That night, Shen Qingyao couldn’t sleep again. She struggled to get up from the bed as her mind is becoming a mess.
“It’s all Lu Zhao’s fault!” Shen Qingyao muttered to herself. It was all his fault for saying such things to her late at night, causing her to dream all night long. In her dreams, Lu Zhao held a knife with a blackening value of 100, chasing her to show her the moon. She didn’t want to see it and kept running, exhausting her!
[Host…] Suddenly, the system spoke up, startling Shen Qingyao.
“You’re alive again?” Shen Qingyao’s voice was muffled as she still held a grudge against the system for not responding to the chaos last night.
“What?” The system was puzzled. It had performed routine maintenance last night, so did it miss a crucial plot point? It didn’t seem like anything significant had happened.
Shen Qingyao didn’t want to talk about it. Don’t ask; asking would just make me angry.
After lingering for a while, Shen Qingyao slowly got up, cleaned up, had breakfast, and then entered the ‘salted fish’ mode. Thinking about Lu Zhao’s extremely unstable blackening value, she couldn’t help but feel a headache. Why did his blackening value increase every time she interacted with him?
Annoyed, Shen Qingyao tapped the table with her fingers, trying to figure out the reason.
Suddenly, she sat up straight, as if she had figured something out. She suddenly exclaimed, “I understand! It must be a problem with my persona setting!” She slapped the table, recalling all the details of her interactions with Lu Zhao. The only thing that didn’t match was her character setting!
Sensitively insecure and infatuated—what kind of nonsense was that? It’s not her fault that she couldn’t act it out well! It’s just not something an ordinary person can act!
So, she called out to the system, “Can I change my persona setting?”
The system didn’t refuse and even seemed happy. The youthful voice lifted with enthusiasm, [Of course, Host! Testing the inclusiveness of various persona settings is what we are here for! Come on! What persona do you want to play?]
As it spoke, several virtual cards appeared in front of Shen Qingyao. They represented all the persona settings she could play, but for now, these cards only showed their backs, hiding their contents.
“What does this mean?” Shen Qingyao raised an eyebrow, not in a hurry to pick up the cards, sensing a hint of conspiracy.
The system chuckled slyly, “You can draw the next character setting yourself, Host! Don’t worry, they are all very simple.”
Shen Qingyao didn’t comment on that. Instead, she extended her hand.
[ Yandere Paranoid Girl ]
“Heh.” Shen Qingyao looked at the words and sneered. How is this better than being sensitive and infatuated?
“Is this what you call simple?” Shen Qingyao’s voice turned cold as she asked casually.
The system trembled a bit and humbly said, [Host… you don’t have to get into character so quickly.]
She already had the flavor of a yandere…
“Heh.” Another cold laugh was her response.
A few days passed, and when Cui Qiao entered, Shen Qingyao was holding ‘reference book’ provided by the system and commenting on them one by one.
“<The Obedient Boyfriend of the Paranoid Miss>. Tsk. <The Yandere Miss Falls for Me>. Heh. <The Reckless Love of the Paranoid System>. My goodness, I didn’t expect you to have this taste!” Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but express her mixed feelings. The books provided by the system were challenging her limits.
[Be content, host! Do you understand that the more older the book, the more classic it is! These are all very typical!] The system was still trying to argue.
“So what is this <The Reckless Love of the Paranoid System> about? Why should I read a book about a system’s love when pursuing a human?” Shen Qingyao slapped the book onto the table.
“…” The system fell silent, and the next second, the book on the table disappeared into thin air.
Cui Qiao pushed the door open, seeing Shen Qingyao holding a book again. She murmured, wondering why the young lady suddenly became interested in reading these days. Then she disapproved and said, “Miss, why are you reading again? Your eyes will hurt if you read too much!”
Seeing someone coming in, Shen Qingyao stopped complaining to the system in her mind, put the book down reluctantly, and smiled, “I didn’t read it, just flipping through it out of boredom.”
Cui Qiao came over, stacked the books on the table, and then arranged the snacks she had brought. Helplessly, she said, “Miss, eat something first before reading.”
Shen Qingyao looked and saw that the things on the table were all her favorite snacks, without the medicinal taste of health-preserving food. Sweet and fragrant, she couldn’t help but feel in a good mood.
Seeing Shen Qingyao starting to eat as instructed, Cui Qiao said, “Winter solstice is coming in a few days, and on that day, Miss is going to the palace. You need to take good care of your health these days!”
Shen Qingyao was stunned, “Going to the palace?”
After asking, she remembered that there seemed to be such a thing.
Every year on the winter solstice, according to the customs of the Liang Empire, the palace would host a banquet for officials and their families as a year-end reward. In previous years, only Shen Qingli would accompany their mother to the palace, as Shen Qingyao’s health was not good, and she never attended such gatherings. However, this year, perhaps because of the arranged marriage with Lu Zhao, the Empress had personally issued an edict, specifically naming Shen Qingyao to attend.
Shen Qingyao sighed, feeling tired even before going. Clearly, she was someone with social anxiety, so why bother pretending to be social at such gatherings? Socially anxious people fear annual gatherings the most.
“What if the Empress summons me privately when I’m in the palace? What should I do?”
She dreaded being personally invited by the higher-ups for a tea session.
“What if she gives me a bunch of silver notes and asks me to annul the marriage with Lu Zhao? Can I agree to that?”
Shen Qingyao was already stressed out and started to have wild thoughts.
The system : [… You’re overthinking it, host.] There’s no way that she’s allowed to annul the engagement, so the system coldly said, “Please stop your fantasies.”
… Shen Qingyao, who had stopped fantasizing, nodded in resignation and muttered to Cui Qiao, “I know, don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” Be careful to be a background character, and be careful not to cause trouble.
Cui Qiao thought Shen Qingyao was talking about taking care of her health, thinking that she had finally become aware of her poor health, so Cui Qiao reluctantly nodded.
A few days quickly passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was the winter solstice. When Shen Qingyao was once again pulled out of bed by her Elder Sister, the carriage for Shen Qingli’s entry into the palace was already prepared.
Having not slept well for several days, when Shen Qingyao was awakened by Shen Qingli, she was still drowsy. If it weren’t for the Empress’s decree, Shen Qingli almost wanted to let her sleep and go to the palace alone with Mother Shen.
Now, Shen Qingyao leaned her head on her Elder Sister’s shoulder, her small face buried in the white fox fur, looking like a rosy rice dumpling. Her body swayed with the carriage, and her eyelids opened and closed intermittently. Shen Qingli couldn’t help but laugh, but not annoyed at her. Shen Qingli silently pulled her closer, afraid she would be shaken off.
“Elder Sister… is the palace fun?” Shen Qingyao closed her eyes and suddenly asked.
Shen Qingli was taken aback, then smiled and treated it as her sister’s curiosity about entering the palace for the first time.
“What’s so fun? No matter how good it is, it’s not as good as home. When you enter the palace, don’t wander around.” As she spoke, she reached out and patted Shen Qingyao’s head as a warning.
Shen Qingyao lazily opened her eyes, caught a glimpse of her Elder Sister’s smile, and felt more relaxed. In front of the female lead, she didn’t need to care about her image, so she followed her lazy nature and rubbed her face against her sister’s shoulder, saying in a sweet voice, “No way, I’m not a child anymore.”
Shen Qingli tilted her head, looked at Shen Qingyao with surprise, and joked, “Oh? Is that so? Our Yaoyao is not a child anymore?”
Seeing Shen Qingyao sit up with a pout, Shen Qingli continued teasing, “Yes, yes, our Yaoyao is already engaged, naturally not a child anymore.”
Shen Qingyao blushed. She didn’t forget that this engagement was snatched from her Elder Sister’s hands. She lost her momentum instantly, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Elder Sister, I was just impulsive at that time. Actually, I and Lu Zhao…”
“Alright, little one, why always think about unnecessary things? I don’t care about your affairs. You don’t need to tell me about your jealousy. I also have already settled my own engagement.” Shen Qingli’s smile carried a hint of genuine joy, fulfilling her long-cherished wish.
Shen Qingyao vaguely felt that something was not right. Shen Qingyao had never been clear about whether Shen Qingli liked Lu Zhao or not. Lu Zhao was Shen Qingli’s childhood friend, her White Moonlight, the best marriage partner before her arranged marriage, and also the biggest obstacle to her future with Xiao Mu.
Shen Qingyao thought, there must be some liking, or else how could he be called White Moonlight? Unrequited love is the true white moonlight.
But looking at her Elder Sister’s current attitude, it didn’t seem like she liked Lu Zhao. Was it really that she didn’t like him, or was she pretending not to like him out of consideration for Shen Qingyao?
“Elder Sister… do you like the Fifth Prince?” Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but ask, testing the waters.
Shen Qingli didn’t expect Shen Qingyao to be so direct, paused for a moment, and then seemed to recall something. Her gaze became distant, and after a while, Shen Qingyao heard a low “Hmm.” followed by a smile. The situation was settled, and she no longer hid it, saying, “I’ve always liked him.”
Shen Qingyao was greatly shocked. Although they were the official couple, at this point, her Elder Sister shouldn’t have any interaction with Xiao Mu! How could she say she always liked him?
Suddenly, Shen Qingyao thought of the man who had spoken with her Elder Sister in her Elder Sister’s room that night and felt that maybe it wasn’t so wrong after all.
What’s going on?
Shen Qingyao felt dizzy, as if something had gone off track. The characters she knew were becoming out of character.
She couldn’t help but think of Lu Zhao again. What about Lu Zhao?
In the original plot, Lu Zhao, the flower on the high peak, was not appreciated by anyone. Even his feelings for the female lead took a long time to develop, long after her arranged marriage. His transformation into a villain happened two years later, after the female lead and him parted ways, turning him from the second male lead into an antagonist.
But what about before the falling out? Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but wonder, does the current Lu Zhao like Shen Qingli? Or when will he start liking Shen Qingli?
Shen Qingyao sighed deeply, trying to clear her mind of these confusing thoughts. When she raised her head again, she felt a bit stifled in her chest. She muttered silently that heart disease is really annoying. She didn’t even know what was bothering her.
The carriage fell silent for a while. Shen Qingyao continued to feel muddled, and after a while, they finally arrived at the palace gates.
Thanks for the chapters!!!!
Happy new year!!!