turned and left. She planned to go to a restaurant to eat a little. Even if it was just to satisfy her taste buds, it'd still be good.

She liked lively places like this since you could hear a lot of gossip. With so many task-takers around, it was always possible to hear some useful information.

She ordered some food, then perked up her ears to listen in. In reality, what she wanted to know the most was who the school doctor uncle was.

At first, she thought that the school doctor uncle was a little awesome, a little bit of a beast, a little too mysophobia, a little restrained and cool, but when she encountered him in the fabricated space, she felt like he was even more of a beast. For some reason, he seemed even more unreadable and powerful.

It was a bit scary.

She gnawed on drumsticks while listening in on other people's conversations. After listening in for half the day, she still didn't hear anything related to the uncle. Could it be that she just hallucinated seeing him last time?

The school doctor uncle really was elusive!

She couldn't be bothered to wonder about him anymore. After finishing her food and paying for it, she started wandering around in the fabricated space.

Then she saw a pet store. There was a pet store!?

There were even pets inside.

She walked in and saw that the store was filled with cages that had all sorts of pets. There were dogs and cats, and also animals that she didn't recognize. Those animals were probably from other planes.

She saw a husky. This husky was lying on the ground, his long tongue dangling out the side of his mouth with a 'what're you looking at' expression.

Ning Shu walked around. Originally she had been planning to buy a pet, but then she recalled that she spent most of her time doing tasks. Leaving a pet in the timeless system space didn't seem to be a good idea.

The system space was very quiet. Staying in there for a long time wasn't really good for living things.

So she gave up on buying a pet.

After wandering around a bit more, she decided to head back. "2333, let's head back."

After a brief falling sensation, she was back in the system space. She took a book from the bookshelf and started reading. She planned to read one book before each task. This way, she'd eventually finish reading all the books on the bookshelf.

After an unknown amount of time, she finally finished the book. It was probably because her intelligence had gone up because she felt like the things she had read were engraved in her brain.

Nods* Her goal was to make her brain become a library, to become a woman that read intensively!

Those with writing concealed in her chest had bosoms deep as a valley. She'd become an erudite and sophisticated beauty, ohohoho!

Charm wasn't important, what was important was aura, aura!

Ning Shu watered the bonsai a little, then leisurely opened the system marketplace. As usual, she exchanged for fasting pills, water, medicine, fake death drugs, and realgar powder.

She browsed the marketplace for a while longer and resisted the urge to chop off her hand. She was already at 1.5 million points. She only needed another 1.5 million to become a mid-level task-taker.

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Chapter 1067: Your Majesty

Ning Shu's current goal was to become a mid-level task-taker. This way she'd be able to choose her own tasks and talk to the entrustor in order to better understand what the entrustor wanted and complete the task more effectively.

Most importantly, she'd even be able to negotiate. That'd be awesome!

It'd probably only take three more tasks for her to become a mid-level task-taker, so right now she was saving up all the points for that. It felt like she'd only get some speaking rights once she became a mid-level task-taker.

At the very least, she'd finally be able to choose which tasks she wanted to do.

"2333, let's start the next task," said Ning Shu to 2333. "You'd better not make me a man this time, I'm telling you..."

Before Ning Shu even finished her words, she felt a bout of dizziness. F*ck, 2333 this dumbass...

She could sense that her soul was currently merging with a body. A woman's voice appeared next to her ear, but this woman's voice seemed a bit coarse. "Your Majesty, it's time to leave the bedroom."

Ning Shu still wasn't feeling well, but she abruptly opened her eyes when she heard the words 'Your Majesty' to quickly reach towards her crouch. Phew! Thank god. She was a woman.

Your Majesty!?

She was a female emperor!?

When the court lady saw that Ning Shu's gaze seemed a little blank, she said, "Your Majesty, the court session will be starting soon."

Ning Shu hadn't received the storyline and was completely lost, but the woman next to her kept talking so she had no choice but to get up. Afterwards, a huge crowd of servants came in to help her get dressed.

A cup of water was raised to her lips, so Ning Shu lowered her head and took a gulp of it.

"Your Majesty, please gargle." When the court lady nearby saw that Ning Shu had swallowed the water, she hastily spoke up.

Ning Shu: ...

Why didn't you guys say so earlier that this was for gargling? Ning Shu calmly took another sip, then gargled with it. A maid held up the spittoon and Ning Shu spit out the water in her mouth.

These days really were luxurious. All she had to do was extend her hand for clothes and open her mouth for food.

The maids then helped comb Ning Shu's hair into an extremely complicated hairstyle before stabbing it full of expensive hairpins. It was incomparably luxurious.

Ning Shu felt like she was about to sprain her neck. She didn't really dare to move too much.

Under the escort of this crowd of people, Ning Shu, who was completely lost, ended up at court. A person next to her suddenly shouted, "Her Majesty the emperor has arrived! All hail the emperor!"

Ning Shu was started by the court lady's voice, but she still forced herself to leisurely walk over to sit down on the throne. When she saw that so many people were kneeling in front of her, she got back up and said, "You may rise."

The people kneeling below all got up. Ning Shu was about to sit back down, but she was taken aback when she saw that everyone present were women.

Could this be a kingdom of women?

Ning Shu coughed, then said, "Whatever it is, just state it. I... We have a slight headache."

Right after Ning Shu said this, a girl dressed in light green with a forehead pendant that made her look spirited and charming stepped forward. Her eyes were filled with concern for Ning Shu. "Imperial Mother, are you alright? Why does your head hurt?"

Imperial Mother!? Ning Shu looked that this young lady. She was probably around sixteen. The original host probably was quite old if she had a child this big.

Ning Shu didn't know who this frickin' was so she could only say, "It's simply a lack of rest."

The girl nodded.

"Imperial Mother, should we call for an imperial physician?" Asked another girl dressed in bright yellow.

Ning Shu's head hadn't actually been hurting before, but it was really starting to hurt now. She had no idea what was going on because she hadn't received the storyline yet.

When the court lady saw that Ning Shu looked slightly annoyed, she hastily shouted, "Present your memorials now or withdraw from court!"

Ning Shu felt like her ears couldn't handle much more of this court lady's voice.

Fortunately these people were pretty tactful and didn't say much before ending the court session. When they got back to the palace, Ning Shu said to the court lady, "We will be resting for a while. Don't allow anyone in."

"Understood."

#comment: For the arc, since it's a kingdom of women, emperors and princes are female while empresses and princesses are male. So I'll drop hints here and there to remind that certain people are female, but generally, there's an implied (female) in front of all the male terms and an implied (male) in front of all the female terms. Sorry for any confusion, but after glancing through the arc, I feel that using the male terms for the females in power is more appropriate.

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Chapter 1068: Sent the Nation to Its Grave

Ning Shu lay down on the chaise lounge and started receiving the storyline.

This was an era where women ruled and men had pretty low status. It was the reverse of the worlds in which men were viewed as superior to women.

Here, women supported the family. Only women could become court officials and women were the ones governing the nation.

The women here were worked like animals, every single one of them was tenacious and tough. Men married into the women's family.

The original host's name Mu Nichang, She was Daylily Nation's female emperor. She was only around thirty and was a mediocre emperor. She didn't have outstanding ability or any glorious achievements, but she was still a qualified emperor. She preserved the accomplishments of the previous generations.

She only had to steadily carry out her duties as an emperor for this lifetime, then pass the nation onto a suitable successor.

However, on the issue of a successor, she completely ended up sending the nation of Daylily to the grave.

Daylily Nation originally already had a heir apparent, which was the woman dressed in bright yellow earlier in the palace.

However, Mu Nichang doted on her fourth daughter the most and even disposed of the imperial crown prince to help her fourth daughter onto the throne.

However, this fourth daughter didn't notice Mu Nichang's painstaking efforts at all. In reality, in the inside, this fourth prince was just a cute lil' sis. The real fourth prince had been a very ruthless and promiscuous woman and ended up being killed by her male concubines, then the cute lil' sis transmigrated over.

In this world where women ruled, the cute lil' sis knew how to act cutely spoiled and often blushed with the inherited good looks of the imperial family's women, so she attracted the gaze of all sorts of men.

In reality, this was just the story of a girl attracting all sorts of peach blossoms and dating men of every type.

The cute lil' sis was actually good-natured and treated Mu Nichang very well. She thought of Mu Nichang as her actual mother. It was possible to tell whether a person was sincere or just faking affection towards you, and moreover, Mu Nichang had already been empress for many years.

The fourth prince's affection for Mu Nichang was genuine, so Mu Nichang protected this daughter both openly and in secret, almost too indulgently.

Then there was the fact that any emperor would dislike the fact that someone else was eying their position. Mu Nichang had probed the fourth prince several times, saying that she was going to pass the throne to the fourth prince, but the fourth prince refused to accept it.

She actually disliked the throne quite a lot. All she wanted to do was be a free prince and enjoy life. If she became emperor, she'd be trapped in this imperial palace.

However, human nature was such: If you insist on snatching it, I refuse to give it to you, but if you don't want it, I insist on giving it to you.

In the end, this throne still ended up in the fourth prince's hands. The fourth prince was just a cute lil' sis, how could she possibly handle court matters? She didn't understand a single thing. Even though Mu Nichang had taught her before how to govern the nation, it had only been very occasional guidance.

After she ascended to the throne, the person that handled all the court matters was her legal husband, Yuan Jun. This Yuan Jun was the prime minister's son and was quite good at making plans.

After the fourth prince gave birth to his son, he personally taught his son how to govern the nation. Once his son was able to handle the responsibility, Yuan Jun told the fourth prince to just let their son be emperor so that they could go on a scenic tour.

The fourth prince was naturally willing since she had no objections towards having a man be emperor. After all, in her world, it had always been the men that were emperors.

Afterwards, the fourth prince went on a scenic tour with all her husbands to enjoy the life of having several partners while occasionally coming back to visit her son.

Afterwards, this nation became the property of the Yuan family. Men continued being emperor and the status of men and women slowly started to swap.

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Chapter 1069: A Cute Lil' Sis

In reality, during the several hundred years that the Mu family ruled Daylily Nation, the idea of masculism had already began to sprout. Men were no longer content with staying at home and being controlled by women. Testosterone always drove them to desire conquest and looting.

Hence, the fourth prince's personality attracted men a lot. Her personality was completely different from that of the other women in this world of strong females.

The men that were able to be by the fourth prince's side loved her a lot. Even Yuan Jun, despite his ambition, only had his son become emperor in order to travel with the one he loved. If it weren't for the fact that he loved the fourth prince, he would've become emperor himself.

A girl like the fourth prince was also worthy of being loved. She was very sincere towards everyone. She was a little dumb and tactless, but very adorable.

soeasy!

The original host's wish: Protect Daylily Nation and make sure that those lowly men wouldn't be able to take control of it. Don't allow the fourth prince to become emperor, but it'd be good if the fourth prince was safe.

Mu Nichang didn't harbor any hatred towards the fourth prince. After all, it was her own affection that blinded her and allowed the people with ulterior motives that were by the fourth prince's side to gain this chance.

After Ning Shu finished receiving the storyline, she felt that this task was pretty simple. The fourth prince hadn't wanted to be emperor from the start and the nation already had an heir apparent, so all she had to do was pass the nation to the crown prince.

So easy!

Ning Shu felt that this task was pretty easy. The only difficulty came from the fact that she had never been an emperor before so she needed to learn how to manage court and be a qualified emperor.

"Your Majesty, Her Excellency the fourth prince is currently waiting for you at the door. This servant said that Your Majesty was currently resting, but the fourth prince said that she'd wait until Your Majesty woke up." When the court lady saw that Ning Shu had woken up, she immediately walked over.

Ning Shu nodded. "Let her in."

The fourth prince walked in and first delicately curtsied to Ning Shu. She was still wearing the same light green outfit that she had been wearing during the court session. From the looks of things, she hadn't headed home and had been waiting outside ever since court ended.

This small action was enough to warm Ning Shu's heart a little. It was no wonder Mu Nichang loved this girl so much and didn't blame her even though the nation ended up done for.

"Imperial Mother, how are you feeling? Have you called an imperial physician? Is it because you didn't sleep well last night? Imperial Mother, you should walk around more instead of staying in the palace all day. Go out and get more fresh air. Imperial Mother, want to practice yoga with this subject daughter? It tones the body, strengthens the body, and can also release stress. It's so refreshing to end up covered in sweat at the end. Imperial Mother..." Mu Yao was going on nonstop like a little chatterbox.

Mu Yao's soft voice to flow into Ning Shu's ear without rest. Ning Shu listened with a slight smile. After a good while, Mu Yao finally finished giving all her suggestions. She looked towards Ning Shu with her bright and pure eyes. "Imperial Mother, what do you think?"

Ning Shu: ...

Ning Shu stiffly changed the topic. "I hear that your husbands have caused another uproar. You should discipline your men more, don't just spoil them all the time."

Mu Yao's face flushed and she swung Ning Shu's arm childishly as she said, "This subject daughter understands. They don't have any bad intentions though."

If they didn't have any bad intentions, how could they have possibly killed the past Mu Yao? After noticing Mu Yao's change, every single one of them became interested. However, they either insisted on maintaining a tsundere attitude or doing all they could to fool around.

Even the guards that Mu Nichang had assigned to Mu Yao had fallen in love with Mu Yao.

The main part of this was that Mu Yao really had become quite different. All the noblewomen's sons, the prime minister's son, and the sons of the officials started treating Mu Yao completely differently.

"Imperial Mother, allow this subject daughter to give you a massage? It'll help with your headache." Mu Yao didn't wait for Ning Shu's reply and reached out to press on Ning Shu's temples, then started lightly massaging the area around the rim of her eyes.

Mu Yao's massage skills were surprisingly good. It was very comfortable.

"Yao er, you're a noble daughter of the imperial family, so you must pull out some imposing dignity, understood?" said Ning Shu with her eyes closed. Mu Yao was seriously just a cute lil' sis.

"This subject daughter understands," said Mu Yao obediently. However, whenever she faced all those men, she felt like she couldn't quite keep her spine straight.

Ning Shu didn't mind this that much. This was simply what Mu Yao's personality was like. It wasn't something that could be easily changed.

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Chapter 1070: The Phoenix Empress

Ning Shu had Mu Yao stay for breakfast, but Mu Yao seemed a little preoccupied during the meal. When Ning Shu noticed, she allowed Mu Yao to go.

Mu Yao curtsied towards Ning Shu, then hastily ran back towards her residence like there was fire licking at her heels. The beauties in her residence had made breakfast for her so if she returned too late, they'd throw a tantrum again.

Mu Yao was very different from the people here who believed in female chauvinism. She treated her husbands very well and was a good woman.

After breakfast, Ning Shu started reading through the memorials. Although she had the original host's memories, she still couldn't make sense of these memorials even after staring at them for half the day. These memorials spent forever on incomprehensible preambles before finally getting to the main point.

The reason why it was so hard to be an emperor was all because of the subordinates.

Furthermore, there wasn't a single punctuation mark in the entire memorial. She felt about to suffocate after reading just one sentence. She had no idea where to pause in the sentence.

What a headache!

She forced herself to read through two memorials, but that was her limit. Her head was spinning, so she closed the memorial. The court lady said, "Your Majesty, when the phoenix empress heard that Your Majesty wasn't feeling well, he went to simmer a nourishing soup."

The phoenix... The phoenix empress!?

Ning Shu felt like she was struck by lightning. She had thought that this task was simple, but she completely forgot that Mu Nichang was an emperor and still had a harem with so many male concubines.

Jesus. She suddenly felt even more dizzy.

Her lips twitched. Could it be that she still had to grace the men of the inner palace? Her kidneys would give out.

The court lady was waiting for Ning Shu's reply. Ning Shu rubbed her forehead and said, "Have... Have the phoenix empress come in."

A man dressed in white walked in. This man was handsome, but his every movement was dignified and imposing. He was holding a food box and curtsied towards Ning Shu before taking the soup out of the box. He said gently, "Changqing salutes Your Majesty."

Mu Nichang's phoenix empress was Liu Changqing. He was the father of the crown prince. Ning Shu thought back through the storyline. It seemed that Mu Nichang had thrown him in the cold palace and had never seen him again before she died.

Liu Changqing's looks seemed to come straight out of a painting. His hair was tied back slightly and he had only a single spotted bamboo flute hanging by his waist. He was a man with a very distinctive temperament.

"Many thanks, Phoenix Empress." Ning Shu looked at the soup, then said, "We'll drink it later."

Liu Changqing smiled faintly. He didn't insist that that Ning Shu drank the soup and just said, "Your Majesty should drink it while it's hot. If it cools down, it won't taste good anymore."

Ning Shu nodded, then continued looking at the memorials. Liu Changqing saluted, then turned and withdrew. As the spotted bamboo flute and the jade pendant at his waist knocked against each other, they emitted a low tone.

Liu Changqing truly was a man with a lot of charm.

Ning Shu didn't drink the soup and just bestowed it to the court lady. A strange indescribable feeling had appeared in her heart when she was facing Liu Changqing. This feeling wasn't hers, it had come from the original host.

She didn't know what this meant, but it made her wary of him.

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?Chapter 1071: Gift of Immortality Pills

Whenever she recalled that there were so many male consorts in the inner palace, her scalp would tingle. In reality, Mu Nichang counted as a woman with a rather strong sex drive.

As an emperor, there was no way she'd keep so many exceptional men around without touching them.

Not long after the phoenix empress Liu Changqing brought that soup over, the crown prince Mu Xue had people bring things to the palace.

Ning Shu looked at the things that the crown prince had sent. The box contained immortality pills that looked like balls of mud, completely unappetizing. Moreover, things like immortality pills were just a combination of cinnabar, sulfur, and refined metal mixed together. Ones that were a little more outrageous simply added some young girl's period blood to the mix before tossing them in the furnace.

Something like this could cure all illnesses and bring immortality?

The original host often took these pills because it'd increased her pleasure on the bed. Over time, she became addicted.

"Your Majesty, the crown prince said that the effects of this batch are even better and even gentler, so they'd be able to nourish the body even more," said the court lady as she offered the box to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu glanced at this court lady. It felt like this court lady really talked a lot. She seems to have served Mu Nichang ever since she had been a child and was quite loyal.

"Court Lady Qiu, in the future, don't talk so much. Our head hurts," said Ning Shu mildly.

Court Lady Qiu's eyes widened and she dropped to a kneel fearfully. "Your Majesty, please forgive this servant. This servant won't dare to be so talkative anymore."

"Rise," said Ning Shu lightly. She reached out and took a pill to sniff it. There was the scent of rosin and sulfur. This pine rosin fragrance overpowered the smell of the other things in this pill.

When it occurred to her that this might contain period blood, she shuddered in disgust.

"Place the pills in our bedroom."

Ning Shu picked up the cinnabar brush to continue looking at the memorials. She kind of understood things now. Mu Nichang probably hadn't gotten rid of the crown prince just because she loved Mu Nichang, it was probably because the current crown prince was a little impatient to ascend to the throne.

What daughter would send her own mother immortality pills? Anyone with the slightest bit of knowledge knew that this wasn't an immortality pill but a fatal poison. It sapped a person's energy and wrecked the body. The five minerals powder contained inside was the ancient era version of drugs.

It was simply a slow-acting poison.

Ning Shu frowned. Her original plan had been to hand the throne over to the legitimate heir, but from the look of things now, it seemed that the original host hadn't wanted to hand the nation over to Mu Xue. If that wasn't the case, Mu Nichang wouldn't have taken so many risks in order to dispose of the heir apparent.

So this meant that she still had to follow the original storyline and get rid of Mu Xue to establish a different heir?

In any case, the fourth prince had no chance of being the heir apparent, otherwise the Yuan family would end up with another chance to take over the court.

Aside from these two adult princes, there were still two more princes, but they didn't really have much of a presence.

Ning Shu felt a severe headache. She thought that this task would be simple, but from the looks of things now, it wasn't simple at all.

She closed the memorial, then said to Court Lady Qiu, "Call the fourth prince into the palace. We want to talk to her."

"Understood." Court Lady Qiu immediately went to do this.

Soon, Mu Yao rushed over hurriedly. She lifted her skirt to step over the doorstep and walk into the palace. Her forehead was covered with sweat. It was clear that she had run over as soon as her carriage had stopped at the palace gates.

Mu Yao gasped for breath slightly as she saluted Ning Shu, then she asked, "Imperial Mother, were you looking for this subject daughter for something?"

"It's nothing much. We just wanted you to have dinner with us," said Ning Shu with a smile.

Mu Yao exhaled in relief. "Imperial Mother, you had summoned this subject daughter so suddenly, so this subject daughter had thought that it was some huge matter."

"You were worring too much," said Ning Shu with a smile. It was no wonder why Mu Nichang loved Mu Yao so much. Mu Yao had a dumb air around her, but was always very earnest about everything. Everyone liked it when people cared about them.

Mu Yao's actions just now showed that she cared about Mu Nichang since she had run over as soon as she was called.

Ning Shu had a pretty good impression of Mu Yao and the original host also hoped that Mu Yao would be able to be happy, so she would also do all she could to protect Mu Yao.

She couldn't help but wonder if the original host had noticed that this Mu Yao was no longer her daughter. Mu Yao had changed so greatly, so the original host probably had noticed. The original Mu Yao was very irascible and ruthless as well as very licentious, which was completely different from how the current Mu Yao was.

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Chapter 1072: Greatest Wish is to be a Sponger

Despite that, the original host had still protected Mu Yao both openly and secretly, and had even handed the nation over to her. This was enough to show that Mu Yao had managed to enter Mu Nichang's heart despite her suspicious points.

As an emperor, Mu Nichang was very lonely.

Ning Shu had Mu Yao tell Court Lady Qiu what she liked to eat so that the court lady could have the imperial kitchen make the food.

Mu Yao didn't bother to be polite and ordered what she liked to eat and also ordered what Ning Shu liked to eat.

Ning Shu just watched on from the side. Mu Yao asked Ning Shu, "Imperial Mother, is this alright?"

Ning Shu nodded. "Yes."

Mu Yao smiled happily, then said to Court Lady Qiu, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Court Lady Qiu."

"This servant doesn't dare to accept, this is simply this servant's duty," replied Court Lady Qiu hastily.

When Mu Yao saw that Ning Shu seemed tired, she got up from her chair and walked behind Ning Shu to place her hands on Ning Shu's temples. She slowly massaged Ning Shu's head as she said, "Imperial Mother, you're working too hard. You're feeding so many ministers, so just let them do some of the work. You're the emperor, you should be relaxing."

Ning Shu could only say that Mu Yao really was silly. Some things could only be done by the emperor. If the subjects did those things, then it would be rebellious behavior. Some powers must be kept in one's own hands.

"Imperial Mother, people should just live happily and enjoy life if they can. If a person can be a sponger, they should just be a sponger. This subject daughter's greatest wish is to just be a sponger," said Mu Yao in a sincere and lively tone. "People only live once, so Imperial Mother, you should do things that make you happy. For example, this subject daughter likes going shopping and buying things. Imperial Mother, do you know that there are a lot of tasty foods in Daylily Nation? Intoxicated Celestial House's Osmanthus wine is super fragrant and sweet, and Pastry Record's sesame flat cake is so crispy and delicious! There's also pulled candy. Next time this subject daughter will bring one into the palace for you, Imperial Mother..."

Ning Shu: So sleepy...

Ning Shu listened as Mu Yao chattered on nonstop. It was like a lullaby.

During dinner, Mu Yao kept getting food for Ning Shu, then eating happily as if all of these things were amazing delicacies. Seeing Mu Yao enjoy the food so much also made Ning Shu feel a lot more of an appetite.

Ever since she had entered this body, she had felt chest pain and shortness of breath, and she constantly felt very weak. She knew that this was due to eating too many of those pills. A lot of poison had built up inside this body.

Furthermore, she felt a strong urge to eat more of those pills. The original host had taken the pills whenever she felt tired since after taking the pills, she'd instantly feel more alert and energetic. However, in reality, this was just a misleading short-term effect.

It was a vicious cycle.

Ning Shu didn't plan to eat those pills anymore. Every time she felt irascible, she'd just silently chant the heart-clearing chant. With the effect of the calmness halo added on, it wasn't too terrible.

After they had dinner, Ning Shu had Mu Yao head back.

"Call an imperial physician. We don't feel well," said Ning Shu to Court Lady Qiu.

The moment that Court Lady Qiu heard Ning Shu say that she didn't feel well, her face filled with worry and she immediately had someone summon an imperial physician.

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Chapter 1073: Should Refrain from Passion

Ning Shu felt that there was a need for her to find a reason to not tumble with these male consorts in the inner palace. Fudge, she was scared that she'd end up farting her last on the bed. This body was seriously the worst that she had ever encountered.

"Imperial Physician, how is our body?" asked Ning Shu.

The female imperial physician's hand trembled in shock, then she knelt down as she said, "Your Majesty's body must rest and recover. Forgive this subject's frankness, but Your Majesty should stop taking so many pills."

"What does rest and recover include?" Ning Shu lifted her brows as she looked towards the imperial physician. The imperial physician was taken aback briefly, but quickly said, "Your Majesty should refrain from passion for the time being."

Alright, this was exactly the answer she wanted!

Once the imperial physician left, Ning Shu decided to practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. She had to fix this body first. This body was truly very weak, she was always exhausted due to fatigue.

"Your Majesty, today is the fifteenth," said Court Lady Qiu.

So? Ning Shu then realized the answer. It was the fifteenth so she should visit the phoenix empress's palace. After considering things for a bit, she headed to Phoenix Perch Palace.

Mu Nichang always visited Liu Changqing's palace every month on the fifteenth without fail, so she couldn't really change this practice.

When she arrived at Phoenix Perch Palace, Liu Changqing was dressed in a green garment, but he still had that same spotted bamboo flute with him. He was a man with a lot of charm, he always emitted a simple and tranquil aura.

When Ning Shu saw Liu Changqing, a strange feeling emerged in her heart again. It was like something was trying to burst out of her chest.

Why were Mu Nichang's feelings for Liu Changqing so complicated? It was complicated to the point that even Ning Shu couldn't quite tell what exactly Mu Nichang's attitude towards Liu Changqing was. However, the one thing she was sure of was that Mu Nichang definitely did love her phoenix empress.

Liu Changqing was a quiet person. Even in front of Ning Shu, he didn't speak much. However, just sitting together in silence like this was pretty awkward.

Ning Shu gave a cough. Liu Changqing looked towards Ning Shu, then said, "Your Majesty, allow Changqing to play the flute for you?"

Uh... Ning Shu shook her head. It was so late, playing the flute would disturb the neighbors. "Let's rest."

A hard-to-catch expression flashed across Liu Changqing's face, then he walked up to help Ning Shu change. As his slender fingers brushed against Ning Shu's neck, it caused Ning Shu to feel a tingly sensation so awkward her entire body became covered with goosebumps.

It couldn't be that he wanted to do dat? Ning Shu was barely able to suppress her impulse to push Liu Changqing away. However, she noticed that Liu Changqing's hands were trembling slightly, so she immediately calmed down. She took Liu Changqing's hand. It was a little cold, like touching a jade stone.

"There's no need to go through the trouble. The imperial physician said that we needed rest," said Ning Shu.

Liu Changqing smoothly extracted his hand from her grip, then smiled faintly towards her. This smile gave people a very comfortable feeling.

Liu Changqing and Ning Shu lay down on the bed. The two of them were silent and just looked at the top of the bed. Ning Shu felt like she was lying on spikes, it was so uncomfortable. "Phoenix Empress, you've done well looking after the inner palace. We thank you."

Liu Changqing was silent for a moment, then he said softly, "This is simply Changqing's duty."

Following that, the two of them were silent again. There was always a faint awkwardness in the air.

Ning Shu: ︿

Why was talking so tiring?

Ning Shu flipped over so that her back faced Liu Changqing.

Liu Changqing turned slightly to look at Ning Shu's back. His gaze was unreadable. He reached out and placed his hand on Ning Shu's waist as he said softly, "Your Majesty, you should sleep early. There's still court tomorrow."

Ning Shu: Fuck. Could you please not put your hand on someone's waist? It frickin' tickled!

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Chapter 1074: Sharing the Same Bed

While Ning Shu was still conflicted over this, Liu Changqing had already retrieved his hand, then flipped around to have his back facing Ning Shu as well.

This kind of situation really was like the saying, the husband and wife share the same bed but different dreams.

Ning Shu furrowed her brows slightly. Liu Changqing truly was very strange.

She turned back around and reached out to grab Liu Changqing's silky hair. She distinctly felt his body stiffen and tense.

As expected, there was an issue. Ning Shu retrieved her hand and sat up as she said, "We suddenly recalled that there was still an important government matter to deal with, so we'll be leaving first."

Liu Changqing grabbed Ning Shu's hand. His hand was very cold. The moment he took Ning Shu's hand, she shivered. This sort of cold felt like it'd seep straight into the heart.

"Your Majesty, you should rest. It's already past midnight. It'll soon be morning." Liu Changqing's voice was very clear and calm. Although he was speaking words of concern, his tone seemed to contain feelings, but also didn't quite seem to contain concern.

Ning Shu frowned. Fudge, she was getting irritated again. Whenever she encountered this Liu Changqing who looked like he barely had any will to live, her heart would fill with unsuppressable irritation.

These were probably the original host's feelings. Ning Shu silently chanted the heart-clearing chant in order to suppress this feeling of vexation.

"Alright, let's sleep." Ning Shu lay back down and silently chanted the heart-clearing chant. After chanting it for a while, she ended up falling asleep.

She didn't know how long she had slept, but she was woken up by the sound of Liu Changqing's clear voice. "Your Majesty, you should wake up."

Ning Shu woke up with a quiver. Her mouth felt dry, her entire body was hot, and her heart was pounding extremely fast. This body was seriously too unhealthy.

Ning Shu looked towards Liu Changqing. He was sitting by the window with a book in his hand. As the sunlight shone on him, it casted a faint halo, causing the usual cold aura around him to fade slightly.

He was truly a charming male beauty.

Liu Changqing set down his book and walked towards Ning Shu. He got the clothes from the hanger and said, "Your Majesty, please get dressed."

Ning Shu spread out her arms and waited for Liu Changqing to help her put on the outfit. The moment he got close, she smelled the faint elegant fragrance on him.

She felt that Mu Nichang probably cherished this Liu Changqing.

However, after this short interaction, she didn't feel like Liu Changqing had any affection for Mu Nichang. This meant that Liu Changqing didn't love Mu Nichang?

Ugh, forget it. The male consorts in this inner palace had nothing to do with her, so there was no point worrying about it.

Liu Changqing helped Ning Shu tidy up her clothes, then Ning Shu prepared to leave. When she got to the door, Liu Changqing called out to her. She turned around to look towards him. After a moment of silence, he said, "Your Majesty, please play attention to your health. Don't work too hard."

Ning Shu smiled, then nodded and left.

After getting out of Phoenix Perch Palace, she didn't head directly to court and first returned to her palace to gulp down a pot of water. She was way too thirsty. It felt like she was completely dried out.

She checked her own pulse. This body had been seriously messed up by the pills.

In Phoenix Perch Palace, she had endured the thirst and didn't drink any water. She didn't know why, but she always felt uneasy when facing Liu Changqing. It was impossible to figure out what quiet people who didn't like speaking were thinking.

It couldn't really be said that Liu Changqing was calculating though. He just didn't seem to care about anything and just quietly managed the inner palace without trying to gain favor.

Ning Shu worked hard to think through the storyline to figure out how exactly Mu Nichang and Liu Changqing's interactions went.

It didn't seem to be anything special. Mu Nichang simply visited Liu Changqing's Phoenix Perch Palace every fifteenth on the dot and the two had one daughter together, which was the crown prince, Mu Xue.

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Chapter 1075: Men Should Be Allowed to Contribute to This Nation

Ning Shu didn't notice anything about Liu Changqing that was off, but she still couldn't shake off the strange feeling.

She decided to set aside these suspicions for now and head to court. She sat down on the throne and looked down at the ministers kneeling below her.

Her gaze landed on the crown prince Mu Xue who was dressed again in bright yellow. Mu Xue rather resembled Liu Changqing, but she didn't share the same simplicity he had. Her entire body emitted the imposing aura of the imperial clan.

Looking at her, she really seemed like a qualified heir apparent.

Ning Shu swept her sleeves back. "Is there anything to report?"

Mu Xue stepped forward and said with a bow, "Imperial Mother, this subject daughter has something to report."

"Speak." Ning Shu narrowed her eyes as she secretly scrutinized Mu Xue. Mu Xue was barely wearing any accessories. Her hair was simply half-pulled up into a bun and the rest of her long hair was loose.

She didn't even wear earrings. Mu Yao and the other two princes were dressed much prettier than her.

Ning Shu narrowed her eyes as she examined Mu Xue. Her brows were drawn, but instead of making them long and slim, she made them thicker and lifted the ends slightly. It gave her a unisex appearance.

"Imperial Mother, this is what this subject daughter wishes to report." Mu Xue was holding a memorial, so Court Lady Qiu quickly moved to pass it to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu opened it, then her face filled with shock, because there were all sorts of punctuation on this memorial and Mu Xue had introduced each of these punctuation in detail.

Why would Mu Xue know about these punctuation marks? Ning Shu was suspicious, but she didn't bother to hide her surprise and asked Mu Xue, "What does this mean?"

Mu Xue replied respectfully, "This subject daughter had gotten inspiration from Fourth Imperial Sister."

"Huh!?" Mu Yao who had been standing at the side looking about to fall asleep was startled and confused by what Mu Xue said.

Mu Xue said with a smile, "Imperial Mother, didn't you say that reading was really hard because you didn't know where to break in the sentence? That gave me an inspiration."

"Fourth, look." Ning Shu passed the memorial to Mu Yao. Mu Yao accepted the memorial from Court Lady Qiu, then her face filled with sincere admiration. "Eldest Imperial Sister, you're seriously amazing! You actually managed to come up with all of this just from what I said!"

Mu Xue smiled without saying anything.

Ning Shu narrowed her eyes as she looked at Mu Xue. When Mu Xue sensed Ning Shu's gaze, she said respectfully, "Imperial Mother, this subject daughter hopes to spread these symbols throughout the nation."

Ning Shu nodded. "In tomorrow's memorials, we hope that all the ministers will use..." Ning Shu looked towards Mu Xue again. "What is this?"

"Imperial Mother, these are punctuation marks." Mu Yao took the initiative to answer

"Yes, punctuation marks. We hope that there will be punctuation marks in all of tomorrow's memorials." Ning Shu said to Mu Xue, "You've done well in this. Have all the private schools start teaching this."

"Understood, Imperial Mother," said Mu Xue.

"Is there anything else? If there isn't, then withdraw." Fatigue appeared on Ning Shu's face like she was very worn out.

Mu Xue took in Ning Shu's state, but she cupped her hands again and said, "This subject daughter still has one more matter to report."

"Speak." Ning Shu looked at Mu Xue.

Mu Xue took a moment to organize her thoughts, then said cautiously, "This subject daughter feels that we should allow men to leave the home and study at private schools. Men should be allowed to have their own professions as well, that way they can also contribute to this nation."

After Mu Xue said this, the entire palace fell deathly silent.

"Presumptuous! Men are to stay at home and abide by the three obediences and four virtues, how can they be allowed to show their faces outside!?" said Ning Shu sternly. "We don't want to ever hear something like this again!"

"Understood. This subject daughter was wrong."

A trace of darkness flashed across Mu Xue's face when Ning Shu berated her and she lowered her head to hide it.

Mu Yao originally wanted to support Mu Xue, but when she saw that her imperial mother's face was ashen, she closed her mouth and fell silent.

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Chapter 1076: A Male Transmigrator?

"Withdraw!" Ning Shu abruptly stood up, then her vision suddenly went dark. She staggered, but fortunately was able to catch herself and didn't fall.

Her heart felt heavy. She had acted angry earlier, but she hadn't really been angry, so why did her vision go black when she stood up?

She had a bad feeling about this.

Ning Shu glanced at the four adult princes again. It seemed that this task was going to be very troublesome. Even Mu Xue was very abnormal.

The fact that she knew about punctuation marks meant that she was definitely someone from the modern era. Could it be someone had transmigrated into Mu Xue's body as well?

Ning Shu rubbed her forehead as she turned and left the palace. The ministers knelt to send her off.

Once Ning Shu left, Mu Yao got up and said to Mu Xue, "Eldest Sister, don't be discouraged. I support you."

Mu Xue looked at Mu Yao indifferently. A trace of coldness flashed through her eyes, but it quickly disappeared. "Many thanks, Fourth Imperial Sister."

"That's nothing you need to thank me about." Mu Yao smiled sweetly, her gaze especially sincere. As Mu Xue took in Mu Yao's smile, her gaze turned distant for a moment. This woman was very similar to the woman in her memories. They were both very simple and dumb. Mu Xue glanced at Mu Yao, then left.

Mu Yao was a little confused by this, but then she shrugged it off and prepared to head back to her residence to take an afternoon nap.

Ning Shu returned to her palace and drank a cup of water first thing. She rubbed her forehead. Why did it feel like she was about to get a stroke?

She was pretty speechless. Why did Mu Nichang take so many pills? No matter how enjoyable it was, everything had to be in moderation.

Ning Shu summoned an imperial hidden guard and said, "Help us investigate the crown prince's daily habits. Report any abnormality."

Ning Shu not only suspected that Mu Xue was a transmigrator, she also suspected that Mu Xue was a man in the inside. She had changed the way she dressed slightly and also her makeup. When she spoke up on behalf of the men, Ning Shu became 80% certain that inside Mu Xue's body was a man.

The original Mu Xue had grown up in this environment and she was even the crown prince of this nation, the heir apparent. There was no way she'd attach importance to men.

It was just like in the worlds where men were viewed as superior to women, the crown princes of such nations wouldn't view women with importance and would never suggest allowing women to leave the home, be educated, and hold their own professions.

In this world, the status of men was extremely low. That was why Mu Nichang couldn't accept the fact that a man had ascended to the throne of Daylily Nation.

Mu Nichang believed men to be petty and low.

Men that lived in the lowest rung of society had even lower status. The idea of masculism was only sprouting among the noblemen, the men who were able to receive education.

If Mu Xue was a man in the inside, then that was even more reason she couldn't hand this nation over to Mu Xue. If she did, what difference would it be from handing the throne over to a man? Mu Xue already wanted to allow men to receive education and hold occupations, it was obvious that she wanted men to rule the nation and control the nation's resources.

It would be the same result as having Yuan Jun's son ascend to the throne. Perhaps after a couple hundred years, it would change to women being locked up at home embroidering and this world would become one where men were superior to women.

Ning Shu pressed on her chest. Her heartbeat felt very irregular, so she stopped looking at the memorial and sat down with her legs crossed on the bed to start practicing the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. Without a good body, she wouldn't be able to do anything.

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Chapter 1077: Encountered a Beauty in the Garden

Ning Shu had been training for a while, but she didn't really feel any effects. Perhaps it was because this body's aptitude was too poor so she couldn't really get any results.

She was a little vexed, but she also couldn't pinpoint where this feeling was coming from. It might've be because she wasn't feeling well, so it was affecting her mood. After all, the Unsurpassable Martial Arts which had always worked in the past didn't seem to really work for this body.

Ning Shu was now determined to train until she achieved some results. This body always kept her in a constant state of slight vexation.

Furthermore, this body was addicted to those pills. That itchy feeling in her heart was the desire to take more pills.

After training for a good while, there were still no visible results, but she did sweat a lot of muddy and slightly red sweat. It was probably the poison from the pills that had built up in her body. The red color probably came from the cinnabar.

After taking a nice long bath, she felt a lot more refreshed and her head also felt clearer.

She read memorials for another while, then decided to take a walk to relax and hopefully alleviate some of that persisting irritation in her heart.

If she wanted to complete the task, she had to stay calm. She would only be able to notice changes in the surroundings if she kept her heart calm.

After strolling around the imperial garden for a while, she encountered a male consort frolicking in the garden. This consort had very alluring looks and was wearing an outfit that seemed to be made of gauze. The two brilliant red cherries on his chest was visible through the see-through material. Although it was very alluring, it was obvious with a single glance that it was a man.

When the consort saw Ning Shu, his eyes instantly lit up. It was like when an ant spotted sugar, he immediately pounced over.

The moment the consort got close, Ning Shu smelled his heavy incense and tactfully took a couple steps back.

"Your Majesty, why haven't you been visiting Yue lately? Yue really missed Your Majesty," said the consort with a pout.

Ning Shu lifted her brows. "The phoenix empress didn't tell you? We haven't been feeling well lately, so we will not be visiting the inner palace."

The consort called Yue pouted unhappily without saying anything. Ning Shu knew from his expression that the phoenix empress had passed this on to these consorts.

It was obvious that Liu Changqing was a man with ability. He had been able to look after the inner palace for the original host very well.

So Ning Shu didn't really understand why Mu Nichang had thrown him in the cold palace. Was it because of the crown prince?

Mu Nichang probably had feelings for Liu Changqing, so why did she never visit him again?

"If there's nothing important, you should just stay in your palace. With the sun this strong, your skin will get burned," said Ning Shu.

"Really?" The consort touched his face, then curtsied towards Ning Shu and hastily left.

All the men in the inner palace relied on their looks to gain favor, so they naturally cared a lot about their looks.

Ning Shu wandered around for a while, then ended up in front of Liu Changqing's Phoenix Perch Palace again. Just as she was considering whether or not to go in, she saw Mu Xue walk out from the palace.

When Mu Xue saw Ning Shu, she was stunned for a moment, then she hastily walked over to salute Ning Shu.

Ning Shu looked at Mu Xue. Her gaze flickered as she asked, "Crown Prince had come to visit the phoenix empress?"

"Yes, this subject daughter had come to visit Imperial Father and was just about to leave," said Mu Xue respectfully.

Ning Shu didn't know if she was just imagining things, but although Mu Xue was clearly very respectful, she got the feeling that Mu Xue didn't really respect her.

Ning Shu nodded and Mu Xue quickly excused herself. Ning Shu watched as Mu Xue walked away. The more she looked at Mu Xue, the more she felt like Mu Xue seemed like a man. Women had softer postures so when they walked, it was unavoidable for their waists to sway slightly.

However, Mu Xue walked with her back very straight. Ning Shu was pretty sure that she was pinching her butt to force her body to maintain this posture.

Ning Shu glanced at Phoenix Perch Palace. She didn't plan to go in anymore. Every time she saw Liu Changqing, it felt awkward.

She wasn't Mu Nichang after all. If Liu Changqing ended up noticing anything, it'd be bad.

She turned and left to head back to her own palace.

Once she got back, she sent out some more hidden guards to have them observe the second prince Mu Meng and the third prince, Mu Rou. She wanted to see if one of these two would a good candidate for emperor. If it came to it, she'd look into a younger prince and just make more arrangements to guarantee the stability of the nation.

In any case, she finally figured it out now. Mu Nichang basically wanted to make sure that men couldn't take over the nation and that the nation remained in the hands of the Mu family.

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Chapter 1078: The Spotted Bamboo Flute

During this time, Ning Shu had kept trying to practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts, but she still wasn't able to get any energy to form.

Generally, it was only near impossible to get energy to form in modern worlds where the spiritual energy was sparse. In ancient era worlds, it was usually possible to make weak energy form in her body. However, even though she had spent a lot of time on training this body, it was still useless.

When she trained, she'd start sweating and expel some of the poison left by the pills, but this wasn't enough.

The hidden guard that Ning Shu had sent to keep an eye on Mu Xue had returned to report her findings.

Ning Shu mentally sorted out what the hidden guard had said. Basically, Mu Xue now only wore black in her own residence and never wore any jewelry. She barely allowed any servants to attend to her and also never entered the back courtyard.

She had also started binding her chest.

From these factors, Ning Shu was now certain that it was a man inside Mu Xue's body, and this man clearly believed strongly in masculinity.

It was seriously getting more and more lively.

However, Mu Xue had done one good thing, which was that she established punctuation marks. It was now much easier for Ning Shu to read the memorials and deal with government affairs.

For now, she was going to follow Mu Nichang's path and get rid of Mu Xue's position as the heir apparent. Could it be that Mu Nichang had discovered something, that was why she had risked the stability of the nation to remove Mu Xue's crown prince status?

She had discovered that it was a man's spirit inside Mu Xue's body?

The original host didn't give Ning Shu much useful information.

But it was clear by now that this task wasn't going to be simple.

She had really been naive before to think that this task would be simple.

Ning Shu felt that her tasks were becoming increasingly difficult. Was it due to her luck or was the system doing this on purpose?

During this time, she hadn't been visiting the inner palace, so Liu Changqing would occasionally bring her some nourishing soup. His expression was mild as he told Ning Shu to pay attention to her health like he was carrying out a mere formality. It really made Ning Shu's balls hurt.

Every time she saw the spotted bamboo flute hanging by Liu Changqing's waist, she'd feel the urge to ask about where this flute came from. Liu Changqing seemed to treasure it a lot. It was always with him except when he was sleeping.

Ning Shu's heart was going crazy from the itch of curiosity, so she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Phoenix Empress, does this flute have some meaning?"

Liu Changqing untied the flute and lifted it as he said, "Changqing had personally made this flute."

The spotted bamboo flute had traces of mottled marks, like someone's tears had fallen on it. Ning Shu nodded as she said, "Phoenix Empress's craftmanship is quite good."

Liu Changqing pressed his lips together, his expression a little despondent. He reminded her to remember to drink the soup, then left.

Ning Shu was completely baffled. Did she say something wrong? Why did it feel like Liu Changqing was angry?

Could it be that she shouldn't have praised his craftsmanship and should've said that the flute looked good?

"Your Majesty, you and the phoenix empress had planted spotted bamboo together when you two were children." Court Lady Qiu finally couldn't look on anymore.

Ning Shu: (0)

So it was like that!

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Chapter 1079: Go Play at the Side

Liu Changqing was always carrying the bamboo he had planted together with Mu Nichang with him. Did this mean that Liu Changqing also had feelings for Mu Nichang?

Fudge. Looks like she really had to try to avoid interacting with Liu Changqing. Those two had grown up together, so he definitely knew Mu Nichang well.

Even though she now knew about the origin of the flute Liu Changqing always carried with him, she still had no plans to drink the soup that Liu Changqing brought her.

Even though this was simply based on a gut feeling.

Ning Shu was currently mulling over what would be a good way to get rid of Mu Xue's status as the heir apparent. Could it be that she should put a dragon robe in Mu Xue's residence like Mu Nichang had?

It didn't really feel appropriate to deal with Mu Xue by framing her for planning rebellion. There had to be a better way. Putting a dragon robe in Mu Xue's residence would only work if Mu Xue was off guard. Otherwise she'd end up being countered by Mu Xue.

After these last few encounters with Mu Xue, she got the impression that the soul inside Mu Xue's body was a rather calm and intelligent man, so this method might not necessarily work.

She had been thinking about this for so long that her head hurt. The current Mu Xue hadn't done anything morally wrong yet and had even come up with punctuation marks a while ago, so she had contributed to the nation. As long as she didn't do anything excessive, her position as heir apparent would be very stable.

Mu Xue barely even showed up in front of Ning Shu to strengthen her sense of existence. This made it hard for Ning Shu to pinpoint Mu Xue's style of handling things. Last time, after she had berated Mu Xue for proposing allowing men to take up an official post, Mu Xue hadn't brought it up again.

She was clearly keeping it stifled up inside.

Meanwhile, whenever Mu Yao encountered something fun or tasty, she'd bring Ning Shu a portion. She was a very filial daughter.

Ning Shu saw the happy flush on Mu Yao's cheeks and knew that she had probably encounter another male beauty again. "We heard that you've been very close with the prime minister's son lately."

"Who's close with him? This subject daughter isn't!" Mu Yao's face was bright red and she almost jumped up.

Ning Shu glanced at her. "If you're not, then you're not. Even we're hearing these rumors despite being in the palace. If you don't like him, then don't cause any incidents and don't ruin Yuan Jun's reputation, otherwise he'll have no choice but to marry you."

Worry appeared on Mu Yao's face. She asked, "Would it really ruin his reputation? Then maybe this subject daughter should just marry him?"

Ning Shu: ...

Good girl, go play at the side.

Ning Shu didn't think Mu Yao and Yuan Jun would get together so quickly, but the next day at court, Mu Yao abruptly dropped to her knees to ask Ning Shu to bestow her a marriage.

"Imperial Mother, this subject daughter wishes to marry Yuan Jun," said Mu Yao directly.

Prime Minister Yuan was so startled that she started coughing. Then she stared blankly at Mu Yao.

Ning Shu rubbed her forehead, then asked Prime Minister Yuan. "Minister Yuan, what do you think?"

The moment Ning Shu saw Yuan Jun's mother's expression, she knew that Mu Yao hadn't discussed this with Yuan Jun's mother at all.

Prime Minister Yuan silently considered things. Her Majesty doted on the fourth prince so it was a pretty good arrangement for Yuan Jun to marry the fourth prince.

Prime Minister Yuan understood her own son well. He has always had ambition and couldn't bring himself to bow and curry favor with women. The fourth prince was a woman with a very good temper, so she would probably be able to tolerate Yuan Jun.

"It's this subject's honor," said Prime Minister Yuan.

Hence, Ning Shu gave a decree bestowing this wedding, making Yuan Jun Mu Yao's legal husband. She hadn't been planning to break up this couple anyways.

The only reason Yuan Jun's son became emperor was because they were given the chance. However, there was no way Ning Shu was going to let Mu Yao anywhere near the throne now, so Yuan Jun wouldn't have that much power as a man in a back courtyard.

Ning Shu and Prime Minister Yuan negotiated to decide on the wedding date. During this entire time, Mu Yao was smiling happily. It was clear that she liked Yuan Jun a lot.

Ning Shu glanced at Mu Xue who wasn't saying anything, then asked, "Crown Prince, do you have any man you're interested in? The position of your legal husband is still empty. It is about time for you to have a legal husband to look after you."

Mu Xue's expression stiffened, but it quickly went back to normal. If Ning Shu hadn't been looking closely, she wouldn't have noticed the change in Mu Xue's expression at all.

"This subject daughter isn't in a rush. Once this subject daughter finds an appropriate... man, this subject daughter will definitely ask Imperial Mother to bestow the wedding," replied Mu Xue respectfully.

Ning Shu nodded, then she suddenly felt a fishy sweetness in her throat and hot blood poured into her mouth. Her mouth was completely filled with the taste of blood.

The f*ck!? What the hell!?

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Chapter 1080: You Are Poisoned

Ning Shu's facial color changed. However, in front of all the ministers, she had no choice but to force herself to swallow the blood in her mouth. She waved towards Court Lady Qiu and Court Lady Qiu immediately said, "All withdraw."

Ning Shu hastily got up to head towards the side palace. Mu Xue glanced meaningfully at Ning Shu's back, then turned indifferently towards Mu Yao who was in high spirits. "Congratulations, Fourth Imperial Sister, on being able to bring a beauty home."

"Many thanks, Eldest Imperial Sister!" Mu Yao smiled happily.

Mu Xue just smiled slightly without saying anything.

When Ning Shu got to the side palace, she abruptly vomited a mouthful of blood. She had no idea why she was suddenly puking blood.

She checked her pulse, then her brows furrowed even more. Her pulse seemed to be normal.

"Your Majesty?" Court Lady Qiu was extremely shocked to see Ning Shu vomit blood. Ning Shu wiped at the blood on the sides of her mouth and chin. "Don't let others find out about this and call an imperial physician over."

Her symptoms seemed to be that of poison, but that wasn't possible. She would've noticed if she had come in touch with poison. She only knew the very basics of the healing art, but she was pretty proficient in the art of poison. She never imagined that she'd one day be poisoned though.

Ning Shu repeatedly checked her own pulse, but it still didn't seem like she had been poisoned. Could it be that her skills were just too crappy?

Fudge, it was sure rough to be an emperor. They were always getting poisoned, there were always wicked commoners that wanted to hurt us.

In any case, Ning Shu had no idea how she ended up poisoned.

When the imperial physician arrived, Ning Shu hastily had the imperial physician check her pulse. The imperial physician observed for a while, then shook her head. "Your Majesty's pulse seems to indicate poison, but at the same time, it doesn't seem to be poison."

As the imperial physician spoke, she dipped a needle in the blood that Ning Shu had vomited on the ground. When she saw that the needle changed color slightly, she said, "It's probably poison."

Ning Shu waved dismissively to have the imperial physician withdraw, then took out the antidote pills that she had exchanged for beforehand and took one.

She thought that the poison would be cured once she took the pill, but a while later, blood flooded up her throat and into her mouth again. She spat it out.

Ning Shu was a little baffled. How come even the antidote pill from the system wasn't working?

Her hand was shaking slightly as she wiped the blood at the corners of her lips.

"2333, what's going on?" Ning Shu called 2333. This situation seemed a bit strange.

"Let me scan your body first," said 2333, then he fell silent.

Ning Shu was struggling to suppress her impatience. "What exactly is going on?"

"..."

"You are poisoned. Well, more precisely, it's a curse, and... it's a product from the system," said 2333.

Ning Shu: F*ck!

That meant that there was another task-taker in this plane and this task-taker had managed to curse her without her even noticing anything.

"Is there any way to break this curse?" asked Ning Shu.

2333 fell silent.

Ning Shu's heart chilled. If she died, then this task counted as a failure.

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Chapter 1081: Die For Your Own Good

She mulled over the question of who the other tasktaker was. Whose body were they in?

However, the most important issue right now was the curse. Ning Shu asked 2333, "Is there really no way to undo it?"

"There isn't. This curse is a one-time use item, but whoever is cursed will die without fail. This means that you'll definitely fail this task." 2333 sounded very helpless. "Good thing you exchanged for a protective talisman earlier. This protective talisman will be able to take one life for you."

Fudge. She really couldn't bring herself to accept it.

"Let's leave this world," said 2333. "You'll be dying soon anyways."

Ning Shu bit her lips tightly as she asked, "How do I leave?"

"Of course by dying. Commit suicide," replied 2333 lightly.

Fudge, how could she do something that pathetic? As soon as she died, Mu Xue would ascend to the throne was the heir apparent. It'd still be a man ascending to the throne, so it'd be no different from the original storyline.

Ning Shu shook her head. Even if the task was going to be a fail, she still had to endure it and make sure that other task-taker, whoever they were, wouldn't be able to complete their task that easily. Even if she was going to die, she still had to achieve something.

"I'm telling you to die for your own good. This curse is extremely painful. It'll be like having a thousand ants nibbling at your heart constantly, like having all your bones crushed. The target pretty much dies from the pain, and you'll also continue to vomit blood." 2333's tone was very helpless.

What the frick!? Ning Shu was so startled that she almost jumped up. It was her first time seeing such a malicious item, and it had even been used on her.

She had always only picked items that would help protect her and increase her own abilities, so she had never noticed that these kinds of items existed.

Ning Shu felt a fishy sweetness in her throat again. Blood was flooding up. Ning Shu swallowed the blood back down with a faint smile, then lifted the teacup to take a sip and rinse her mouth. With a gulp, she swallowed the bloody water in her mouth.

2333: ...

This must be a real-life portrayal of swallowing your broken teeth along with your own blood after being beaten up.

"You're really not leaving?" asked 2333. "This is going to be really really painful. Extremely painful. There are very few people that can endure it. It's the most malicious item in the system, number one in maliciousness. All the people who have been cursed with it before had killed themselves."

2333:"..."

Ning Shu: _

She was already scared from the start, and he was still elaborating more on the horrors of this curse?

Ning Shu was pretty uneasy, but running off with her tail tucked between her legs was too pathetic.

Endure it. This lil' sis was someone who had been able to endure over a dozen years of chemotherapy, no pain would take this sis down!

Although Ning Shu was already mentally prepared, that night, she truly learned what it meant to be in so much pain that you wanted to just die. It felt like countless thin needles were stabbing into all of her organs, it was so painful she couldn't even breathe. On top of that, it also felt like there was a hammer that was slowly and rhythmically crushing all of her bones inch by inch.

Also, she was also vomiting blood like she wanted to vomit her organs out. There was a moment when she wanted to just die. It was like her body was purgatory. Even though she had prepared painkillers beforehand, it had been completely useless.

This kind of curse seemed to damage a person's mental state more. It made people feel like they were in extreme pain. There was as much pain as physically possible since it stacked all the extreme pain that a person could feel.

Ning Shu was in so much pain that she rolled around helplessly on the bed. She bit her blankets hard. When she seriously couldn't take it anymore, she started stuffing huge handfuls of antidote pills in her mouth. This curse was like poison. Although eating antidote pills didn't have any effect, she couldn't do anything except tell herself that this had an effect.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, are you alright!?" Court Lady Qiu who was holding the spittoon by the dragon bed was so worried that she was crying. "This servant will go find an imperial physician."

"Come back." Ning Shu's voice was barely audible. "Don't spread this news."

What use was there in calling an imperial physician? They wouldn't be able to do anything. All Ning Shu was doing now was holding out for as long as she could.

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Chapter 1082: Already Got This Far

"Your Majesty." Court Lady Qiu's face was filled with fear as she looked at the blood in the spittoon.

Fortunately, Ning Shu's body seemed to be able to endure this pain. She had Court Lady Qiu secretly deal with the blood-stained bed covers.

Ning Shu was in so much pain that her entire body was trembling. Her muscles seemed to be out of control and were extremely stiff. She couldn't even lift her hand. She lay on the bed weakly and continuously chanted the heart-clearing chant. She just hoped that the heart-clearing chant would be able to dissipate some of the despair that was surging up in her heart as well as the pain, the hatred, and the desire to just die.

"Ning Shu, why don't we just leave? This is only the first wave, it's only going to get more painful. This task is a failure anyways. There's no meaning in you making yourself suffer like this." 2333's voice appeared in Ning Shu's mind.

Ning Shu wanted to smile, but the pain twisted her face. "Can't let all this pain be for nothing."

"... Haa." 2333 could only sigh. "When you get back, remember to exchange for a halo that provides resistance against curses. The tasks will only get more complicated and it's pretty normal for task-takers to be enemies. It all depends on each person's preferred methods."

Ning Shu swallowed the blood in her mouth. She had never noticed that there were items like this before. It seemed she had to browse the system marketplace more in her free time.

If there were items to protect, then there were definitely items to hurt.

Ning Shu kept chanting the heart-clearing chant and was finally able to drift off to sleep. After a while, Court Lady Qiu's voice appeared by her ear. "Your Majesty, your dragon physique is unwell so there's no need to attend court today."

Ning Shu opened her eyes. Her entire body felt numb and it was with great difficulty that she got down from the bed. She sat down in front of the copper mirror and glanced towards it, then almost whacked the mirror in shock. The person in the mirror looked pale as a ghost.

"Apply more rouge on us." Ning Shu's voice came from deep within her throat.

After a good while of fiddling, her facial color was much better and didn't seem so horrifying anymore.

"Bring a cup of water. We'll be thirsty," said Ning Shu, her voice a bit hoarse. She might puke blood at any moment, so if there was a cup of water with her, she'd at least be able to rinse her mouth. Otherwise she'd have to talk with a mouthful of red teeth.

Court Lady Qiu nodded.

As Ning Shu walked, her legs trembled. It seriously hurt too much. She was walking very slowly, but still had to act graceful and poised even though her legs were wobbling like chopsticks under her skirt.

The moment she sat down on the dragon throne, she inwardly sighed in relief. It was seriously comfortable to sit.

"Present your memorials or withdraw!" shouted Court Lady Qiu. Her voice was particularly sharp today and seemed mournful like the sound of a cuckoo crying blood.

Mu Yao took the initiative to speak first. "Imperial Mother, this subject daughter's marriage is coming up soon. Imperial Mother must come attend this subject daughter's wedding! This subject daughter still needs to kowtow to you."

Ning Shu was about to speak, but she felt a warmth in her throat. After swallowing the blood with great difficulty, she waved towards Court Lady Qiu and Court Lady Qiu immediately carried over the teacup that another palace maid had been holding.

Ning Shu gulped down the cup of tea before replying to Mu Yao. "We'll see."

Mu Yao didn't seem very disappointed. She knew that her imperial mother was always busy with court matters.

"Imperial Mother, your facial color doesn't seem very good. Are you not feeling well?" asked the crown prince, Mu Xue.

Ning Shu looked at Mu Xue as she said, "We are a little unwell, but it's simply old ailments."

#comment: "Can't let all this pain be for nothing." The same reply I gave to my friends when I took 5 classes, then 6 classes a semester. By the time that regret hit, I was already too far in.

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Chapter 1083: Whatever Makes You Happy

Mu Xue slowly scrutinized Ning Shu's face, then she lowered her head like she didn't dare to look straight at the sacred countenance. "Imperial Mother, have you seen an imperial physician? If you aren't feeling well, don't just endure it."

Ning Shu's expression was very cold. "Why would we endure it? What would we endure it for?"

Mu Xue's handsome brows furrowed, then she respectfully said, "This subject daughter is simply worried about Imperial Mother's health. However, if Imperial Mother feels that it's fine, then it's good."

Ning Shu's interpretation of Mu Xue's words was: Whatever makes you happy.

She was pretty much already at her limits trying to seem normal in front of all these people. After giving the withdraw command, she immediately turned and left.

When she got back to her resting palace, she threw herself on the bed. It felt like countless knives were carving at her bones. That pain was so great that her consciousness was fading.

She silently chanted the heart-clearing chant. Since there was no way to cure this, all she could do was hypnotize herself.

That f*cking bastard! There was no way this ma'am will let you off! Get ready to die as soon as this ma'am finds you!

If he was going to kill her, couldn't he just stab her? Why insist on tormenting her?

Ning Shu glanced at Court Lady Qiu who was standing at the side, her face filled with worry. The person she usually interacted with the most was Court Lady Qiu. If it had been her doing, then Ning Shu expressed that her acting skill was seriously high enough to burst out of the universe.

Ning Shu could sense that Court Lady Qiu was loyal towards her, but it was impossible to be sure about anything.

The other possibility was Liu Changqing. She also interacted quite a bit with Liu Changqing and had even spent a night in Phoenix Perch Palace. She had no idea what happened after she fell asleep.

She added Liu Changqing to the list of suspects.

The fourth prince, Mu Yao, was probably just a cute lil' sis. A person's eyes didn't lie. How could a task-taker act that simple and pure? It was hard to be such a pure sweet idiot.

And then there was... Mu Xue. Ning Shu was most suspicious of Mu Xue. If the soul inside Mu Xue's body was a task-taker, then that meant there was a task-taker counterattacking for Mu Xue. The original Mu Xue who had become cannon fodder had offered up her soul for a counterattack.

If the soul inside Mu Xue's body had been female, she could've just gone along with it, but it simply had to be a man. Furthermore, that task-taker seemed to be someone with great ambition who wanted to make males the dominate power in this society.

As soon as a way of thinking emerged, it could no longer be suppressed.

Most importantly, he actually cursed her! So despite the pain, there was no way she'd allow him to complete his task easily.

If this lady is going to die, you're coming too!

"Your Majesty, allow this servant to go find an imperial physician? Why are you in so much pain?" Court Lady Qiu was besides herself with worry. Ning Shu waved dismissively. "Don't. No need to call an imperial physician, bring the memorials on the table over to us."

Ning Shu didn't want to move at all. Court Lady Qiu brought the memorials to Ning Shu, but Ning Shu's eyes were very blurred. The words on the memorials were very blurry and she was even seeing doubles.

"Read it to us," said Ning Shu.

"This servant doesn't dare." Court Lady Qiu fell to a kneel on the ground. Ning Shu said mildly, "If we say you can, you can."

Finally, Court Lady Qiu started reading the memorials one by one for Ning Shu so that Ning Shu could understand what was going on.

Every time Court Lady Qiu finished reading a memorial, Ning Shu would pick up the cinnabar brush to draw a circle on the memorial. In order to prevent her hands from shaking too much, she had to hold her right hand with her left.

Ning Shu: ...

It was seriously really painful.

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Chapter 1084: Suit Up Next Time

In all honesty, living like this was seriously painful. It hurt so much that it felt like she was constantly going to die, and she also kept vomiting blood. How much blood could a person possibly puke up? And as of now, she couldn't even eat anymore. It was like her stomach had already lost the ability to digest things. Eating only increased the pain she felt.

Even if she didn't die of pain, she'd die of starvation. Fortunately she had exchanged for fasting pills beforehand. One pill was enough to supply the energy that her body needed directly without requiring digestion, so she could survive without eating for a long time.

During every meal, she'd just pretend to eat a little. There was no point eating, it would simply burden her body more.

The person that cast this curse was sure vicious. Every day now felt like a year. Every single second was a tormenting eternity.

It felt like she was in hell. She just didn't know when this hellish torture would end.

During this entire time, she had been considering possible ways to deal with Mu Xue. Regardless of if the task-taker was Liu Changqing or Mu Xue, their goal was probably the dragon throne.

She had to get rid of Mu Xue's status as the crown prince and find a successor. She was really scared that she wouldn't be able to endure this and would end up dying. Then even if she managed to get rid of Mu Xue, these ministers would lift the fourth prince onto the throne. At that point, she'd really puke blood and die.

Right now, she was pretty much hanging on by a thread. Her only goal was to make sure that Mu Xue didn't become emperor. As of now, Ning Shu had already tossed the task to the back of her mind. In any case, this body would be dying soon. If the entrustor's body was dead, her task would obviously be a fail.

This body would eventually fall apart from the torment of this unbounded pain.

Ning Shu endured the pain to continue attending court every day. However, the cosmetics on her face got increasingly heavier and her lips started to turn blue. She had to apply very red lipstick and very heavy makeup every time.

When she saw that Mu Xue was getting increasingly confused and was starting to ask around about her health, she became 80% certain that the soul inside Mu Xue's body was a task-taker.

However, the part she was more curious about was how Mu Xue had managed to curse her. Could it be that she had done a spell ritual in her own residence?

"How did I end up with this curse?" asked Ning Shu.

2333 said, "This curse requires a medium, and anything can serve as a medium. Afterwards, once the specified person touches the medium, the curse would be transferred onto the target. It kills without a trace, it's seriously vicious."

Ning Shu furrowed her brows. She had touched quite a lot of things, so who knows which one had been the curse medium?

Fudge. She really witnessed this time the truth that there was no limit to how sinister a person's heart could be.

In the future, she had to exchange for more things and suit herself up from head to toe. It'd be seriously refreshing to see the look on those people's faces when they find out that their items didn't work on her.

Ning Shu was aware that Mu Xue was already secretly starting to rally some of the ministers. It was just that she didn't dare to make any moves that were too big.

She was probably campaigning for her future ascension to the throne. Furthermore, Mu Xue had some talented men as her subordinates. From the looks of things, she planned to have these men serve in court as officials after she became emperor.

Ning Shu was determined not to allow this to happen. There were way too many planes in which men were viewed as superior to women. She wanted to see these men live under the control of women for a change.

Maybe this was a pretty malicious way of thinking, but it was what she thought. Even if one day these men were able to overthrow the current norms, Ning Shu didn't hope for that day to come that soon.

"Your Majesty, the phoenix empress is waiting outside the palace. Does Your Majesty wish to see him?" Court Lady Qiu saw that Ning Shu was in so much pain that the veins on her forehead were bulging out. Her entire face was contorted with agony.

Ning Shu shook her head. She didn't want to see the phoenix empress. In her current state, he would notice that something was wrong with one glance. She didn't want news of her being poisoned to spread.

Otherwise, it'd give Mu Xue the chance to temporarily govern the nation and her power as emperor would be stripped away.

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Chapter 1085: Keeping Male Mistresses

When Liu Changqing heard Court Lady Qiu say that Her Majesty didn't want to see him, he glanced towards the palace, then said to Court Lady Qiu, "Then I'll have to trouble Court Lady Qiu to look after Her Majesty."

Court Lady Qiu hastily curtsied. "That is this servant's duty."

Liu Changqing glanced towards the palace one last time before turning to leave.

Court Lady Qiu walked into the palace and said to Ning Shu, "Your Majesty, the phoenix empress has left."

Ning Shu asked, "What did he come for?"

"He seemed to have come to bring Your Majesty soup." Court Lady Qiu had noticed that Liu Changqing was holding a food box, but then he left with it.

Ning Shu: …

It was soup again? If she had drank all the nourishing soup that Liu Changqing brought, who knows how over-nourished she'd end up? It was possible that she'd fall even more ill since the tonic was too strong for her currently weak body to handle.

However, Ning Shu had a feeling that Liu Changqing was probably here as a test to see if there was something wrong with her body.

In any case, Ning Shu was very much on guard against Liu Changqing and Mu Xue, this pair of father and daughter.

"Your Majesty, today is the fifteenth," said Court Lady Qiu.

So what if it was the fifteenth? As of now, she was in so much pain that walking was like stepping on swords, how could she possibly go to Phoenix Perch Palace? It'd be so painful that she'd rather just ram her head against a wall.

Even a blind person would be able to notice that something was off about her. Ning Shu reminded Court Lady Qiu again. "Pay close attention to the people below and make sure not to let anything spill."

"This servant will pay attention." Court Lady Qiu saw that Ning Shu's clothes were completely drenched by sweat, so she hastily went to prepare hot water so that she could wash up.

That night, a servant from Phoenix Perch Palace came over to invite Ning Shu and ask if she was going to Phoenix Perch Palace, but Court Lady Qiu directly said that Her Majesty was busy with court matters so she wouldn't be going.

The servant returned to tell Liu Changqing that Her Majesty wouldn't be visiting Phoenix Perch Palace today. When Liu Changqing heard this news, he pressed his lips together, then said, "Then let's rest."

The next day, when Ning Shu arrived at court and saw Mu Xue, she picked up a memorial and threw it straight at Mu Xue.

Mu Xue was taken aback and froze, so she ended up being hit straight on the forehead so hard that she started bleeding.

Mu Xue touched her forehead. When she saw the trace of red on her fingers, a dark expression flashed across her face. However, she quickly knelt down with her head lowered and said fearfully, "This subject daughter doesn't understand why Imperial Mother is angry."

"Your Majesty, please quell your anger!" All the ministers knelt down.

"Open the memorial and read it. Crown Prince, as the heir apparent to this nation, you're actually keeping so many male mistresses outside? What exactly are you doing!? As the crown prince, you should always be prudent. Could it be that you want the entire nation to think that the crown prince is a licentious person!?"

"Do you even want your status as the heir anymore?" said Ning Shu coldly. "You're keeping so many mistresses, the sounds of vice are even bothering the neighbors!"

Mu Xue's handsome brows were tightly furrowed as she picked up the memorial on the ground and opened it. The memorial accused her of being extremely licentious and secretly keeping a lot of mistresses, a behavior that went against the calmness and prudence that a crown prince should have.

Ning Shu looked at Mu Xue coldly. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"This subject daughter…" Mu Xue's expression was complicated. Those men weren't her mistresses, they were talents that she had found. Why would she mess with mistresses? Mu Xue felt like she had just stepped in shit.

Mu Xue couldn't understand how she had ended up being accused of misconduct? As of disturbing the neighbors, those people probably wouldn't do something that dumb.

Mu Xue glanced at the aloof emperor, then gave up on refuting. "This subject daughter has erred."

"If you know that you've erred, change. How are we supposed to hand this country over to you without worries when you're like this? Send those mistresses back to wherever you found them. Make sure they don't appear in Daylily City again." Ning Shu felt like all the bones in her body were about to be crushed. She practically had to force her voice out through the gaps in her teeth and her entire body was covered with sweat.

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Chapter 1086: The Second and Third Princes

When the ministers saw that Ning Shu's body was trembling slightly, they thought that it was simply due to anger and all of them cried for Ning Shu to quell her anger.

Mu Xue kowtowed and said unwillingly, "This subject daughter understands."

"As the heir apparent, you must pay attention to your every action. Disband this group of mistresses and accept confinement for a month." Ning Shu could feel blood flowing up her throat and it seemed about to burst out. It wasn't even possible to swallow it back down, so she flung her sleeves back and turned to head towards the side palace.

"Eldest Imperial Sister, your forehead's bleeding. Are you alright?" Mu Yao reached out to help Mu Xue up.

Mu Xue brushed off Mu Yao's hand and got up. She didn't even bother to look at Mu Yao before turning to leave. Her back emitted a very cold aura.

Mu Yao crinkled her nose. She felt like Eldest Imperial Sister didn't like her and her attitude towards her was also strange.

However, Mu Yao soon forgot about Mu Xue's attitude and happily returned to her residence. She was about to get married!

Meanwhile, the moment Ning Shu walked into the side palace, she couldn't suppress things anymore and puked out a huge puddle of blood. This time, the blood wasn't bright red anymore and it contained bits of clotted blood. They looked like fragments of her organs.

Ning Shu felt that she wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

"Your Majesty, should we call an imperial physician? No matter what, there's no way your body can handle vomiting so much blood." Court Lady Qiu's voice trembled when she saw the blood on the obsidian floor.

Ning Shu waved her hand dismissively and lay down on the crouch weakly.

Court Lady Qiu personally got some water, then squatted down to wipe at the blood with a cleaning rag. Her eyes were completely red. Ning Shu found this a bit funny. "What are you crying for?"

"This servant's heart aches for Your Majesty." Court Lady Qiu wiped at the floor hard.

Ning Shu was actually pretty happy. At the very least, she had managed to get rid of the talents that Mu Xue had worked so hard to find. Just because Mu Xue had people in court, did that mean that she as the emperor didn't have people in court? It was a simple matter to accuse Mu Xue of misconduct.

The most important task right now was to find a successor. She summoned the hidden guards she had sent to observe the second and third prince.

She questioned them in detail about the people those two interacted with. She wasn't hoping to find any great hero, she just wanted someone that would be able to uphold and pass down this nation.

The hidden guards told Ning Shu about what they had observed.

To sum it up, the second prince was very mediocre, seriously mediocre. If it was said that she was hiding her talents, her talents really didn't show at all. She might have started with the strategy of pretending to be a pig in order to eat the tiger, but from the looks of it, she ended up actually becoming a pig.

As an emperor, not only was there a need to bear with things patiently, one also needed a dominating aura. There was a need to occasionally conspire openly and attack fairly.

Meanwhile, the third prince had a fatal flaw, which was that she was too lecherous. She called at least two consorts to her room every night and liked playing exciting games.

Those who were too greedy for pleasure on the bed were easily swayed by bedside whispers and had no resistance to beauty.

Ning Shu thought so hard that her head was starting to hurt. In brief, even Ning Shu with her not too bright brain knew that these two weren't the best choices for the throne. The original host hadn't chosen these two either and had given the throne to Mu Yao.

So now, where was she supposed to go find a successor? There were only four adult princes. Although there were babies that were still in trousers, even if her head had been kicked by a donkey, she still wouldn't choose a baby for the throne.

Wasn't it pretty much giving the ministers the chance to control the court? How could a baby possibly win against those adult princes?

Ning Shu inwardly sighed. It was so painful that she could barely take it anymore. She stuffed another antidote pill in her mouth. Although it didn't do anything, at least there was a psychological effect. She took medicine, so it'd definitely help.

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Chapter 1087: Then Don't Marry Yuan Jun

Mu Yao was about to get married with Yuan Jun, so Ning Shu had to gift them congratulatory presents. Ning Shu glanced over towards Court Lady Qiu whose butt was up in the air as she wiped the floor. "Is there anything good in our storeroom? Help us see what congratulatory gifts we can give the fourth prince."

Court Lady Qiu went and got a book, then said to Ning Shu, "All the items in Your Majesty's storeroom is recorded here."

"Read it," said Ning Shu as she closed her eyes.

Court Lady Qiu started reading off all the precious gems and stones recorded. When Ning Shu heard the term dragon pearl, she was stunned for a moment. "Dragon pearl? What dragon pearl? Bring it to us."

"Understood." Court Lady Qiu immediately had someone bring the dragon pearl over.

The dragon pearl Court Lady Qiu had been talking about was about the size of an infant's fist and it glistened like snow. It was like a large pearl.

Ning Shu took the dragon pearl and sniffed it. It carried a fishy smell and when she lifted it next to her ear, she could hear the sound of waves.

She was a little shocked. This couldn't be a real dragon pearl, right?

"Your Majesty, this is the dragon pearl that a wandering Daoist immortal had gifted you. It's said to bring longevity," said Court Lady Qiu when she saw that Ning Shu seemed interested in this dragon pearl.

Dragon pearl!?

Ning Shu recalled what she had read in one of the books. This was probably the core of an organism from a high-level plane. Why would it be here?

Ning Shu put this away, then picked out a good number of jewels to gift to the fourth prince's residence.

As of now, it was hard for Ning Shu to even walk, so she naturally wouldn't be attending Mu Yao's wedding. After all, what if she ended up puking blood again?

However, one day before the wedding, an incident occurred. Yuan Jun had gone missing. No one knew where he had gone, not even the Yuan family.

When Ning Shu found out about this, her first suspect was Mu Xue. Mu Xue had done this. She had done this even though she was already under house arrest?

She had probably done this out of anger since Ning Shu had kicked her people out of Daylily City.

Even if this wasn't Mu Xue's doing, Ning Shu still planned to pin this on Mu Xue.

Mu Yao was so worried about Yuan Jun's disappearance that she was about to cry. When men went missing, it hurt their reputation a lot. It was just like how harsh feudal societies were with the reputation of women.

In this nation of women, demands towards men were just as harsh.

Ning Shu send out guards to find Yuan Jun, but they couldn't find him. Moreover, a night had already passed, so Yuan Jun's reputation had been ruined.

Hence this marriage would be pushed off, perhaps forever. Mu Yao ran to the palace and kowtowed to Ning Shu. "Imperial Mother, you must help this subject daughter find Yuan Jun!"

Ning Shu was in so much pain that her entire body was trembling. She swallowed the blood that had risen to her throat and drank a cup of water before saying, "But Yuan Jun's reputation has already been ruined."

Mu Yao immediately said, "This subject daughter doesn't care about Yuan Jun's reputation, I like him as a person. I don't mind even if he's lost his chastity."

Mu Yao was different from the others in this world. She didn't feel that a man losing their chastity was anything huge.

Ning Shu nodded. "Since you want to marry Yuan Jun, then just marry him. However, marrying a man who has lost his chastity will harm the reputation of the imperial family. Mu Yao, isn't your wish to travel the world? We want you to give up on your status as a prince and take your husbands with you to travel the world. Of course, you're still our daughter. We'll provide you with money and send people to protect you."

Mu Yao was taken aback for a moment and stared at Ning Shu blankly. Then she knelt on the ground and kowtowed towards Ning Shu. Tears streamed down her face as she said, "Imperial Mother, this subject daughter is willing. It's just that this subject daughter will miss you."

"It's fine, you can come back any time to see us. Mu Yao, one cannot have the desire to hurt others, but one cannot be without a guarded heart towards others. You have to be on guard a little even towards the people by your side." When Ning Shu saw the simple and sad expression on Mu Yao's face, she couldn't help but exhort her a bit.

When Mu Yao heard what Ning Shu said, her tears overflowed even more. "Imperial Mother, you treat this subject daughter so well! This subject daughter will miss you so much!"

"Then don't marry Yuan Jun."

"Hic…" Mu Yao hiccupped.

"Go. When the time comes, follow our command." Ning Shu waved dismissively.

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Chapter 1088: Visit From the Phoenix Empress

Mu Yao got up and walked to Ning Shu to kiss her cheek. She hugged Ning Shu's body which was in so much pain it was convulsing a little. "Imperial Mother, I love you."

Ning Shu grinned. "As long as you find happiness."

The moment Mu Yao left, Ning Shu couldn't hold on anymore and vomited another mouthful of blood. There were more bloody bits this time. Ning Shu suspected that her organs were filled with scars at this point.

The guards Ning Shu sent out found Yuan Jun in a male brothel in Daylily City. Yuan Jun had been treated as a male prostitute and had been defiled by several women.

The prime minister's son, Yuan Jun, had already lost his chastity. Furthermore, he was supposed to marry the fourth prince, so it became a huge scandal in Daylily City.

When Yuan Jun was rescued, he was already in despair and had been planning to commit suicide, but he was saved just in time. Mu Yao ran to Yuan Jun and said that she was going to marry him no matter what, that she didn't care about reputation.

The fact that Mu Yao was still willing to marry Yuan Jun despite his situation being like this made the Yuan family very grateful. The wedding proceeded as planned.

Ning Shu sent quite a lot of jewels over. These things would probably be enough to guarantee that the rest of Mu Yao's life was comfortable and happy.

All of the men by Mu Yao's side loved Mu Yao a lot, so Mu Yao would probably be able to obtain happiness just like in the original storyline.

What Ning Shu had to do now was have Mu Yao 'disappear'. Once the fourth prince disappeared from the genealogical record, she naturally will no longer have any more inheritance rights.

It would be very tragic for a person like Mu Yao to live in the complicated imperial household. She couldn't win against these people.

"Your Majesty, the phoenix empress is here." Court Lady Qiu looked at Ning Shu's ashen face. "The phoenix empress said that it's been a long time since he had seen Your Majesty so he's worried about you."

Ning Shu nodded. "Apply cosmetics."

The current Ning Shu now faced an issue, which was that she rarely left her bedroom so Liu Changqing was noticing that something was off. It felt like Liu Changqing had come to confirm his suspicions.

After Court Lady Qiu finished applying the cosmetics, Ning Shu took another antidote pill while chanting the heart-clearing chant.

"Let him in." Ning Shu sat down in front of the desk and started flipping through the memorials.

Before she even saw Liu Changqing, she could already hear the sound of his spotted bamboo flute knocking gently against his jade pendant.

Ning Shu lifted her head and saw Liu Changqing dressed in a moon-white garment. His walking speed was steady, not too fast nor too slow, so it was very elegant.

Liu Changqing saluted Ning Shu. "Your Majesty, are you still not feeling well? You haven't been to the inner palace in a long time."

Ning Shu said with a fatigued expression. "We've been very worn out lately. It's truly that we have the desire but not the strength."

Liu Changqing furrowed his brows. His calm tone contained traces of concern. "Your Majesty, have you seen an imperial physician? Your Majesty should walk around outside the palace more. Staying in the palace all day looking at memorials easily wears a person out."

Ning Shu: _

Why the hell would she walk? To experience the feeling of walking through hell?

However, as she faced Liu Changqing's concerned gaze, she forced the corners of her lips up as she said, "Many thanks, Phoenix Empress, for your concern. We'll take more walks in the future."

Liu Changqing walked to the desk and reached out to take Ning Shu's hand which was contorting from the pain. "Your Majesty, there's nothing more important than one's health. Changqing hopes that Your Majesty could have good health."

Ning Shu smiled. "We'll cherish our body properly. Phoenix Empress, you should also look after your own health."

#comment: I bet Liu Changqing is the curse medium. (Random guess, this TL-er doesn't remember either)

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Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks #Chapter 1089: Hands to Yourself! - Read Quick Transmigration Cannon Fodder's Record of Counterattacks Chapter 1089: Hands to Yourself! Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 1089: Hands to Yourself!

When Liu Changqing took her hand, it felt like all the hair on her body instantly exploded. She felt a fishy sweetness in her throat, so she hastily pulled her hand out of his grasp and lifted a cup to drink water.

When Liu Changqing saw that Ning Shu's hand was trembling as she held the cup, worry appeared on his face. "Your Majesty, what's wrong?" As he spoke, he took her hand again. "Your Majesty, are you not feeling well? Why is your hand so cold and trembling like this?"

Ning Shu: …

Fuuuck, couldn't he talk properly? Could he stop grabbing her hand?

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Ning Shu's facial muscles contorted, then she forced her lips to curve up and said, "It's just hunger. We're so hungry that we're shaking."

A faint smile appeared on Liu Changqing's face, it was extremely elegant. He asked, "Your Majesty, what do you want to eat?"

Ning Shu furrowed her brows. What was Liu Changqing trying to do now?

"Just soup. One that you personally make." Ning Shu just wanted to make Liu Changqing quickly leave. She was in so much pain that her entire body was convulsing.

Liu Changqing released Ning Shu's hand and nodded. After saluting, he turned to leave, but after a few steps, he turned back and said, "Your Majesty, Changqing hopes that Your Majesty will deal with the crown prince's matters carefully. Please do not damage your mother-daughter relationship. No matter what happens in the end, Changqing still hopes that both Your Majesty and the crown prince would be safe."

Ning Shu finally realized that Liu Changqing had come here because of the incident with Mu Xue. She had place Mu Xue under house arrest for a month because of that incident with the male mistresses.

Liu Changqing had come here to plea for leniency. However, this attitude didn't seem like he was asking for a favor. What was with his expression of disappointment and frustration?

Ning Shu said coldly, "We've placed high hopes on her, but the things she's done has truly disappointed us. She didn't restrain her actions at all and even allowed the imperial censor to obtain evidence of her wrongdoings! She made no secret of the fact that she was raising a bunch of mistresses! What would this make the citizens think!? Have her reflect properly on this in her residence!"

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Liu Changqing just looked at Ning Shu quietly. He didn't try to refute on behalf of the crown prince, but he also didn't seem to be concerned by Ning Shu's rage. "Changqing will go simmer soup for Your Majesty."

The moment Liu Changqing left, Ning Shu bent over and vomited several mouthfuls of blood. The blood contained several shocking dark-red clumps. Ning Shu could imagine how horrible the situation was inside her body.

She sent out several of the imperial hidden guards to assassinate Mu Xue. Once Mu Xue died, everything would be resolved. If she really couldn't find someone suitable for the throne, she'd just give the throne to the mediocre second prince. She really didn't have much time left.

During dinner, a servant from Phoenix Perch Palace brought over the soup that Liu Changqing had simmered. As the servant took out the soup from the food box, Ning Shu smelled a rich fragrance. It was obvious that this soup had been simmered slowly over a very long time.

She still didn't drink the soup. She couldn't help but keep her guard up around this phoenix empress.

She didn't know if Liu Changqing had noticed anything and she couldn't guarantee that she'd act just like Mu Nichang, so the only thing she could do was try to interact with Liu Changqing as little as possible.

One thing that disappointed Ning Shu was that all the hidden guards she had sent out had returned in defeat. Several had been killed and the ones that managed to come back were heavily wounded.

The hidden guards said that the crown prince's residence was guarded very tightly and that the crown prince herself was quite strong as well.

The people that had been captured alive by the crown prince had no choice but to bite through the poison sack in their mouths to commit suicide.

Ning Shu's heart sunk. The crown prince really was strong. If taking action in the dark wouldn't work, then she'd just have to take action openly.

She had to get rid of the crown prince's status as heir apparent.

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Chapter 1090: Taking Walks

Ning Shu rubbed her forehead. Her head hurt so much it felt like it was about to explode.

The task wasn't simple from the start, and her body also wasn't helping. It hurt so much that she couldn't even think. She couldn't even read the memorials anymore and had to rely on Court Lady Qiu to read them to her.

Furthermore, bruises were starting to appear on her skin. Some of her veins had probably ruptured and the blood was seeping into her skin tissues.

This trainwreck of a body.

Ning Shu gritted her teeth. Even if she was going to die, she had to kill off Mu Xue first.

When the weather was nice, she'd grit her teeth and leave her resting palace to take a walk around. Rumors had already started spreading that the emperor's health was failing because she was always in her resting palace.

So Ning Shu had no choice but to drag her broken body out and take a walk around the palace. Every time she got to a new place, Ning Shu would rack her brains for some praise like this flower is so pretty, or that koi looked very plump and strong. In any case, she had to make a little bit of a scene in order to send the message that this emperor was doing perfectly well.

The painful torture made it so that Ning Shu barely had any strength in her limbs. She always had her hand on Court Lady Qiu's arm, so Court Lady Qiu had to take most of the pressure.

"Your Majesty must be tired. Should we head back to the resting palace?" asked Court Lady Qiu.

Ning Shu's slightly near-sighted eyes narrowed as she looked towards the nearby pavilion. She asked, "Who's over there in the pavilion?"

Court Lady Qiu glanced over, then replied in slight shame. "Your Majesty, it's the phoenix empress. But I don't know the other person."

"Let's go see." There was actually someone that Court Lady Qiu didn't know in this inner palace?

When Ning Shu got close, she saw that Liu Changqing was currently talking to a young woman who was about twelve. This girl was wearing very plain clothing and her face was filled with stubbornness. She emitted a ruthless and arrogantly obstinate aura.

"Your Majesty." Surprise flashed across Liu Changqing's face when he saw Ning Shu.

When the girl next to him saw Ning Shu, her eyes filled with hatred, but her expression was panicked and wary. She clenched her fists as she slowly backed away.

Ning Shu looked at the girl as she asked Liu Changqing, "Who is this child?"

A strange expression flashed across Liu Changqing's face, then he said, "This is Wen Guijun's daughter. After Wen Guijun passed away, this child has always stayed in the cold palace."

No impression. There was no impression of this child in Mu Nichang's memory at all. This Wen Guijun had been thrown in the cold palace by Mu Nichang, but who would've thought he'd have such a big child?

"What's your name?" asked Ning Shu.

The girl just looked at Ning Shu, her eyes filled with ridicule. She refused to speak a word and looked very cynical.

"Your Majesty, she doesn't have a name," said Liu Changqing. "She's not on the imperial family record."

Ning Shu nodded expressionlessly. Ning Shu's reaction seemed to have provoked that girl. Her expression became filled with hatred and she seemed about to pounce forward like a small wolf to bite Ning Shu, but she also seemed apprehensive that the people in front of her was stronger than her.

Ning Shu ignored the girl's expression of bitter hate and addressed Liu Changqing. "Phoenix Empress, what were you talking to this child about?"

Liu Changqing's expression was mild as he said, "This child's pretty pitiful. She doesn't have enough to eat nor does she have fitting clothes. She even has to fight for food with the lowest ranking servants. Changqing just saw that she seemed pitiful."

Ning Shu's expression didn't change upon hearing these words. She glanced at the girl, then said, "It's quite late. We should be returning to the palace to read the memorials."

From start to finish, Ning Shu didn't express any opinion about the existence of this child, so hermanner was the definition of heartless and cold.

When that girl saw Ning Shu like this, the rims of her eyes became a bit red and her expression filled with loathing.

Once Ning Shu left, Liu Changqing gently said to the girl, "You should stay with me. No need to go back to the cold palace."

He placed his hand on the girl's head and said with pity, "You're a noble daughter of the heavenly clan. You shouldn't be living those kinds of days."

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?Chapter 1091: Sponsorship of Mommy Emperor

Liu Changqing meant for the girl to live with him.

However, the girl's expression was filled with mocking. She pulled Liu Changqing's hand off her head. "I refuse, who do you think you are? I've already lived for so long in the cold palace, I don't need your fake sympathy. Every single person in this palace simply makes a half-hearted show to get what they want. There's no point in you making that hypocritical concerned look like you want to treat me well when in reality, you're just thinking about how to use me."

Liu Changqing furrowed his brows. He was very tolerant towards the girl and simply took the plate of pastries from the table and pressed them into the girl's hands. "Take them with you and have them later."

The girl's expression was a little unnatural as she held the plate. "You were the one that gave them to me. I didn't ask you for them."

Then she quickly ran off.

As Liu Changqing looked at the girl's back, an aura of inexpressible sorrow hovered around him. There were traces of bewilderment and conflict on his face.

Ning Shu walked back to her resting palace, lay down on the dragon bed, then fell motionless. Her clothes were soaked with sweat and she was vomiting blood. The blood slid down the side of her mouth, over her neck, and soaked the bedding.

Court Lady Qiu swiped at her tears as she wiped the sides of Ning Shu's mouth with a handkerchief. "Your Majesty, should we call an imperial physician?"

Ning Shu didn't speak. It felt like all the bones in her body had already been crushed to dust. Not even the death of a thousand cuts would cause this much pain. She had personally verified the quality of the most malicious curse in history.

After making that trip today, she felt like she had lost a lot more time again. She'd probably fall apart soon.

"Your Majesty, try keeping the dragon pearl with you?" Court Lady Qiu said to Ning Shu, "The daoist had said that it was beneficial for your health."

Ning Shu shook her head. Although it was said to be a dragon pearl, it was simply the core of a monster that could cultivate from a high-class plane. All that was contained inside was energy, there was nothing that could promote longevity.

If she could make energy form with the Unsurpassable Martial Arts, she might be able to absorb this energy. However, if she swallowed the core right now in this state, she might die from the violent energy inside the core exploding inside her body.

Mu Yao entered the palace to see Ning Shu, so Ning Shu had no choice but to climb off the bed and have Court Lady Qiu help her reapply cosmetics.

The moment Mu Yao saw Ning Shu, she asked, "Imperial Mother, when can this subject daughter leave?"

Ning Shu replied, "We're still making plans. It'll take some effort to make a prince disappear, why are you in such a rush?"

Mu Yao sighed, her expression a bit helpless. She had already gotten married with Yuan Jun, but Yuan Jun was always bothered by the fact that he had lost his chastity even though she had told him multiple times that she really didn't mind.

Mu Yao really didn't mind. In her world, men had no integrity at all and fooled around all the time. Meanwhile, the servants in the residence always didn't hold back with their words and so the current Yuan Jun was starting to hate himself.

Right now, Mu Yao just wanted to take Yuan Jun and all the male concubines in her courtyard with her to travel the world and see all of its nooks and corners. In the past, she never had the chance to travel the world, but now she had the sponsorship of her mommy emperor. Just the thought of it was exciting.

Ning Shu drank some water to help swallow down the blood that was rising in her throat, then said, "Soon. At that time, just do as we indicate."

"Thank you, Imperial Mother!" Mu Yao was really happy. "Imperial Mother, you're the best!"

Mu Yao hugged Ning Shu hard to convey how touched she was. "Imperial Mother…"

Ning Shu: Fuck!!!

Owwww…

Chapter 1092: Mu Qing

The moment Mu Yao left, Ning Shu vomited a mouthful of blood. Frickin', after vomiting for a while, she had actually gotten used to it.

Late at night, Ning Shu sent out an imperial hidden guard to bring the young girl from the cold palace over.

Ning Shu sat on a chair and silently chanted the heart-clearing chant. It was a good while before she opened her eyes to find that the hidden guard was standing there with her hand over the young girl's mouth.

When the young girl saw Ning Shu, her gaze immediately turned indignant. She bit hard on the hand covering her mouth, but since there was no order from Ning Shu, the hidden guard could only endure the pain coming from his hand.

Ning Shu waved dismissively to have the hidden guard withdraw. The hidden guard removed her hand from the young girl's mouth and the young girl's blood-stained mouth was revealed. It was clear that she had really bit through the hidden guard's hand.

"From now on, your name is Mu Qing," said Ning Shu.

The young girl scoffed, her mouth stained with blood. "May I ask what Your Majesty means by this?"

Ning Shu glanced at her indifferently. "You don't even know the most basic manners? Slap her."

Court Lady Qiu walked over to deal the punishment, but she was shoved to the ground by the girl now called Mu Qing.

Court Lady Qiu staggered and fell to the ground. Mu Qing stood nearby and crossed her arms as she looked at Ning Shu provocatively. She looked very smug as if she had just obtained victory against Ning Shu.

Ning Shu didn't get angry and just furrowed her brows. "You're so arrogant and obstinate despite having lived in the cold palace, how have you not been beaten to death yet?"

Mu Qing: …

A wolf-like viciousness appeared on Mu Qing's face. "I'm not scared of death, but others are. That's why I survived."

Ning Shu nodded. So she had survived with this behavior of baring fangs and brandishing claws.

"You're the high and aloof emperor, why are you paying attention to an inferior being like me?" Mu Qing clearly hated and loathed Ning Shu greatly. Her hands were clenched into fists and her body was trembling slightly. It was clear that she was doing all she could to suppress the feelings in her heart.

Ning Shu drank a cup of tea, then said, "Are you expressing discontent?"

"No," said Mu Qing.

"Mu Qing…"

"I don't have a name and I'm also not called Mu Qing." Mu Qing interrupted Ning Shu's words.

Ning Shu was very annoyed. It was tiring from the start to talk, and now this girl kept interrupting her pointlessly. Ning Shu called for the hidden guard and said, "Give her a beating. Just make sure not to kill her."

Mu Qing looked towards Ning Shu in wide-eyed shock. Anger flooded up in her heart along with a feeling of being wronged. Ning Shu said mildly, "Although you're our child, you're still a stranger to us. We can dictate your fate. You feel that we owe you, but at the very least, you're still alive. Your status as a prince inspire at least a bit of fear in others. If not for that, do you think you would've have been able to survive until now?"

"Beat her." Ning Shu rubbed her forehead. She felt a fishy sweetness in her throat, so she drank two cups of water in one go.

Mu Qing didn't struggle and covered her head as she crouched on the floor, allowing the hidden guard to hit her. She bit her lips hard and muffled cries of pain only occasionally escaped.

"That's enough," said Ning Shu.

Ning Shu looked towards Mu Qing. "Can you talk properly now? Be a bit more mature. Even if you vent your anger and hatred like this, we don't care at all and won't feel any guilt."

Mu Qing looked at Ning Shu, the rims of her eyes were slightly red. "Could it be that you don't even feel the slightest bit of guilt towards my father?"

"We are the emperor. Everything we do has a reason," said Ning Shu coldly. "We will not say anything about the past. Even if we had been wrong, we'll only continue to wrong."

In the past, Mu Qing had been absolutely unyielding, but when she heard what Ning Shu said, her tears immediately fell. "Father kept talking about you up to the moment he died, but all that was waiting for him was the fate of rotting to death. You didn't even know he died."

Ning Shu felt a great headache and her gaze started unfocusing slightly. She repeatedly chanted the heart-clearing chant. When she heard Mu Qing's mournful accusation, she only felt vexed.

She didn't have much time left, so she didn't want to listen to these pointless little issues about love and hate, grievances and resentment.

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Chapter 1093: Unbelievably Messy

Mu Qing cried heart-wrenchingly as if she was venting all of the grievances she had felt these past years. She wiped at her tears hard and the rough fabric of her clothes rubbed her face red.

"Your Majesty?" Court Lady Qiu saw that the veins on Ning Shu's head were bulging and even the veins on her face were very conspicuous. She couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, are you alright?"

Ning Shu closed her eyes. Ever since she saw Mu Qing, she had been considering handing the throne over to this girl. However, now that she thought about things again, she had been thinking about things too simply. Mu Qing had grown up in the cold palace so there were a lot of things that she didn't understand.

She didn't possess the characteristics that the monarch of a nation should possess. In this case, it'd be better to just hand the throne over to the mediocre second prince.

Mu Qing wiped at her tears, then looked at Ning Shu as she said, "Why are you looking for me? There's no way you would've thought of me if you hadn't been after something. Everyone's trying to make use of me."

"Everyone?" repeated Ning Shu.

Mu Qing's face filled with her usual scorn again. "The phoenix empress wanted me to live with him and said that I was a noble daughter of the heavenly clan, that I should be living an extravagant life."

Ning Shu furrowed her brows. "You know the phoenix empress?"

"How could I possibly know such an aloof and remote person? If someone gives you sudden eager attention, they're either a traitor or a bandit. Two of the most important figures of the palace are suddenly paying attention to me, so what exactly is the value that I possess?" said Mu Qing with a scoff.

Ning Shu rubbed her forehead. The intense headache made it so that she couldn't think. Mu Qing was someone without any value, so why would Liu Changqing set his sights on her?

Or was it that Liu Changqing knew Mu Qing?

However, Mu Qing hadn't appeared in the original storyline at all so Mu Nichang had no memories of her. When she encountered Liu Changqing earlier today though, he seemed quite familiar with Mu Qing.

Mu Nichang had thrown Liu Changqing into the cold palace. Since they were both in the cold palace, Liu Changqing and Mu Qing should've met.

Then… Liu Changqing either possessed his memories from his last lifetime, or he could've been reborn.

On the other hand, Liu Changqing was in charge of the entire inner palace, so it was quite normal for him to be aware that there was a child in the cold palace.

However, Liu Changqing had never mentioned this child in front of Mu Nichang.

Ning Shu's headache was so bad she felt like her head was about to explode. She had a faint feeling that Liu Changqing had probably gone through a rebirth.

It was unbelievable. How was messy enough to describe it? Mu Xue was likely a task-taker, Liu Changqing had probably gone through a rebirth, and it looked like both of them wanted to take revenge on her.

Ning Shu suddenly felt that she had ended up taking the fall for Mu Nichang. Originally it had only been the question of a successor, but things had ended up this complicated.

In particular, Liu Changqing's seemingly caring and also unconcerned attitude made it impossible for her to figure out what exactly he was thinking.

Mu Nichang had caused him and his daughter to end up with such miserable fates, so if Liu Changqing had been reborn with those past memories, he'd definitely do something in revenge.

There was a need to speed things up. Ning Shu asked Mu Qing, "Do you recognize characters?"

"How could a person like me who's just doing all they can to fend off starvation recognize characters?" replied Mu Qing scornfully.

Ning Shu's expression turned cold. "Talk properly. Do you recognize characters?"

Mu Qing bit her lips, her expression indignant. "I know a little."

"Come over here and read the memorial," said Ning Shu.

Mu Qing's expression was shocked and confusion flashed across her face, but in the end, she obediently picked up the memorial and started reading. She stumbled over the words a lot and as she held the memorial, her forehead gradually became covered with sweat. After she finally finished reading with great difficulty, she closed the memorial and placed it on the desk.

Ning Shu rubbed her forehead like her life depended on it. "What did the memorial say?"

Mu Qing curled her lips in disdain. "This is a memorial a local official wrote to apologize for not having handed over the tax yet."

Ning Shu glanced at Mu Qing, then asked, "How do you think it should be resolved?"

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Chapter 1094: Can We Not Hold Hands!?

"I don't know," replied Mu Qing straightforwardly. "What do you mean by having me touch the memorials? It couldn't be that you want to pass me the throne to compensate me, right?"

Ning Shu could sense that Mu Qing was smart. It was just that she often shot her mouth off and said whatever she thought.

"Do you think the throne is that comfortable to sit on?" Ning Shu called for the hidden guards and had them bring Mu Qing back to the cold palace.

Mu Qing's face was filled with confusion as she left. She couldn't understand what the emperor meant.

Ning Shu sent several hidden guards to keep an eye on Mu Qing's every move. She wanted to see Mu Qing's attitude after this incident to see if her behavior changed any.

After Mu Qing left, Court Lady Qiu helped Ning Shu to the bed. Ning Shu's mind kept racing with various things. She thought about Liu Changqing, Mu Xue, and also the issue of Mu Qing. There were too many things that she needed to deal with.

The pain from her body made it so that she couldn't fall asleep at all. It was like there were needles constantly stabbing at her brain.

The next day, when Ning Shu returned from the agonizing court session, she found that Liu Changqing was waiting for her at the entrance of her resting palace.

Ning Shu was in so much pain that she didn't have any strength left at all. She didn't want to pay attention to Liu Changqing.

Liu Changqing walked to Ning Shu with a food box in his hand. He was about a head taller than Ning Shu and his voice contained a sigh as he said, "Your Majesty!"

Ning Shu: _

"Phoenix Empress, have you come for something?" asked Ning Shu.

There was a faint smile on Liu Changqing's face. Under the illumination of the morning sun, it seemed to be cast with a warm halo that allowed his generally cold and indifferent face to have some warmth. "Changqing has come to bring Your Majesty nourishing soup. Your Majesty's body needs more nutrition."

Why was it soup again? Ning Shu was speechless.

Ning Shu tugged at the corners of her lips as she looked at Liu Changqing. She couldn't figure out whether or not he had gone through a rebirth.

"Why is Your Majesty looking at Changqing like this?" asked Liu Changqing mildly.

Ning Shu wanted to smile, but her face was stiff and contorting, so she could only expressionlessly say, "Phoenix Empress, you're just as graceful and sophisticated as you were when you were young."

Liu Changqing didn't respond to this and simply took out the soup to place it in front of Ning Shu. "Your Majesty, you should drink the soup. If it gets cold, it'll taste greasy."

Ning Shu shook her head. "Phoenix Empress, we don't wish to drink such oily soup so early in the morning."

Liu Changqing pressed his lips together, then finally revealed a trace of a bitter smile. "Since Your Majesty doesn't wish to drink it, then Changqing will."

Liu Changqing then proceeded to drink half the soup in front of Ning Shu. Ning Shu lifted her brows. What did Liu Changqing mean by this? Was he trying to tell her that the soup he brought her wasn't poisonous?

Liu Changqing sighed, then said, "Your Majesty, Changqing can tell that the situation of your body isn't good. Changqing only hopes that Your Majesty can be safe and healthy."

Ning Shu drank a cup of water to force down the blood rising in her throat. "Many thanks for phoenix empress's concern. We're simply not feeling well. It's just an old ailment."

Liu Changqing pressed his lips together again. It was a good while before he said, "Your Majesty, do you still take the immortality pills?"

Ning Shu nodded, seeming unconcerned. "I do. If I don't take them, I don't have any energy. There are still so many government matters that need to be dealt with. Taking the pills gives us a bit more energy."

Liu Changqing reached out with his slender hands to take Ning Shu's hand. Ning Shu could faintly smell his clean and elegant scent.

Ning Shu: Friiick! Can we not hold hands!? Would it kill him to just talk properly?

Ning Shu could sense how stiff her own hand was. The pain caused all the muscles in her body to be extremely stiff, so her hands no longer had the luster and softness that a woman's hands normally had.

However, this Liu Changqing still kept reaching out for her hand all the time.

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Chapter 1095: What Was With the Soup!?

Liu Changqing lowered his head and looked at Ning Shu's hand. The veins were conspicuously bursting and her joints protruded. Ning Shu pulled her hand back and hide her hand in her sleeve.

Liu Changqing looked towards Ning Shu, his eyes gleaming slightly with a hint of tears. "Your Majesty, drink some soup, alright?"

Ning Shu: …

Soup, soup, what was with the soup!? What the heck?

Liu Changqing lifted the bowl to Ning Shu's lips. From the looks of things, he was going to force her to drink the soup.

Ning Shu took a symbolic sip, but Liu Changqing said again, "Your Majesty, please drink a bit more."

Ning Shu furrowed her brows tightly, then shook her head. "We don't want to drink anymore." Drinking it only burdened her body more.

Liu Changqing pressed his lips together as he set down the bowl. He took Ning Shu's hand and looked at it. "Your Majesty, your body really needs recuperate. The immortality pills will only weaken your body more."

Ning Shu nodded, then the two of them fell into silence again. Liu Changqing picked up the food box, then said, "Your Majesty, then Liu Changqing will withdraw first."

Ning Shu nodded again. Liu Changqing froze for a brief moment, then he calmly walked away.

The moment Liu Changqing left, Ning Shu immediately collapsed against a pillar. Frick! Her legs were completely weak. They were trembling nonstop from the pain.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty…" Court Lady Qiu hurriedly walked into the palace. Since she was in too much of a hurry, she almost tripped over the doorstep. "The fourth prince has passed away."

Ning Shu abruptly vomited a mouthful of blood. Court Lady Qiu hastily went over to support Ning Shu's staggering body. Ning Shu wiped at the blood on her mouth. "What happened to the fourth prince?"

"The fourth prince has passed away," replied Court Lady Qiu bluntly.

"Nonsense! Fourth was there at court just this morning!" said Ning Shu fiercely. "What exactly happened?"

"The crown prince and the fourth prince got into a fight. This servant doesn't know the details either. The crown prince is in front of the palace right now." Court Lady Qiu walked over to support Ning Shu.

"Get a palanquin," said Ning Shu.

Ning Shu sat down in the palanquin and was carried to the court palace. Mu Xue was kneeling on the ground and Mu Yao was lying on the stretcher, her body covered with white cloth. Next to the stretcher was a man in sky blue clothing.

All the surrounding ministers were discussing things with each other. This was a huge incident, so of course these ministers had to come.

Ning Shu endured the severe pain coming from her body to walk over and lift the white cloth, revealing Mu Yao's colorless face. The collar of her clothes was bloody.

"Imperial Physician! Imperial Physician, come over here and take a look at Fourth!" shouted Ning Shu with all her strength. Blood rose up in her throat, but she forcefully swallowed it.

The imperial physician hastily came to inspect Mu Yao. She checked Mu Yao's pulse, her pupils, then knelt towards Ning Shu. "The fourth prince has indeed passed away. The back of her head has suffered a severe impact."

Ning Shu staggered as she stared at Mu Yao in disbelief. Her voice was hoarse as she said, "What exactly happened?"

The man kneeling by Mu Yao's corpse kowtowed towards Ning Shu. His voice contained deep sorrow and hatred. "Your Majesty, Yuan Jun can act as witness. Her Highness was killed by the crown prince!"

Ning Shu's eyes were completely red and the veins on her forehead were bursting forth. The sight of her was extremely shocking. "Crown Prince, what is going on? We…" Ning Shu took a deep breath. "Give us a reason. A reason that drove you to kill your own sister."

Mu Xue's brows were tightly furrowed. She kowtowed and said mournfully, "Imperial Mother, this subject daughter is wrongly accused. It was Fourth Imperial Sister that attacked first. This subject daughter only pushed her away, then she fell to the ground."

Ning Shu's body was trembling severely. "She died from just a push!?"

Mu Xue's expression was cold. "This subject daughter doesn't know what happened either."

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Chapter 1096: Remove the Heir Apparent

"If you don't know what's going on, could it be that we know what's going on?" Ning Shu yanked off the dragon jade pendant tied to her waist and threw it at Mu Xue.

Mu Xue had originally wanted to dodge, but in the end she didn't, so the jade pendant hit her right on her brow bone. Her forehead immediately started becoming swollen. The jade pendant fell to the ground and shattered.

"You were under house arrest! What did you run to the Fourth's residence for!?" Ning Shu glowered at Mu Xue. "We had you reflect in confinement, yet you've disobeyed our imperial decree. Crown Prince, you practically have no regard for the law nor natural morality. You want to take our imperial throne right now, is that it?"

Mu Xue kowtowed hard as she said fearfully, "This subject daughter doesn't dare. This subject daughter swears she has no such intentions."

Mu Xue took a deep breath. When she saw that Ning Shu's gaze was filled with wariness and loathing as she looked at her, she hastily continued knocking her head against the ground and repeatedly saying, "This subject daughter was wrongly accused."

Ning Shu wiped at her tears, then said fiercely, "As the eldest sister, as the heir apparent to the nature, you do not empathize with the citizens above and do not care for your sisters below. How are we supposed to hand the nation of Daylily over to you when you're like this?"

"What reason drove you to disobey the imperial decree and run to the Fourth's residence while you were supposed to be in confinement?" Ning Shu couldn't quite stand anymore. She staggered a bit, so Court Lady Qiu hastily walked over to support her and have someone bring over a chair.

Mu Xue was kneeling on the ground, her forehead pressed to the floor, silent. No matter what she said right now, it'd be wrong.

Mu Xue glanced at Ning Shu who was now sitting on the chair out of the corner of her eye. Her expression was extremely sinister, like she was about to pick someone to rip apart.

A trace of cold scorn appeared on Mu Xue's face. Wasn't it such heart-piercing pain to lose the daughter you love the most?

"Why exactly did you guys end up in a dispute? Crown Prince, have you become mute?" Ning Shu's body was trembling severely.

Mu Xue pressed her lips tightly together. Could she say that she had heard about there being a dragon robe in the fourth prince's residence? It had been definite news. A craftsman had helped Mu Yao create a dragon robe. That was why she took the risk to visit the fourth prince's residence and have her subordinate search for traces of the dragon robe.

When she got to the fourth prince's residence, she saw that Mu Yao and Yuan Jun were having breakfast and they were even sweetly feeding each other. She had only said in passing, "You two sure are affectionate."

Mu Yao had instantly snapped back angrily, "What does Eldest Imperial Sister mean by this? Could it be that it's wrong for me to be affectionate with my husband?"

Perhaps it was because Mu Xue's voice had contained a slight trace of scorn and Mu Yao had happened to acutely sense it. Mu Yao started noisily demanding what Mu Xue meant by that.

Mu Xue got a bit irritated, so she reached out and pushed Mu Yao who was making a ruckus in front of her aside. This one push caused the entire incident. Mu Yao lost her balance, and when she fell, the back of her head knocked against the corner of the table.

The entire incident had happened so suddenly that even Mu Xue couldn't react to it.

Now, Mu Xue was kneeling on the ice-cold tiles. Her heart chilled. She had fallen into someone's trap.

However, she quickly calmed down and stopped saying that she was wrongly accused. Instead, she said, "This subject daughter had pushed Mu Xue, but this subject daughter had never thought about trying to kill the fourth prince. This subject daughter isn't worthy of being the heir apparent. Imperial Mother, please remove this subject daughter from this position."

"Your Majesty, please quell your anger! How can the heir apparent be removed this carelessly?" All the ministers knelt down to plead for leniency for Mu Xue.

"Your Majesty, removing the heir apparent will destabilize the country. Your Majesty, please reconsider. This incident with the fourth prince was an accident." A minister walked forward with a memorial and presented it with a slight bow.

Ning Shu glanced at the ministers kneeling on the ground, then at Mu Xue who was kneeling as well with an expression of sincere regret.

They were threatening her!?

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Chapter 1097: Bury the Fourth Prince

Mu Xue's request to be removed from the position of heir apparent was just an attack disguised as a retreat. This way, there would be the ministers to exert pressure on Ning Shu.

Ning Shu looked at these people, then said scornfully, "It's our daughter that died. You people don't feel the pain commenting on matters that don't involve you. Mu Xue, your younger sister had died because of you. Could it be that you don't feel any guilt?"

Mu Xue knocked her head against the ground and spoke in a low muffled voice that contained a hint of a nasally tone. "This subject daughter had never thought about killing Fourth Imperial Sister. This subject daughter isn't worthy of being the heir apparent. Imperial Mother, please remove this subject daughter from this position."

"Your Majesty, please reconsider!" The ministers immediately started crying out again.

Ning Shu's face was filled with weariness. In the end, she waved her hand dismissively and said, "The crown prince is to reflect in isolation. Without our decree, she's not to take a single step out of the crown prince's residence."

"This subject daughter kowtows in thanks to Imperial Mother's grace." Mu Xue kowtowed.

Ning Shu looked at Mu Yao who was on the stretcher. "Prepare a coffin for the fourth prince."

Ning Shu was staggering even as she walked. If it weren't for Court Lady Qiu supporting her, she probably would've already fallen.

Mu Xue looked at Ning Shu's back, her gaze dark.

The moment Ning Shu got back to her resting palace, she collapsed on the bed weakly. It was a good while before she could say, "Bury the fourth prince as quickly as possible."

Court Lady Qiu voiced her understanding.

However, since there was no ready-made coffin, Ning Shu gave Mu Nichang's imperial coffin to Mu Yao. The ministers originally wanted to say that this didn't correspond with the customs, but when they saw Ning Shu's red eyes that were filled with cold anger, they didn't dare to say anything.

From the start, the crown prince had been in the wrong in this matter. However, the crown prince was only under confinement while the fourth prince had died.

They were already in a dangerous position after speaking up for the crown prince, so they didn't dare to provoke Ning Shu anymore.

The fourth prince's corpse was loaded into the coffin at the fastest speed possible and the burial was to be held the next day.

What was spread was that the emperor couldn't accept the fourth prince's death and just wanted to her to be laid to rest as quickly as possible. The other rumor that went around was that she was doing this to protect the crown prince.

Late in the night, the main palace now had white clothes hung everywhere. The bean-sized flame of the weak oil lamp flickered occasionally.

A gorgeous coffin was placed in the center of the room, so it was slightly eerie. Ning Shu walked into the main palace and with great difficulty, pushed open the coffin. She reached out and patted Mu Yao's face while saying, "Hey, wake up."

Mu Yao's face was ashen and she was dressed beautifully as she lay motionlessly in the coffin. Ning Shu impatiently pinched Mu Yao's nose. At the start Mu Yao was still able to endure it, then in the end, she couldn't help but open her mouth to breathe.

"Owww, my head." Mu Yao struggled to sit up, then she rubbed the back of her head. "Imperial Mother, this subject daughter's head hurts so bad. Why didn't you wrap it for this subject daughter?"

"You're already dead, so why waste the effort?" Ning Shu waved and hidden guards walked in from outside. They were carrying rocks which they quickly placed in the coffin.

"Nail the coffin shut," instructed Ning Shu.

She leaned against a pillar in the palace, then looked towards Mu Yao who was still rubbing her head. "In the future, just live well with Yuan Jun."

"He told us that he'd go to the imperial grave to watch over your spirit." Ning Shu felt that the current Yuan Jun was not quite the same as the Yuan Jun in the original storyline. The current Yuan Jun suffered a lot of criticism wherever he went because he had lost his chastity. No matter how much ambition he had, it was bound to shrink in this kind of environment.

Furthermore, Ning Shu could tell that Mu Yao's death had dealt Yuan Jun a heavy blow. After all, Mu Yao sincerely cared about Yuan Jun and during the time that Yuan Jun had been in despair, Mu Yao had stayed by his side without ever turning away.

He planned to spend the rest of his life in the desolate imperial graveyard to be a tomb guardsman.

"Thank you, Imperial Mother. This subject daughter understands," said Mu Yao with a smile. "Thank you for everything you've done for this subject daughter."

"This subject daughter is going to go travel the world now," said Mu Yao. "This subject daughter will travel the world together with Yuan Jun and the other people that this subject daughter loves."

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Chapter 1098: Hey, Wake Up

Fudge, Mu Yao seriously had such a good life, so jealous. Her life was seriously painful. She was going to die soon, yet she still had to spend everyday worrying about things.

"Tomorrow, leave with the funeral procession. We'll send people to protect you guys," exhorted Ning Shu. "Don't allow anyone to notice you. Can you do it?"

"This subject daughter can do it." Mu Yao patted her chest as she guaranteed, "This subject daughter won't cause trouble for Imperial Mother."

Ning Shu saw that the hidden guards had finished nailing the coffin, so she patted Mu Yao's shoulder, then turned and left the palace.

The next day, Ning Shu watched as the long funeral procession left the palace. Mu Yao was mixed in the procession. She turned back and glanced at Ning Shu who was standing in a high location. She wanted to wave goodbye, but she took into consideration the current situation and could only obediently leave with the procession.

Ning Shu loosened a breath in relief when she saw Mu Yao leave the palace, then she got back into the palanquin to head back to the palace.

Ning Shu didn't attend court for several days. She hadn't wanted to attend court in the first place, and now she finally had an excuse to be absent, which was that she was too heartbroken due to losing her daughter and so she didn't want to attend court. She'd kill whoever wanted to drag her to court.

This allowed Ning Shu's trainwreck of a body to rest for a bit.

One piece of bad news was that this incident hadn't been enough to remove the crown prince from the position of heir apparent. This degree was clearly not severe enough.

Furthermore, the reason why the ministers were so against it was because Mu Yao was already dead. There was no need to drag a living person down along with a dead one. Those that were dead no longer had any value, and even alive, Mu Yao's status wasn't as important as Mu Yao's.

Mu Yao was under unbounded house arrest, but Liu Changqing didn't say anything. He continued to bring Ning Shu nourishing soup, then take her ugly hand and exhort, "Your Majesty, you need to take better care of your health."

Ning Shu: ...

She seriously couldn't understand what Liu Changqing meant.

Late at night, Ning Shu had Mu Qing who she had neglected for a good while brought to her. Mu Qing was still wearing very ordinary clothes of poor quality.

When she saw Ning Shu, her face filled with guardness and confusion. "Why are you looking for me?"

Mu Qing had been very careful this entire time. She really didn't know what this nominal mother of hers was trying to do by neglecting her, so she had been very careful in the cold palace. She couldn't shake off the feeling that this person had bad intentions.

When Ning Shu saw that Mu Qing was acting like a provoked hedgehog, she asked, "Have you been well lately?"

Mu Qing: ...

Mu Qing's current feelings could only be expressed by a thousand grass mud horses. She was asking if she was doing well? It was clearly ridicule.

She was messing with her.

Mu Qing grinned. "I'm doing well, very well."

Ning Shu nodded, then picked up a memorial. "Come here and read this."

Mu Qing scratched at her head in irritation, then she picked up the memorial and started reading. After she finished, Ning Shu asked her how to deal with it and she directly said that she didn't know.

Ning Shu glanced at her, then took another memorial and had her read it. After Mu Qing finished reading, Ning Shu asked, "If it were you, how would you deal with this matter? What is the minister who wrote this memorial thinking?"

"I don't know," replied Mu Qing.

Ning Shu picked out another memorial. "Read it."

Mu Qing finally understood. If she didn't come up with a way to resolve the issue, she'd have her keep reading the memorials.

Damned old witch.

#comment: Oooh, the title I picked for this chp reminds me of a show I recently watched: The Haunting of Hill House. The story is slightly creepy, but super intricate and not too scary, and the film style makes the show really captivating and haunting but not too traumatizing. I highly recommend!

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Chapter 1099: Because of 2333's Uselessness

Ning Shu only saw Mu Qing at night. As soon as dawn broke, she'd have Mu Qing taken back to the cold palace. She didn't care about how Mu Qing lived at all.

She didn't care whether Mu Qing was getting enough to eat in the cold palace, whether her clothing was warm enough, or any of that. In reality, Mu Qing was very intelligent. She had been able to survive in the cold palace after all, so she had her own ways of survival.

Mu Qing didn't dare to let this matter spread. She didn't dare to say that the emperor had her read memorials every night and seemed to even be teaching her how to govern the nation.

Mu Qing didn't know what the old witch meant by this, but she knew that if she spread this incident, the only fate left for her was death, especially when there was still an heir apparent present.

The old witch was pretty much roasting her over a fire. As of now, Mu Qing was constantly on edge in the cold palace.

Ning Shu was pretty satisfied with Mu Qing's response. If she had started acting arrogant or conspicuously act like she was experiencing a reversal of fortune, Ning Shu wouldn't have paid any more attention to Mu Qing.

People had to always be on guard. Ning Shu felt that the reason she was suffering so much right now was because she hadn't been on guard enough. If not for that, she wouldn't have ended up cursed and having to suffer hell on earth.

The most depressing part was still 2333, this system. He didn't even tell her that she had encountered a cursed object.

"This kind of thing leaves no traces so there's no way I'd be able to catch it. Why're you trying to blame everything on me?" said 2333 angrily.

Ning Shu: _

From the start it was because of 2333's uselessness.

Ning Shu felt that she couldn't last for much longer, because by now, she couldn't even walk. All the veins in her body were protruding and her body was completely bruised. There was no rhythm to her heartbeats anymore.

When Liu Changqing came to visit Ning Shu and saw that Ning Shu was sitting on the chair motionlessly, he walked to Ning Shu and said, "Your Majesty, you're ill. Call an imperial physician, alright?"

"We're fine," replied Ning Shu indifferently. She kept her gaze on the memorial in front of her.

Liu Changqing reached out and took Ning Shu's hand. Liu Changqing's fingers were slender and like jade, making Ning Shu's hand appear even more ashen in contrast. Ning Shu wanted to pull back her hand, but Liu Changqing held on. "Your Majesty, you're avoiding Changqing."

"We're not." Ning Shu didn't want to discuss these trivial issues.

Liu Changqing asked, "Your Majesty, are you going to Phoenix Perch Palace tonight?"

No way, what for? Ning Shu said, "There are a lot of court matters so we won't be going."

Liu Changqing smiled gracefully. "Your Majesty, pay attention to your own health."

Ning Shu nodded. Liu Changqing saluted, then turned and left slowly.

He was finally gone! Ning Shu vomited a mouthful of blood. It was so annoying. Liu Changqing kept coming here every time he had free time to brush up on his sense of presence. What exactly did he mean by this?

Ning Shu had just finished puking blood when Liu Changqing came back. Ning Shu was so startled that she almost vomited blood again. Her facial muscles contorted as she looked at Liu Changqing and asked, "Phoenix Empress, you're..."

Liu Changqing said, "From now on, Changqing is going to live together with Your Majesty to look after Your Majesty's health."

Ning Shu: Fuuuuck...

Live together!?

Ning Shu said coldly, "We do not need Phoenix Empress to personally look after us. We understand our own body well."

"Your Majesty, you don't understand." Liu Changqing shook his head.

"We have said that we don't need you to look after us. If you really have so much time, go discipline your own daughter. Look at everything she'd done! We can't even be bothered to list it all out!" said Ning Shu coldly.

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Chapter 1100: What Do You Think?

Liu Changqing pressed his lips together. A trace of hurt flashed across his face, then he finally asked, "Your Majesty, why are you always so unsatisfied with Xue er?"

Unsatisfied? If Mu Xue had still be the original Mu Xue, Ning Shu would've just handed the throne over to her, but it was a man that was currently inside Mu Xue's body, and that man even seemed to be a task-taker that had used such a malicious curse on her. Even if she had to use up every last ounce of energy in her, she had to drag someone else to die with her to serve as a cushion.

The current situation was just like that of the original storyline. She, just like Mu Nichang, was going to drag Mu Xue down from the position of heir apparent. Even if she couldn't succeed, she wasn't going to allow Mu Xue to become emperor that easily.

"This is simply deep hatred from loving too deeply. It's not that we're unsatisfied, but that the things she does always disappoint us. Mu Yao had died because of her, yet she doesn't feel the slightest bit of regret and actually threatened us to dispose of her. Is that an attitude of regret and desire to change? She's simply trying to threaten us!" said Ning Shu coldly.

"Don't bother us anymore, and we also don't need you to look after us." Ning Shu waved dismissively. "We have government matters to deal with. The inner palace is not to be involved with politics. Could it be that Phoenix Empress wishes to watch from the side as we deal with government matters?"

Liu Changqing pressed his lips together, then said, "Changqing had overstepped."

Liu Changqing saluted Ning Shu, then turned and left. The figure of his back seemed very sorrowful, but Ning Shu didn't care at all.

"Help us to the bed," said Ning Shu to Court Lady Qiu. As she sat on the chair, she couldn't feel her lower body at all. It seemed to have gone numb. It didn't seem like blood was even flowing through her legs.

Ning Shu inwardly chanted the heart-clearing chant and somehow managed to drift off to sleep. When she woke up, Court Lady Qiu was standing by the bed holding a cup of tea. She said, "Your Majesty, there's a bad rumor going around right now."

Ning Shu's heart was completely calm. She took a sip of tea. "What happened?"

"There are rumors going around that Your Majesty's health is failing, that soon... the emperor will die." Court Lady Qiu knelt on the ground. "Your Majesty, this servant swears that she didn't tell anyone and has also repeatedly warned the other servants. This servant doesn't know how it ended up getting out."

Ning Shu didn't mind it much. There existed no wind-proof wall in the world. She had just been trying to keep it secret for as long as possible. She was never planning to try and keep it secret forever.

She forced her nearly done for body to court. In the end, the moment her butt touched the dragon throne, a bunch of ministers brought up a memorial and started clamoring for Ning Shu to properly rest and recover. After a good while, they finally told Ning Shu to lift the crown prince's house arrest punishment and have the crown prince monitor the nation.

From start to finish, Ning Shu's expression: _

The entire situation with her getting poisoned and her body failing was probably Mu Xue's doing. It had been barely half a month since she was placed under house arrest, yet she was already so bored that she wanted to stir up more excitement. Mu Xue had probably been the one that spread these rumors.

"Our body is perfectly fine. Once we actually die, we'll let her come out to monitor this nation, to be the emperor," spat Ning Shu, then she turned and left.

Ning Shu felt that she didn't have much longer to live. If nothing unexpected occurred, she'd definitely fart her last within ten days. It was probably her end-of-life rally right now. Her body didn't feel as much pain anymore and her focus was also pretty good.

She increased the pace at which she taught Mu Qing at night. Ning Shu was just shoving everything contained in the original host's brain at Mu Qing. After for whether Mu Qing could understand it? It had nothing to do with her.

Mu Qing was much calmer now when she saw Ning Shu. At the very last, she had restrained her hatred and fury. She wouldn't call Ning Shu 'Imperial Mother' and only called her 'Your Majesty.'

"You're really about to die?" asked Mu Qing.

Ning Shu glanced at Mu Qing, then puked a mouthful of black blood into the spittoon. She wiped her mouth, then said, "How long do you think I'll be able to live like this?"

Mu Qing: ...

Frick. This was so scary. How can she say that she's about to die so lightly?

Damned old witch.

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?Chapter 1101: Shouldn't Abandon Yourself to Despair

Mu Qing looked at Ning Shu with a conflicted expression. "Aren't you the emperor? Why aren't you calling for imperial physicians and having them take a look at you?"

"Even if they do, it's a waste of effort. They won't be able to save me anyways, so no point wasting that time," answered Ning Shu, unconcerned. "We've already finished drafting the change of inheritance decree."

Ning Shu handed Mu Qing a military seal. "This is the military seal to mobilize Daylily City's imperial guards. We'll come up with some way to deal with the crown prince, but if we don't make it in time, you'll have to battle with her. If you can't win against her and end up dying, then you frickin' deserved it."

Mu Qing: ...

The most malicious existence was a woman's heart.

This old witch dragged her into this, then died to rid herself of this problem and push it onto her? How can you troll someone like this?

"We will be introducing you to everyone tomorrow. From now on, you're the fifth prince, Mu Qing." Ning Shu paused for a moment to gasp for breath, then said, "Prepare properly."

Mu Qing pressed her lips together. "Even if you do this, I'll still hate you."

"What does whether or not you hate us have anything to do with us? Whatever makes you happy." Ning Shu didn't mind at all.

Mu Qing seriously felt helpless. How could such a person exist in this world?

The next day, Mu Qing support Ning Shu as she headed to court. Mu Qing was now dressed in luxurious clothing that made her possess much stronger of an imposing aura and also look much prettier.

The emperor had suddenly brought a woman here, so all the ministers were confused and scrutinized Mu Qing curiously.

Ning Shu directly said, "This is the fifth prince Mu Qing. She grew up in the cold palace. We're now adding her name into the imperial clan record."

All the ministers knelt down and said congratulations. As for what they were actually thinking, who knew?

In any case, Mu Qing was now in the sights of all the ministers.

After announcing Mu Qing's identity, everything still had to be done according to the customs. Ning Shu didn't arrange for Mu Qing to live in a luxurious palace and instead, found a palace next to the cold palace for her to stay in for now. Once the new prince's residence was built, she'd move out to live in that residence.

This attitude made it so that people couldn't really tell whether or not Ning Shu actually liked Mu Qing. It was almost as if she didn't care about this new fifth prince at all.

Ning Shu handed all the power she had on hand to Mu Qing. If Mu Qing still couldn't beat Mu Xue with this, then there was nothing she could do. She didn't have much hope of completing this task in the first place.

The rumors going around were getting worse, they all said that the emperor didn't have much longer to live. The ministers repeatedly requested that Ning Shu allow Mu Xue out to monitor the nation.

Ning Shu was calm as Mount Tai. She paid no attention to these people. This daddy was about to die anyways, why the hell would this daddy be scared of you? If you wanted to admonish the emperor by committing suicide, that was even better. We can all just die together.

These ministers couldn't bear to kill themselves though. They were just trying to curry favor with Mu Xue, this future emperor, since Ning Shu seemed about to breathe her last.

"Can't you just have an imperial physician take a look at you?" Every time Mu Qing saw this old witch's more dead than alive appearance, she'd feel her hair rise on end. The sight of this old witch puking blood without even the slightest change in expression especially challenged her fragile sanity.

Ning Shu wiped the black blood at the corners of her lips with a handkerchief, then said lightly, "Once you ascend to the throne, deal with the people on this list accordingly."

Mu Qing curled her lips in disdain. "What makes you think I'll manage to sit on the throne? You sure look confident. You shouldn't forget that you still have a legitimate successor."

"Then give the military seal back to us?" Ning Shu glanced at Mu Qing. Mu Qing immediately said, "You're the emperor, how can the monarch of yesterday and tomorrow be so fickle? Don't you feel any shame taking back something you've already gifted out?"

"Humph. You're sure affected." Ning Shu rolled her eyes. "Who knows how much you desire it in the inside, yet you still insist on acting like this. Who are you acting for? Since you want to be the emperor, you should understand your duties."

Mu Qing: Damned old witch.

"Is there seriously no way to treat this illness of yours?" Mu Qing bit her lips, then said, "I don't see you taking any medicine or calling for an imperial physician. You shouldn't abandon yourself to despair like this."

Ning Shu was a bit speechless. If this could be cured, why the heck would she give up on treatment?

Ning Shu vomited another mouthful of black blood. The blood was starting to stink a little. Her insides were probably already starting to rot.

"You haven't met your eldest imperial sister yet right? We'll take you to see her," said Ning Shu. A plan was faintly forming.

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Chapter 1102: It's Just for Fun

Mu Qing almost jumped up. She couldn't stop herself from asking, "What are you planning now? You want me to go see the crown prince? Are you trying to get the crown prince to target me? I-I'm not going. I'm scared to face the crown prince."

"Prepare properly. We'll be going to the crown prince's residence in two days. You want to be emperor with these kinds of guts? How are you supposed to face the ministers in the future?" Ning Shu closed her eyes to chant the heart-clearing chant.

Mu Qing sighed, then turned around and stomped off angrily.

Court Lady Qiu's eyes were red as she helped wipe the sweat on Ning Shu's forehead. "Your Majesty..."

Ning Shu opened her eyes and said indifferently, "We don't have much longer. We'll tell Mu Qing to take good care of you."

Court Lady Qiu knelt on the ground and kowtowed as she said, "Your Majesty, allow this servant to go with you. That way this servant can continue to look after you down below."

"Don't be like this. We wish more than anyone to continue living. If you can live, then live. Don't die." This Court Lady Qiu was truly loyal to Mu Nichang, so she should arrange a good retirement for Court Lady Qiu.

"This servant is grateful for Your Majesty's grace." Court Lady Qiu wiped her tears, then stood back up.

Ning Shu ate a fasting pill to guarantee that her body had enough energy. It was fortunate that she always exchanged for basic life necessities before heading into a task, otherwise she wouldn't have lasted for this long.

Ning Shu lay down on the bed. These near-death days actually improved the quality of her sleep.

She didn't know how long she had slept, but the moment she opened her eyes, she saw Liu Changqing's beautiful face. The moment she moved, black blood flooded up her throat.

Since Liu Changqing was right next to her, she forced herself to swallow the blood back down, but blood still spilled out the corners of her lips.

When Liu Changqing saw the blood, he took out a neatly folded handkerchief to wipe Ning Shu's lips. His tone was mournful as he said, "Your Majesty, you've vomited blood."

Ning Shu: ...

Of course I know that I vomited blood.

Ning Shu struggled to sit up, then said, "It's just for fun."

Liu Changqing put away the bloody handkerchief. His tone was unreadable as he asked, "Mu Nichang, why do you insist on always being so obstinate?"

Ning Shu: Call me Your Majesty the emperor.

Liu Changqing took out a sandalwood box and opened it. There were several small medicinal pills inside that emitted an herbal fragrance.

Ning Shu sniffed, trying to figure out what kind of pill this was, but she could only smell it faintly. Her sense of smell had already been ruined.

This curse not only caused its victim to be in constant pain, as it spread, the victim would eventually lose all five senses. Ning Shu could only see about ten meters now and her nose could barely smell anything.

So there was no way for her to tell whether or not this pill was poison.

She looked at Liu Changqing guardedly. "We're busy with government matters, so Phoenix Empress, you should withdraw for now."

Liu Changqing looked at Ning Shu. "Your Majesty, please stop using the same excuse every time."

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Chapter 1103: You've Been Poisoned

Ning Shu didn't know what Liu Changqing had brought these pills over to do. Could it be that he wanted to poison her to death? But in her current state, feeding her poison was just a waste of money.

She didn't have much longer to live, but she still had one thing she needed to do, so she couldn't die right now.

"Court Lady Qiu, Court Lady Qiu!" Ning Shu called for Court Lady Qiu.

When Liu Changqing saw the guardedness on Ning Shu's face, he frowned slightly. His voice was cold as he said, "Your Majesty, Changqing had Court Lady Qiu prepare hot water so that you could wash up when you woke up."

Ning Shu became even more alarmed. She looked at Liu Changqing coldly as she said, "Phoenix Empress, what do you intend to do?"

Liu Changqing chuckled softly. It was Ning Shu's first time hearing him laugh. His laughter contained a trace of sorrow. "Nichang, I really hate you."

Ning Shu was expressionless. The one he hated was Mu Nichang, it had nothing to do with her.

However, the current Liu Changqing seemed a little abnormal. Ning Shu shrank slightly towards the corner of the bed as she asked mildly, "Phoenix Empress, what do you mean by this? You hate us?"

An elegant smile appeared on Liu Changqing's face. He took out a pill and lifted it to Ning Shu's lips. "Your Majesty, take the medicine."

No, no way! Ning Shu turned her head aside. Liu Changqing didn't get angry and just turned Ning Shu's head to face him again. "Your Majesty, this is an antidote pill. You've been poisoned."

Jesus. Ning Shu felt like her brain wasn't working anymore. She was poisoned!?

Wasn't she cursed?

Could it be that she had been cursed, then poisoned!?

This pair of father and daughter poisoned her on two separate occasions!?

Ning Shu: _

"We're poisoned? How could we be poisoned?" Ning Shu shook her head. "We won't take this pill."

Liu Changqing pressed his lips together, then he swallowed one of the pills before picking up another one and bringing it to Ning Shu's lips. "Nichang, take the pill. Once you do, your health will naturally recover."

"You poisoned us?" Ning Shu looked at Liu Changqing. She thought about things for a good while, but still couldn't figure out when he had poisoned her.

Could it be the nourishing soup? Ning Shu recalled that she had drank a mouthful of the soup. Although Liu Changqing had drank half the bowl, he had the antidote so it probably didn't affect him.

Liu Changqing didn't try to deny it and just said, "Your Majesty, take the pill, alright?"

Countless mud grass horses were racing through Ning Shu's heart. Could life be any more tragic?

However, whatever Liu Changqing poisoned her with, it was already cured. She had taken so many antidote pills after all.

"Why did you poison us? Because of the crown prince?" asked Ning Shu. This Liu Changqing had probably gone through a rebirth.

Liu Changqing held the pill as he said gently, "Your Majesty, take the pill alright? Then Changqing will tell you why."

Ning Shu swallowed the pill. Even if it was poison, it was fine since she had antidote pills.

"Phoenix Empress, pour us a cup of water." Ning Shu looked at Liu Changqing. "We're thirsty."

As Liu Changqing turned to pour her a cup of water, Ning Shu immediately stuffed an antidote pill in her mouth. Who knew if this stuff was an antidote or poison? She didn't trust Liu Changqing at all.

Liu Changqing raised the cup to Ning Shu's lips. "Your Majesty, please drink."

Ning Shu took a sip, but no more. She asked, "You can tell us when you poisoned us now, right? Why did you poison us?"

Liu Changqing lowered his eyes slightly and gazed at the white porcelain teacup in his hands as he said, "Your Majesty, Changqing had a long dream. Changqing dreamed that Your Majesty threw Changqing in the cold palace, that Your Majesty killed the crown prince."

Liu Changqing lifted his eyes to look towards Ning Shu. "Your Majesty, this dream was really realistic. When Changqing woke up, Changqing's heart was filled with hatred and resentment. During the time of greatest pain, Changqing poisoned Your Majesty."

Ning Shu: _

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Chapter 1104: Should Be More Swift and Decisive

"So you had wanted to get revenge on us. If that's the case, why are you giving us the antidote now?" Why was he being so indecisive? Since the Heavens had given him a chance at a second life, he should just either work hard to gain favor or work hard to live a good life. If he was going to get revenge, he should just get revenge.

Liu Changqing said mildly, "When I woke up, I was so filled with hate that I poisoned you. I wanted to see you slowly die, to see you die in torment."

"This poison slowly corrodes a person's spirit until they die from convulsions." Even though Liu Changqing was saying malicious things, his voice still remained very calm and elegant.

Ning Shu's expression didn't change. "When did you poison us?"

"From when you first started taking those immortality pills," said Liu Changqing mildly.

That was before she had even entered this world. No wonder this body had been in such terrible conditions. When she took her own pulse, all she got was that this body was weak. She had attributed it to taking too many immortality pills, but it turns out that there was extra stuff in the pills.

Ning Shu pressed her lips together. This eliminates the possibility that Liu Changqing was a task-taker, so then the task-taker was probably the person inside Mu Xue's body.

Before, Ning Shu had been wondering how she had ended up in contact with the curse medium, but now that she thought about it, Mu Xue had gifted her a box of pills. She had probably gotten cursed at that time.

They had poisoned her at the same time without prior consultation and even used the same medium, the immortality pills.

Ning Shu lit a candle for herself. She had seriously suffered all this pain on Mu Nichang's behalf.

"So what are you giving us the antidote now for?" asked Ning Shu. It seemed like a rather unnecessary move.

Liu Changqing's brows furrowed. "Your Majesty, the one that Changqing hates right now is not you, but Changqing himself. Changqing hates himself for not being ruthless enough, and Changqing hated you for hurting Changqing and the crown prince this way, but in the end, Changqing found that this was simply self-torment."

Ning Shu: ...

Frick, so why did he insist on using a slow-acting poison? If he just used an intense one, the person would be dead as a doorknob already and he wouldn't have ended up having time to regret.

When a person felt hatred, they'd lose all rationality and itch to just destroy the world. However, once time passed, this hatred would also gradually fade.

So now Liu Changqing was regretting things and took out the antidote to save her? But in a few days, she'll still be dead as a doorknob.

"Your Majesty, hot water's already been prepared." Court Lady Qiu walked in and saluted Ning Shu, then saluted Liu Changqing.

Liu Changqing lowered his eyes. Ning Shu said mildly, "Phoenix Empress, you should head back. For the time being, stay in Phoenix Perch Palace and don't come out. Reflect properly."

"Liu Changqing understands." Liu Changqing got up, then turned and left. As the jade pendant and spotted bamboo flute knocked against each other, they emitted a unique sound.

What could Ning Shu say? Feelings were simply things that couldn't be cut and only got messier.

"Where did you go? Are you not aware of our situation?" said Ning Shu. "When did the phoenix empress get here?"

Court Lady Qiu immediately knelt down to accept her punishment. "The phoenix empress had arrived not long after Your Majesty fell asleep. The phoenix empress had this servant go prepare water, but this servant encountered some issues and was delayed.

Ning Shu rubbed her forehead. Liu Changqing had purposefully gotten Court Lady Qiu out of here.

Ning Shu directly gave an imperial decree to have Liu Changqing placed under house arrest for a month to prevent him from stirring up any more trouble.

Liu Changqing didn't say anything when he received this decree. He had already been prepared for the consequences when he made this confession. At worst he'd just be thrown in the cold palace like he had been in the dream, and right now it was only house arrest.

The atmosphere was conspicuously strange since the phoenix empress and the crown prince were under house arrest. Ministers submitted petitions non-stop to request for Ning Shu to release the crown prince and the phoenix empress from house arrest.

Ning Shu simply tossed these memorials to the side without even bothering to read them. They could do whatever they liked. These things couldn't threaten her.

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Chapter 1105: Your Sister is a Very Generous Person

After Ning Shu placed the phoenix empress under house arrest in Phoenix Perch Palace, she never went to visit him again in order to avoid the awkwardness.

The fact that Liu Changqing had taken out the antidote in the end showed that he still had feelings for Mu Nichang after all. He was probably really conflicted over those feelings of love and hate right now.

He totally could've just not taken out the antidote, but he still did at the end. Moreover, not only did he take out the antidote, instead of just secretly giving it to her, he confessed everything that he did. It was kind of like he was letting everything crash since things were already broken.

Liu Changqing obediently stayed in Phoenix Perch Palace without making any more of a ruckus. He did whatever he was supposed to very calmly. No matter how you looked at him, it was like his heart had already turned to ashes.

Ning Shu dragged her body that was stiff like it was already a corpse to court. The ministers once again submitted a memorial requesting that the crown prince be released.

Ning Shu glanced at Mu Qing who was working hard to decrease her sense of presence, then said, "Speaking of which, it really has been a while since we've seen the crown prince."

Ever since Mu Qing was publicly revealed as the fifth prince, she had obtained the right to attend court. When she saw that Ning Shu's gaze was on her, she immediately straightened up her back. All the hair on her back was standing up on end.

All she knew was that this old witch was always trying to push her into a trap. After living in the cold palace for so many years, her principle was to be low-key and put her own safety before matters of principle. So she never said a word during court.

"Come with us to see the crown prince." Ning Shu stood up, enduring the pain. She dragged her body that threatened to fall apart and slowly walked down the stairs.

When the ministers saw that Ning Shu wanted to visit the crown prince's residence, they were a bit taken aback, but they all followed her over.

Ning Shu sat in a sedan chair. She looked at Mu Qing who was walking behind her and said, "Fifth, come over here."

Mu Qing glanced at Ning Shu only to find that the other party was currently looking at her with a doting expression. Her gaze was gentle and indulgent. The sight almost made Mu Qing puke blood. When she heard the second prince and the third prince's cold humphs, she silently cursed the old witch again.

Mu Qing slowly walked to the palanquin, then Ning Shu said, "Fifth, you've never seen your Eldest Imperial Sister, right?"

"I haven't," replied Mu Qing in a low voice.

"Imperial Mother will take you to see your eldest imperial sister right now." Ning Shu consoled Mu Qing, "Your eldest imperial sister is a very generous person."

Mu Qing: ...

She didn't want to go at all. This old witch was pretty much sending her towards a pointed blade. She knew exactly how the fourth prince died. She had died at the hands of the crown prince.

A generous person!?

"Haha..." Mu Qing forced out a couple dry laughs.

The large procession led by Ning Shu arrived at the crown prince's residence. Court Lady Qiu walked up to knock on the door.

Mu Xue soon came out to welcome Ning Shu. She was dressed in black and her hair was combed into a ponytail. As she knelt on the floor, one could barely tell if she was a man or a woman.

"This subject daughter respectfully welcomes Imperial Mother." Mu Xue saluted Ning Shu.

Ning Shu nodded, then sized up the situation in the residence. The crown prince's soul had changed, so her living habits had changed as well. Some flower bonsais were replaced with pine bonsais and the pearl curtains in the pavilions had also been taken down. The style became a lot more practical.

"We came to visit you." Supported by Court Lady Qiu, Ning Shu walked into the main hall and sat down. She asked, "How has your reflection gone?"

Mu Xue's expression was filled with sincere regret and she looked towards Ning Shu with filial piety as she said, "This subject daughter has wronged."

Ning Shu ignored Mu Xue's expression of filial piety and pushed Mu Qing who was standing next to her. Mu Qing was startled and staggered, almost falling to the ground.

"Crown Prince, this is the fifth, Mu Qing. She used to live in the cold palace. We saw that she was living quite spectacularly, so we had her start living with us." Ning Shu introduced Mu Qing to Mu Xue.

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Chapter 1106: A Dragon Robe

Mu Qing's face contorted, then she hastily greeted Mu Xue. "Mu Qing greets Your Highness Crown Prince."

Mu Xue's gaze swept across Mu Qing's face. Her brows furrowed slightly, but that expression soon disappeared. She greeted Mu Qing as well, and said, "Fifth Imperial Sister, hello."

Mu Qing's facial muscles were a little stiff and contorted a little bit. She withdrew back to Ning Shu's side. Having grown up in the cold palace, she was a very good at reading expressions and could sharply sense when others harbored malicious intentions. She could sense the coldness and hint of ridicule in this crown prince's eyes.

Ning Shu smiled gently as she said, "This child is very clever and obedient, we quite like her."

Mu Qing: Damned old witch...

"Ever since Mu Yao, that child left, there was no one else for us to talk to. Fortunately there's this child to talk with us now." Ning Shu looked towards Mu Qing with a kindly gaze.

Please stop talking!

Mu Qing's eyelids were twitching like crazy as she lowered her head in a bashful manner.

Mu Xue narrowed her eyes. First it was Mu Yao, now someone like Mu Qing had appeared. Mu Xue inwardly gave a cold laugh.

Ning Shu stood up. "We just came to visit you. We thought that you finally reflected on your wrongs, so we were planning to release you from house arrest, but from the looks of things now, your house arrest should continue. You don't seem to have regretted things at all."

Mu Xue's brows were tightly furrowed. She knelt on the ground as she said, "Imperial Mother, this subject daughter really understands that she has wronged. This subject daughter is truly sorry about what happened with Fourth Imperial Sister. This subject daughter had never wanted to hurt Fourth Imperial Sister!"

Ning Shu said coldly, "You're not being honest. We've asked you before why you went to Mu Yao's residence, but you didn't answer us. What exactly made you go against the imperial decree to go to Fourth's residence? We want to hear the reason."

Mu Xue's eyes flashed, causing her eyes to seem conspicuously darker. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "This subject daughter heard that in Fourth Imperial Sister's residence, there was... a dragon robe."

"Audacious!" Ning Shu picked up a teacup and threw it towards Mu Xue's head. Mu Xue moved slightly and dodged the teacup. The teacup fell to the ground and shattered, causing tea to spill all over the ground. Steam rose up from the heat.

Ning Shu: Fudge, she actually dared to dodge!

"Imperial Mother, this subject daughter only heard about it, so this subject daughter had wanted to visit Fourth Imperial Sister's residence to make sure." As Mu Xue brought this up, her heart was filled with regret. She really shouldn't have gone to the Fourth Prince's residence.

Back then she had been sure that there was a dragon robe in the Fourth Prince's residence. It was due to a sort of feeling like 'the daughter you love the most has secretly hidden a dragon robe in her residence. She looks simple and guileless, but she's also someone filled with schemes.'

She went to the fourth prince's residence, but unexpectedly something like that had happened. It caught her completely unprepared.

"Then did you find the dragon robe?" Ning Shu looked towards Mu Xue coldly.

Mu Xue pressed her lips together, then shook her head. "After that incident occurred, this subject daughter didn't look for the dragon robe."

"You didn't tell us about something like this and tried to deal with it secretly yourself? What exactly were you trying to achieve? Crown Prince, as the monarch of the nation, a lot of people keep an eye on your every move. You rashly disobeyed the imperial decree for such a groundless rumor? It seems like you still need to continue to reflect under house arrest."

"Your Majesty, please quell your anger." All the ministers in the courtyard knelt down. All of them pled for leniency for Mu Xue. "Your Majesty, the crown prince was simply too driven to find out the truth, that's why she did something so impulsive."

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Chapter 1107: Warm Caring Mother

Ning Shu was very irritated with these ministers. They accepted the official's salary but still wanted to make use of their numbers to control her, this emperor. Every single one of them wanted to go down in history, so why didn't they just commit suicide by ramming their head against the wall and admonish the emperor with their deaths? What use was kneeling all the time?

"The crown prince's prestige in court is quite high, so many people are pleading for leniency on your behalf." Ning Shu tugged at the corners of her lips. "How impressive, you're all uniting against us for personal interest."

Ning Shu pointed at the ministers. "You, you, and you. What you mean is that our imperial decree can be casually disobeyed? That it can be disobeyed in a moment of rashness? That just because it wasn't intended, it's okay to disobey our imperial decree?"

Every single one of them was trying to blur the main point.

"These subjects don't dare." The ministers that were kneeling on the ground kowtowed. None of them dared to say anything anymore.

Mu Xue furrowed her handsome brows, then glanced at Ning Shu. She was confused what she had come for today.

"Imperial Mother, it was this subject daughter's fault. This subject daughter had been rash." Mu Xue kowtowed, then said, "This subject daughter will definitely reflect properly."

Ning Shu scoffed, then said coldly, "The crown prince truly loves the ministers like they're your own children. We only berated these ministers a little, and now you've immediately taken all the wrongs upon yourself. Yet you were actually able to be so ruthless towards your own sister."

Mu Xue clenched her fist as a dark expression flashed across her face. She quickly glanced at Ning Shu, to find that Ning Shu's face was filled with loathing and ridicule.

Mu Xue's heart was filled with confusion. Why wasn't this woman dead yet? It didn't make sense.

"This subject daughter has wronged." Mu Xue didn't know what to say except this. No matter what she said, this emperor could always find fault with her words.

Ning Shu had spoken a lot, it was way past what her body could endure, so she had no choice but to sit down. Her body trembled slightly.

Mu Qing's gaze was complicated as she looked at Ning Shu. Most of the time this old witch looked more dead than alive, yet she was actually being so lively right now. She was probably forcing herself to appear this way.

Blood surged up in Ning Shu's throat. She glanced towards Court Lady Qiu and Court Lady Qiu immediately carried a cup of tea to her. She started gulping it down to swallow down the blood in her throat.

After finishing the cup of tea, she gave a cold humph. "If there's a next time, we'll remove you from the position of heir apparent. If you keep refusing to reflect and do not learn to be strict with yourself, even if it risks the stability of the nation, we'll still remove you from that status."

"Fifth, let's go." Ning Shu spoke towards Mu Qing who was pretending to be a pillar.

Mu Qing instantly felt the crown prince's dark gaze sweep over her face.

What exactly was this old witch trying to do?

Was she purposely trying to pit her against the crown prince?

Mu Qing felt that she didn't have the power to face off against the crown prince. Although she had the power that the old witch gave her, she didn't have as much prestige as the crown prince did in court.

It was obvious based on what happened just now. As soon as something happened to the crown prince, over half the ministers would kneel down to plead for leniency for the crown prince.

Mu Qing silently estimated her chances of success fighting against the crown prince. Right now the old witch was still purposefully increasing how much Mu Xue hated her. Mu Qing felt that the old witch was trying to get her killed.

Of course it was good if she could become emperor, but if she couldn't, then she'd simply become a whetstone for someone else. This old witch was sure evil, she was purposefully pitting them against each other.

"Why are you still standing there for? Let's go." Although Ning Shu was urging Mu Qing, her tone contained obvious doting affection. When Mu Qing heard, her legs went weak.

Her usual interactions with this old witch were nothing like this. This old witch was extremely heartless so her current act of being a warm caring mother was clearly based on sinister motives.

Mu Xue was still kneeling on the ground. When she saw Ning Shu's attitude towards the fifth prince, her brows furrowed. She seriously couldn't understand. Why did Mu Nichang dislike Mu Xue so much? They were both her children, so why was there such disparity?

Mu Qing quickly walked to Ning Shu's side and stood behind her, trying to decrease her sense of presence.

When Ning Shu saw how timid she looked, she rolled her eyes. Even if Mu Qing didn't want to confront Mu Xue, she still had to.

Mu Qing sensed Ning Shu's malicious gaze and felt the urge to puke blood. This old witch must hate her. It was probably revenge for how rude she had been towards her back then.

#comment: Ah, this title reminds me of that arc with the little bun. Oh how Ning Shu has changed since then...

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Chapter 1108: Dispose of the Crown Prince!

When Ning Shu got to the door, she seemed to recall something, so she said to Mu Qing, "You head out first, we need to talk to the crown prince about something."

Mu Qing immediately went outside and closed the door behind her.

Now, the only ones left in the room were Ning Shu and Mu Qing. Ning Shu sighed, then said to Mu Xue who was still kneeling on the ground, "You may rise."

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Chapter 1109: You Failed the Task This Time

Mu Xue was dragging a corpse, and with so many people surrounding her, escaping was nearly impossible. In the end, she was arrested by the imperial guards.

Mu Nichang's hand was still tightly grabbing onto Mu Xue. The corpse was already turning cold, but her grip hadn't loosened in the slightest.

The guards spent a long time trying to peel off her hand, but still couldn't.

In the ancient era, people tended to be superstitious. They all said that the emperor's departed spirit was haunting Mu Xue for vengeance, that was why her hand continued to keep a death grip on the crown prince.

In the end, it took a great deal of effort to finally separate the two. Mu Nichang's hand was already fixed in the shape, her fingers could no longer be closed nor straightened. Her state looked very tragic.

Meanwhile, there were several bruised prints on Mu Xue's wrist left by Mu Nichang's grip. How much hatred must Mu Nichang have had for her dying grip to have such strength?

Mu Xue was thrown into the imperial prison and Mu Qing took out the inheritance decree. After having the emperor buried, she ascended to the throne as quickly as possible.

However, Mu Qing's position on the throne wasn't stable. The ministers refused to accept Mu Qing's right to govern, especially since her status was very low. She was a child of the cold palace and her father was a consort that had been thrown into the cold palace.

Mu Qing followed the list of names that Ning Shu had given her before and first captured a large group of the ministers to punish as an example to the others.

To prevent any mishaps, Mu Qing wanted to directly bestow a death punishment to Mu Xue who was currently in the imperial prison. She didn't dare to be careless around someone that the old witch had used her own life to beat. Mu Qing felt that the old witch knew that she didn't have long to live, so she decided to frame Mu Xue with her own death.

That was why Mu Xue had to die.

Furthermore, rumors were now spreading that she wasn't the deceased emperor's daughter. This sort of rumor was very bad for her since she had just ascended to the throne.

Especially since this rumor was very fleshed out. It said that she was the illicit child of an affair between her father and a court lady.

She didn't have the bloodline of the emperor. That meant that Mu Xue had the right to succeed to the throne.

Mu Qing knew that since she had already gone this far, there was no longer any paths of retreat. It was all because of the old witch. The witch must be really happy right now, this was probably exactly the outcome that she had wanted.

To strengthen her status, and to make sure that the ministers stopped thinking about Mu Xue, this heir apparent, Mu Qing publicly heard Mu Xue's case. She had Mu Xue's crimes of killing her sister and her mother written in large characters and spread throughout the entire nation. She wanted the ministers and the public to see if someone like this could become emperor.

How could someone this heartless possibly have the right to become emperor?

Mu Xue simply looked at Mu Qing coldly. She said with a scoff, "You're simply a lowly imposer. If I'm not worthy of being emperor, could it be that you're worthy? You're nothing but the child of a lowly court lady. How can you possibly be mentioned on equal terms with me?"

Mu Qing also had her doubts about whether or not she was actually that old witch's child, but she didn't let anything show on her face and said mildly, "We are the decreased emperor's child. How could the great matters of a nation be trifled with? How could Imperial Mother possibly make such a rash decision? Imperial Mother had passed the inheritance to us, so we must be the Mu family's child. On the contrary, you had actually committed such a deranged act due to fear that Imperial Mother would dispose of your status."

In the end, Mu Xue was beheaded. It wasn't that Mu Xue didn't want to make one last struggle, but that she really didn't have as many resources in her hand as Mu Qing. Mu Nichang had given Mu Qing all of her military seals.

To force the regime to change hands required power, and other than the position of heir apparent, she had no other advantage. The victor became king and the loser became the bandit. Even if Mu Qing didn't have Mu Nichang's bloodline, the person sitting on the throne was Mu Qing.

After Mu Xue died, Mu Qing held a large funeral for her. Her behavior was that of a just emperor that complied with the standards.

When Mu Xue died, Liu Changqing also committed suicide in Phoenix Perch Palace, so Mu Qing had no choice but to hold another large funeral. She had prepared three consecutive funerals in a single month.

...

When Zhang Jiasen got back to the system space, the system said in its cold mechanical voice, "You failed the task this time."

Zhang Jiasen rubbed his forehead, then said mildly, "I'm not really used to using a woman's body. I'm suspicious of Mu Nichang's identity."

"She's a tasktaker," said the system coldly.

Zhang Jiasen pressed his lips together, then asked, "Can you find out who it is?"

"All the assistant systems are independent and cannot investigate another task-taker's information." The system's voice was cold and mechanical.

Zhang Jiasen couldn't shake off the feeling that this tasktaker was a bit familiar. Every single move of hers was familiar. If his guess wasn't wrong, it was probably 'Miao Miaomiao'.

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Chapter 1110: Like Forging Iron

"That tasktaker committed suicide, so does her task also count as a failure?" asked Zhang Jiasen.

"Not necessarily," replied the system.

Zhang Jiasen sighed. The only reason he didn't die this time was because he had obtained a treasure previously. However, this treasurer had already disappeared after blocking the power that had tried to eliminate him.

The scene of Mu Nichang committing suicide was still vivid in his mind. The hand that had gripped his was deathly pale and all the veins on it protruded horrifically. It didn't even seemed like a human hand anymore, it was too crazy.

That person should have died ages ago. However, after being cursed, she was still able to go on for such a long time, enduring the pain from the curse. Zhang Jiasen suddenly started laughing.

He had lost to the same person two times in a row. He had a feeling that he'd still be encountering this person again in the future. There was no way the hatred from these two incidents would disappear.

After all, enemies tend to walk on a narrow road.

Zhang Jiasen softly murmured Miao Miaomiao's name. His voice was extremely eerie.

...

When Ning Shu got back to the system space, the first thing she did was take a good hard nap. She had never gotten this tired out in a world before. Even after leaving Mu Nichang's body, she still seemed to feel the pain.

She didn't even dare to recall that pain. Still, she was pretty proud of herself, she had actually been able to endure that torment.

After sleeping a good while, when she woke up, she stretched, then glanced down to find that her soul was actually much tougher than before. The texture also looked much denser.

Ning Shu: _

Does this count as compensation for that pain?

...

"2333, what's going on? I feel like my soul's much stronger than before." Ning Shu was a little surprised.

2333 said, "It's like forging iron. After being molded by a painful experience, if you're able to endure it, you naturally be honored with a new life. If you can't hold out though, your soul will fall apart. Some people are strong, some people are weak. That's how things are."

"So congratulations! With your idiotic resolution, you managed to make your soul much stronger," said 2333 happily. "The stronger your soul, the less you'll be influenced by the entrustor's emotions."

Ning Shu nodded. It counted as a harvest. The task this time was seriously unbelievable. She had even wasted thirty-five merit points to exchange for a protective talisman.

Her heart was bleeding. Ning Shu felt that her heart hurt even more than her body did from the curse.

Merit points were the hardest to obtain. After all those tasks, she still only had that bit of merit points. She never thought that she'd use them up in this sort of situation.

She had freaking committed suicide, oh my God!

Ning Shu said listlessly, "Let's check how many points we got this time."

She didn't have much hope for this task. She didn't even complete the task, so how many points could she possibly get? She only wanted to see how many points she had, in order to see if she could exchange for a halo that could resist curses.

She never wanted to suffer that pain again. Just recalling it made her heart chill.

She had better not find out who the tasktaker in Mu Xue's body was, otherwise she'd kill him.

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Chapter 1111: Ning Shu Facepalmed.

2333 got out the stats panel, and said, "Your task this time was pretty much an empty trip."

Ning Shu didn't have much hope in the first place. She had seriously suffered a loss in this world.

Ning Shu looked towards the stats panel.

Number: 2333

Name: Ning Shu (Primary Task-Taker)

Age: 27

Experience: 1550000 (1000000)

Soul: 300

Life: 71

Intelligence: 170

Charm: 3

Luck: 44

Mental Strength: 120

Martial Arts: 112

Faith: 29 (20)

Aptitude: 39

Merit: 1 (5)

Abilities: Five Rings Shooting Skill, Trashy Combat Skill, Trashy Beginner of Unsurpassable Martial Arts, Rudimentary Business Administration Knowledge

Acquired Titles: Goddess of War, Altruistic Ancestor

Halos: Benevolent Mother of the World (Empress's blessing), Model Worker Sis (Chen Xi's blessing), Chief Halo (Cao's blessing), Lifelong Friend (Miao Miaomiao's blessing)

Fulfilled Mu Nichang's wish: Choose a different successor.

Task Completion Degree: 60%

Gained 1000000 experience points.

Gained 1 attribute point.

Gained 20 faith points.

Gained 5 merit points.

Ning Shu saw that there were one million experience points, and one attribute point. One, one...

Ning Shu was still rather pleasantly surprised though. This task was actually rated as sixty percent complete. That meant that this task didn't count as a failure and her protective talisman was still intact.

The only reason Ning Shu had been able to commit suicide so calmly was because of that talisman's existence, it gave her an extra life.

Ning Shu asked 2333, "Wasn't this task a fail?"

"Mu Nichang probably took pity on you and give you a pass. Moreover, she doesn't seem to want to counterattack again. She's chosen to have a fresh start and went to reincarnate," explained 2333.

Ning Shu nodded. As expected, it was best to persist with everything no matter the outcome. If she had listened to 2333's suggestion and committed suicide at the start, then this task would have been a certain fail.

"Mu Nichang's not happy with the fact that you gave the throne to Mu Qing. Mu Qing isn't Mu Nichang's child! How could Mu Nichang not be clear whether or not she had given birth to this child?" said 2333 in an annoyed tone. "What were you thinking?"

Ning Shu: The frick!?

Fuuuck, what was going on? The phoenix empress had told her that Mu Qing was the child of a consort that had been thrown in the cold palace, so she assumed that Mu Qing was Mu Nichang's kid.

Ning Shu facepalmed.

Fortunately, in the end it was a woman that ascended to the throne in this nation of woman.

Ning Shu planned to allocate the attribute points. When she saw the one attribute point... One point, my god.

Ning Shu listlessly added the one attribute point to charm.

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Chapter 1112: Shopping With a Purpose

Number: 2333

Name: Ning Shu (Primary Task-Taker)

Age: 27

Experience: 1650000

Soul: 300

Life: 71

Intelligence: 170

Charm: 3 (1)

Luck: 44

Mental Strength: 120

Martial Arts: 112

Faith: 49

Aptitude: 39

Merit: 6

Abilities: Five Rings Shooting Skill, Trashy Combat Skill, Trashy Beginner of Unsurpassable Martial Arts, Rudimentary Business Administration Knowledge

Acquired Titles: Goddess of War, Altruistic Ancestor

Halos: Benevolent Mother of the World (Empress's blessing), Model Worker Sis (Chen Xi's blessing), Chief Halo (Cao's blessing), Lifelong Friend (Miao Miaomiao's blessing)

2333:"..."

After allocating the attributes point, Ning Shu gracefully spun in a circle. She asked 2333, "I've added a charm point. Have I become prettier?"

2333: "..."

System news: [2333 does not wish to talk with you anymore and throws you poop.]

Ning Shu curled her lips in disdain, then opened the system marketplace. She wanted to see if there was something that could resist curses. That way, even if she encountered this sort of situation again, she wouldn't have to be so passive.

After browsing for a while, Ning Shu found the curse that 'Mu Xue' had used on her. It was pretty expensive, it costed five hundred thousand points. That person had spent five hundred thousand points to buy a one-time use item, he was definitely rich.

Ning Shu looked around and found a faith halo. It could resist curses and spiritual attacks.

However, normal points couldn't exchange for this faith halo, it required faith points. It seems that everything good couldn't be exchanged with normal points.

The faith halo required forty faith points and she only had forty-nine faith points in total.

Ning Shu was a little bit conflicted over whether or not to exchange for it. She asked 2333, "Is it worth it to spend forty faith points on this halo?"

2333 was silent for a moment. "Faith points are really precious, it's power generated from a person's pure faith. A lot of mid-level tasktakers don't even have faith points."

Ning Shu frowned. So 2333 was saying that it wasn't worth it?

"Why don't you try checking the fabricated space? Do some comparison shopping and see if there's any that are cheaper," suggested 2333. "The fabricated space has a lot of things."

Ning Shu considered it, then closed the system marketplace and walked over to the fabricated space passageway. After a bout of dizziness, she appeared in the fabricated space.

This time, she wasn't wandering around blindly, she was going around with a motive. She went into stores to look around. There was a virtual panel inside each store that had information about the store's products, price, and exchange method.

Ning Shu scrolled down on the panel with her finger and saw the faith halo. The price was only one point cheaper than the price of the system marketplace.

When the shopkeeper saw that Ning Shu was staring at the faith halo, he said with a smile, "Young lady, you've taken a liking to this halo? This halo can resist all curses. It's very strong."

Ning Shu said with a smile, "It's just too expensive, and it even requires faith points."

"But it's useful." When the shopkeeper saw that Ning Shu really did want it, he hastily started promoting it. "If you buy this faith halo, I'll gift you a set of prayer beads." As the shopkeeper spoke, he took out prayer beads from a box. These prayer beads were made from glistening pearls.

Ning Shu took the prayer beads and immediately felt a cool energy seep into her soul. Her mind seemed to clear and all the negative emotions in her heart were slowly disappearing.

This thing was pretty good. Ning Shu's expression didn't change, but she silently asked 2333, "What are these prayer beads? They seem pretty good."

"They're okay. They can eliminate some negative emotions, but that's all that they can do," replied 2333.

Ning Shu return the prayer beads to the shopkeeper and shook her head. "I only have thirty-five faith points. Will that do for the faith halo?"

Ning Shu could tell from the shopkeeper's attitude that faith points were very precious.

The shopkeeper looked conflicted, and in the end he shook his head. Ning Shu wasn't very disappointed, she planned to take a look at the other shops.

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Chapter 1113: Making Tofu?

Ning Shu planned to go take a look at the other stores. If after looking around, she still couldn't get a good price, she might return to this store. After all, she really did like those prayer beads, they were able to calm a person's heart.

When the shopkeepers saw that Ning Shu was about to leave, he gritted his teeth, then said, "Alright, thirty-five faith points will do."

"And the prayer beads too," said Ning Shu happily.

The shopkeeper's facial muscles trembled. Ning Shu paid the thirty-five faith points. She still had fourteen faith points left. As expected, things were cheaper in the fabricated space.

Ning Shu put on the prayer beads and her heart immediately calmed. Moreover, the prayer beads were actually rather pretty, they were smooth and shone softly.

After leaving the shop, she went to the restaurant to order some food and satisfy her food cravings.

Ning Shu saw that everyone else were in groups of three or five while she was always here by herself. She didn't have any friends she could talk to. It felt like all the tasktakers she encountered were always her opponents.

Forget it, let's just forget about friends.

Rather than think about capturing a horse every day, it would be better to plant more seeds now. In the future there would be plenty of horses coming to eat the grass. Once she got stronger, she'll naturally encounter people who share the same interests.

After eating an entire table of food, she spent some time wandering around the city again. She hadn't noticed before that the fabricated space actually had casinos and arenas. A lot of tasktakers were participating in the gambling.

There was one tasktaker who had lost everything he had, and so he started betting his own soul points. In the end, he ended up losing everything except his soul origin. His soul was so thin that it looked like a bubble, like it would break from a single poke.

It'd probably be unbearable to enter an entrustor's body in that state.

It was only now that she realized, even after becoming a tasktaker and obtaining eternal life, humans were still humans. The inferior nature of humans was still deeply buried within the bones of tasktakers.

When the people in the casino saw Ning Shu looking around curiously, they sized up Ning Shu's soul. It was unusually strong, so they asked, "Young lady, do you want to try playing?"

Ning Shu hastily waved her hands dismissively. "I'm just looking around." After saying so, she left the casino. There was no way she would touch these kinds of things. How was she supposed to get strong if she couldn't even resist allure of these things?

After walking for a little while longer, Ning Shu returned to the system space. She first sat down on the carpet to cultivate for a while until she could no longer absorb the substance in the space.

Following that, she grabbed a book from the bookshelf. Her goal was to finish reading all the books on the bookshelf.

She couldn't feel the passage of time, so she didn't know how much time had passed. She kept flipping through the book, until she reached the last page. Finally, she closed the book and placed the book back on the bookshelf. Afterwards, she watered the bonsai a little, ran on the treadmill for a while, then fiddled with this and for a while.

She opened the system marketplace, exchanged for some basic survival necessities like fasting pills, water, medicine, antidotes pills, fake death drug, and some realgar powder.

Ning Shu found that the fake death drug was really useful.

After exchanging for all the basics, Ning Shu finally said, "Let's start the task."

"Alright!" replied 2333.

Ning Shu was dizzy for a moment, then she felt her soul enter another body. After she adapted to the body, she opened her eyes and lifted her head from between her arms. She shook out her stiff neck.

The original host was currently standing in front of the brick stove opening, working on building up the fire. She saw that there were flames licking at the bottom of the pot, but the flames were getting smaller. She glanced around, then grabbed a dry wooden block and stuffed it into the opening.

The surroundings were very dim. There was a kerosene lamp lit on the table. Ning Shu didn't even know what time it was.

The room was filled with the smell of beans and nearby there was a cloth for straining soy pulp. The pot contained milk-white soy milk that was currently bubbling noisily.

She was making tofu? Ning Shu was a little bit lost, so she hastily received the storyline.

The original host's name was Zhu Suniang. She was already married and the household basically relied on Zhu Suniang to make tofu. Her husband Zhu Yanqiu had gone to Shanghai to study.

Zhu Suniang was a woman with a hard life. She had been sold by her parents when she was eight to the local rich scholar family, the Zhu family. Based on the Zhu family's circumstances, they didn't need to raise a wife at all. They only did it because Zhu Yanqiu who was only four at the time had fallen sick and didn't seem to be getting better. The Zhu family only had this one child, so if this child died, it would crush their hearts.

Lord Zhu had been very old when he finally had a child. He only got this one son when he turned forty.

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Chapter 1114: Unpredictable Weather

Back then, they were just hoping to bring some good fortune and change the direction of Zhu Yanqiu's illness by shifting the bad luck onto someone else. So they came up with an idea of having a child bride.

It was right in the prime of the late Qing era, the Eight-Nation Alliance had already wiped out the Old Summer Palace and the military had set up an independent regime. There was social unrest and the citizens were struggling to survive. It was a terrible time. Zhu Suniang's parents had only sold Zhu Suniang to the Zhu family because they had no other choice. The Zhu family compared Zhu Suniang's birthdate characters to Zhu Yanqiu's and found that they were a good match, so they gave Zhu Suniang's parent's half a chain of copper.

From then on, Zhu Suniang belong to the Zhu family. Country folk usually didn't have much of a name. Zhu Suniang was the fourth in the family, so she was called Si Yatou (fourth girl). The Zhu family wasn't satisfied with this name, so Zhu Yanqiu's scholar dad gave the original host the name Suniang, and even allowed her to take on the Zhu family surname.

This way, she counted as part of the family and would be able to help share the burden of Zhu Yanqiu's bad luck.

Child brides didn't usually have much of a status in the family, and so Zhu Suniang's status was pretty much like that of the maids who looked after Zhu Yanqiu. She was pretty much like a chamber maid.

At eight years old, Zhu Suniang had come to terms with her fate. At the very least, she could eat her fill at the Zhu family.

Perhaps they had managed to bring some fortune, because Zhu Yanqiu's health gradually improved. Zhu Suniang then started looking after Zhu Yanqiu every day, helping him bath and feeding him, and she even had to play with him. It could be said that Zhu Suniang was both a wife and a mom.

Zhu Yanqiu inherited the good skin of the Zhu family. In his little Western-style suit and small leather shoes, every time he headed out, it was easy to tell that he was the young master of a wealthy family.

Peiping's unrest didn't really affect this Jiangnan countryside village. As the last emperor of late Qing abdicated, the feudal era finally ended and the currency in circulation changed from copper coins to Fatman coins and paper notes. Zhu Yanqiu and Zhu Suniang also gradually grew up.

When Zhu Yanqiu turned sixteen, he consummated marriage with Zhu Suniang.

However, the sky always held unpredictable weather. The Zhu family encountered a crisis and the businesses they owned directly closed down. Lord Zhu vomited blood, then fell ill. He was never able to get up again and, in the end, gave up and passed away.

All the valuables in the house were used to settle the debt. After burying Lord Zhu, they dismissed the household servants and the family of three moved out of the large residence to squeeze into a little house.

Zhu Yanqiu couldn't get used to this enormous disparity and felt completely lost. Finally, his feelings stabilized and he told Mother Zhu he wanted to go to Shanghai to study.

This was a time of colliding ideas, as old ideas collided with new concepts. Women were now able to enter the classroom, wearing improved cheongsams that revealed their slender arms. The new students learned Western-style ideology. Zhu Yanqiu wanted to revive the Zhu family through attending college.

Mother Zhu gave Zhu Yanqiu most of the money that the family still had so that he could go to Shanghai to attend college.

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Chapter 1115: Hero in a Headdress

Zhu Yanqiu picked up his leather suitcase, tucked away the money that Mother Zhu gave him, and stepped onto the steamship heading to Shanghai.

Not long after Zhu Yanqiu left, Zhu Suniang discovered that she had gotten pregnant. However, the current family situation was very bad, so she paid an apprentice fee to learn how to make tofu. While pregnant, she woke up early and went to bed every day very late to make tofu.

Making tofu was very hard work. You had to soak the beans, then grind them into paste using large millstones. After that, you had to filter the paste, cook it, add coagulant, then press it into shape. These were all done by Zhu Suniang. She barely had any time to rest each day.

She had to wake up before the sun even rose to start making tofu, then at early morning, she'd have to carry the tofu in buckets on a carrying pole while walking in the streets shouting in order to peddle her goods. After she finished selling all of it, she'd return home only to continue grinding the paste. Nine months later, Zhu Suniang gave birth to a son and finally allowed the Zhu family to have a successor.

Zhu Suniang worked hard to manage the household. Zhu Yanqiu also depended on the money Zhu Suniang earned from selling tofu to pay for his studies. Zhu Yanqiu was often sent letters home or sent telegrams to have Zhu Suniang send him money. The reason was always either to buy books or to buy pens.

Despite the Zhu family falling into dire straits, Zhu Yanqiu didn't suffer much. He still always got the best of everything. Even the socks he wore were the most fashionable Western nylon socks. Western products at that time were luxury goods.

Every time Zhu Yanqiu asked for money, Zhu Suniang would send it to him. The family simply lived frugally and tightened their waistbands more. They lived very hard lives, especially Zhu Suniang. After giving birth, five days later she was off the bed and back to work.

What Zhu Suniang didn't know was that Zhu Yanqiu now had a girlfriend. It was a student at his college. All the students in the college and accepted the modern ideologies and revered freedom in love. The men and women in college who shared similar ways of thinking easily got together.

It must be known that dating was a very high cost recreational activity. Hence Zhu Yanqiu had to often ask his family for money, and every time, Zhu Suniang just gritted her teeth and gave it to him.

Zhu Yanqiu naturally got together with his girlfriend Fang Feifei. On September 18 when Japan invaded Manchuria, this couple rushed to the battlefield without hesitation and became a legend. Zhu Yanqiu became a senior military officer and Fang Feifei became a battlefield reporter. People called her a hero in a headdress.

Meanwhile, Zhu Suniang died in sorrow. After so many years of hard work, her body could no longer take the strain, so she died before she reached the age of forty.

Even up to her death, she couldn't understand. Zhu Yanqiu said that he was a member of the cultural revolution, that he wanted to uphold the principle of 'one husband, one wife.' She had given birth to a child for Zhu Yanqiu and they had grown up together. Were they not husband and wife?

Zhu Yanqiu said that he couldn't communicate with her, but he rarely talked to her in the first place. Every time he did, it was just to ask for money and ask for more money.

Zhu Suniang's wish: She didn't want to work hard for the Zhu family anymore and wanted to live her own life with her son.

Zhu Suniang had no way of going to college like Fang Feifei. She couldn't wear black leather shoes and pleated skirts. The things she couldn't do wasn't her fault. However, Zhu Yanqiu felt great disdain for Zhu Suniang.

What can be said? Zhu Suniang was simply a cannon fodder of the collision between the feudal way of thinking and the new way of thinking. However, it was also because Zhu Yanqiu had no sense of responsibility at all as a man. He didn't fulfill any of his responsibilities towards Zhu Suniang.

After Ning Shu finished receiving the storyline, she shook her head. That was why she said Zhu Suniang was seriously nice. Even her wish was so humble. If she didn't kill ofr Zhu Yanqiu, this kind of trashy guy who kicked his benefactor in the teeth, could it be that she should keep him for celebrating the New Year?

Ning Shu could sense the hatred and indignance Zhu Suniang harbored towards Zhu Yanqiu, but the environment she had grown up in made it so she didn't dare to make a wish that was too excessive.

Zhu Suniang was simply a woman of the feudal era. She was kind and did all she could for her family. She used her own power to fulfill the wishes of her family, and hence, her status seemed lowly. Meanwhile, Fang Feifei was someone who had accepted the new ideologies. She was courageous and brisk, and pursued her ideals bravely. Dressed in western-style clothing, she walked through the streets with her head high and chest out, hence she gave off a unique charm and seemed to shine brightly.

One was dressed in gray clothes and black pants while the other was in a short-sleeve cheongsam holding a book of poems. Anyone who wasn't blind would know who to pick.

In regard to this, Ning Shu could only give a polite laugh.

She rubbed her eyes sleepily, then added some more firewood to the stove. After that, she picked up the spoon to skim the foam from the surface of the soymilk. She didn't know how to make tofu at all, she was completely relying on the original host's memory. In the future, she'd probably end up holding each of the 3615 occupations at least once.

Ning Shu worked on making the tofu in a fluster. However, even after working until daybreak, she still wasn't able to get it done.

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Chapter 1116: Day of Selling Tofu

"Suniang, you're still here? You haven't finished making today's batch yet?" Mother Zhu walked into the kitchen.

Ning Shu was currently working hard on shaping the tofu. When she heard what Mother Zhu said, she replied, "It's almost done."

Zhu Suniang would usually be gone before the sun even rose. However, as of now, it was already near mid-day. When Mother Zhu got up and saw that Ning Shu was still in the kitchen, she came over to take a look and help out.

Mother Zhu would occasionally help out, but she was a rich married woman after all. Even though the family was no longer wealthy, there were some habits that she couldn't change.

However, Mother Zhu was an intelligent person who had experience presiding over a large household that had many servants, and she was also very good at governing. She would often speak warmly to Zhu Suniang and say that she was a very virtuous daughter-in-law, that it was the Zhu family ancestors that had blessed them with her.

"Suniang, have there been any letters from Yanqiu recently?" asked Mother Zhu.

Ning Shu said, "No, but there probably will be soon." Zhu Yanqiu who was working on dating always needed more money.

After finally making the tofu come together, she placed the tofu in the buckets, then looped the carrying pole through them before placing the carrying pole on her shoulder. She lifted, but wasn't able to lift the pole so she sank her energy into her dantian to try again.

This time she managed to lift it, but she staggered backwards a couple steps before she was able to stabilize herself. It was very painful to have the pole crushing her shoulder.

Ever since Zhu Yanqiu left this house to go to Shanghai to study, Zhu Suniang has been doing this every day. However, Zhu Yanqiu didn't fulfill any of his responsibilities towards Zhu Suniang and simply tried to squeeze every last drop of money that he could out of her.

Zhu Yanqiu accepted the new ways of thought: freedom, equality, brotherhood. Every person had the right to pursue happiness, but he, in the depths of his heart, simply looked down on Zhu Suniang. He looked down on the fact that Zhu Suniang was completely illiterate, that she was unsophisticated.

"Mother, when Siyuan wakes up, please look after him." Ning Shu turned around to speak to Mother Zhu. Zhu Siyuan was Zhu Yanqiu and Zhu Suniang's son. He was almost about to turn three.

Mother Zhu nodded and told Ning Shu to be careful.

Ning Shu lifted the pole and left, following Zhu Suniang's usual route. Some acquaintances would come by to buy her tofu.

Selling tofu wasn't very difficult, it was just that it is very heavy to carry them. Tofu primarily consisted of water, so walking around carrying two large baskets of water everywhere was exhausting.

She had no idea how Zhu Suniang managed to persevere with this. And even after persevering for the entire day, she'd only earn so much. On a good day, all the various bank notes added up to a fifth of a silver dollar. In this time period, five silver dollars could buy a plowing cow and two silver dollars was enough to support a family of three for a year.

Although it was tiring, she had to earn money so that Zhu Yanqiu would be able to continue living his luxurious lifestyle.

Frick. Ning Shu really wanted to just drop the pole and give up, but when she recalled Zhu Suniang's son, she could only continue working on selling the tofu.

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Chapter 1117: Had to Raise Everyone

She hadn't eaten breakfast before heading out, so she bought a baked sesame cake to eat. After she finished it, she lifted the pole again to continue.

Ning Shu was very not confident of the tofu she made today. There were still some tofu left unsold. After thinking about it for a bit, she decided to bring them back and squeeze the water content out of them to make dougan for Zhu Siyuan to eat. It was pretty good for polishing the teeth.

Ning Shu first went to the post office to check if there were any letters or telegrams from Zhu Yanqiu. The people at the post office all knew Zhu Suniang so when they saw Ning Shu, they directly said, "Suniang, there's a telegram for you today."

Ning Shu: _

It was probably another request for money. Zhu Yanqiu was like creditor urging her to give him his money. F*ck him.

Ning Shu took the telegram, paid the telegram fee, then read its contents. Zhu Yanqiu said that the weather was getting cold and that Shanghai's climate was moist and cold, so he needed to buy an overcoat.

Aka, he needed money.

After leaving the post office, Ning Shu directly ripped the telegram that Zhu Yanqiu had sent to shreds. You freakin' deserved to freeze to death, to be using this ma'am's blood money to curry favor with another woman and act like a rich young master in front of other people. Scram!

Ning Shu took the money she earned today from selling the tofu to a restaurant to buy a roast duck. After that, she headed to a butcher's to buy two pounds of meat and a pound of large bones.

The family generally ate meat only once every half a month, but Zhu Yanqiu went in and out of high class Western-style restaurants and enjoyed candlelight dinners.

Ning Shu lifted the pole to head back home and found that the two-year-old Zhu Siyuan was currently playing in the courtyard. Mother Zhu was sitting on the porch watching the child while reinforcing the sole of a shoe.

When Zhu Siyuan saw Ning Shu, he ran over. Ning Shu set down the pole and hugged Zhu Siyuan. This was Zhu Suniang's precious baby.

Zhu Siyuan was a bit skinny and his hair was slightly yellow. He seemed slightly malnourished, and this was even after Zhu Suniang would occasionally cook him an egg or make him some soy milk while she was making tofu.

It could be said that the entire family was working together to raise Zhu Yanqiu and that he was sucking the very marrow sucked out of their bones.

Mother Zhu sat down the shoe and came over. When she saw that there were still some tofu left and that Zhu Suniang had purchased meat and a roasted duck, she frowned. "How come you didn't sell the tofu?"

Ning Shu said, "I want to make some dougan for Siyuan to eat."

"Why are you wasting money buying so many things?" said Mother Zhu. "Yanqiu's tuition fee is so expensive after all."

"Mother, I know what I'm doing." Ning Shu lifted the pole again to carry the items into the kitchen.

Mother Zhu didn't say anything else. She personally went into the kitchen to cook and stir-fried the two pounds of meat with preserved dry plums. The glistening hot oil on the dish was very alluring. Ning Shu swallowed countless mouthfuls of saliva. She really wanted to eat it.

Mother Zhu even cut the roast duck into thin slices and wrapped them with thin flat cakes. As expected of a rich madame, she knew how to eat.

Ning Shu fed Zhu Siyuan bone soup and got him some red braised pork.

Ning Shu ate until her mouth was covered with oil. Even Mother Zhu was barely paying attention to her manners as she ate.

This feast was extremely delicious. The two adults and one child polished off all the food on the table. It had been too long since they've had meat, so they had really been starving.

After dinner, Mother Zhu simply sat on the chair without moving. Ning Shu started collecting the bowls and the chopsticks.

Mother Zhu asked, "Were there any letters from Yanqiu?"

As Ning Shu washed the dishes, she said mildly, "No, but there probably will be soon."

Mother Zhu then said, "It's getting cold. I made shoes for Yanqiu. When the time comes, take them to the post office to mail them to Yanqiu."

Ning Shu glanced at the cotton shoes that Mother Zhu had made. They were quite fine and all the threadwork was very neat. However, even if she mailed them over, Zhu Yanqiu wouldn't wear them.

Ning Shu nodded, then glanced at the clothing that Little Siyuan was wearing. They were extremely old and worn out. She should buy some cotton and cloth to make clothes for the kid, otherwise he'd freeze to death in the winter.

There was no way Ning Shu would be like Zhu Suniang, insisting on starving herself to save money in order to give it to Zhu Yanqiu. All she cared about was raising the child well.

Speaking of which, Zhu Suniang's life was quite pitiful. She gave birth to the child and raised the child. Furthermore, she also raised the man and the entire family relied on her to feed them. Fuck. What use was Zhu Yanqiu?

Later, Zhu Yanqiu got rich, but Zhu Suniang didn't get a single bit of the benefit and was actually abandoned. It was the other person that was the kindred spirit and the comrade.

Mother Zhu kept muttering about when Zhu Yanqiu would write a letter. In reality, Mother Zhu could find out just by going to the post office to ask, but she rarely left the courtyard. Mother Zhu was just like Zhu Yanqiu, there were both a bit scared of facing the outside world. And Zhu Yanqiu's way of dealing with it was simply to use Western toys to support his faith.

Mother Zhu had Zhu Suniang deal with everything that had to be done outside.

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Chapter 1118: Grandma Fell

Ning Shu placed a wooden board over the tofu, then put something heavy over the wooden board in order to crush all the water out of the tofu. After doing this, she walked into Zhu Suniang's room and took out a box from a simple cabinet. The box contained bank notes and silver dollars. All in all, there were over twenty silver dollars.

Zhu Suniang had saved this up by working hard to sell tofu and living extremely frugally. Twenty silver dollars was already an enormous sum. This money was enough to allow the entire family to live very well.

It had been half a month since the last time Zhu Suniang had sent money. As of now, Zhu Yanqiu was asking for money more and more frequently. He was probably making progress with Fang Feifei.

It burned a lot of money for cultured youths to date. After all, they were enjoying things on the spiritual level.

Ning Shu put all this money away. Selling tofu today nearly killed her with exhaustion. The thought of giving this money to Zhu Yanqiu hurt her heart so much that she couldn't even breathe.

Right now, she had to work harder on saving up money in order to make it so that she and her son would be able to live a better life. Before doing anything else, she had to first make sure they could eat their fill.

It was time for her to go grind beans again. Pushing the millstone was exhausting work, she didn't have time to rest all. She was so sleepy that she almost fell asleep while grinding the beans.

This body didn't have very good health. It had been overstrained to the point that Zhu Suniang died from overwork just at the age of forty, so if she had time, she should practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts.

If she knew earlier that she was going to be in a chaotic era, she would have exchange for a gun beforehand. Ability to protect oneself was a must.

"Mom, Grandma... Grandma fell. She's sleeping on the ground." Zhu Siyuan walked over while shouting worriedly. As he stepped over the doorstep, he almost tripped.

Right now, Zhu Siyuan still couldn't speak very clearly, but Ning Shu understood. Mother Zhu had tripped.

Ning Shu left the kitchen and came to the central room to find that Mother Zhu had fallen to the ground. Her eyes were closed and her face was very pale. The situation didn't seem to be good.

Ning Shu originally wanted to get Mother Zhu onto the bed but she couldn't move Mother Zhu on her own, so she said to Little Siyuan, "Siyuan, be good, alright? Mom's going to go look for help so you look after your grandma and don't go anywhere, got it?"

Ning Shu hastily went out and found a couple middle-aged women to have them help her carry Mother Zhu to the bed.

The reason she only had women help was to avoid attracting suspicion. Mother Zhu was widowed and there were no men in the household. If a man came to their residence, it would be bad for their reputations.

In these times, although there was the Western notion of equality for all, the feudal way of thinking was still very deeply rooted and it was very strict towards women.

With the help of the aunts, Ning Shu manage to get the unconscious Mother Zhu onto the bed. Ning Shu had the aunts help take care of Mother Zhu and the child, then she headed to the pharmacy to request a doctor.

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Chapter 1119: Improve Quality of Life

Ning Shu went to the pharmacy and found a doctor, then hurried back with the doctor. Mother Zhu was still unconscious, so the doctor started checking her pulse.

Ning Shu stood by the bed and held Little Siyuan's hand. If the original storyline didn't change, Mother Zhu wouldn't survive this winter.

"Doctor, how is my mother-in-law?" asked Ning Shu.

The doctor retrieved his hand, then shook his head. "It's not any severe illness, it's just too much depression and worry. All that's needed is to recuperate slowly."

Ning Shu thanked the doctor, then paid the diagnosis fee.

In plain terms, Mother Zhu's illness was that she was worrying too much. Mother Zhu was a woman of a large, sheltered courtyard. Ever since Master Zhu died, Mother Zhu had been in a high stress state of fear. Her son wasn't by her side and she didn't have any man that she could rely on.

Ning Shu shook her head. Mother Zhu was simply too weak.

Zhu Suniang had looked after Mother Zhu very well and hadn't allowed Mother Zhu to do any hard work. However, the result was that Mother Zhu had too much free time to worry.

Ning Shu cut a block of tofu for each of the aunts that had come to help as thanks. The aunts accepted the tofu with happy laughs and told her to come to them for help any time.

Ning Shu sat down by the bed and checked Mother Zhu's pulse. The result she found was pretty much the same as what the doctor had said. Ning Shu was a bit speechless. Mother Zhu actually had depression.

Mother Zhu gradually woke up. When she saw that Ning Shu was by the bed, she asked, "What happened to me?"

"Mother, you're fine. Your body is just a bit weak. You'll be fine after some proper rest." Ning Shu avoided making the situation sound too terrible. "The doctor wrote you a prescription. You'll be fine after taking the medicine."

Mother Zhu struggled to get up. Ning Shu reached out to help her up. Mother Zhu said wearily, "I don't need the medicine. Save the money for Yanqiu."

Since ancient times, and even in modern times, what people feared the most was falling sick, because an entire family could be emptied out by an illness.

Zhu Suniang hadn't given up on Mother Zhu. She worked extremely hard every day since she had to take care of her sick mother-in-law, earn enough money for medicine, and earn money for Zhu Yanqiu's school fees as well.

Zhu Suniang could only make even more tofu to sell. Often times, she would be so tired out that she'd fall asleep on top of the millstone. Zhu Suniang had seriously been working too hard during this time when Mother Zhu was sick and ended up severely damaging her own health, causing her early death.

"It's fine, the family has money to buy medicine for you," said Ning Shu. "I'll make more tofu to sell tomorrow."

Mother Zhu sighed and said, "I know my own health well. Send Yanqiu a telegram and have him make a trip back."

Ning Shu agreed and headed to the post office to send Zhu Yanqiu a telegram, but it was a waste of effort. Zhu Yanqiu wouldn't come back. His excuse was that he needed to focus on his studies and didn't have time. Zhu Suniang had repeatedly sent him telegrams, but he didn't reply.

Before Mother Zhu died, all she thought about each and every day was wanting to see her son. Her eyes were always fixed on the door, but in the end, Zhu Yanqiu never came back. At that time, as an ambitious young man, Zhu Yanqiu had been parading the streets to invigorate the Chinese people.

After sending Zhu Yanqiu a telegram, Ning Shu took the prescription to the pharmacy to get medicine for Mother Zhu. In the original storyline, despite these harsh conditions, Zhu Suniang had never given up on Mother Zhu, hence her reputation in this small town was very good. She was a well-known virtuous daughter-in-law, but Zhu Yanqiu still abandoned her.

Ning Shu had no plans to ruin this reputation. After all, in this era, reputation was very important to women. With this, even if she had to confront Zhu Yanqiu in the future, she would still be on the righteous side.

Furthermore, she wouldn't be sending Zhu Yanqiu money anymore. The family had near twenty silver dollars and the money from selling the tofu each day. This was enough for them to live very well.

After getting the medicine, Ning Shu headed back to simmer it for Mother Zhu. When Mother Zhu saw Ning Shu, the first thing she asked was whether Ning Shu had sent Zhu Yanqiu a telegram. Ning Shu said that she had.

All that was on Mother Zhu's mind was her own son. Despite the fact that it was Zhu Suniang who had taken care of her all these past years, Zhu Suniang had never truly entered her heart. After all, one lost nothing from saying a few sweet words.

Right before she died, she had grabbed Zhu Suniang's hand and said 'you're truly the Zhu family's good daughter-in-law, I hope you two will continue to live well together. I'll be gratified to know that even when I'm beneath the yellow springs.' She was clearly afraid that Zhu Suniang wouldn't continue to support Zhu Yanqiu after she died so she made sure to address this before she died.

Zhu Suniang had been so moved. Every single bit of recognition from Mother Zhu was enough to make her wholly devoted. After Mother Zhu passed away, Zhu Suniang continued to sell tofu to feed Zhu Yanqiu.

Ning Shu used the medicine pot to simmer medicine for Mother Zhu. When she saw that Little Siyuan was looking at her, she got some of the dougan and gave it to Siyuan. Siyuan took the dougan and started eating happily.

Ning Shu felt that there was a need to improve the food of the household. They should eat well, dress well, and live properly.

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Chapter 1120: There Used to Always be Honeyed Fruits

Speaking of which, Zhu Yanqiu hadn't even seen his son before. This person truly updated Ning Shu's view of the world. He didn't come back when his wife was giving birth, he didn't come back when his mother died, but he came back once he achieved success. Kowtowing a couple times in front of his mother's tombstone and shredding a couple drops of catpee was enough to fulfill his filial piety?

Ning Shu carried the soup over to Mother Zhu and said, "Mother, drink it while it's hot."

The black soup was very bitter. Mother Zhu held her breath and drank it all. It was so bitter that her expression scrunched up. She said longingly, "Back when we still lived in the large courtyard, there were always honeyed fruits to eat. Haa..."

Ning Shu glanced at Mother Zhu. Honeyed fruits were even more expensive than meat. They were snacks of the rich. The current Zhu family couldn't afford honeyed fruits at all.

"Mother, should Suniang buy some honeyed fruits for you?" asked Ning Shu. Mother Zhu seemed tempted, but in the end, she said, "Forget it. We don't have much money and we still need for medicine and to send to Yanqiu. It's not like I'll die without honeyed fruits."

Ning Shu nodded.

The next day, after Ning Shu finished selling the tofu, she headed to a sweets shop and bought some honeyed fruits. She also bought some dried walnuts for Zhu Siyuan to aid his brain development. Right now, Ning Shu just wanted to raise Zhu Siyuan until he was nice, plump, and white.

She wouldn't live more frugally just for Zhu Yanqiu's sake. No matter how much she scarified, Zhu Yanqiu wouldn't notice, nor would he care.

When she was buying things, she told the boss that she was buying some honeyed fruits because her mother-in-law found her medicine too bitter.

In any case, she was a hardworking, virtuous daughter-in-law, so she might as well show even more filial piety. She wanted to try some honeyed fruits as well.

After Mother Zhu finished the medicine, Ning Shu handed her some honeyed fruits. When Mother Zhu saw them, her eyes filled with pleasant surprise, but she still said, "Why did you buy something this expensive? What a waste."

"Mother, I know what I'm doing. Today's tofu sold for a bit more," said Ning Shu mildly.

It was only after hearing this that Mother Zhu placed the honeyed fruit in her mouth. She closed her eyes, her expression was filled with reminiscent and enjoyment. Afterwards, she put the rest of the honeyed fruits away. It never occurred to her to offer Ning Shu some.

Ning Shu secretly curled her lips in disdain. Fortunately, she had already taken a portion out for the kid beforehand.

Mother Zhu was also a selfish person.

Because Mother Zhu was sick, Zhu Siyuan now slept with Ning Shu. After Ning Shu coaxed Zhu Siyuan to sleep, she sat with her legs crossed on the bed to practice the Unsurpassable Martial Arts. In this chaotic era, she needed power in order to protect herself and the child.

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