As soon as the words fell, Shen Qingyao understood it herself.
Princess Yonghe indeed liked Xiao Jing, but leaving aside whether they have mutual feelings, the fact remains that one is the son of an Emperor while the other is the daughter of a hereditary prince. Despite being distant relatives through marriage, they cannot be together.
Princess Yonghe’s sincerity was repeatedly taken advantage of by Xiao Jing. Without needing Lu Zhao to explain, Shen Qingyao could guess that Xiao Jing’s manipulation must be involved in this marriage alliance. She just didn’t know what he had done to make the King of Nanzhao cooperate like this. In the capital with so many noble ladies, why did he specifically choose Yonghe?
Shen Qingyao lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling sorry for Princess Yonghe.
Three days later, the Nanzhao envoy entered the city. It was said that they were here to welcome the princess, led by the king of Nanzhao’s younger brother. However, for some reason, after entering the city, they did not go to the inn first but instead detoured to the Lu residence. Lu Zhao didn’t bother Shen Qingyao with this; he went alone to meet them.
Shen Qingyao sat in the courtyard, pondering the purpose of the Prince of Nanzhao’s visit. Unfortunately, she lacked the mind for political intrigue. After thinking for a long time, she gave up in confusion.
Bored, she was suddenly informed that someone from the envoy wanted to see her, and Lu Zhao agreed.
Shen Qingyao stood up in surprise and suspicion. She had no connection whatsoever with Nanzhao, so why would someone specifically seek her out? It was even more strange that Lu Zhao agreed.
When the tall figure walked in, Shen Qingyao’s eyes brightened. Wasn’t this the girl she had met before?!
The girl today was dressed in a formal blue and white palace dress of Nanzhao style, soft colors suppressed some of her youthful vigor and revealed a gentleness not seen before.
Shen Qingyao was somewhat surprised. She never expected that the person looking for her would be the handsome girl she had briefly met in the silver jewelry shop that day.
“Why is it you?” Shen Qingyao was pleasantly surprised and quickly invited her in, asking, “So you’re from the Nanzhao envoy?”
Since coming in, the girl had not been reserved at all. She lazily smiled. Shen Qingyao let her sit and eat. Now, hearing Shen Qingyao’s question, she suddenly raised her head and gave her a strange look.
“Do you… really not recognize me?”
Shen Qingyao was stunned. Should she recognize her?
The two stared at each other silently for a while. The girl turned her head and smiled, pushing a cup of tea toward Shen Qingyao. As Shen Qingyao picked it up, the girl tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table, resting her chin on her hand.
“Come on, when did you come over?”
“Cough! Cough cough… What… what?” Shen Qingyao choked on the tea she had just drunk. The girl’s words exploded in her mind like thunder on a clear day. What was she saying? When did she come over?
Shen Qingyao widened her eyes in shock.
“You… you are…” She finally managed to catch her breath, tremblingly pointing a finger at the person in front of her, a figure slowly emerging in her mind.
“Mm-hmm.” The girl smiled lightly, making two syllables with her nose, calmly assessing her. “You don’t even recognize me? Don’t tell me you’ve lost your memory again. That excuse is outdated.”
Shen Qingyao froze, suddenly understanding where her flaw lay. The original owner had amnesia, but that was at the age of ten. Even if they weren’t close afterward, she should still recognize her Second Sister. After all, Shen Qinglin had only been away from home for two years.
Shen Qingyao originally thought that when she met her Second Sister, it would definitely be in a formal setting where their identities were known to each other. Then she could play along a bit. But she hadn’t expected that her Second Sister had already recognized her ahead of time and had been testing her for quite a while. She finally understood why the girl’s eyes looked so strange during their two meetings.
She couldn’t help but cover her forehead; this was truly the Waterloo of her acting career! She had miscalculated!
At this moment, the system suddenly exclaimed, [I remember now! No wonder this person seemed so familiar! Host! She is your Second Sister! She is Shen Qinglin!!!]
“…” Oh, so that’s it. I had no idea until you said it! I’m so surprised. Heh.
What a hindsight.
Shen Qingyao rolled her eyes inwardly, no longer expecting any usefulness from this system.
“So you really… are?” Shen Qingyao stared at her. Although the answer was already obvious, she still cautiously sought confirmation, “My Second Sister?”
Shen Qinglin smiled and nodded, saying, “Two years ago, I woke up one night and inexplicably found myself in this place. There was a person in my mind claiming to be a system, asking me to conquer some antagonist, heh.”
Perhaps because of her strong presence, her slight mocking laugh made Shen Qingyao and her system shiver simultaneously.
“So, did you conquer him?” The antagonist must be Xiao Jing? She was a bit curious about how it turned out.
“Of course not! Such a melodramatic task, only an idiot would do it. Anyway, count me out!” Shen Qinglin scoffed disdainfully.
The system issuing melodramatic tasks : …
Shen Qingyao, who followed through with the melodramatic task : …
She felt subtly insulted.
Later on, Shen Qingyao realized a very serious problem, “So it’s okay not to do the task? Were you bluffing me back then!”
She was addressing the system, remembering how she had joked about giving up the task, only to be forcibly executed by the system. How come others could just abandon tasks? Why were there two sets of rules!
[…] The system was momentarily speechless, stuttering for a while before saying, [Um… it’s because your Second Sister ran away first, that’s why the mandatory execution rule was added temporarily.]
[And besides, if everyone ran away, how would the central system maintain itself?] The system muttered, then suddenly added, [Someone has to do the tasks after all. Originally, if your second sister hadn’t run away, stopping the female lead from being engaged to Lu Zhao would have been her task. It’s because she ran away that they temporarily found you.]
“…” Great, not only was she treated differently, but she was also a temporary worker, or even just picking up the slack. So annoying.
“Second Sister, teach me how to strike!” She wanted to resign too.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded in her ears, shaking Shen Qingyao’s head. Shen Qinglin across from her suddenly burst out laughing loudly, as if watching a show, “What’s wrong? Are you quarreling with your system?”
Shen Qingyao hadn’t spoken yet when Shen Qinglin suddenly sat up straight, serious, “But you can’t strike now. Your system is still useful.”
System : [?]
Shen Qingyao was stunned for a moment. Useful for what?
“Yaoyao, I want you to help me with something.” Shen Qinglin said calmly, but still involuntarily showed a hint of nervousness. In the end, the two were still strangers who had only met for the second time, and Shen Qingyao could still refuse.
Shen Qingyao widened her eyes slightly, finding it hard to believe her ears, “She’s asking me for help?”
What help could a lazybum like her provide? Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
“What help? Second Sister, just tell me!”
Shen Qinglin looked at her younger sister, Shen Qingyao, whom she considered a somewhat naive girl. Not long after transmigrating over, Shen Qinglin had left the Shen family. She didn’t have much emotional attachment to the people of the Shen family, naturally lacking the determination to protect Shen Qingyao at all costs.
But Shen Qinglin knew just how much the Shen family adored this girl. Otherwise, the original Shen Qinglin wouldn’t have become so extreme.
After just two brief interactions, it was undeniable that this was indeed a very likable young girl.
She slowly relaxed and softly said thank you. Then she continued, “I want to ask you to use the system’s location function to help me find someone…”
“Who?”
[No, Host! My location function can only detect AI systems like mine. I can’t locate ordinary people!!! And intervening in the processes of characters is not allowed!! Not allowed!!!] Shen Qingyao’s system was nearly shouting, fearing that its host would burden it with tasks.
“He carries a system with him, so I can’t find him. That’s why I need your help.” As if anticipating the system’s response, Shen Qinglin added, and Shen Qingyao’s system suddenly fell silent.
“It’s my husband,” Shen Qinglin finally dropped the bombshell, her beautiful face now tinged with a suspicious blush.
Shen Qingyao stared at her in bewilderment, unsure of what to say for a while. There was too much information to process; she didn’t know where to begin.
“A husband with a system…?” Shen Qingyao struggled to swallow, wondering if she had stumbled into a transmigrated person’s plot.
Seeing her sister’s reaction, Shen Qinglin couldn’t help but laugh. The girl’s puzzled expression was too cute; she couldn’t resist reaching out to ruffle her soft hair.
“He didn’t transmigrate here,” Shen Qinglin patiently explained, and Shen Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief.
“He carries the system that originally belonged to me.”
“Um… Right.” Looks like there’s no easy way out of this.
Covering her not-so-strong heart, Shen Qingyao numbly looked at her, thinking, My dear Second Sister, just tell me everything outrageous in one go.
Shen Qinglin laughed heartily, then slowly began to explain everything to her.
It turned out that Shen Qinglin’s husband was the former leader of the assassin group. On the first night she arrived in this world, Shen Qinglin encountered him. Without fully understanding the situation, she effortlessly took down a roomful of assassins, sparing only their leader. The two fought fiercely but evenly matched, each developing a strong interest in the other.
Later, Shen Qinglin refused to follow the path set by the original book, where she was supposed to be a resentful supporting female character, annoying everyone including herself. Instead, she convinced the Shen family to pursue the assassin leader.
Shen Qingyao was stunned by this revelation. Courageously pursuing love, huh?
And she casually took down a roomful of assassins?
She deeply felt that there’s no limit to how outrageous things can get. So, her Second Sister is the heroine of some old-fashioned female agent Mary Sue transmigration story?
Shen Qingyao was profoundly shaken.
As for the system, even after their feelings were clear to each other, it continued to give Shen Qinglin tasks. If she refused, the system would cause all sorts of trouble for her. One time, the trouble became so severe that it almost cost her life, with the assassin leader risking his own life to save her.
Left with no choice, Shen Qinglin agreed to complete a few small tasks for the system. Her only request was to transfer her system to the assassin leader, using its powers and rewards from completing tasks to save his life.
Shen Qingyao listened dumbfoundedly, thinking, What kind of political intrigue story am I playing through? Isn’t this plotline more interesting than the original book?
“The last task the system gave me was to steal a secret treasure of the Nanzhao royal family, causing chaos in Nanzhao and creating external conditions for the rise of the male and female leads,” Shen Qinglin explained matter-of-factly, but Shen Qingyao saw the heart-stopping experience behind those emotionless words.
“He accompanied me to infiltrate the Nanzhao court, but we lost contact two months ago. I can’t find him, but your system can detect the system I transferred to him, so I had to come find you.”
Actually, when the news of Lu Zhao and Shen Qingyao’s marriage spread throughout the world, Shen Qinglin had already realized that this part wasn’t in the original book’s plot. The person who changed the plot must be someone like her, who had transmigrated here.
Therefore, even if Lu Zhao and the others didn’t come to Lingnan in the end, Shen Qinglin would definitely find Shen Qingyao and bring her to Southern Borders…
“…” Well, this was really unexpected for Shen Qingyao.