Chapter 163. Calling it forgetting one's roots wouldn't be an exaggeration. ...
Now, Xiao Qiluo's protagonist aura is completely suppressed by the male protagonist's aura. If she doesn't come up with a solution, Cui Fang could easily destroy all the efforts that Xiang Bei and the system have made during this period with just a few words.
Xiang Bei noticed that Xiao Qiluo's condition was becoming increasingly strange. She had been completely controlled by the world's consciousness, and her eyes and heart were only for the male protagonist.
While asking the system to find a solution, Xiang Bei was also looking in the trading mall for any useful items.
Xiang Bei snorted coldly and said, "No wonder people say that when the male protagonist in a male-oriented novel looks at the male protagonist in a female-oriented novel, he feels that his life is not good. It's true. It is a female-oriented novel, but the world consciousness is manipulating the female protagonist to grovel to the male protagonist."
This was the first time Xiang Bei had ever seen a male protagonist with such an overwhelmingly strong aura.
The previous world was full of suffering, but it ended with a happy ending. This world is full of suffering, but in the end, the male lead uses the female lead as a stepping stone.
Either way, they're disgusting.
This little world even tortured the female lead to death, and now the male lead completely overshadows her.
That's going too far, way too much.
The system quickly switched to another screen and started typing away, almost making sparks fly off the screen.
"Host, we can manually max out the female lead's aura to 200% by purchasing the protagonist's aura from the trading store."
"There's no protagonist's halo here."
"It's been updated, host, please refresh it."
Xiang Bei refreshed the trading mall and, sure enough, saw the newly added protagonist halo.
"Just add it to five hundred, and crush this damn male lead into mincemeat." Xiang Bei said as she opened the trading shop, but when she saw the price of the protagonist's halo, she silently swallowed her words.
"This protagonist's halo is way too expensive."
The system glanced at it and sighed, "So I just suggested bringing the female lead's aura up to the same level as the male lead's, but it's too expensive. Luckily we've completed a lot of tasks before, otherwise we wouldn't have enough points to buy so many auras."
Xiang Bei sighed. She hadn't expected this thing to be so expensive. It would almost use up all her current points, and she couldn't even crush the male lead's halo.
Outside the big screen, Cui Fang shamelessly spoke up, "Your mother should have already told you, so you probably already know about Rou'er."
Xiao Qiluo's face was deathly pale. With her last shred of reason, she bit her lower lip tightly and didn't say a word. In the end, she just nodded to Cui Fang.
"Rou'er saved my life before. She is my savior. I will not wrong her. I must marry her as my second wife."
"And what about me? Where do you place me?" Xiao Qiluo clutched her chest and looked at Cui Fang.
This feeling of being out of control was too unbearable. Xiao Qiluo tried hard to control herself, but her heart still couldn't help but tremble.
She was upset because Cui Fang didn't care about her.
Cui Fang looked at Xiao Qiluo, seemingly oblivious to her pale face, and said impatiently, "You're already a princess, what more could you want? Besides, I've already given you the position of my principal wife. If I hadn't married you first, Rou'er wouldn't be being pointed at as a mistress. Xiao, do you intend to be a jealous woman?"
"Shameless bastard, talking as if you brought that princess's position to her. Being your legal wife is the worst luck imaginable." Xiang Bei spat and immediately bought the protagonist's halo.
He keeps calling her "Princess Xiao" like that. If he's so powerful, why doesn't he call the emperor "Old Man Xiao" in front of all the civil and military officials during court sessions?
While cursing the male lead, Xiang Bei wrote Xiao Qiluo's name on the halo. Looking at the two hundred points left after buying the protagonist halo, she handed it to the system and said, "Quick, add it."
If spending so many points still doesn't work, she'll definitely tear this useless thing apart.
"Wait a minute, we still need to adjust it a bit." The system took over, "The protagonist's data is different in each small world. We need to adjust it to match the female lead's situation. Just wait a moment, it will be done soon."
Xiang Bei was furious. What kind of time is this to need mediation?
In particular, when Xiao Qiluo wanted to tell Cui Fang that she was the one who saved him back then, she was pushed by him as soon as her hand touched his sleeve. She took several steps back and bumped into the table before stopping.
“Xiao, I never expected you to be such a jealous person. I came back this time not to discuss things with you, but just to inform you that Rou’er will definitely be entering the Princess’s residence as a secondary wife. She is my savior, and I’m only not asking you to give up your position as the principal wife for her because of our past relationship.”
"This is outrageous! How dare you hit my daughter, you dog!"
Xiang Bei rolled up her sleeves, gathered all her strength, and lashed out at Cui Fang.
Just as the slap was about to hit Cui Fang's face, it was bounced back by an invisible force, and Xiang Bei took two steps back and fell onto the sofa.
Xiang Bei refused to believe it and picked up a baseball bat to hit him again, but it still bounced back.
"Host, don't waste your energy. The male lead is protected by the world's consciousness, so you can't touch him."
Xiang Bei laughed in exasperation, "So, according to this logic, the world consciousness is the author, and who is the male lead to her? Why is she being so nice to him?"
"The author mentioned in her preface that the male protagonist was based on her husband."
Xiang Bei: "..."
"Could the female lead be based on the author herself?"
"No, look at the comments. Lots of people are wishing the author would transmigrate into the female lead in the book."
Xiang Bei didn't want to read it; it would upset her. From what the system relayed, she knew the author was still being stubborn, or perhaps she had broken down and was arguing with people in the comments section, even cursing that those who insulted her wouldn't be able to have a son.
"System, hurry up, I don't want to hear this."
"Almost there, almost done."
Off-screen, Xiao Qiluo clearly hadn't expected to be pushed away, and her gaze towards Cui Fang was still somewhat incredulous.
“Prince Consort, how could you lay a hand on the princess? This is the princess’s residence, you…” Xingzhi had been waiting outside the door when she heard the commotion and came in to see the prince consort pushing the princess away.
She spoke up for the princess, and was slapped across the face by the prince consort.
Cui Fangyou was still not satisfied and kicked Xingzhi. "Tell the steward to sell your rude maid. Xiao Qiluo, you can't even manage a household. When Rou'er comes in, hand over the management to her. Also, as punishment for your jealousy, I will stay with her until Rou'er comes in. You should reflect on your actions."
After saying that, he flicked his sleeve and left, leaving Xiao Qiluo with a heartless back view.
"Cui Lang, Cui Lang."
Despite the pain, Xingzhi rushed over and hugged Xiao Qiluo, "Princess, what's wrong? Please wake up!"
As she watched Cui Fang's figure disappear, Xiao Qiluo felt as if some kind of restraint on her body had vanished.
She lost her strength and collapsed to the ground, along with her consciousness.
"Princess."
Xiao Qiluo felt weak all over, and she even dared not recall what she had just done.
Because of Cui Fang, she seemed to have become someone else.
She felt terrified of herself just now, and she even thought that she could unconditionally agree to all of Cui Fang's requests.
But even though she didn't want to agree, her mouth was completely out of her control.
"Wake up, does it hurt?"
"I'm not in pain, Your Highness. Are you hurt? The Prince Consort has gone too far. How could he treat you like this?"
"Xingzhi, why are you so good to me?" Xiao Qiluo looked at Xingzhi, somewhat puzzled.
If Xingzhi hadn't held her tightly just now, she might have caught up with Cui Fang and even agreed to many of his unreasonable demands.
Just thinking about it made Xiao Qiluo feel a chill of fear, and her whole body trembled.
She was clearly trying to change, but why did she revert to her old ways the moment she saw Cui Fang?
Even her mother didn't show up. Could it be that she really can't get rid of Cui Fang?
No, she doesn't want that.
He realized that the spot on his face where he had been slapped was swollen, which showed that Cui Fang had not held back when he hit him. He had only reminded Cui Fang to be careful of his son-in-law, yet Cui Fang was still so ruthless.
Xiao Qiluo couldn't understand why she would fall madly in love with someone as awful as Cui Fang.
Xingzhi looked at Xiao Qiluo and smiled, "When I was selling myself on the street to bury my father, it was the princess who gave me money to bury him. The princess didn't want me to be a slave, and gave me money so that I could live well. From that moment on, I vowed to repay the princess."
"Then how did you get to the princess's residence?" Xiao Qiluo sat up, feeling completely weak and unable to get up.
Upon realizing this, he quickly helped her up and placed her in a chair before speaking.
"After the princess gave me the silver to bury my father, the remaining silver was taken away by my uncle and aunt. I worked as a laundry maid for wealthy families to earn some money. Later, when the princess married her husband and moved into the princess's mansion, I saw that the mansion was hiring maids, so I sold myself into the mansion."
Xingzhi looked at Xiao Qiluo and said, "Your Highness, you don't know, you saved me twice, no, no, it should be three times. The first time was when you gave me money to bury my father. The second time was when I entered the manor, I was clumsy and made a mistake, and was punished by the head maid and not allowed to eat. You passed by and had Sister Chunqiao give me a plate of pastries. The third time was when you gave me the name Xingzhi and took me with you."
Xiao Qiluo stared blankly at Xingzhi. These were all things she could do easily, but someone had remembered them for a long time and was eager to repay her.
She had saved Cui Fang, and Cui Fang remembered her for a long time, but now he firmly believes that the woman he found, the one with the jade pendant, is his true savior.
How ridiculous!
Xingzhi quickly helped Xiao Qiluo up and carefully asked, "Your Highness, would you like to ask a master to take a look? You were a little..."
"Isn't that a bit unusual?"
Realizing that some people had hesitated, he nodded vigorously.
"I want to rest for a while," Xiao Qiluo said, getting up.
She has mixed feelings right now; the master certainly can't solve her current problem.
Her strange attitude towards Cui Fang made Xiao Qiluo very uneasy.
We must get out of this situation; if it continues like this, all our previous efforts will be in vain.
"Mother, is there really something wrong with Cui Fang?" Xiao Qiluo asked, looking into the air.
Even her mother remained silent. Xiao Qiluo guessed that Cui Fang had serious problems. She still suspected that Cui Fang had cast a spell on her, otherwise why would her heart become uncontrollable whenever she saw him?
Previously, the Empress Dowager said she hadn't discovered any Gu worms, but after what just happened, Xiao Qiluo felt that the Gu worms Cui Fang had planted were too powerful, which was why the Empress Dowager hadn't noticed them.
[There was a problem, but a solution has been found. Qiluo, you absolutely mustn't see Cui Fang these next few days, understand?]
"Mother, is it a Gu worm?"
Xiang Bei thought that this could also be explained in this way; Cui Fang's actions were no different from casting a spell.
[It's similar to casting a curse, except the curse worm isn't on you, it's on Cui Fang himself. In short, you must be careful these next few days.]
The system had been debugged and the data was fine, but a problem still occurred.
Xiang Bei couldn't add a special aura to the protagonist on her own. To avoid disrupting the mission world, she had to report it to the main system, which usually took at least three days for approval. However, Xiang Bei had an advantage because of her special circumstances, allowing her to go through a special approval process.
But we'll have to wait a day.
Xiang Bei hadn't expected it to be so troublesome.
The system sighed, "Host, the problem we're facing is not an ordinary one. Even old systems that have been around for many years haven't encountered this situation before. The main system has already given us special consideration."
Its "Heroine Rescue System" is said to have surpassed many older systems in the current rankings on the planet.
No novice system has ever encountered so many thorny problems on its first mission. Both it and its host are top priorities at headquarters, and they must resolve these issues as quickly as possible.
Xiang Bei comforted Xiao Qiluo a few more times, saying that the more problems one encounters, the more difficult they become to handle.
To avoid causing Xiao Qiluo worry, Xiang Bei didn't say much, only reassuring her that she had already thought of a solution.
Seeing her mother's words, Xiao Qiluo felt relieved.
Since the Empress Dowager says there is a way, then there must be a way.
It doesn't matter if we wait a few days, since Cui Fang won't be back during this time anyway.
Xiao Qiluo was also somewhat unhappy about Cui Fang's actions.
When they first got married, Cui Fang respectfully called her "Princess," but she felt that this was too distant between husband and wife, so she asked Cui Fang to call her by her name, Qi Luo.
But at some point, she became the Xiao family member that Cui Fang was referring to.
Later, whenever any member of the Cui family felt unwell, it would be blamed on her, and she was branded as a poisonous woman.
Perhaps it was because she had been learning too much from the tutor her mother had invited in her dreams recently, that Xiao Qiluo felt that now that the Prince Consort held power, he had probably forgotten how he had obtained these things in the first place.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they've forgotten their roots.
Cui Fang probably forgot that it was he who married the princess.
"Xingzhi, go and invite the prince consort's mother and younger siblings over. I have something to say to them," Xiao Qiluo instructed.
Whenever Cui's mother was mistreated by other women in the capital, she would come back to find fault with her and punish her, trying to regain her face by taking revenge on the princess.
The Cui family was indeed a prominent and powerful clan, but Cui Fang was not. To be precise, he was just a branch of a collateral branch of the Cui family. His ancestors had been wealthy and powerful for a long time, but by the time he came to his family, they were just a poor and declining household.
Cui's mother was an uneducated old lady who only moved into the princess's mansion because her son married a princess. Other families only addressed her as "old lady" because of her status as a princess.
She made a fool of herself during the meal, so naturally we won't tolerate it.
However, this Cui mother was also a bit dim-witted, always liking to compare herself with old feudal lords who had imperial titles.
Xiao Qiluo finally understood why Cui Fang was so confused; it turned out he had a confused mother.
If a child is not taught, it is the father's fault.
Cui Fang's father died quite early and never taught him any profound principles. Xiao Qiluo couldn't very well dig up Cui Fang's father and teach him.
Granny Huang brought Xiao Qiluo a chair, and Xingzhi fanned her. Looking at the three people standing there with their necks hunched, Xiao Qiluo took a sip of tea and slowly put the teacup down.
"Cui Fang just returned."
Upon hearing Xiao Qiluo's words, Cui's mother quickly looked up, her eyes darting around as if searching for her son.
"He was very angry."
The smile on Cui's mother's face was impossible to suppress. Just as she was about to speak, Yan Pozi kicked her from behind, causing her to kneel on the ground.
"Kneel down obediently. Did the princess give you permission to speak?"
Cui's mother was very indignant. "Princess, my son is back. You can't make me kneel again, can you? My son listens to me the most. I can put in a good word for you."
Xiao Qiluo scoffed, then immediately laughed, "Is it possible that you were punished because your son angered this princess?"
“Impossible!” Cui’s mother immediately retorted, and then called into the house, “Fang’er, Fang’er, come out.”
Granny Hu walked over, and Kuang Kuang slapped her twice. "How dare you! You dare to shout like that in front of the princess?"
"Stop shouting, no one will come to save you even if you shout until your throat is hoarse."
Xingzhi added, "Because your son is gone, and he never thought of you, his own mother, from beginning to end."
"Impossible!" Mother Cui knew her son; if he knew how miserable she was at home, how could he possibly abandon her?
It must be this wicked woman who deceived her son.
“Cui Fang came here, but not for you. He didn’t even ask you, and he didn’t even know I moved into the main courtyard.”
Cui Fang simply refused to believe it, repeatedly shouting, "Impossible, impossible!"
With red eyes, Cui Bao'er said, "What's impossible? My brother is heartless. We suffer at home, but he's out there messing around with other women, completely disregarding our lives."
"Shut up, don't you dare slander your brother!" Mother Cui snapped.
But the more she forbade it, the more Cui Bao'er insisted, "That's right! My brother is the prince consort, and his wife is a princess. How dare he keep a mistress and even bring her into the family as a concubine? It's all his fault!"
"Shut up, I told you to shut up." Cui's mother raised her hand and slapped Cui Bao'er. Her eldest son was her true treasure.
Cui Bao'er cried even louder.
“Xingzhi, tell her what the prince consort said when he returned?”
"Yes, Princess." Xingzhi put down her fan, stepped forward, and repeated what Cui Fang had said, but omitted the fact that the prince consort had pushed the princess.
If these people find out, they might start having some inappropriate thoughts.
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