Chapter 3
Xue Jin'an was very enthusiastic about replacing the battery (heart) and didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
After all, both common sense in the cultivation world and the instincts of a mobile phone told him that he could change any accessories he didn't like, and that unscientific, infectious, or rejection claims were all nonsense.
In his view, the Fourth Prince was just a humanoid accessory depot. He would buy the accessories and assemble them himself, saving on repair labor costs.
The only thing to think about now is where the money will come from?
As a mobile phone, he doesn't have a secret stash of money. All the accounts linked to his payment apps belong to the reclusive, arrogant Long Aotian. Moreover, this ancient world doesn't have advanced electronic payment methods, so it's basically unusable. The two times he ordered takeout just now, apart from draining his battery, he didn't receive a single penny. Xue Jin'an guessed that this was related to the fact that the palace provided food and lodging for the princes.
As for the original owner, he was just as poor as him. The only valuable thing he owned was the string of blood dragon wood beads on his wrist. It was a gift from the emperor when Consort Zhen was favored. Originally, it was a pair. Consort Zhen gave the other string to Consort Chu, who is now Consort Zhen. She even used it to win favor for her. Later, the tenth prince died of poisoning, and their relationship broke down. Consort Zhen smashed the string of beads.
In the original story, the Fourth Prince took his newlywed wife to Yihe Palace to serve tea. The Fourth Prince's wife accidentally knocked over Consort Zhen's dressing case, which unexpectedly opened a hidden compartment underneath. Several loose wooden beads fell out, which were the beads from the blood dragon wood bracelet. Consort Zhen, with a gloomy expression, personally picked up the beads one by one. After a while, she said she was tired and dismissed the two of them.
On the way out of the palace, the fourth prince explained the origin of the bracelet to his wife. The fourth prince's wife sighed and said, "My mother is sentimental, but it's a pity that she trusted the wrong person."
The original novel's plot mainly focuses on the princes' struggles for the throne in the court, while the affairs of the harem are only briefly mentioned as supplementary plot elements, highlighting the close relationship between the court and the harem.
In short, Xue Jin'an is currently broke and cannot afford new parts.
However, Xue Jin'an soon no longer needed to worry about how to obtain the Fourth Prince's battery. He only heard a female voice call out, "This servant greets Your Highness the Fourth Prince," and the humanoid accessory storage unit simply grew legs and ran away.
"What is Aunt Cuiyun doing here? Then what about my mother... Well, you dare to betray me? I won't let you get away with this!" The Fourth Prince shouted threats as he hurriedly climbed down from the wall.
Xue Jin'an felt a sudden urge, and his body's instincts compelled him to climb onto the water vat. He tiptoed and struggled to peer over the wall, clinging tightly to the edge to avoid falling.
He saw the Fourth Prince walking and cursing angrily, followed by a group of eunuchs who hunched over and didn't dare to utter a word. Not far away, a palace maid was waiting. Judging from her clothes and the Fourth Prince's attitude, she should be a trusted maid of Consort Zhen.
Xue Jin'an looked at the palace maid, who seemed to sense something and looked up. When her gaze fell on his wrist, her expression suddenly changed. Although she tried to hide it well, every detail of her expression was exposed to his high-definition camera.
That look in his eyes seemed to recognize who he was, and also seemed to be...
Before Xue Jin'an could figure out what it looked like, his hand slipped and he almost fell into the water tank. Fortunately, his anti-fall mode automatically activated, controlling his body to fall in an unbelievable way onto the muddy ground covered with fallen flowers and leaves, and even rolled around to dissipate the force.
Aside from getting his clothes dirty, he didn't get a single scratch.
Xue Jin'an climbed onto the water vat again, peeking out over the wall, only to see the backs of a group of people hurrying away.
People get sleepy when they are full, and the battery drains more slowly when in hibernation or standby mode, so Xue Jin'an didn't struggle and went back to the original owner's room.
The original owner's room was very simple, with only a table, chairs, benches, and a bed. The windows were covered with layers of straw paper, making the light very dim. The thin quilt felt a little damp to the touch.
As a mobile phone, Xue Jin'an found it hard not to hate water. Although its waterproof function was quite good, it didn't stop him from disgustingly kicking the damp quilt aside and then lying straight on the hard wooden bed in a peaceful posture as if he were about to be buried.
The original owner had a sleep disorder, characterized by difficulty falling asleep, light sleep, and frequent dreams. In order not to affect herself, Xue Jin'an reluctantly opened the music app.
Whether it was due to the damage to his physical body or because he was currently in the world of the book, all the songs in his playlist had turned into unplayable white text, and the entire music library had also undergone subtle changes, especially the playlist page, where a glance revealed:
Fifty classic poems from the Book of Songs, listed in no particular order. — Tan Qinghui, Instructor of the Jinyang Prefectural School
Reminiscing about Youth: Unforgettable Masterpieces of Poetry and Prose from a Bygone Dynasty – Langya Jushi
The annual Deer Cry Banquet – Imperial College
Opening the playlist again, the song titles are all similar to "Jianjia", "Remembering Yangliu Dishang Jingtong (Part 1)", "Xijiangyue: Seeing the Evening Scene of Chang'an Street", "Xiangsi Fu", and so on.
I always felt that these things shouldn't be on a playlist, but rather in the classical poems that high school students are required to memorize.
Xue Jin'an randomly selected a playlist, set it for an hour, and then closed his eyes to begin sleeping.
His consciousness was on standby, but his body was still awake. He didn't know how much time had passed, but his body gradually fell asleep amidst the chanting of poems and songs.
When Xue Jin'an woke up again, he was awakened by sobbing. He opened his eyes, and the first word that popped into his mind was: cold.
He then realized that his sleeping position had unknowingly changed to a curled-up position with his arms crossed, and that the damp thin blanket had somehow covered him.
Xue Jin'an checked the time and the weather. It was already past midnight (nine o'clock at night), and the temperature was only around ten degrees Celsius. The weather forecast said it would rain.
Intermittent sobs came from outside. Xue Jin'an threw off the covers and got out of bed. A sense of reluctance arose in his heart. His hands and feet were stiff and cold, feeling like ice to the touch. He felt stiff and numb when he walked.
Cell phones malfunction at around -20 degrees Celsius, while humans can't stand temperatures in the teens. Humans are really weak.
Today is another day I wish I could be a mechanical life form again.
Ignoring the stiffness and numbness in his hands and feet, Xue Jin'an followed the sound and went straight to the room, where he saw a twelve or thirteen-year-old eunuch sitting under the eaves, sobbing in front of the moon.
The young eunuch was startled by the sound of the door opening and jumped up immediately. When he saw that it was Xue Jin'an, he wiped away his tears and rushed over, "Master, why are you awake? Just tell me what you need. It's cold outside, please go back inside."
Xue Jin'an noticed that he walked with a limp, and there were bruises on his face and the back of his hands from being punished.
Xiao Lu Zi was the original owner's only personal eunuch. He had been by her side since the time of Consort Zhen. The two of them depended on each other for two years in this Qifeng Courtyard. Even though the original owner couldn't stand the dilapidated environment at first and cried and made a fuss, and later her personality changed drastically and she became more and more gloomy and fierce, Xiao Lu Zi never left her.
In the original novel, the original owner dies at the beginning of the story, and his death serves as the fuse to set off the struggle for the throne. However, no one cares about the truth of his death. His death becomes a game of power, and today it is pushed onto the fourth prince, and tomorrow it is dragged into the ninth prince. They take turns, and in the end, no one knows how much of it is true or false.
Only Xiao Lu Zi cried out that Consort Zhen was wronged and wept bitterly for the Seventh Prince. He wanted an answer and the truth. He was manipulated by various forces and eventually went mad in the power struggle. In the dead of night, he set a fire in Weiyang Palace, turning the ten-year-long scheme into black ashes.
As a mobile phone, Xue Jin'an was completely ignorant of literary creation, but he remembered that when the otaku Long Aotian watched this scene, he commented with feeling: "The palace is a place that eats people, and it cannot tolerate clean souls. Only those who are ruthless and wield power can live a little longer."
The first essential element for survival is to be ruthless and merciless.
"Who did it?" With ruthlessness as the first step, Xue Jin'an opened his memo and began to hold grudges.
Xiao Luzi was taken aback. Under Xue Jin'an's imposing aura, he gave a few names and then quickly mumbled, "It's nothing. I was just clumsy and accidentally knocked something over, that's why I was punished. It's all over now."
"Something's happened," Xue Jin'an said matter-of-factly. "I'm going to tear them apart and skin them alive."
The best way to retaliate against a mobile phone is to disassemble it into parts and put them into another mobile phone. If we were to do the same to a human, it would be like dismembering and skinning them.
Moreover, he happened to want to replace the battery. The battery that was manufactured too old had a shorter lifespan, but it was still better than his 50% health status. He could use it as a temporary solution and replace it when he found an opportunity to get his hands on the Fourth Prince's battery.
Xue Jin'an nodded to himself, feeling that his thoughts were perfectly normal.
Completely unaware that his young master was so ruthless as to want a heart transplant, Xiao Luzi took it as a comforting remark about dismembering bones and skinning skin, and smiled and agreed, "Then this servant thanks the master for standing up for me, hehe."
Xue Jin'an nodded slightly, thinking: I've already thanked you, but this dismemberment is inevitable. The shut-in said that cultivators cannot incur karma.
Xiao Luzi didn't take it to heart. A wind picked up outside, and the chill crept into his bones. Afraid that Xue Jin'an would catch a cold, Xiao Luzi quickly closed the doors and windows of the room. Still feeling it wasn't enough, he chased him onto the bed and, without saying a word, tied the quilt into a ball.
"The weather is getting colder and colder. Tomorrow I'll go to the Xixin Division to ask when they'll be able to send out charcoal. And we should get some cotton for these quilts too..." Xiao Luzi muttered to himself.
Xue Jinan listened quietly, occasionally jotting down notes in her memo.
Xiao Luzi didn't think there was anything wrong with Xue Jin'an's taciturnity. His young master had suffered too much in the past two years. He had witnessed his young master's transformation from cheerful and lively to gloomy and fierce. The scene of him biting the fourth prince until he bled was shocking enough to him. No matter what he became next, he wouldn't be surprised.
Moreover, he did not bring any food; the master was probably too weak from hunger to keep quiet.
"Oh, right, Your Highness, I almost forgot, I have some good stuff in my arms!" Xiao Luzi suddenly remembered something, and his expression became excited. He sat on the edge of the bed and carefully took out a plain brocade handkerchief with cloud patterns from his pocket. Inside, there were four or five pieces of pastry. It was clear that the owner had protected them very well, with only a few broken corners.
"This is the crystal cake made by Eunuch Wei, your favorite. Please try it." Xiao Luzi handed the cake to Xue Jin'an and said with a smile, "Today is a day of relief after hardship. Although I was punished, I was fortunate to meet Sister Cuiyun and get this cake."
"Cuiyun?" This was the second time Xue Jin'an had heard this name.
Xiao Luzi, who had been hungry all day, swallowed hard as she looked at the pastries and nodded in reply, “Yes, you were too young to remember, but Sister Cuiyun used to work as a cleaner in Zhaoyang Palace. You even met her. Later, Her Majesty… she was assigned to Yihe Palace and now serves Consort Zhen. She’s quite a respected palace maid.”
"Is that so?" Xue Jin'an replied casually, picked up a piece of pastry and took a bite. She found that this thing contained a lot of electricity. Half of it could restore 1% of her body, which was much faster than eating vegetables.
The problem is that his battery is too weak right now. It was in sleep mode for a while and didn't use up much power. Eating two pieces of food should be enough. Eating any more would be a complete waste.
Moreover, he ate a lot of food today, and his stomach is still very full.
Hearing Xiao Luzi swallow, Xue Jin'an expressionlessly pushed the remaining pastries back, saying, "Eat if you're hungry."
"Cold." Xue Jin'an ignored Xiao Luzi's touched expression. He felt the stiffness and coldness in his limbs and felt like he was about to spontaneously combust.
By the way, does the phone get hot when I play games while charging?
Xue Jin'an took a bite of the pastry and thoughtfully opened the main interface.
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