Chapter 34 Stay here with peace of mind; I will do everything I can to protect you.
Rain began to fall outside the window sometime earlier, the sound of rain pattering and continuous, the system notification sounds ringing all night long.
Qin Jin's hatred level fluctuated, eventually decreasing sharply by 12.
Xue Rongyue yawned wearily, feeling dizzy and lightheaded as she propped herself up from the bed and sat down in front of the dressing table.
Before the reason for the rise and fall of hatred could be figured out, a new chapter had appeared in the original book, the ink slowly appearing on the paper, the words so clear they were almost blinding—
[Anju]
The grand banquet had not yet ended, and the sounds of music and laughter drifted from several courtyards. Xue Rongyue stood in her newly arranged courtyard, looking up at the crescent moon hanging in the branches.
The moonlight, cool and clear like snow, fell on the eaves.
"My lady, it's late and the dew is heavy. You should take care of yourself. Why don't you go inside and rest?" came the maid's cautious voice from behind.
Although it was early spring, charcoal braziers were still placed in the four corners of the house, the crackling of the charcoal fire dispelling the lingering chill of early spring.
"This was a special order from the general, who said that the lady is weak and cannot withstand the cold, so charcoal must be lit at night."
An older maid stepped forward: "Madam, the general has instructed that whatever you need, please just tell me. Everything in this courtyard is of the highest quality. If anything does not suit your taste, I will immediately go and replace it."
Xue Rongyue looked around—
The furniture made of sandalwood and rosewood gleamed with a smooth, lustrous sheen, and the brocade embroidered with delicate patterns was soft. The dressing table was adorned with a dazzling array of jewelry, and the long cabinet was overflowing with clothes and skirts.
Such luxurious food, clothing, and daily necessities were once a thing of the past for her.
"Did he... say anything else?" she asked softly.
"The general said that Madam is a distinguished guest and that we servants should serve her with utmost care. The furnishings in this house are all gifts from the imperial palace, and the fabrics of the clothes are tributes bestowed by Her Majesty the Empress." The maidservant replied respectfully, "The general also said that there are no matriarchs or elders in the household, so Madam need not feel constrained and can simply settle in comfortably."
Feeling at ease settling in?
A bitter smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Xue Rongyue was filled with mixed emotions, unable to tell whether fate had been kind or unkind to her.
Before she transmigrated into the book, she was abandoned by her parents on a hospital bench due to congenital heart disease.
In her hazy memories, her father left her only a slightly worn teddy bear. The iron bed in the orphanage was cold and hard; she would curl up in a ball in the dead of night, counting her heartbeats as she waited for dawn. Sadly, on her eleventh birthday, she never woke up again on the operating table.
After transmigrating into the book, she had a powerful general father, a gentle and virtuous noblewoman mother, and a loving and caring older brother. She was healthy and rarely suffered from minor illnesses. Although her father valued her brother more, he at least provided her with a life of luxury.
She thought that fate was finally starting to smile upon her.
However, the sudden change at the age of eight turned her back into that lonely child, wandering in fear and anxiety in an unfamiliar dynasty every night, spending her days clutching her crumpled doll.
She couldn't understand why things had turned out this way.
Could it be that her birth chart is too strong, bringing misfortune to her father, mother, and brother?
What she couldn't understand was why it was so difficult for her to simply live.
On the day the general's mansion was executed along with the entire family, she was expelled from the Xue family early on because of her "moral failings and ruined reputation," and was sent to a Taoist temple to recuperate, thus narrowly escaping the calamity.
When news arrived that the Imperial Guards had surrounded the Taoist temple, she only had time to grab her bundle and flee into the deep mountains in the rain. Rainwater mixed with tears flowed into her mouth, salty and bitter, making her want to vomit.
And in that leaky, dilapidated temple, the system appeared.
"You are a cannon fodder female supporting character in a sweet ancient romance novel." The system's voice was mechanical and cold. "The adopted daughter who was brought back by General Xue three years ago is the female lead."
Xue Rongyue still remembers the chilling absurdity that surged through her heart at that moment. It turned out that all her pain was nothing more than a few lines of lightly described text in the book. The story begins with the heroine being supported by her father, but she was merely a dispensable embellishment in the story, serving as the beginning.
Because she was unhappy with her father's excessive doting on his adopted daughter, she made trouble for the female protagonist at every turn. Even though she knew that the female protagonist was indeed her father's flesh and blood, she still tried to obstruct her from being included in the family genealogy. In the end, she reaped what she sowed and was sent by her father to a Taoist temple to spend the rest of her life.
This, ironically, saved the female lead.
The female protagonist was supposed to be the only survivor of this massacre, and she would live in anonymity to find out the truth, clear the name of the General's family and avenge them. In the process, she would meet the Crown Prince and become the Crown Princess, ruling the world.
According to the original story, she should have died under the sword of the Imperial Guards, leaving no trace in this world.
Perhaps her arrival changed many things. In the end, the plot did not follow the original story. She survived by chance and completely rewrote the fate of the female supporting character, Xue Rongyue.
With her future uncertain and torrential rain pouring down, she developed a high fever in the dilapidated temple and was on the verge of death, but she was unwilling to die just like that.
The appearance of the system gave her hope.
The system told her that the proportion of supporting characters in each book was closely related to her own fate.
The author won't easily kill off a character loved by readers. So, if she wants to defy fate, she can only try to appear in the main storyline or get close to the main characters to attract readers' attention. As long as her popularity rating keeps rising, she can defy fate.
Unfortunately, due to the initial focus on the female lead, readers currently have a negative affection rating for her and have expressed deep anger and regret at her survival.
"Why isn't she dead yet? Are they keeping her alive to continue causing trouble?"
"I hate her so much, please log off already."
"No way, she managed to get away?"
"This female supporting character is really tenacious, to say the least; she managed to survive."
Lying on the tattered straw mat, rainwater dripped from the broken eaves, pooling into a cold, dirty pool beneath her Taoist robe, slowly soaking her body.
Xue Rongyue looked at a portion of the readers' comments that the system had captured for her and smiled sincerely.
There's always a way out; finally, she found a chance to live again.
She will hold fast to these opportunities for survival, and even if she is smashed to the ground by rocks and bleeds, she will still climb upwards.
Jiang Shiyan appeared in the dilapidated temple. She didn't know how he had found her place, but she knew that something was amiss outside the temple.
At that time, she did not know who the person outside the temple was, and she was even more aware of the possessiveness and madness in Jiang Shiyan's eyes. She had no doubt about the consequences of refusing him. She had no choice but to leave with Jiang Shiyan.
But if she had known earlier that it was Qin Jin outside, she would have taken the risk no matter what.
Compared to Jiang Shiyan, a supporting character who is also cannon fodder and has very few scenes, she naturally hopes to appear next to Qin Jin, who plays a very important role from the beginning to the end of the story.
With feigned flattery and ingratiation, Jiang Shiyan finally believed her loneliness, helplessness, and obedience, and dismissed the servants guarding her. She then naturally got closer to Qin Jin.
She just hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.
When Qin Jin saw her, he was neither shocked, nor wary, nor did he test her. He calmly chose to accept her, and all the words she had prepared beforehand were completely useless.
She entered Qin Jin's residence without any trouble, a situation that seemed unbelievable to her, given that she had been struggling to find food recently.
Was fate taking pity on her once again?
No, Xue Rongyue was more inclined to believe it was a conspiracy.
Now she's like a frightened bird, unable to trust anyone's kindness, especially Qin Jin, the one who used to be her nemesis.
Perhaps this was a contest where each got what they wanted. She needed to gain readers' attention through Qin Jin to increase her popularity rating. And what did Qin Jin want from her?
Xue Rongyue couldn't think of anything. After all, she was in such a sorry state now, what could Qin Jin possibly want from her?
Regardless, she managed to break free from Jiang Shiyan and settle down in the Qin residence.
Although this courtyard is very close to the main courtyard, she doesn't see Qin Jin often. He is too busy with official business and is often away from the mansion for more than half a month at a time, which goes against her original intention.
So she began to take the initiative to show goodwill towards Qin Jin.
She would bring him a bowl of soup when he was busy, and send someone to buy him two thick coats when it was cold. But such gestures did not increase her reader favorability rating; instead, it plummeted. Through the bullet comments captured by the system, she understood the root of the problem.
In the readers' minds, she is still the cannon fodder female supporting character who made things difficult for the female lead, and her actions will be maliciously interpreted and amplified.
Readers simply did not believe that her reunion with Qin Jin was accidental, and always suspected that she had ulterior motives, which was indeed the case.
If she wants to increase readers' liking for her, she must first change readers' initial impression of her.
That evening's banquet was a carefully planned scheme. After several rounds of drinks, she took advantage of her drunkenness to look at Qin Jin behind the screen, and tears streamed down her face at just the right moment.
She gazed at Qin Jin from afar, her eyes brimming with tears, recounting her past mistakes. From being arrogant and confrontational with him to deliberately making things difficult for the female lead, her tears dripped into the wine cup before her amidst her repeated confessions, creating ripples.
It also blurred Xue Rongyue's vision.
She couldn't see Qin Jin's expression clearly, only catching a glimpse of the deep complexity in his eyes amidst the falling petals and rain.
He had a pair of exceptionally sharp eyes that seemed to see into people's hearts, making her afraid to look directly at him. When she quickly looked away, she was still momentarily stunned by his gaze.
...She actually saw heartache in Qin Jin's eyes.
How could that be?
Seeing his former enemy in such a sorry state and hearing her confession, he should have felt smug.
She would rather Qin Jin's eyes be filled with sarcasm, mocking her harshly, "Xue Rongyue, you've finally met your match," than see any pity in his gaze, which would make her feel utterly ashamed.
She lowered her head, suddenly feeling that she could no longer continue the performance. She reached out and forcefully wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. Before she could get up, Qin Jin called her back.
Through a silk screen, his sharp features softened slightly, and his voice became a little hoarse from the alcohol: "Don't worry, I will do everything I can to protect you."
"???"
"What the hell?"
"Has Qin Jin gone mad? Can't he see that the female supporting character is fooling him??"
"Qin Jin's image has been ruined. Logically speaking, she shouldn't be able to trust her so easily anymore."
"It feels like Qin Jin has suddenly lost his mind."
"Speechless. You'd better tell me that Qin Jin is using the female supporting character instead, otherwise I can't accept it."
Faced with this unexpected promise, Xue Rongyue stood frozen in place, at a loss for words, unsure how to respond.
Amidst a screen full of question marks in the comments, she turned around in a panic and fled.
The hairpin dangling from her fingertips fell to the ground unexpectedly, the color draining from her face. Xue Rongyue's pupils constricted sharply, her expression one of astonishment, and a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
Her lips trembled unconsciously, her teeth were clenched, but she still couldn't stop the slight trembling of her jaw.
Jingnu was startled and stopped doing her hair: "Madam, Madam, what's wrong?!"
Xue Rongyue seemed oblivious, her fingers gripping the corner of the dressing table tightly, her fingertips turning white from the force.
Seeing that her face was getting paler and paler, Jingnu became anxious and was about to send a maid to fetch a doctor when Xue Rongyue suddenly stood up.
Jingnu was taken aback and quickly followed.
Her chest heaved violently as a flood of memories overwhelmed Xue Rongyue, making it hard for her to breathe. She quickly entered the inner room, opened the locked wooden box with a "clatter," and knelt down, rummaging through its contents.
Jingnu asked worriedly, "What is it that you are looking for, Madam? Why don't you let me do it?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Xue Rongyue's delicate body suddenly trembled.
Following her gaze, a tattered little bear sewn together with silk came into view.
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Author's Note: 【】 represents the system, [] represents the original plot.
After thinking about it, this chapter's plot seems appropriate to appear at this crucial juncture. [Pity]
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