"Your Majesty, come this way quickly. Chief Eunuch Nan just left. Whatever you want to do, you should give up now. His Majesty's temper has been quite bad lately. Even if you are as beautiful as a flower, you can't stop his 'advice'!"
A relatively calm palace maid, as if afraid of some flood or ferocious beast, looked around before running over in small, quick steps to pull Yu Ling outside.
Tsk, of course I know he just left; he left right next to me!
Yu Ling couldn't explain it either.
This is the most important place in the inner palace. Apart from the occasional patrolling guards, it's mostly eunuchs and women. He's neither a guard nor wearing a eunuch's uniform, so "Your Majesty" is fine.
"Oh dear, Your Highness, you don't even have any jewelry on you. Luckily, I have a jade hairpin here that matches your dress perfectly!"
Perhaps because they were worn out, the palace maids here were not so careful in their speech. They were afraid, but they were completely unguarded against a beauty like Yu Ling. They were immediately captivated by her beauty and poured all their wealth into her.
The other palace maids followed suit and quickly provided Yu Ling with a complete set of clothes, one for each of her.
Her hair was simply styled by a skillful palace maid, adorned with a carved jade hairpin, a silver ring on her left hand, a silver bracelet on her right, and a very thin plain chain around her neck with a small, round pearl hanging from it. Combined with "Qianhuan's" top-quality blue dress, she was the quintessential innocent and beautiful woman!
Yu Ling really wanted to refuse, but these young ladies were just too enthusiastic. He also didn't want too much physical contact in the ancient world, so he kept avoiding them, but they took it as shyness.
Then, the palace maids seemed even more excited.
Such a good-tempered empress is a rare sight indeed. She must not have been summoned by His Majesty yet, otherwise how could she be so unknown in the palace?!
"Alright, that's enough! Put these things away quickly, or I might damage them!"
If Yu Ling hadn't kept taking them off, he really would have been hung up like a Christmas tree. He just couldn't take off those few clothes because the palace maids said they were going to give them to him.
So extravagant!
[Host, this world is experiencing inflation. Silver is worthless, and gold can be spent at tens of thousands of taels at a time. You can rest assured and accept the money.]
The system remembered this worn-out world. There were many differences between it and other dimensions, so it promptly reminded the user. For example, it also instilled common knowledge that not all women have pierced ears.
No wonder they weren't surprised to find they couldn't wear earrings!
Upon hearing that these items were worthless, Yu Ling stopped refusing them and decided to wear them.
"Then I shall accept it without hesitation."
Fortunately, the palace maids had their own tasks to do, so they took Yu Ling to the vicinity of the Imperial Garden and then went about their duties, which allowed Yu Ling, who had been forced to dress as a woman yet again, to regain her freedom.
"Phew, I'm finally free. If we kept talking, I'd start acting like an empress."
Yu Ling muttered to herself as she took off the hairpin, then turned to walk back.
For some reason, he felt a restlessness in the data stream belonging to the original owner, so he found a dark place, withdrew his body, and responded to the strange feeling with the virtual form of the original owner.
If Yu Ling knew that his virtual image would be automatically bound to his previous appearance, he would never have come over before he had finished removing his jewelry.
Now, seeing Nan Yuxiu and the emperor beside him, as well as Zhang Xiaofan who kept glancing at him, he felt so tired.
This time, everyone except the emperor can see him!
"Your Majesty, then this matter is settled. I will lead the Southern General westward to expand the territory of our Yue Kingdom. You may rest assured and wait in the palace for my good news."
Zhang Xiaofan bowed to the emperor, then secretly winked at Nan Yuxiu, and the two of them took their leave.
After leaving the emperor, who held little authority, Yu Ling stopped pretending. Once she and Nan Yuxiu arrived at the study where they held their meetings, she revealed herself to the two men.
"What do you want with me?"
"Oh, I owe it all to Lord Zhang. That's how I learned the method for quickly recalling the system."
Nan Yuxiu was still smiling as always. To be honest, he smiled like that when he was teasing people; the expression was practically etched onto his face.
"Zhang Xiaofan, right? Did he conspire with my host to take me back?" Yu Ling wasn't afraid at all. She had already given away a leaf as a body, so how could she possibly be stuck here?
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiaofan immediately shook his head and pulled over the cat-eared system Xiaomi to explain on his behalf.
"Hey, you stranger, I didn't check properly last time, that's why I classified you as a wild leader. Hehe, I didn't expect that you could eliminate so many wild leaders even after being bound to the natives. Well done!"
The cat-eared girl scratched her ear with her paw and said in an adorable voice,
"As a system, it's not wrong for me to follow my host's wishes and help him achieve his hegemony. So, Xiaomi has decided to team up with you and let's wreak havoc on other places that already have a bad reputation. We'll also help your host become the new emperor. How about that?"
"I have no objection, I'll listen to my host."
Seeing that a fight was unlikely, Yu Ling didn't care where they went.
Actually, going out is better, and going out with the protagonist is even better. Isn't this a free event system? We can find all the wild systems in the side quests very quickly.
"Hehe, I should have known. Giving the initiative to go out to the host must be something our genuine system did."
Xiaomi was much friendlier than last time, but she seemed to be clinging to Zhang Xiaofan more. Perhaps this is what they call pressure when there is comparison?
Zhang Xiaofan has no interest in comparing beauty; he appreciates all beauty and even dates all the girls who are attracted to him, making him a true bachelor.
He didn't notice the minor, one-sided friction between the systems at all, and even politely clasped his hands in greeting to Nan Yuxiu, the local, saying:
"In that case, Steward Nan, let's consider this a case of 'no fight, no friendship.' You're also forced by circumstances, so I shouldn't judge you by our standards."
Nan Yuxiu returned the greeting in a rather formal manner: "Yes, Lord Zhang is right. You and I both have systems, so we should be companions. It is an honor to be able to travel west together."
Upon hearing this, Yu Ling immediately understood. It was obvious that Nan Yuxiu had successfully played the victim, making all the bad things he had done seem like he had no choice but to do them to save his life.
Maybe I've even managed to clear my name along the way? What a pleasant surprise! Haha!
In fact, in a world where everything is worn out, the indigenous people do have a tough time, living like background NPCs. Anyway, Yu Ling has no problem with him.
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