Chapter 218 – The Foolish Prince Consort’s Farming Struggles – A Ten-Coin Deal (01)
After returning to the system space, the settlement function began calculating the points.
[Points settlement: 1000 points awarded for breaking up the male and female leads. Side mission reward: 800 points for surviving and helping others survive.]
When Bai Tang returned to the main system space, he was slightly surprised to see the two systems behaving a bit… clingy.
“You guys…” Having gone through quite a lot himself, Bai Tang could now see the signs. “Are you two together?”
Who would’ve thought that Qiu’er would instantly bristle. “No no no! I’m not with him!”
The book had said very clearly: never let the other party get you too easily. If they get you too easily, they won’t cherish you. Not everyone is like the male lead.
Xiao A mumbled, “You ate my takoyaki, and you’re still not my Qiu’er…”
“No no no, that doesn’t count…”
“Yes yes yes, it does count…”
The main system space was much livelier than usual. With Xiao A’s addition, Bai Tang no longer worried that when he went on missions and saw his beloved again, Qiu’er would be left alone and lonely.
“What’s our next world?” Bai Tang asked, cutting off the two “dogs” that were scuffling on the ground.
Qiu’er trotted over with a book in his mouth.
The title of the next world’s story was [The Foolish Prince Consort’s Farming Struggles], mainly about the female lead, Lin Xiaoshuang—a girl from the modern world who had been deeply influenced by a flood of rainbow-colored Mary Sue novels, and who transmigrated into a fictional ancient world.
Upon transmigrating, she believed she was destined for greatness. Not even being reborn as a peasant girl in a remote mountain village could dampen her enthusiasm.
And indeed, by the end of the story, Lin Xiaoshuang stood at the peak of power, becoming the envy of all women in the kingdom and the most powerful woman of the Qiu Dynasty—its Empress.
Her journey post-transmigration was nothing short of legendary.
Lin Xiaoshuang was reborn as a poor farm girl. The moment she arrived, she learned that her family planned to marry her off to a village idiot named Baili Luo, in order to use her bride price to get her younger brother a wife.
Though mentally challenged, the man came from a well-off family and had an old servant who loyally managed the household. Marrying him would mean a comfortable life for Lin Xiaoshuang.
But Lin Xiaoshuang wanted none of it. She refused the marriage, but her family wouldn’t return the betrothal gift. So she came up with a plan: she sold the wedding clothes her family had bought for her and used the money to go into town and purchase a fair-skinned, delicate-looking young man to take her place in the marriage.
That young man was none other than the novel’s sweet but foolishly villainous supporting male character—Bai Tang.
After Bai Tang was married off, he enjoyed a period of comfortable and happy days.
Meanwhile, the female lead, Lin Xiaoshuang, expanded her business from the countryside to the town, where it thrived and flourished.
Coincidentally, the most popular restaurant in town happened to be owned by the Baili family. Lin Xiaoshuang brought her recipe collection and approached them to propose a partnership.
The first time she saw Baili Luo, she was utterly stunned. She had never seen anyone so beautiful— not even the most famous male celebrities or models in the modern entertainment industry could compare.
When she found out that this was the man she had previously rejected for marriage, she was filled with deep regret. Especially after seeing Bai Tang’s life—his food, his clothes, everything—so much better than the life she had worked so hard to build for herself.
She recalled many farming-style romance novels she had read in the past, where the male lead’s background was very similar to Baili Luo’s. Could this be the male lead Heaven had arranged just for her?
The more Lin Xiaoshuang thought about it, the more convinced she became. She started to look at Bai Tang with increasingly unfriendly eyes.
Using her business connection with the Baili family, she found out that they had only moved to the village in recent years. From the moment they arrived, they had money—far more than any ordinary person would bring to such a poor place.
Moreover, Baili Luo didn’t seem entirely foolish. His mental arithmetic skills were exceptional—far better than the average person’s—and he was the one managing the restaurant’s account books.
Lin Xiaoshuang became increasingly convinced that Baili Luo had suffered some kind of trauma that led to his current condition—perhaps he had even been targeted by enemies. Determined, she made up her mind to help him recover.
Because of their ongoing business dealings, Lin Xiaoshuang and Baili Luo began interacting more frequently. The family steward, Uncle Gao, also treated Lin Xiaoshuang with kindness and warmth.
Influenced by the gossip and jealousy of others in the village, Bai Tang began harboring deep resentment toward Lin Xiaoshuang. Every time she came to visit, he treated her coldly. Eventually, under others’ manipulative suggestions, he even went so far as to pay some local thugs to harass her, hoping to stall her and stop her from visiting again.
Over time, Lin Xiaoshuang’s looks had matured and become quite attractive. The idle thugs, poor and womanless, began having indecent thoughts. One day, while harassing her, they were spotted by Baili Luo, who happened to be passing by. As he rushed to her aid, he was struck in the head—and that blow restored his memory.
After recovering his memory, Baili Luo returned home, investigated everything, and decisively cast Bai Tang aside.
Bai Tang, carrying a sum of money, was kicked out of the Baili household. Others, envious of the money in his hands, not only tricked him out of it but also sold him to Chunfeng Brothel in town, where he lived a life worse than death.
And all of this… was orchestrated by the female lead, Lin Xiaoshuang, as revenge.
She was jealous of Bai Tang’s beauty. Even though he had left the Baili family, there was always the chance that Baili Luo might soften one day and take him back.
After all, in this era, any man with a bit of wealth typically kept a string of concubines. But what Lin Xiaoshuang wanted was a love that lasted a lifetime—just one man and one woman, no concubines. Baili Luo fit that requirement perfectly, and she absolutely could not allow anyone to threaten her happiness.
But Baili Luo’s identity was far from simple. He was the seventh prince of the current dynasty, and the most likely candidate to become crown prince.
A few years ago, under imperial orders, he had gone on a tour to observe the people’s conditions and was ambushed during the journey. It was only thanks to his loyal personal guard—Uncle Gao, now the steward—that Baili Luo managed to escape, though he suffered a head injury that left him mentally impaired.
Their enemies continued to hunt them down, so Uncle Gao had no choice but to flee with him to a remote village, selling off their valuables to survive.
Naturally, once Baili Luo regained his memory, there was no way he would continue living a quiet life in the countryside. Using Lin Xiaoshuang’s identity as a merchant, he pretended to be her husband and traveled with her to the capital under the guise of doing business, all while secretly investigating the situation.
After returning to court, Baili Luo encountered many trials—plagues, assassination attempts, and more. But through it all, Lin Xiaoshuang remained loyally by his side. Eventually, Baili Luo ascended the throne and Lin Xiaoshuang became the most powerful woman in the Qiu Dynasty—its Empress.
As for the male supporting character, Bai Tang… he suffered all manner of abuse in Chunfeng Brothel. When he heard the names of the new emperor and empress, he looked back on his tragic life and, in utter despair, took his own life.
…
Main System Space.
After reading through the plot, Xiao A felt as if he’d just been completely screwed over.
Qiu’er: Hugging myself, trembling.
Bai Tang, on the other hand, thought that the male supporting character really was a fool—he truly lived up to the “sweet and dumb” label. But the female lead didn’t seem as noble as the book described. Just because she wanted revenge, she sold someone into a brothel and ruined his entire life.
But on second thought, if those thugs had succeeded, Lin Xiaoshuang’s life would’ve been ruined forever. Thinking about it that way, perhaps the original story’s male supporting character did deserve some punishment. Still, the consequences were far too severe—suffering for an entire lifetime.
That said, the female lead wasn’t exactly a good person either. She was the one who rejected her fiancé, and after he married someone else, she came back under the pretense of business to try and seduce another woman’s husband. Her character wasn’t exactly commendable.
Bai Tang made up his mind—he wasn’t going to go out of his way to target the female lead. As long as she didn’t cause trouble, they could peacefully coexist. But if she tried to stir things up, he wouldn’t sit back and do nothing.
“I’m ready. Initiate the transfer.”
As soon as Bai Tang finished speaking, a beam of white light appeared at the center of the main system space. One person and two dogs stepped into it and quickly vanished.
…
“Hurry up! Someone might come by soon. If you behave well, you might catch the eye of a wealthy household. If they take you in as a laborer or something, at least you’ll get enough to eat.”
Before Bai Tang even opened his eyes, an old, sharp voice rang out in his ears.
A crone holding a rattan switch was whipping it toward the boys and girls lying in a pile of straw.
If you didn’t want to get hit, you had to get up quickly.
Today was market day. The stewards of wealthy families had come to pick out suitable servants. Those not chosen by the nobles would be sold off cheaply to poor men—men who couldn’t afford a wife but still wanted one, mainly to bear children.
The body Bai Tang had possessed was fifteen years old, but due to long-term malnutrition, he looked only twelve or thirteen. His frame was thin, his cheeks sunken, and he didn’t appear capable of much labor.
He stood with the others as a fat steward with large ears moved from left to right, selecting candidates one by one while muttering commentary under his breath. The crone followed behind him, nodding and bowing, pitching each child as best she could in hopes of raising the price during the final sale.
“This one… this one… and this one,” the steward said, pointing to a few boys. The chosen ones stepped out of line, while the others looked on with envy and longing.
“This one, though…” The steward lifted Bai Tang’s thin, bony arm. “He’s small, skinny, and looks sickly.”
The crone chimed in, “But this child is very handsome! He’s just a little thin now—he’ll grow into it.”
The steward shook his head. “No, no. The household needs someone who can actually work, not someone who’s going to live the easy life. He looks like he’d need more medicine than food…”
He dismissed Bai Tang and moved on to the next child.
Soon, the steward had selected ten children. He paid without fuss and led them away.
Among those left behind—including Bai Tang—they could only stand in the courtyard and listen to the crone grumble and curse.
“If only they’d taken all of them… that would’ve been a nice pile of silver! Now I have no choice but to sell them off cheap to those penniless wretches.”
It didn’t take long before the so-called “penniless wretches” arrived—among them, the female lead of this world, Lin Xiaoshuang.
Lin Xiaoshuang had just transmigrated and hadn’t had the chance to properly clean herself up. At the moment, she looked like a typical farm girl—her face was dark from years of working under the sun, and the skin exposed to the air was rough and weathered.
“Pick whoever you want,” the crone said gruffly to the newcomers.
Lin Xiaoshuang didn’t have much money. After asking for the prices, she found that she could only afford the cheapest one—the weakest, and least attractive among them.
She pointed at Bai Tang and said, “I’ll take him.”
Bai Tang had already been rejected by the steward earlier, and everything the steward said had been true—he wasn’t worth much at all. Since someone actually wanted him, even at a bargain price, the crone figured she might as well let him go.
“Fine. Ten wen.”
With a pained expression, Lin Xiaoshuang took out a small cloth pouch. Inside were exactly ten copper coins.
“Let’s go,” she said to the boy.
Bai Tang didn’t resist. He followed Lin Xiaoshuang in silence, knowing that only by going with her could he eventually meet the male lead—his beloved.
Author’s Note:
Qiu’er (angrily): My Tang Tang is only worth ten wen? He’s worth at least a hundred!
Xiao A (facepalming): This little idiot, sigh…
Baili Luo: My Tang Tang is priceless.
Little Squirrel Bai Tang: Squeak squeak squeak—I’m really easy to take care of. Pine nuts are tasty!