Chapter 1 The Top Scholar Who Murdered His Wife and Daughter (Part 1) A Farmer's Son's Counterattack Against the Emperor...
"Young master, young master, wake up, please wake up!"
Song Ce frowned and slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing that came into view was an antique-style floor-to-ceiling screen, on which were painted two cranes about to take flight. He was sitting on a round stool in the corner, with the leftovers of a delicious meal on the table in front of him. He didn't know how long the original owner had slept with his arm under his head, but he seemed to have a stiff neck, as his whole body was stiff and sore.
"Young master, you're finally awake!" Seeing Song Ce's expressionless face, the waiter felt a little uneasy and cautiously probed before speaking again, "Young master, our shop is about to close, you see..."
Song Ce stretched his joints, glanced at the sky outside the window, and had just stood up and taken two steps toward the door when the waiter behind him, who hadn't even had time to process the original owner's memories and the plot of this world that had entered his mind, immediately blocked his way with light steps, saying with some difficulty, "Young master, you...you haven't paid your bill yet."
Song Ce nodded, opened the purse on the original body's belt, inside were a dozen or so copper coins and three pieces of silver.
"Waiter, how much?"
Song Ce was dressed in the fashionable attire of a scholar, and was handsome and refined. The waiter was relieved to see that he was speaking to him so politely, and said with a smile, "Sir, the total is one tael and two mace of silver."
Song Ce touched his nose somewhat awkwardly. Not only did he find himself in an unfamiliar ancient world as soon as he opened his eyes, but the problem was that he was a patriotic young man from the 21st century who upheld the Five Virtues and Four Beauties. How could he possibly know how much one tael and two mace of silver was?
When the waiter saw Song Ce standing there dumbfounded and silent, his heart skipped a beat. He gave him a suspicious look and thought to himself, "Oh no, is this guy going to dine and dash?"
Song Ce took out the largest silver coin from his purse and handed it to the waiter, casually asking, "Waiter, how much silver do you earn a month working as a waiter in this restaurant?"
Seeing Song Ce take out the silver, the waiter felt relieved and took the silver with a smile. While weighing it with a small scale, he said with a smile, "I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, young master. I'm lucky if I can earn five or six qian of silver a month. Your meal costs as much as my whole family's expenses for three or four months! Look, there's half a qian too much. You should get fifty wen back. Please sit down and rest for a while. I'll go to the counter and ask the manager for your change."
Song Ce nodded, and after only a minute or two, the waiter returned with the money. Song Ce put the change into his purse and walked out of the restaurant at a leisurely pace.
As dusk settled, the surrounding scenery was shrouded in dappled shadows as the setting sun disappeared. The few pedestrians on the street all looked weary. Song Ce walked along, processing the plot of this world and the memories of the original owner of this body.
The original owner was born in Chenjia Village, which was under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou County. His biological father was a scholar, but unfortunately, he was in poor health and passed away when the original owner was seven or eight years old, leaving behind an orphan and a widow to struggle to make ends meet. Two years later, the original owner's mother remarried Zhou the carpenter in the same village, and had another daughter with Zhou the carpenter.
The original owner of this body looked down on the vulgar carpenter Zhou, and also on her half-sister. The Zhou family was considered to be living quite well in Chenjia Village. Carpenter Zhou was honest and hardworking, and he was skilled at making money, so he had never shortchanged the original owner of this body financially.
The original owner of this body was exceptionally intelligent from a young age, beginning his education at the age of four. By the age of five, he could recite the "Three Hundred Thousand Character Classic" fluently. In terms of academic ability, the original owner could be said to be even more talented than his father, Scholar Song. Scholar Song was overjoyed and, fearing that he might hinder his son's future, he was extremely strict with the original owner.
The original owner of this body was also very diligent, rising at dawn and studying day and night without rest. Even after Song Xiucai passed away, she never slacked off. In addition, after her mother remarried, the villagers around the village inevitably pointed fingers at their family. Perhaps because she heard too much gossip, she harbored a grudge and studied even harder.
When the original owner of this body was nineteen years old, he passed the imperial examination with flying colors and became the youngest scholar in Qingzhou County.
Seeing how promising the original owner of this body was, Zhou the carpenter felt proud and treated the original owner even better. Although the original owner was not Zhou the carpenter's biological son, Zhou the carpenter still used all the resources of his family to support the original owner's continued education.
In this era where "all other pursuits are inferior, only studying is superior," the original owner excelled in her studies and possessed a composed, dignified, and gentle demeanor. Such a talented individual would be a sight to behold wherever she went.
Such an outstanding original body naturally attracted the attention of Du Zhiyuan, the magistrate of Qingzhou County. After observing the original body for a while, Du Zhiyuan was very satisfied with it and decided to marry his only daughter, Du Ningwan, to the original body.
A year after their marriage, Du Ningwan gave birth to a daughter, named Song Chan. The original owner doted on her daughter, granting her almost every wish. The family lived a harmonious and happy life, simple yet warm.
However, the original owner was not satisfied with this life. He secluded himself to study diligently and eventually succeeded in passing the imperial examination, becoming a top scholar. During the palace examination, Emperor Shunyuan personally questioned him, and the original owner responded calmly and eloquently. Coupled with his refined and handsome appearance, he stood out among the scholars. Emperor Shunyuan was overjoyed and immediately appointed him as the top scholar, granting him the position of compiler in the Hanlin Academy, a sixth-rank official.
A young and handsome scholar of humble origins naturally attracted the attention of various factions. Among them, the one who was most eager to win over the original owner of this body was none other than the current prime minister, Xia Changlin.
It turned out that when the original owner rode through the streets, the people of the capital flocked to the streets, all wanting to see what kind of handsome man the youngest top scholar of the dynasty was. Even the daughters of some high-ranking officials and nobles secretly went to the private rooms of various restaurants to watch the original owner, the newly appointed top scholar. Among them was Xia Miaozhen, the daughter of Prime Minister Xia.
Xia Miaozhen fell in love with the original owner of the body at first sight. So when Prime Minister Xia found the original owner, he hesitated. In the end, he concealed the existence of his wife and daughter and accepted the advances of Prime Minister Xia's daughter, Xia Miaozhen.
Xia Changlin had always intended to win her over, and seeing how much his daughter favored the original owner of the body, he, who had always doted on his only daughter, had no choice but to agree to the marriage after Xia Miaozhen's coquettish and infatuated behavior.
Since it was his only daughter getting married, Xia Changlin naturally inquired about the matter. However, there was only one fellow villager of the original owner in the capital, and this person had already been bribed by the original owner. The fellow villager told Xia Changlin that the original owner's father had died early, his mother had remarried, and he had been living alone since he went to the county school, without a wife or children. After hearing this, Xia Changlin felt relieved.
After their marriage, the two were deeply in love, and in less than three months, Xia Miaozhen became pregnant with the original owner's child.
The original owner thought that his wife and daughter, who were far away in Qingzhou, would not be known to Xia Changlin and Xia Miaozhen. However, what he did not know was that Xia Changlin happened to send someone to Juchuan, a neighboring county of Qingzhou, on business. He simply asked his servant to take a detour to visit the original owner's home.
Half a month had passed when the original owner learned of this matter. It should be noted that it takes more than twenty days to travel from Qingzhou County to the capital and back. If one travels by fast horse, the time would be even shorter. The original owner was very anxious and knelt in front of Xia Miaozhen that night, telling her that he already had a wife and daughter in Qingzhou County.
Xia Miaozhen was furious upon hearing this, but the deed was done. Her pride as the daughter of a prime minister made it impossible for her to accept sharing her husband with other women. In addition, the original owner of this body had always gently and tenderly said that she would only love her in this life. So Xia Miaozhen first appeased Xia Changlin, and then, under the original owner's open and covert instigation, she plotted to kill the original owner's father-in-law, Du Zhiyuan, and wife, Du Ningwan. Then she took the original owner's daughter, Song Chan, into her mansion and mistreated her in every way. Finally, in the year Song Chan came of age, she married her off to a two-faced and treacherous playboy in the capital. Less than three years into their marriage, Song Chan died in the playboy's backyard, depressed and miserable.
He died without ever seeing his original self.
After ten months of pregnancy, Xia Miaozhen gave birth to a son for the original owner of this body, but unfortunately, the child died unexpectedly just over a month later. After that, Xia Miaozhen's belly never showed any signs of pregnancy again.
As time went by, the original owner of this body increasingly desired a child. However, due to Prime Minister Xia's power, he dared not take a concubine, and treated Xia Miaozhen with the same respect and affection for years. Because the original owner behaved so well, Prime Minister Xia devoted himself even more to him. Later, the original owner's official position rose higher and higher, and his inner desires and ambitions became increasingly difficult to satisfy.
It's unclear when it started, but the original owner of this body began to follow Prime Minister Xia in committing numerous heinous acts. They embezzled disaster relief funds, sold official positions, amassed wealth, unjustly murdered loyal officials, and did all sorts of evil. Later, the two even secretly forged weapons and trained a private army for the Second Prince in order to gain favor with him, revealing their wolfish ambitions.
The truth will eventually come out. All the things that the original owner and Prime Minister Xia did were presented to the emperor. Once their deeds were exposed, there was no turning back. Emperor Shunyuan was furious, and Prime Minister Xia was immediately ordered to commit suicide in front of the emperor. The prime minister's faction was completely reshuffled in the court. Some were exiled, some were dismissed from their posts, and some were investigated.
As the son-in-law of Prime Minister Xia, the original owner of this body naturally did not have a good ending. He was imprisoned by Emperor Shunyuan and sentenced to be executed in the autumn.
To prevent his secret from being revealed, the second prince in the palace sent someone to the imperial prison to force-feed the original owner a cup of poisoned wine, killing him.
Before his death, the original owner of this body reflected on his life's scheming, only to be met with a cup of poison. Looking back on his absurd life, unwilling to die bearing such infamy, he made a wish with his soul: to return to his original beginning. This time, he hoped to be a good official, a good father, a good son, and a good brother. If possible, he prayed to make amends to his wife, ensuring she had a happy and fulfilling life, living out her days in glory.
Just as Song Ce finished receiving the original owner's memories, a slightly cold, mechanical female voice sounded in his mind, "Task taker, welcome to your first world as a task taker. I am your system, number 702. Success in this mission will reward you with 500 soul energy; failure will result in being imprisoned in the Dark Space for 30 days. If the task taker fails more than 3 times consecutively, the system will consider the task taker to be uncooperative and will disqualify the task taker from the mission. Please take this seriously, and good luck!"
Song Ce was silent for a rare minute. "System...Miss? You humans have male and female commanders, just like humans?"
702: "Tasker, this is just voice mode. After all, this is our first mission together. It's our system's duty and obligation to help you relax and ease the tension." With that, 702 pulled up a 3D light screen panel of the current world in front of Song Ce. On it were displayed a mission summary, mission completion progress, and soul energy rewards. In addition, there was a system trading platform in the lower left corner of the mission panel, but since he currently had no soul energy, the trading platform was grayed out and he couldn't open it. In the lower right corner was an open book.
"Once your Soul Energy exceeds 1000, you can unlock the system's trading platform. The platform allows you to buy products produced by the system and also sell items obtained by the task performer in the world after they have been appraised. The system will provide detailed instructions once the trading platform is unlocked. The book in the lower right corner is called the Sea of Consciousness; you can view the details of all completed tasks within it."
"System, isn't this task description a bit too brief?" Song Ce frowned and said softly.
"Tasker, this is the current mission overview mode. If you wish to upgrade to detailed mode, the Soul Energy reward will be halved. Do you wish to upgrade?"
"……No."
System 702 paused for a moment, then continued, "In order to help the task takers adapt to their roles and get into the swing of things as quickly as possible, the initial tasks selected by the system are mostly simple and have a low difficulty level. Please don't worry."
"Thank you. I'll need your help again in the future." Song Ce nodded and smiled gently, "Please continue to guide me."
702 didn't say anything, but a cute smiley face appeared on the task panel in front of him.
A note from the author:
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Reading Guide: The first story is slightly controversial and some changes were made during the process. You can skip it if you don't like it (awkwardly scratching head) (giving up in despair) (it's come to this) (obediently kneeling down) [Let me see]
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