"Our county magistrate had the honor of going to the capital to report on his duties some years ago, and met the Jin family's daughter when she wasn't yet an imperial concubine. She was simply a fairy-like figure, so I recognized her immediately." The old man looked proudly at the group of people who were astonished.
"Huh? Wasn't Jin Baozhu dead? Could it be—"
"profound--"
"So that's how it is—"
No one revealed the truth, yet everyone seemed to have guessed it instantly, all wearing expressions of sudden realization.
Li Yuan, who was listening from the side, was furious and wanted to rush up to identify himself and argue with the group, but he was held back by Li Zheng, who had a complicated expression on his face.
The city they were in had been captured by the Yue Kingdom. Although Hua Cai had released them, these people were unaware of the situation. It was easy to imagine that if they learned of their identities, they would be captured and handed over to prove their loyalty.
Although seeing Hua Cai was his goal, what would they go through before they did? Or rather, these people preferred to bring their heads to claim credit.
You must endure it.
Zhao Qinglian has no way to earn money, and she can't just sit idly by leaving the government. Every day she waits means paying an extra day's rent, and every penny is extremely precious to them now.
Li Zheng had no choice but to find a physically demanding job.
He was a man of great talent, but he rarely used his skills in this small town. Occasionally, he would find a job that would make him famous, but he was afraid to go. So he took the hardest and most tiring jobs, which paid the least. Every day, he worked before dawn and didn't go home until it was completely dark, just like the lowest-paid jobs in his eyes.
As time went by, things didn't turn out as he had imagined. Neither Zhao Qinglian nor Li Yuan could go out to work. They relied on his meager wages to pay for the three of them's food and rent, barely managing to save a few copper coins a day.
Life seemed to be getting more and more hopeless until one day, the entire city was filled with fireworks.
The new emperor ascended the throne and changed the country's name to Jin, a cause for universal celebration.
That's right, the country is completely gone, and the new emperor is the woman he once despised.
That woman could actually become an emperor? It's utterly ridiculous!
Li Zheng rushed out of the construction site like a madman, without even taking his wages for the day. He rushed to the tavern, ordered a bottle of the cheapest wine, took a few gulps, and choked, coughing violently.
The wine, so bland it was almost undetectable, made him feel a bitter tightness in his chest. It was clearly water, yet he felt as if he were drunk after just one sip.
He stumbled along the street carrying a wine jar, the dazzling fireworks in the sky and the cheers of the people around him sounding unusually jarring.
"What do you know? I am the emperor. That woman is nothing but a discarded concubine whom I have banished to the cold palace."
"Hahaha, I am the emperor!"
Li Zheng grabbed the people around him and shouted, but the whole city was in a state of chaos tonight, and no one could hear what he was saying. They only saw a ragged, crazy person grabbing them, and they all cursed and moved away.
Li Zheng returned to the thatched hut laughing wildly. Li Yuan was cursing and venting his anger on Zhao Qinglian. Looking into Zhao Qinglian's eyes, he suddenly remembered everything that had happened in the palace. He stepped forward and slapped her hard, then fell heavily to the ground.
"My empire is finished," Li Zheng muttered as he lay on the ground, seemingly truly drunk.
Li Zheng, once "drunk" in his political career, never woke up again.
The next morning, Li Yuan was awakened by a rustling sound. When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhao Qinglian running away in a panic. Where Li Zheng had been lying, there was only a pool of blood, and a human figure could still be vaguely made out. Beside the door, the familiar bottle containing the blood-dissolving powder rolled to one side, and it was empty.
Li Yuan's heart stopped for a moment. Without thinking, he grabbed the stick on the bed and chased after Zhao Qinglian in the direction she had fled.
Although Zhao Qinglian was physically healthy, she had developed a host of health problems after living such an inhuman life. She was caught up by Li Yuan after only a few steps and was about to be beaten.
People were coming and going on the street, and when they saw the two of them in such a disheveled state, they all made way for them.
Zhao Qinglian tried desperately to escape, but Li Yuan wouldn't let go, holding her tightly.
Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats grew closer and closer, and the onlookers cried out in surprise. The two people who were struggling turned around blankly and saw a pair of horses' hooves raised high in their eyes.
"Ding—Mission successfully completed. Do you wish to leave?" Hua Cai, who was worrying about a pile of memorials in the imperial study of the Jin Kingdom's palace, suddenly heard a crisp sound.
Hmm? Hua Cai looked up at the ball of light floating in front of a storybook, rapidly turning the pages: "Mission complete?"
The little ball of light paused in its flipping through the book: "Huh? It really is finished. Let me see—oh my god, how come the male and female leads are both dead?"
The system let out a scream and suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Dead? So quickly?" Hua Cai was stunned.
The system, on the verge of tears, scrambled to its feet: "Boss, I told you we could go all out, and you actually killed off the male and female leads and the first male supporting character! This—this—"
Those are the male and female protagonists; their deaths will be recorded in the system's mission log. Although it won't affect their energy values, the system will definitely have no chance when evaluating mission stars in the future.
The system whimpered, biting its little handkerchief. It should have known better than to make such a bold statement.
Hua Cai spread her hands innocently: "What did I do? I just kindly spared the lives of the three of them. You know that. I didn't do anything after that."
Blinking her eyes, Hua Cai looked at the system innocently.
The system looked up at the sky speechlessly. When you kindly left Li Zheng a bottle of Blood-Dissolving Powder, this system should have realized that you had ulterior motives.
Waaah, I still couldn't stop it.
"My host, do you wish to leave the mission world? This system can finally accept missions from the modern world." The system was excited and confirmed once again that there was indeed a mission slot available.
Finally, it won't be scrapped.
“No rush.” When the time came, Hua Cai suddenly stopped rushing and pushed the memorial in her hand aside: “You can leave whenever you want. Why are you in such a hurry? I haven’t learned Yue Chen’s sword technique yet. It’s not wrong to leave later.”
Thinking of this, Hua Cai got up and walked outside.
Hurry up and learn that sword technique; let whoever wants to approve this damn memorial approve it.
I knew it would be like this.
The system glanced longingly at the unfinished storybook before calmly following behind Hua Cai.
"Staying here is fine, but for every year you stay in the mission world after the mission is completed, the energy you gain will decrease by one percent." However, it's still necessary to remind you of this.
One percent.
Hua Cai looked up at the sky, hesitated for only a second, and then continued walking forward.
Not much, very cost-effective.
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