Chapter 1: First time wearing witchcraft and being framed
A dim candlelight flickered in the quiet little house, and white gauze curtains swayed gently beside the bed.
The thin woman curled up on the bed and opened her eyes in confusion: "I'm not dead?"
[Host Qin Yuqing, hello! Congratulations on successfully binding to the Empress System.]
A cold, mechanical voice suddenly appeared in Qin Yuqing's mind. She frowned slightly and asked, "Who are you? Why are you in my mind?"
"What does the Empress System mean?"
[This is the novel world "The Empress." Due to numerous complaints from real-world readers regarding the poor content and the collapse of the heroine's image, the host is now required to modify the original plot and complete the system quest with the primary goal of becoming the empress before returning to the real world.]
Without giving Qin Yuqing a chance to refuse, a large amount of complicated novel content flooded into her mind.
The severe pain almost made Qin Yuqing faint. She kept adjusting her breathing and organizing the contents of the novel in her mind.
Unexpectedly, Qin Yuqing had heard the beginning of this book.
At that time, she attended the award ceremony as a representative of the city's young and promising corporate directors. On the way, she listened to the content of the audio book. She only remembered that it seemed to be a novel with a strong female protagonist. Coincidentally, the female protagonist's name was the same as hers.
But when Qin Yuqing finished sorting out the plot transmitted by the system, she frowned and was somewhat puzzled.
The plot becomes disorganized in the middle and late stages, changing from a story about a strong female protagonist to a story about abuse. The female protagonist becomes a puppet who can only depend on men and has no self-awareness.
"It's a forced sale." Qin Yudan supported her body with one hand. The bed made a shabby "creaking" sound. Before she could observe the surrounding environment, the door was suddenly kicked open by someone. A vulgar voice and the system voice sounded at the same time.
"This old servant has been ordered to conduct a search. I hope the Sixth Princess will bear with me."
[Release main mission 1: Survive.]
[Special Note: Modifying the plot and becoming emperor are tasks that must be completed. Theoretically, there is no time limit for the host to complete the task.]
Qin Yuqing looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person who spoke was a nanny with a kingfisher-dot hairpin on her head. Behind her stood a woman in a lotus-pink dress and a pearl hairpin on her head. She looked into the room with disgust on her face.
"The second female lead in the original book, Qin Qinqin." Qin Yuqing matched the clothes of the woman in front of him with the second female lead in the book. The plot was that the heroine of the original book was framed, and a scarecrow doll engraved with the birth date of the second female lead Qin Qinqin was placed in the heroine's room.
This was an era that believed in gods extremely. There was a specially established National Master Tower, where a group of Taoists lived. It was a place with power higher than that of the royal family.
"Wait a minute." Qin Yuqing leaned against the wall. Although the heroine in the original book was a princess, her couch was just a broken wooden board leaning against the wall. "Who taught you?"
The palace maids who were searching looked up at the nanny who pushed the door first, and saw that she was looking at Qin Yuqing with contempt, so they continued searching without saying anything.
"Did I agree to let you turn over?" Qin Yuqing's voice was not loud, but it just reached everyone's ears. She looked lazily at Qin Qinqin who was standing outside the house watching the show, and said with a smile on her lips.
"Fourth sister, I know these servants are from my sister's palace, but after all, we are sisters. It's okay for these people to be disrespectful to me, but there is no guarantee that they won't treat me like this in the future."
"Is there something behind your words? But it does make some sense." Qin Qinqin walked in. She glanced around the room and found that there was no place to stand.
"We are both of royal blood. If they disrespect me, isn't that disrespecting my sister?" The maids who were searching paused, and even the nanny quickly walked over to Qin Qinqin. "To put it bluntly, this is extremely disrespectful."
In an instant, the maids and the palace maids all knelt down, lowered their heads, trembling bodies, and kept saying: "We were wrong, please punish us, Princess." These people are not stupid, some words are enough to be said just to the point.
"Sister, I don't like what you said." Qin Qinqin glanced at the nanny kneeling on the ground and said, "How about this, I will fine Nanny Chen two months' salary. What do you think about this, Sixth sister?" Qin Qinqin's tone seemed to be negotiating, but in fact she didn't give Qin Yuqing any chance at all.
Qin Yuqing smiled but didn't say anything. She was now following the plot of the original book. At this moment, the scarecrow was hanging on the beam above Qin Qinqin's head, and the face with a weird smile was facing Qin Yuqing. There seemed to be paper stuck on the scarecrow's body, but she couldn't see clearly what was written on it.
"But why did I hear that there are unclean things in Sixth Sister's palace?" Qin Qinqin laughed ostentatiously, her eyes filled with disgust and contempt, as if this was some very dirty place.
"Sister, you also know that these things are the most taboo in our dynasty. No matter how much you resent me, you shouldn't use such vicious means."
The heroine of the original book was finally cleared of suspicion thanks to the rescue of the hero of the original book, and she also owed the hero a "favor" for this, laying the foundation for the subsequent physical and mental torture.
But she is no longer the original Qin Yuqing, and it is better to rely on herself than on men.
"But sister, everything requires evidence, doesn't it?" Qin Yuqing touched the bracelet under the rag pillow, hid it in her sleeve calmly, then forced herself to get out of bed and stood still holding on to the wall.
She was wearing a thin plain dress, and the cold wind blowing in from the window made Qin Yuqing's figure look even thinner.
At this moment, the eunuch's voice came from outside the door, announcing that the Queen was about to come in, and the scarecrow hanging on the beam seemed to have its own consciousness and began to shake. Of course, Qin Yuqing didn't believe that the scarecrow was alive, but she thought it should be the effect of the plot.
Just as the queen stepped over the threshold, the rope broke without warning, and the scarecrow fell down in front of the queen. The red smile looked at everyone present strangely, and then a gust of wind blew the scarecrow in front of Qin Qinqin.
"Ah! There's a ghost!" Screams echoed throughout the house, except for Qin Yuqing and the Queen.
Qin Yuqing knelt down wisely. She looked at the scarecrow on the ground. Although some minor details had changed from the original book, the key plot of the scarecrow breaking in front of the queen had not changed.
The Queen's face darkened. Just as she was about to open her mouth to scold, Qin Yuqing spoke first, "What are you arguing about? Hurry up and take away the dirty things. Do you think your life is too long?"
After saying this, he kowtowed to the Queen and explained sincerely, "My Queen Mother, you taught me to be brave and responsible for my actions. So I admit that I have resentment towards my fourth sister, but this action was not my fault."
The eunuch moved two chairs to the middle of the yard. The queen sat on them and waved her hand. Two men in Taoist robes walked forward with their heads lowered. After talking a lot, they picked up the scarecrow and held it in their hands for the queen to see.
Qin Qinqin also walked over and stood beside the queen, her eyes red and tears hanging from the corners of her eyes as she said, "Mother, you see she was right, this scarecrow doll is right next to Sixth Sister."
Qin Yuqing didn't say anything. She was quickly recalling the plot at the moment, dividing this section of the story according to key nodes, but she found that it didn't mention who the scarecrow was hiding in the heroine's room. The original text mostly described how powerful the hero was and how he saved the original owner's life with just a few words.
In other words, it's all bullshit.
This means that she is now unable to find the real murderer through the plot of the original book, and cannot use this method to prove her innocence.
"Sixth Princess Qin Yuqing, do you have anything to say?" The Queen glanced at the doll and looked at Qin Yuqing with the same gaze as Qin Qinqin. Her tone was filled with inquiry, "What exactly happened between you sisters?"
What else could have happened?
Qin Yuqing secretly complained in her heart that this was inseparable from the male protagonist of the original book. The male protagonist of the original book admired Qin Qinqin in the early stage, and had a good impression of Qin Yuqing, so he played with two girls at the same time and instigated the relationship between the two girls.
"Your Majesty, please understand. I am jealous of my fourth sister. I envy her for being a thousand times better than me in every way. However, I would never resort to such despicable tactics. Someone must have framed me. The only person allowed in my room must be my personal maid."
Qin Yuqing was not just talking nonsense to delay time. On the one hand, she wanted to defend herself, and on the other hand, she also wanted to see who framed the heroine of the original book.
As expected, a maidservant knelt on the ground in panic, kowtowed repeatedly, and said in fear, "I know that the Empress is known for her wisdom. This scarecrow doll was forced upon me by the Sixth Princess. Even the birth date was given to me by the Princess."
Qin Yuqing looked at the maid's body which was even stronger than hers. She thought it was lucky that the original owner's body was not forced, but how could she force others?
"Mother, I know this is a serious matter, but this is a servant in the palace. I hope you will allow me to question him."
The Queen nodded, and the disgust in her eyes turned into curiosity as she drank her tea. As the winner of the last palace fight, she would not fail to see through these tricks, but as the master of a palace, she still had to rely on evidence.
Qin Yuqing stood up, one hand covering her chest, the other hand supporting the wall. Her voice was weak but powerful: "Who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"
"This servant is Chun Tao, the personal maid."
"Nonsense!" A young girl's voice rang out in the courtyard. The next moment, Qin Yuqing saw a person flash in front of her, and then she knelt down with a "thump". "Greetings to the Queen, and to the Fourth and Sixth Princesses. I am Chuntao, the Sixth Princess's personal maid, and she is a maid who just arrived not long ago. We just happen to have the same name and surname."
"I deserve to die. The princess was unwell just now, and I was in the kitchen making medicine, so I couldn't serve her. Please punish me, Queen!"
Qin Yuqing was confused by this sudden change, but soon she recognized the person in front of her in the original book. This person was loyal, but unfortunately, in the middle and late stages, in order to help the heroine who had turned into a puppet escape, he was discovered by the hero and beaten to death in front of the heroine.
"Aruan, is this true?" The Queen suddenly called out the original book's heroine's nickname. Qin Yuqing almost didn't react, but she quickly looked at the Queen and nodded and confessed.
"It is true." Qin Yuqing held out her hand. Chuntao, her personal maid, stood up with the Queen's approval and supported Qin Yuqing's shaky body. "But I did not ask Chuntao to serve me. You also know that my humble room can't accommodate too many people."
Qin Yuqing looked at Chuntao sharply and asked word by word, "But let me ask you, when did I make you my personal maid? And if you really are a maid, why aren't you serving me in the house? The tea on the table is already covered in a thin layer of dust. How are you serving your master?"
"No, Queen, the Sixth Princess always beat and scolded me. The scars on my hands are from the Sixth Princess pouring scalding tea on them. Queen, please understand!"
Qin Yuqing lowered her eyes and looked coldly at the man kneeling on the ground, chuckling softly before continuing, "Even if I really am a stubborn person, then when did I find you to make this scarecrow? How did I know your birth date and why did I tell you?"
"Wouldn't that leave you with something to hold against me? If you turn against me in the future, I wouldn't be able to defend myself, wouldn't you say?"
"Chun Tao"'s eyes were evasive. She was betraying her master now. Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on her, she didn't expect that the Sixth Princess, who was usually like a soft persimmon, would attack her on the spot.
So she steeled herself and gritted her teeth, "It was the night of the sixth day before yesterday when the Sixth Princess secretly summoned me. It was then that the Sixth Princess gave me this birth date and eight characters, but she didn't tell me who they belonged to. I'm just a lowly maid, so naturally I didn't dare to ask about the Princess's affairs."
"You're talking nonsense! The princess clearly did that that day!" Qin Yuqing patted Chuntao's hand, signaling her not to be anxious.
This "Chun Tao" is a person with quick reactions and tight mouth. If she can do things for subordinates in the modern workplace, I think she can also trouble a lot of things.
"I hope your Majesty mother will call the eunuch to check the daily record. If I remember correctly, I was worshiping Buddha in Shanxin Palace that day and stayed there for three consecutive days." When Qin Yuqing said this, his eyes turned red unconsciously, and the bracelet hidden in his sleeve fell off at the right time.
Qin Yuqing glanced cautiously at the Empress, then picked it up and carefully wiped the surface. After listening to the eunuch's report, he suppressed his grief and said, "Those few days happened to be the anniversary of Mother... Concubine Chen's death. I have always been grateful to Mother for her kindness in allowing me to chant sutras and pray for Concubine Chen. As a Buddhist, I naturally hate these disgusting things. How could I do such a thing?"
"You said you were my personal maid, but I don't even know who you are these days, and who sent you to my palace!"
"Chun Tao"'s body kept shaking. She knew that everything was over. She never expected that the Sixth Princess seemed like a different person.
She kept kowtowing at this moment, admitting that she made the doll.
Just when Qin Yuqing breathed a sigh of relief, Nanny Chen suddenly stepped forward, bowed to the Queen, and said, "But I have a doubt, and I don't know whether I should speak up or not."
Qin Yuqing's heart skipped a beat. Looking at Nanny Chen's smug look, she suddenly understood what Nanny Chen was going to say.
"These birth charts are not something any servant can obtain. Even the masters of the various palaces must report to the emperor before they can retrieve them."
Qin Yuqing sighed inwardly, "Oh no!" She was indeed an old fox who had lived in the harem for many years.
However, Qin Yuqing curled the corners of her lips slightly, she was afraid that no one would point this out.
Just what I want.
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