Chapter 56: Jingnu is dead. The true operating rules of the original world. ...
As dusk fell, the night fog spread, a few gray clouds hung lazily low, a chilly wind rustled the low bushes on both sides of the road, and birds could be seen hopping about amidst the chirping of insects. A bright, clear moon hung high in the deep night sky, its shimmering silver light like rippling waves, sprinkling the mountain path.
The verdant branches rippled in the night, and the sounds of carriage wheels and horses' hooves mingled as the group slowly descended the mountain under the moonlight.
Holding the reins in one hand, Qin Jin, riding a large horse, glanced back at the carriage behind him and asked Luo Zhen in a low voice, "When was this Taoist temple renovated?"
Luo Zhen replied, "At the end of the year that Xue Langjun passed away."
Qin Jin then asked, "Was it Brother Huaijin's last wish?"
Luo Zhen nodded, then lowered his voice a few inches, worried that Xue Rongyue in the carriage would hear him and fall into sadness again: "It was what Xue Langjun said to you on his deathbed. After the coffin was buried, you took out money and began to arrange for craftsmen to come and repair it."
Upon hearing this, Qin Jin lowered his eyes, his knuckles tapping the reins absentmindedly, his expression thoughtful.
Luo Zhen asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, is there something amiss?"
Qin Jin shook his head: "There's nothing wrong with it...maybe I'm just overthinking it."
His deep voice grew softer and softer, and his last words almost disappeared into the vast night wind, gone without a trace.
Xue Rongyue lifted the curtain, her gaze falling on the backs of the two people riding forward. Her brow twitched slightly, and she asked the coachman, Jingnu, "What are those two talking about?"
Jingnu listened intently for a long time, but the mountain wind howled incessantly at night, making it unsuitable for eavesdropping. She could only shake her head regretfully: "Luo Zhen and Prince Qin both deliberately lowered their voices, so I couldn't hear them clearly."
He couldn't help but say, "It's getting late. My lady hasn't had a proper meal today. Are you hungry? There are still some cakes in the food box. My lady can have something to eat first."
Xue Rongyue shook her head: "I'm a little sleepy. I'll take a short nap. If there's nothing important, don't disturb me."
Jingnu responded and tried his best to drive the carriage more steadily on the rugged mountain road.
Her fingers tightened, and the curtain fell to block her view. Xue Rongyue sat back down, but she didn't actually take a nap. Instead, she opened the original book.
The new chapter of the original work surfaced the moment Qin Jin's figure appeared in the Taoist temple—
【misfortune】
Now Qin Jin has established his own household, and the huge mansion has only Qin Jin as its master. Xue Rongyue is a female relative that Qin Jin personally brought back. Although the servants in the mansion do not know her identity, they dare not neglect her.
Aside from failing to reverse readers' aversion and increase their liking, Xue Rongyue enjoyed a period of peace. Unfortunately, this didn't last long. After she left, Jiang Shiyan sent people everywhere to search for her and eventually found her.
Upon learning that she had actually appeared at the Qin residence, perhaps out of embarrassment and anger, when Qin Jin was ordered to lead troops to suppress bandits in Lin County, Cenzhou, Jiang Shiyan openly accused Qin Jin in court of harboring her, the daughter of a criminal official who had managed to escape capture.
The Imperial Guards surged in like a tidal wave, completely surrounding the Qin residence. She hadn't witnessed the horrific scene of the Xue family being raided and wiped out, but now, watching the massive Imperial Guards approach like a dark cloud pressing down, she found it hard to breathe.
With cold swords and blades lying across his face, Jiang Shiyan stood behind the Imperial Guards, his obsessive and sinister gaze piercing through the gaps in the defenses, like a venomous snake waiting for its chance to strike.
Jingnu is dead.
He died in front of her.
The Imperial Guards surrounded the Qin residence to arrest Xue Rongyue. The servants of the Qin residence were unaware of what was happening and dared not disobey the imperial order to stop them. Only Jingnu, who was hiding in the shadows, showed herself without hesitation and stood in front of her like a moth to a flame. She was then pierced through the heart by an arrow from Jiang Shiyan.
Holding Jingnu in her arms, Xue Rongyue collapsed to the ground, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
As if pierced by a thousand arrows, she was in so much pain that she couldn't breathe. Tears blurred her vision, and they fell one after another, but she couldn't utter a cry because she couldn't catch her breath.
Warm blood gushed from Jingnu's chest. Jingnu winced in pain, tears streaming down her face. Her usually bright eyes gradually hardened. She raised a finger, as if trying to grasp Xue Rongyue's cold, trembling fingers.
In the end, he could only sigh, "My wife... I so wish I could walk with you a little longer. How, how can I possibly put my mind at ease..."
"My wife, I'm in so much pain! What should I do? I...I don't want to die! You haven't kept your promise to buy me the house..."
Before she could even finish her last sentence, Jingnu stopped breathing and died in her arms.
Why?
Why? !
At this moment, Xue Rongyue felt an intense hatred for everything before her.
Her vision blurred, and blood gushed from her lips. Faced with the swarming Imperial Guards, she couldn't even muster the will to resist or escape. This was the first time she had ever given up her desire to live.
...Perhaps it would be better to die together with Jingnu.
She thought this in a daze before she fainted.
When she awoke from prison, the jailer who had imprisoned her hesitated before approaching her and informing her that Jingnu's body had been buried. Princess Yu'an had petitioned the emperor to bestow upon Jingnu a fine coffin so that she could be buried with dignity.
Xue Rongyue knew she should kneel down and kowtow to thank the emperor for his grace, but she couldn't suppress the resentment in her heart.
Even now, sitting on the haystack in her cell, with traces of Jingnu's blood still on her fingertips, she stares blankly and coldly at that unreachable little window, and for a moment she doesn't know who to resent.
Despite all the grievances, she still hated herself the most.
I hate my own incompetence, I hate that I am swept up in the torrent of fate and can never escape.
And at that very moment, the reader favorability rating she had been longing for and trying every possible means to obtain actually began to slowly rise with Jingnu's passing.
The system excitedly came to report the good news, once again capturing numerous comments from readers—
"This female supporting character is quite pitiful..."
"With the Xue family destroyed, Jingnu could have left, but she didn't. Damn, I'm starting to ship them."
"Am I the only one who thinks Xue Rongyue's character is actually quite appealing? I used to find her annoying, but after reading this chapter, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her."
"...Why continue writing about her? I really don't want to see her anymore. I just want to see the male and female leads fall in love. Thank you. Please add this note next time."
"Add one more upstairs."
"Reject the evil female supporting character's whitewashing, reject the evil female supporting character's whitewashing, it's all retribution."
"Moreover, let's think about it from the perspective of the female supporting character. If the same thing happened to me, whether it would harm others is another matter, but I really can't guarantee that I can maintain my moral integrity and not be twisted and jealous (I'm only speaking for myself, I admit that I'm despicable)."
"Now I can finally say it. Haven't you noticed that a large part of the reason why the female lead and the female supporting character are fighting like this is because of General Xue? Let alone the female supporting character and the female lead, even if they are sisters who grew up together, if their parents are so extremely biased, there is a high chance that there will be unrest in the family and discord among the children."
"Xue Xiude was a brave and resourceful general, but he was definitely not a good father. If I were a civilian he protected, I certainly wouldn't say anything bad about him, but I wouldn't want to have a father like him."
"Alright, alright, upstairs, stop washing. When that female supporting character was living a life of luxury thanks to the Xue family's power, why didn't she stand up and break with the Xue family? She's hypocritical!"
"How could she break off relations? This is ancient times! And all these years, Xue Xiude has never given her any shops or land. Isn't all the money and expenses in the mansion at her disposal the dowry left by her birth mother when they divorced? On the contrary, the expenses of the Xue family have always been covered by her dowry."
"...Actually, I've never liked Xue Xiude either. He's very good to the female lead, but isn't the female supporting character his daughter? He's so unfair to the female supporting character and so superficial in his character design."
"We shouldn't be focusing on this now; I think the female supporting character is really going to turn completely evil."
System: [Although there are still many voices expressing dislike for [Xue Rongyue], it's much better than before, and the reader's favorability score has steadily climbed to 62.]
[Please continue your efforts, host. When the reader's favorability score reaches 90, perhaps you can change your fate.]
Keep trying?
Xue Rongyue tugged at the corners of her mouth, a tight, cold smile curving her pale lips.
She gazed indifferently at the bright moon above the small window, her heart like a dried-up pool of water, no longer capable of stirring the slightest ripple.
Jingnu is dead. The only person she cared about is dead. What good is it if she goes through all sorts of hardships to change her fate?
She was so tired; she didn't want to struggle anymore.
If the cost of living is so high, if living well is destined to be a luxury for her, then she accepts her fate.
But she never expected that the sudden change would happen so quickly.
Whether fate finally took pity on her and blew away the layers of fog before her eyes, pointing her not only to a path to survival, but also...
rule.
The true operating rules of the world in the original work.
The carriage traveled along the winding mountain road, which was full of stones and inevitably bumpy.
With a neighing of horses, the carriage jolted twice before coming to a sudden stop. With a furrowed brow and heavy heart, Xue Rongyue closed the original book, her chest heaving with barely suppressed emotion.
Outside, Jingnu's voice came: "My lady, there are people blocking the road ahead."
After waiting for a long time without hearing a reply from Xue Rongyue, Jingnu couldn't help but call out a few more times, "Madam, Madam—"
With her last word, she suddenly raised her voice, and Xue Rongyue snapped back to reality, rubbing her temples in a daze: "Who is blocking the way?"
Before Luo Zhen could bring the woman forward, she heard Xue Rongyue's voice, trembled, and suddenly cried out excitedly, "Madam Xue, Madam Xue, please save my wife!"
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Author's Note: In the original work's screenshots of comments, if you could also participate in discussing this part of the plot and share your thoughts, what would you say?
[Let me feel good][Let me feel good]
The update will still be at 10:22 PM tomorrow night.
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