Chapter 3: Being Victimized Again and Escape

There was a moment of silence in the room. Qin Yuqing and Qin Qinqin faced each other silently. Both of them had smiles on their faces and there was no sign of flaw.

Finally, a pair of birds flew in from the window and landed on Qin Yuqing and Qin Qinqin's desks respectively.

"Forget it, everyone has little secrets." Qin Qinqin couldn't hold it in any longer. She leaned on the table, poking the paper with her pen and said, "Fifth sister is more like a good sister than me. Otherwise, why would you know about her?"

Qin Yuqing sometimes really wanted to roll her eyes. In the original book, you two shouldn't say anything to each other. You appear to be very kind to everyone, but you are both vindictive behind their backs.

"The older sisters take good care of the younger sisters, but the younger sisters are sometimes not very sensible." Qin Yuqing did not respond directly, but instead complained about the little problems of her younger sister's generation.

"Forget it, forget it. If I continue, I'll be considered stingy." Qin Qinqin sat up straight and began to copy seriously.

Qin Yuqing shook his head slightly and continued copying the scriptures, thinking that the three days would pass quietly.

"But sister, you've never been to school, so how did you learn calligraphy?" Qin Qinqin suddenly asked again, her tone filled with curiosity and confusion, as if jokingly saying, "Is Ruan a different person? Otherwise, how could he suddenly become so eloquent?"

Qin Yuqing sighed in her heart. She seemed to understand why the system judged that her task was not yet completed. The heroine in the original book had a dull and unpleasant personality in the early stage. Because she was not favored, no one ever mentioned the matter of going to school when she was old enough to learn calligraphy.

"Sister, have you forgotten, mother? Chen Cairen is the most talented woman in the capital." Qin Yuqing put a piece of copied paper on the ground and continued, "Besides, my sister's real personal maid Chuntao can read. If you don't believe me, you can ask the steward. He will never lie."

Qin Qinqin didn't say anything. Her eyes kept wandering over Qin Yuqing with suspicion, trying to judge whether Qin Yuqing was lying. After a while, she shook her head and said, "National Master is right. I need to calm down. How can I think about such messed up things?"

"Who is so brave as to replace someone in the palace?" Qin Qinqin shook her head with amusement. "I see that you are quite comfortable now, but that doesn't mean I can ignore what happened before."

"That's fine. Like my sister said before, I don't deny what I did before, but I believe you have your own judgment. As a Buddhist, you wouldn't really do something like this."

Qin Qinqin stood up and placed a jade pendant on Qin Yuqing's desk. She said in a somewhat arrogant tone, "Keep this. This is the love that an older sister shows to her younger sister."

Qin Yuqing raised an eyebrow, picked up the jade pendant and hung it around her waist under Qin Qinqin's gaze, saying, "Fifth sister has no concrete evidence. I will investigate for her."

"I like smart people." Qin Qinqin returned to her seat and continued copying in a good mood.

[Host completes main mission 1: Survive.]

[Release main mission 2: Escape.]

Qin Yuqing was even more confused when she heard the second task. Where was he going to escape to? Could something happen in this room?

At this moment, Qin Yuqing smelled a particularly unpleasant smell, which was similar to the smell she had smelled somewhere.

Suddenly, a red flame flashed outside the door. Qin Yuqing's scalp went numb for a moment. She stood up suddenly, pushed open the door and said, "Stop!"

Qin Qinqin also ran out. When her eyes fell on the thing in the man's hand, she gasped: "Do you know who we are?"

A man in a Taoist robe was holding a wooden ladle in his hand, and the strong and unpleasant smell came from here. There was already some black liquid with a metallic luster on the ground.

Qin Yuqing didn't even have time to marvel at the fact that there was oil in this era. Seeing that things were going badly, the Taoist priest took out a fire starter from his sleeve and was about to throw it on the ground.

Qin Yuqing picked up a thick scripture beside her and threw it directly at him. Qin Qinqin was worthy of being a princess who had learned martial arts. After a moment of daze, she grabbed the man with her backhand and kicked the fire starter to Qin Yuqing's side.

Qin Yuqing bent down to pick up the tinderbox. At this time, the people in the National Master Tower also ran towards this side.

When the Taoist saw that his plan was exposed, he took medicine and committed suicide so quickly that neither Qin Yuqing nor Qin Qinqin could react.

"How audacious! You dare to keep assassins." Qin Qinqin kicked the person on the ground, then looked at Qin Yuqing with disdain and said, "What's the point of throwing away books? Next time, follow me and I will teach you martial arts."

"Thank you for your kindness, Fourth Sister, but considering my current health, I'm afraid it won't be possible."

Qin Qinqin made a disdainful "tsk" sound, said a few words to the person who came up, and then took Qin Yuqing to another room.

When passing by Qin Yuqing, Qin Qinqin snorted coldly and muttered: "It's so troublesome. If it weren't for the scarecrow incident where you performed well, I really didn't want to bother with you being such a burden."

Qin Yuqing looked at Qin Qinqin's back as she left. She was a little confused about what this princess was going to do. In the original book, it was clearly stated that she and the heroine were not on good terms, but now it seemed that their relationship was not so severe.

Did her appearance affect the plot, or did something happen before that wasn't recorded in the book?

Until night, Qin Yuqing did not encounter any more danger, and more people were sent to the National Master Tower. It was said that this assassin was from the Mu family in Qingzhou. Because he hated the imperial power and happened to hear that the two princesses were in the National Master Tower, he had evil intentions.

But the system's main task 2 has not been completed, so this escape is not in the broad sense of escaping from a dangerous scene, then what could it be?

Qin Yuqing took out a piece of paper and used a modern way to record what had happened. She replaced some important things and people with animals and numbers respectively, and replaced the connections in between with plants. Then she seemed to have discovered a blind spot.

Just then, a gust of wind blew, and the paper on the table was blown to the door. Qin Yuqing just squatted down to pick it up, and when he looked up, he saw a person hanging upside down in the room.

She stood there in a daze, then asked with amusement: "General Lu, it's inappropriate to appear in a woman's boudoir in such a strange manner in the middle of the night, isn't it?" Qin Yuqing put the paper into the lamp and watched the flames devour the paper.

"I saw it." Lu Jingchuan flipped through the book and suddenly said these words. Qin Yuqing was confused by his incoherent words.

"So? General Lu, if you don't have anything important to do, please leave." Qin Yuqing yawned tiredly and glanced at General Lu's cuffs, where there was a small embroidery. She suddenly realized something and looked at General Lu, "You were sent here by Chuntao."

No wonder, in the original book, Chun Tao only appeared near the end, and there was no so-called General Lu at that time. And yesterday, when Chun Tao supported her, Qin Yuqing found that there was also a strange embroidery on Chun Tao's cuffs. Now think about it, this must be the word Lu.

"Yes, she is my assassin." Lu Jingchuan did not shy away from it. He looked directly at Qin Yuqing and said, "You are alive."

The moment she said these three words, Qin Yuqing felt a chill on her back. Although her face looked calm, her heart was already in a mess. The system had just told her that the task was completed today, and Lu Jingchuan said the same thing out of the blue in the evening.

"I'm not always alive. General Lu, please don't tell lies so late at night. It would be bad if you scared people."

"No." After saying these two words, Lu Jingchuan stopped talking again. Like a puppy abandoned by its owner, he looked at Qin Yuqing seriously with wet eyes.

Qin Yuqing really couldn't stand this kind of look, but she thought that since Chuntao was Lu Jingchuan's person, then what Chuntao did today was under his instructions, so in theory she could ask for Lu Jingchuan's help.

The original book did describe the Lu family. It seemed that their achievements surpassed their master, and they were subsequently confiscated by the male protagonist on the grounds that the Lu family colluded with rebels and sold intelligence.

But looking at Lu Jingchuan's appearance, combined with the description in the early part of the book that the Lu family has been loyal ministers for generations and has never had the intention of rebellion, he does not look like a traitor at all.

Furthermore, the reason why Lu Jingchuan entered the palace at intervals was that he was a hostage sent by the Lu family to the royal family. Once something happened to the Lu family, the royal family could directly eliminate Lu Jingchuan, the only bloodline, and eliminate future troubles.

Considering what happened in the past two days, Qin Yuqing always felt that the content in the early and middle stages of this book did not seem to be written by the same author. At least the logic between the beginning and the end was not coherent at all.

"Lu Jingchuan, would you like to discuss cooperation?" Qin Yuqing knew that if he dared to appear here, there must be no one else around.

"How do we talk?"

"I'll help you save the Lu family, and you'll help me take the imperial examination."

Qin Yuqing remembered that in the original book, the imperial examination would be held in a month. She thought that perhaps escaping meant escaping from the harem. After all, her ultimate mission was to become emperor, and it would not be so easy for her to become emperor while being trapped in this harem.

Firstly, she did not have a powerful maternal family, and secondly, she was not a concubine valued by the emperor. Most importantly, she was still a woman, so her only way to become an official was to take the imperial examination.

A hint of surprise and a flash of joy appeared on Lu Jingchuan's expressionless face, but he quickly returned to his expressionless state.

Qin Yuqing didn't want to delve into why he was so happy. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she was right. He must be taking the imperial examination and entering the officialdom.

[Trigger main quest three: Participate in the imperial examination.]

The system's voice was like the final verdict.

"Okay, but I have a request." Lu Jingchuan clapped his hands, and four or five people in black came in through the window carrying jars of wine. "Drink from me, and I agree."

Qin Yuqing originally thought it was something very difficult to accomplish, but she didn't expect it to be just like this?

"System, will my modern physique follow me through the book?"

【Yes. 】

"That's a sure thing. I've never been drunk in modern times. My reputation of being able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk isn't in vain."

Qin Yuqing picked up the wine jar, looked at Lu Jingchuan and asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Lu Jingchuan looked at the wine jar in Qin Yuqing's hand with an almost stubborn look. His voice was cold but contained an emotion that Qin Yuqing couldn't understand. "I'm a soldier. I believe in speaking the truth after drinking."

Qin Yuqing raised her eyebrows: "People speak the truth when they are drunk." She suddenly wanted to see what Lu Jingchuan was trying to do. "What a coincidence, I believe it too." Anyway, whether she could get drunk or not was up to her. After participating in so many social events for so many years, she was the best at pretending to be drunk.

So Qin Yuqing drank a jar, and Lu Jingchuan drank it right after him. Neither of them gave in to the other, and they drank one sip after another. The empty jars of wine would be taken away by the secret guards and replaced with new ones.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Yuqing saw that Lu Jingchuan's eyes were red from drinking, and his figure began to sway. There seemed to be tears hanging in the corners of his eyes. The smell of alcohol made Lu Jingchuan's face flush, which made his expressionless face look a little more abstinent.

The time was almost up. Qin Yuqing pretended that she couldn't hold the wine jar steadily and almost dropped it on the ground. She drank while falling backwards and said, "Drink! Whoever doesn't drink is a grandson." As she spoke, she bumped into the bookshelf. Qin Yuqing gasped in pain and then said.

"How come this wine bites me?" Qin Yuqing seemed a little angry. He took another sip and choked. He coughed violently a few times and said, "But I like it."

Lu Jingchuan almost subconsciously walked forward to support Qin Yuqing, but his strong willpower allowed him to restrain himself and he only took three steps.

Qin Yuqing felt more and more strange. Lu Jingchuan gave her a very familiar look, but neither the modern Qin Yuqing nor the Qin Yuqing in the original book had any intersection with a person named "Lu Jingchuan".

She was certain that there were no gaps in her modern memories, nor was there any possibility of memory confusion.

So theoretically, this should be considered their first informal meeting?

"Let's continue!" Qin Yuqing raised the wine jar again, but this time his hand slipped and it dropped to the ground.

"Little liar."

The sound of the wine jar breaking drowned out Lu Jingchuan's words, and Qin Yuqing did not hear clearly what he said.

"What did you say?"

"You should be drunk."