rokumi’s note : longer version of synopsis can be read on the TOC page (link from the button below the post). It’s a story with ancient settings so it’s not my usual cup of tea, but it’s very sweet so I want to try translating it. Sorry if there are wrong terminologies. It will be updated every Monday and Wednesday.
There had just been a heavy snowfall last night. At this moment, the deserted garden was covered in snow, and when the west wind carrying ice particles blew, it was piercingly cold.
Shen Qingyao, wrapped in a thick fox fur, still shivered, her neck tucked in against the cold. She yawned slightly, feeling very puzzled about squatting in the bushes on such a bitterly cold day. As she reached to rub her eyes, a clear young voice interrupted her thoughts :
[Host!!! Wake up!!! Your target for the mission is about to arrive!!!]
Shen Qingyao pursed her lips and grumbled, “I know! I’m not sleepy.” With that, she lowered her hand, revealing a pair of drowsy apricot eyes…
She whispered, “Why haven’t they arrived yet? Are you sure it’s today?”
[Of course!] The young voice sounded a bit proud. [I am the most outstanding AI system in nearly a century! I won’t make mistakes!]
Shen Qingyao was not entirely convinced and muttered softly, “A century… but electronic products get updated quickly.”
The system : “…”
Shen Qingyao looked around, and the unfamiliar scene made her feel absurd—was this not a dream?
She remembered that when she arrived last night, it took her a lot of time to understand the situation. She had transmigrated into a political intrigue novel she had read before, becoming the cannon fodder supporting female character with the same name. The supporting female character was inherently weak and sickly, suffering from a severe heart condition and would exit the story within thirty chapters. Although her physical condition was similar to her pre-transmigration self, she had no desire to experience the feeling of being tormented to death by illness again!
Shen Qingyao insisted that transmigration was acceptable, but dying from illness was absolutely not! If she had to live again, she just wanted to survive until the grand finale!
Fortunately, it wasn’t a devilish start yet, and there was still some time before the formal exit. She could find a way to cure her illness, even though she lacked confidence in the medical technology of this era.
Just when she was worried, this strange system suddenly appeared and bound itself to her mind.
[Drama Queen Supporting Female Growth System has now been bound. Please confirm.]
Hmm… confirm? Shen Qingyao raised an eyebrow.
[Ding-dong—Hello, Host! I am System 0121, a companion-type system. This system is dedicated to cultivating drama queen supporting females, testing the inclusiveness and variability of supporting female characters. Please cooperate with the system, complete tasks, and receive rewards.]
System? Rewards? Wasn’t this the standard configuration for the recently popular system novels? Shen Qingyao’s mind flickered; she had read quite a few of these. Normally, as long as she could complete the tasks the system provided, she would definitely survive until the grand finale! Shen Qingyao’s eyes lit up, eager to give it a try.
So she tentatively asked, “System? Can we chat?”
[…] The system remained silent for a moment and then said, [What?] The crisp young voice now had a bit of attitude.
Finding the voice amusing, Shen Qingyao squinted her eyes and chuckled secretly before confirming, “Among the task rewards, is there a possibility of an option like ‘cure the heart disease on my body’?”
[Of course! As long as you complete the tasks well, not to mention curing the heart disease, even if you want to return to your original world, it’s possible!] The young voice snorted, sounding very arrogant.
Return to the original world… Shen Qingyao’s gaze dimmed for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. Whether she returned or not didn’t matter; surviving was the main goal!
So, with enthusiasm, she asked, “What’s my first task? It must be a capture mission! I’ve read novels like this! Tell me! Who do I capture? The male lead or the male supporting character?”
System : […There’s no need for you to be so proficient.]
The system had guided several newcomers, but she was the first with such a proactive attitude. It made the system, accustomed to lazy hosts, feel somewhat uncomfortable.
With a pretentious clearing of its nonexistent throat, the system began to assign a task:
[Host’s Task: Capture the heart of White Moonlight1 Lu Zhao and prevent him from blackening. Current persona setting : sensitive, self-deprecating, infatuated female. Please work hard, Host.]
Shen Qingyao, who had just been eager to rush out and complete the task a second ago, paused for a moment. Sensitive and self-deprecating? What kind of ridiculous persona setting was this? Her heart, full of complaints, had nowhere to vent…
Shen Qingyao, who was forced to be sensitive and self-deprecating, quickly recalled the scene of binding with the system last night, shivered again, and her legs felt a bit numb. She wanted to quietly stand up and stretch, but she heard the system shout, [They’re here! Host! They’re here!] The system seemed more excited than she was.
The current plot had reached a critical point. As the New Year approached, the princes who were originally stationed in their fiefs returned to the capital to celebrate. The Empress Dowager took initiative to summon the young ladies from various families to stay in the palace temporarily. Those discerning could tell that at such a time, bringing people into the palace likely meant arranging marriages for the princes. Shen Qingyao’s elder sister, the female protagonist of this book, was also on the list to enter the palace.
The female lead, Shen Qingli, was hailed as the most beautiful woman in the capital. Whether in beauty or talent, she had a great reputation, and she had already attracted the attention of the princes.
Now, among the remaining princes, either they already had a main wife and could only take concubines, or they were dissolute and had a bad reputation, or they were cold and ignored with no future prospects. In short, none of them were worthy of a lifelong commitment. In their urgency, the Shen family wanted to finalize Shen Qingli’s marriage before the imperial decree arrived, and the one naturally chosen to marry her was her childhood friend, the White Moonlight, Lu Zhao.
Lu Zhao was the son of the Duke of the State, with a distinguished family background. His father was the Duke, and his mother was the Grand Princess, while the current Empress was his paternal aunt. With a prominent family and outstanding looks, not to mention exceptional talent and excellent character, he was undoubtedly the number one on the list of secretly admired men in the Imperial Capital.
Shen Qingyao suddenly sighed. Her determination to build a good relationship with her female lead sister had just been made, and now she had to go after her sister’s White Moonlight. How was this any better than the cliché plot of a malicious supporting female character breaking up a happy couple?
Shen Qingyao felt troubled. As a cannon fodder supporting character, she actually tried to steal the female lead’s fiancé…
While sighing, she leisurely peeked through the crevices of the artificial rock in front of her. Two figures were walking along the bluestone path, passing through two circular arches, and approaching through the snow.
The woman on the left held a delicately carved bronze incense burner in her hands. She wore a moon-white cloak and a light blue embroidered long skirt inside, with lilac branches embroidered at the hem. As she moved, the floral patterns fluttered, giving an effect of lotus blooms emerging step by step. This was Shen Qingyao’s elder sister, Shen Qingli.
Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but exclaim in her heart, She looks so beautiful, truly worthy of being the female lead!
While thinking this, she shifted her gaze to the other person.
Although Shen Qingli already exuded an ethereal aura, the person beside her seemed even more otherworldly.
His face was like beautiful jade, his eyes like bright stars, with the corners of his phoenix eyes slightly upturned, resembling autumn water reflecting shadows, captivating and alluring. Yet, due to the faint hint of coldness in his eyes, he appeared aloof and distant.
He wore a jade crown on his head, with long hair flowing smoothly. He was clad in a pristine white robe, untouched by a speck of dust. The silver-gray waistband delicately outlined his slender figure, not appearing weak but rather making him seem more like an elegant young man.
As the two entered together, they walked into a well-prepared warm pavilion in the garden. His hands, with distinct knuckles, lifted a teacup to play with. His hands were fair, the cup was emerald green, and behind the cup, the lips were rosy. Shen Qingyao looked at it, somewhat stunned.
Is this Lu Zhao?
However, more attracted her more at this moment than his appearance was the black number [0] on Lu Zhao’s head. What is that? Shen Qingyao was very puzzled.
[Host… Host!] With the system’s call, Shen Qingyao suddenly came to her senses. “System, what is that thing on Lu Zhao’s head?”
The system hadn’t seen it, so it asked in confusion, [What thing?] But its mind was not on this at the moment, and it casually said, [Oh, it might be some monitored value. Generally, it’s invisible, but you might have seen a data fluctuation just now. Just a small bug, don’t worry about it.]
Shen Qingyao frowned even more, feeling increasingly uneasy. Combining the context, she understood a bit. Suddenly, she took a cold breath. Could that be the blackening value of the White Moonlight? She looked again, confirmed that it was currently 0, and finally relaxed.
However, the system did not care about her emotional fluctuations at the moment, urging repeatedly, [Host! Hurry up!]
Shen Qingyao spat and said, “Don’t rush! Let me take a look first!”
Recklessness can lead to big problems; only by staying calm can one survive!
Inside the pavilion, Lu Zhao lowered his eyes to pour tea, and the rising mist lingered around his fingertips. Suddenly, he seemed to sense something, lifted his eyes, and glanced at the artificial rocks where Shen Qingyao was hiding. He caught sight of a small piece of goose-yellow skirt exposed outside. Lu Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. After a moment, he casually lowered his head again, as if nothing had happened.
He handed a cup of tea to Shen Qingli, sighed gently, and mentioned that his mother had threatened him with the family tree. If he couldn’t stay with Shen Qingli in the Shen family for an hour, he might be expelled. When he looked up and saw Shen Qingli’s expression, unexpectedly, it was difficult to express in words, just like his.
“I really don’t understand why everyone thinks we should be together?” Shen Qingli had known Lu Zhao since childhood, and she no longer maintained the demeanor of a noble lady in front of him. She slightly bent her back, nestling herself on a small cushion.
“Aren’t you supposed to reflect on yourself?” Lu Zhao lazily lifted his eyelids, quite impolite.
Shen Qingli widened her eyes, unable to believe it. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Isn’t it? If it weren’t for you constantly pestering me for information about that person, I wouldn’t have been misunderstood like this by others.” Lu Zhao frowned and said indifferently. Shen Qingli was momentarily speechless and couldn’t refute.
The relationship between these two was very superficial. If she didn’t have a request from that person, Shen Qingli wouldn’t want to deal with Lu Zhao at all. In front of Lu Zhao, she always felt like she was being seen through.
But she underestimated the rich imagination of the onlookers in the Imperial Capital!
“Don’t you… what are you looking at?” Shen Qingli was about to say something when she found that the person in front of her kept looking behind her. She couldn’t help but be puzzled. What’s behind her? Just as she was about to turn around to look, she was stopped by Lu Zhao’s outstretched hand. He lightly raised his eyebrows, and the corner of his mouth hooked up, a stark contrast to his impatient appearance just now. “Nothing, just saw a disobedient little rabbit.”
“Little rabbit?” Shen Qingli was stunned. Where did the rabbit come from in the middle of winter? Then she noticed that the person in front of her seemed to have changed his entire expression, and she lowered her eyelids. She felt that things were not that simple…
[Host! Why haven’t you gone over yet! Look, White Moonlight has even touched the shoulder of your Elder Sister! If you don’t go now, their child will be born before you!] The system was anxious, spinning around. If the plot deviates any further, it might really be transferred to the Mary Sue department next door!
“Why are you in such a hurry! How can I rush it!” Shen Qingyao looked at the numbers above Lu Zhao’s head, seemingly fluctuating for a moment, then nothing changed, quietly fading again, as if temporarily stable. She came back to her senses and scolded the system.
“If you urge me again, I won’t do it!” Can’t you let this newbie actor make more mental preparations?
She didn’t know what angered the system with this remark, only hearing it shout, [No! The system does not allow the host actor to withdraw temporarily!!] The system’s youthful voice was both fierce and coquettish, making Shen Qingyao suddenly want to tease it: “Really? What if I really run away?”
The system didn’t want to talk to her.
[Ding——System Mandatory Intervention Mechanism Activated——]
Answering her was an emotionless mechanical voice. Shen Qingyao hadn’t figured out what was going on when she was suddenly pushed by a tremendous force. She was pushed outside the rockery. Shen Qingyao’s legs were already numb from squatting, and now being pushed so forcefully, her legs went soft, stumbling a few steps. She was scared, “Hey, what’s going on! I was just joking—Ah!”
Seeing that she was about to fall flat on her face, Shen Qingyao cursed in her heart, closed her eyes in fear, and resignedly waited for the pain to come.
But suddenly, there was the sound of sleeves fluttering in her ears. Then, she crashed into a warm embrace. The tip of her nose smelled the faint cold fragrance on the person’s clothes, and Shen Qingyao could even recognize the cloud pattern embroidered on the person’s clothes…
In order to protect her, Lu Zhao reached out and held her shoulder, and Shen Qingyao finally stood firm.
She raised her head and opened her eyes, looking into Lu Zhao’s handsome eyes.
“Are you okay?” Lu Zhao supported her and took a step back, his tone a bit strange.
She rubbed her nose, blushing, lowered her head, and replied softly, “I’m fine.”
The little girl was shorter than him, and in his eyes, Shen Qingyao’s voice was weak. The lowered angle just revealed a red mark on her forehead, making her look a bit pitiful. Lu Zhao curled his fingers, resisting the urge to pat the top of the girl’s head, nodded reservedly, “That’s good.”
Little did Lu Zhao know that Shen Qingyao was currently arguing with the system in her heart, or more precisely, she was unilaterally insulting it.
Can’t the system be a bit more humane? And she can’t get rid of it!
This is too frustrating… way too frustrating!!!
- white moonlight means first love, or could also mean unattainable love ↩︎