Chapter 39 Side Quest: Erhuang Xiaokeng
Lu Wensheng took three days off and waited for three days for the memorial submitted to her, but nothing came of it.
On the fourth day, she reluctantly rode her horse to her post for her shift.
Although Lu Wensheng and Prince Su had broken up, she still missed the days when she was Prince Su's lackey: she still received her salary, didn't have to go to work much, and was happy almost every day.
After settling the horse, Lu Wensheng, keeping time, entered the Hanlin Academy carrying a large bag of things.
As she walked through the corridors, everyone noticed that Lu Wensheng had beaten up her superior and yet remained unscathed for three days. Their attitudes had changed drastically, and they all came forward to greet her. For a moment, she had a strange feeling, as if time had returned to the days when Prince Su was in power.
Local historians did not have independent offices; they were all crammed into public offices, which were neither crowded nor spacious.
Lu Wensheng wanted to know what Chen Xin had been doing for the past three days, so he walked behind Huo Qian, patted him on the shoulder, and handed him a large bag of snacks, saying, "These are for you and Shang Lian."
Shang Lian stood up and took it. As soon as he lifted a corner, his eyes lit up: "Braised tofu, spiced dried meat, pork jerky, sweet and sour plums, pickled radishes, chestnut cakes, pea cakes, they're all our favorites!"
Lu Wensheng propped himself up with one hand and sat down on the desk behind him.
"I've been home for the past three days, and my mother, unable to stay idle, made a lot of snacks, so I thought I'd share some with you." After Shang Lian happily put down the snacks, Lu Wensheng asked Chen Xin, "What has Chen Xin been busy with these past three days? He didn't even get the censor to impeach me!"
Huo Qian said in a low voice, "After getting a beating and losing face, how could he not impeach you, being so petty? I inquired for you; he impeached you for three days in a row, but His Highness suppressed all the memorials. You left at just the right time that day; His Highness the Crown Prince sent over a list of official appointments overnight, and Chen Xin, along with Zhao Bianxiu and others, drafted it until midnight before returning home. As a result, the next day His Highness criticized them again, saying that their writing and wording were too poor!"
"Oh, I see!" Lu Wensheng thought to himself with amusement, his gaze sweeping over Shang Lian's seat: "Where's Shang Lian? He's always punctual, why hasn't he arrived yet today?"
Shang Lian turned to look at him and replied, "Something happened at his home, so he took a long leave of absence."
Lu Wensheng curled her lip, unconvinced: "I'm afraid the stepmother is causing trouble again." Even an upright official can't settle family disputes, so she couldn't interfere too much and could only offer assistance.
Thinking that Minglu had already submitted to Shen Hegui, Lu Wensheng whispered to Shang Lian, "I am now the Crown Prince's man, the one who has passed the Minglu test, so you two don't need to worry too much about the future. As before, as long as I am here, I will protect you."
Shang Lian's heart skipped a beat; he didn't think this was good news. He asked urgently, "What deal did you make with His Highness?"
No wonder His Highness suppressed Xiao Lu's memorial, but he still felt that something was wrong. He had met His Highness the Crown Prince a few times, and he was definitely a deep and unsettling person.
Leaving aside the saying "a new emperor brings a new court," those who betray their masters will never remain in their original positions unscathed.
Shang Lian became increasingly worried.
A colleague on duty came over. Lu Wensheng raised his hand to cover his mouth, and Shang Lian did not show it on his face, but leaned forward slightly to cooperate.
Lu Wensheng didn't mention the system or the mission, only saying, "Don't worry, I just gave His Highness a few small suggestions. His Highness is actually a pretty good person."
The integrity of merchants cannot be denied.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the two saw their colleagues in the hall arriving one after another to take their shifts, and then returned to their respective seats.
For Lu Wensheng, all work was tedious and boring, and every moment seemed to drag on endlessly. She eagerly awaited the end of the workday, but at the beginning of the 5-7 PM, Feng Gou actually came to invite her personally, saying that Shen Hegui wanted to see her.
Lu Wensheng asked if they could meet tomorrow, since it would be dark in a few quarters of an hour.
Feng Gou smiled and said no.
With no other option, she boarded Shen Hegui's carriage amidst the envious gazes of the crowd.
Having found a secluded spot, Xiao Yuan crawled out from a hidden pocket in his sleeve.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, it asked: "[This is a golden opportunity, host. Would you like to do some side quests to increase the male lead's favorability?]"
Lu Wensheng refused without hesitation: "No."
Last time she kissed Shen Hegui, what if this time she sleeps with Shen Hegui? Will she ever be able to live her life again?
Although it's not difficult for a sleeping crane to return home, you can use some tricks to eat at a buffet.
Lu Wensheng touched the teapot on the small table and found it was warm, so he poured himself a cup of tea.
Lu Wensheng: "Do you want to drink or not?"
Xiao Yuan shook her head, her voice barely audible, filled with self-reproach and guilt: "I have something to tell you. These past few days, the host has been skipping work, and I've followed suit. I just woke up and checked, and I noticed that for the past three days, the male lead's favorability rating has been hovering between zero and many zeros."
"cough--"
Upon hearing the devastating news, the water Lu Wensheng had just drunk came out of her nostrils. She forced back a cough and said in a distorted voice, "Speak louder, say it again, I didn't hear you clearly!"
Xiao Yuan opened her mouth wide and shouted out what she had to say.
For a moment, Lu Wensheng felt a buzzing in his head and ears, and the world in his eyes lost its vibrant colors.
Seeing the stunned Lu Wensheng, Xiao Yuan knew it had caused trouble. It very sensibly climbed down and used its paw to grab Lu Wensheng's official robe and wipe the water stains off the blanket.
Lu Wensheng slammed down his teacup and began to look for the reason.
She hasn't appeared in front of Shen Hegui these past few days! Why is that? It must be that the lazy turtle is malfunctioning.
Lu Wensheng grabbed Xiao Yuan's shell and bombarded him with a barrage of questions: "I haven't bothered Shen Hegui these past few days! Is it because your shell is cracked and malfunctioning? Can you transfer your consciousness to another turtle? I'll buy you a new body right now. It's hard to find one this yellow, but a majestic and robust turtle body is quite easy to find. Do you want to be a male or female turtle?"
Xiao Yuan shrank back, a hint of seriousness flashing in his small, round eyes: [I swear, only the anti-censorship system is malfunctioning; the data statistics module is perfectly fine. If I'm lying to the host, may I be transformed from a female turtle into a male turtle! And may I never be able to eat my beloved little fish and shrimp again!]
Lu Wensheng suddenly felt a lump in his throat, and his future seemed bleak.
She took a deep breath: "So, how much favorability does Shen Hegui have over me right now?"
Xiaoyuan;【-100】
Lu Wensheng breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing, he didn't do anything and his negative 100 was reduced directly.
Seeing Lu Wensheng's relieved expression, Xiao Yuan quickly added: "The male lead's affection level for you has fallen below -1000. When the affection level reaches -1000, it means the male lead has considered killing you."
Lu Wensheng suddenly did a split while taking a breath, and coughed, "But last time you showed me Shen Hegui's favorability rating towards the emperor, and he didn't die even with so many zeros."
Xiao Yuan explained: "After reaching -1000, it's no longer about favorability, but rather torture value. The more zeros you have, the worse it will be for you in the male lead's hands. A negative 1000 for you means the male lead will give you a painless death."
"Why didn't you say something so important sooner!" Lu Wensheng gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words, but worried that he might hurt Xiao Yuan if he was angry, so he put it aside.
Xiao Yuan felt wronged and guilty: "The days without having to wander around have been too comfortable, so I forgot."
Lu Wensheng was speechless.
Well! Small in size, slow-moving, and with food hard to find, plus being a cold-blooded animal that needs to hibernate, it's undeniable that stray turtles desperately trying to blend into human society face an even tougher challenge than stray cats and dogs.
Although she couldn't figure out why Shen Hegui wanted to kill her, this favorability monitoring was a kind of cheat code, and strictly speaking, she should thank Xiao Yuan. It's just that she really didn't want to do this task.
It takes time and effort, and there are no benefits to be gained. Even if you raise Shen Hegui's favorability to 100%, he can't support her for life and do everything she wants. Besides, she doesn't need him to support her.
But now it seems that this task has to be done.
Xiao Yuan: [...host]
Seeing Lu Wensheng fall silent, Xiao Yuan called out softly, her tone full of grievance.
Lu Wensheng pinched his chin, glanced at Xiao Yuan, and suddenly came up with a very bold idea.
She lowered her eyes and asked, "Can you and I switch bodies? I'll be the turtle, and you can be the human to do tasks and increase Shen Hegui's favorability. Once we're done, we'll switch back."
Xiao Yuan took several steps back until her tail shell touched the car wall before daring to speak: "[I don't want to. Being human is too hard. Just to fill my stomach, I have to spend over ten hours a day at work, doing boring jobs, maintaining boring interpersonal relationships, and I'm not even free to bask in the sun! Besides, I don't have the ability to switch bodies, so host, please don't get any funny ideas.]"
Of course, there's also the most important point: the male protagonist is its natural enemy. It would rather soak in dung than try to seduce the male protagonist.
After hearing Xiao Yuan's words, Lu Wensheng felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart. She beckoned to Xiao Yuan with her finger.
Xiao Yuan was naive; it hesitated before climbing forward and precisely caught the flick on the forehead that Lu Wensheng was about to give it.
"Looking for a bullet! Your little shrimp is gone this week!" He may not be the smartest, but he sees things quite clearly.
Lu Wensheng's anger subsided a bit. He placed it beside the warm teapot and asked, "So if I lower Shen Hegui's favorability to zero, I'll never have a negative 1000?"
Thinking about it carefully, it's quite remarkable that Shen Hegui only harbored murderous intent after being charged with a negative amount of one thousand. If it were her, she wouldn't be able to tolerate even a negative amount of ten, let alone hundreds or thousands.
Xiao Yuan lifted her short legs and scratched her head: "Not enough, it needs to be 100%."
Even small fish are fine; anything is better than being a stray.
Lu Wensheng: "Then how many main and side quests do I need to complete to raise my favorability rating to 100%?" She hasn't lived enough yet, and she hasn't spent all the money she's earned. She absolutely can't suddenly be stuck in Shen Hegui's hands.
For now, I can only make do with this.
Xiao Yuan: [I can't make that decision. It depends on the male lead's reaction.]
Troublesome! Perhaps it's better to use the same old methods she used to deal with Prince Su on Shen Hegui. The night she buried the soap, she got up and checked three times, but the favorability rating hadn't changed at all. This meant that completing two main quests and one side quest had only increased the favorability rating by a single point.
She figured the extra 100 points weren't gained from completing tasks.
Even a small increase is better than nothing.
Lu Wensheng resigned herself to her fate: "Tell me, what is the side quest?" Let's do it, and at the same time shut Xiao Yuan up, so it won't keep asking her whether she wants to do the quest.
Xiao Yuan: [Say six cheesy pickup lines to the male lead.]
Lu Wensheng: "?!?!?!?!"
She knew it!
It should have been named Xiao Keng instead of Xiao Yuan! Huang Xiao Keng!
Lu Wensheng gritted his teeth: "It's just sweet talk, can't it be less corny?"
Xiao Yuan shook her head, clearly becoming cheerful: [No way! Host. Friendly reminder: You accept the mission as soon as you hear it.]
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Author's Note: My darlings, I applied for the Tuesday VIP subscription. If you haven't read it yet, remember to finish reading the previous chapters. Love you all~
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