In the past few days after Bai Su crossed into the small world, he had been busy dealing with the surroundings of the original host and carefully planning how to approach his lover, without much time to ponder over the peculiarities of the plot.
Now that he had some leisure, Bai Su suddenly felt that this person, Ling Ziang, seemed very suspicious.
Thinking about his eventual death and the entire experience resembling the typical tropes of a stallion male protagonist in novels, it all felt eerily strange.
Firstly, let’s talk about his identity before crossing over: he was a freeloading otaku, lacking in knowledge and abilities, not even on par with an average person. How could he suddenly become a polymath after crossing over, knowledgeable about everything from astronomy to geography, adept at both military and political affairs? Knowing everything and being omnipotent?
Even when he (BS), who was once known as the Empire’s Blade, did tasks in various small worlds, he had his own areas of weakness. For example, he found economics courses quite a headache.
It was not that there weren’t all-round talents out there, but Bai Su didn’t believe a loser could suddenly become a genius.
Then there was the fact that he had countless devoted admirers, willing to die for him. Anyone he sets his sights on, whether they were his enemies or prisoners after the destruction of their nation, would fall in love with him. That was also very unscientific.
Even if this person were extraordinarily talented and charismatic, Bai Su didn’t think there could truly be such a universally loved person in the world.
Even if he were as handsome as Pan An and as talented as the contemporary poet Song Yu, how could those women, whose families and nations he destroyed and whose parents he killed, have no resentment towards him?
Thinking up to this point, Bai Su voiced his doubts to 555.
“Host, you’ve finally noticed!”
555 exclaimed excitedly, “I’ve been wanting to tell you about this. This Ling Ziang, he has a system!”
“System? Is it the same kind of system as you?” Bai Su exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course not! I am a legitimate system incubated and cultivated by the Dimensional Management Bureau. But the system on Ling Ziang’s body is completely irregular and bad. It might even be a disguised pseudo-system!”
At this point, 555 began to explain to Bai Su about the system on Ling Ziang’s body. According to him, such irregular systems are fundamentally different from legitimate ones like theirs.
The biggest difference lies in their motivations for Qi luck and energy, completely devoid of morality and boundaries, some even lacking autonomous consciousness.
These irregular systems are generally divided into two types. One is the pseudo-system, which parasitizes impurities in small worlds, pretending to be a system to find hosts and absorb world Qi luck and energy, thereby enhancing themselves.
The other type was artificially created. After absorbing energy, these systems may return it to their creators.
Their common goal was to seize Qi luck and energy, possibly draining their hosts in the end.
These systems often come with forbidden abilities, such as Ling Ziang’s system, which likely had the ability to enhance favorability ratings, and possibly other prohibited powers that 555 was not yet aware of.
After hearing 555’s explanation, Bai Su suddenly realized. With such a cheat device, it was no wonder Ling Ziang could achieve so much.
“No wonder. So, his ability to navigate through history is because of the system?”
“Of course! As a system, basic functions like storing and retrieving information are still present!” Totoro proudly puffed out his small chest.
Seeing 555’s proud appearance, Bai Su couldn’t help but smile. Then he suddenly thought of another question.
“Then, Xiao Wu, could there be reincarnators or transmigrators in the small worlds who haven’t caused negative impacts? If so, do we still need to deal with them?”
“No, there are many such cases. There are far more than just millions of small worlds, and incidents are inevitable. Negative impacts usually depend on the person’s own qualities. Some reincarnators and transmigrators don’t exploit their advantages excessively, so we won’t intervene.”
“In addition to native talents from planes, some exceptionally talented transmigrators and reincarnators also become our focus. After a hundred years, they might even be selected into the Plane Management Bureau and become outstanding employees.
For example, a long time ago there was a man named Gu Qingliu, who was also an admiral in an interstellar plane like the host. Later, due to the explosion caused by an interstellar battle, he traveled to an ancient plane. A hundred years later, Admiral Gu and his lover Shi Tian became outstanding employees of our Plane Management Bureau. A while ago, he was promoted to the head of the department!”
“Is that so?” Bai Su became even more curious.
“Yes, after all, we also need manpower. Of course, we want to attract outstanding talents. That’s how hosts like us join!”
“In fact, whether it’s transmigration or reincarnation, it can be seen as an opportunity or grace. Different choices lead to different paths, and everyone has to take responsibility for their own choices.”
Surprised to hear such profound words from the usually childish 555, Bai Su exclaimed, “So you understand these deep truths too!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Hehe, these are taught to us by our guides.” Blushing, 555 scratched its belly with its small paw.
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As for why he would later die in such a mysterious way, it was likely that all his Qi luck had been absorbed by the system. Once the system left, without the halo and those additional effects, everything spiraled out of control.
Whether those women ended up drugging him because they loved him and wanted to compete for him, or gradually woke up and sought revenge to kill him, remained unknown.
But regardless of what kind of sinister person he was facing, Bai Su would never allow his beloved to be harmed again.
Speaking of which, Bai Su’s situation in this small world was quite complicated.
In the past, he would always transmigrate to places closer to his beloved. However, this time, his beloved was in the Hou Mansion in the capital city, while he himself was in a distant mountain.
It took him two or three days of non-stop travel to get here, which was one of the reasons Bai Su had been so busy since transmigrating.
Moreover, Bai Su’s identity in this small world was completely different from his beloved’s. The original owner not only lived in the mountains but was also the leader of a sizable bandit group.
His beloved was a noble in the Marquis Mansion, while he was essentially a bandit leader—a stark contrast that gave Bai Su a headache since he had never played such an antagonist role before in any of his past small world experiences.
Luckily, with the memories of the original owner, he knew that despite being the leader of Chihuang Gang, this Chihuang Gang had not committed any serious crimes.
Generations of Chihuang Gang had lived here, almost like local overlords. Their location wasn’t far from the capital city of Chiyue Kingdom, but it was separated by continuous mountain ranges, especially situated near treacherous cliffs, making it easy to defend and hard to attack.
Therefore, over the years, the imperial court had failed to conquer them and had simply ignored this territory, temporarily leaving them be.
The Chihuang Gang had lived here for generations, accustomed to this life. They lived harmoniously with the surrounding people, and it could even be said that most of the villagers nearby had familial ties with the people of this gang. Naturally, they would not help the government soldiers.
In their everyday lives, the people of the gang raised livestock and cultivated land just like ordinary farmers. Only when someone attempted to besiege them would they abandon their tools and pick up weapons to defend against the soldiers.
The original owner was an orphan rescued by the old gang leader. Because the old leader’s surname was Bai, the original owner was named Bai Su.
It was Ling Ziang who became emperor and spared no effort to eradicate the gang, resulting in the deaths of the original owner and his loved ones in battle. Therefore, the original owner’s wish was to protect the gang, ensuring peace and safety for everyone in the gang.
In just a few days since transmigrating, Bai Su had developed a considerable fondness for the simple and warm-hearted people in the gang, and the old gang leader doted on him.
Unfortunately, the old gang leader’s eyesight had deteriorated in recent years, and in the last two years, he had completely lost his vision. The original owner had always wanted to help the old leader restore his sight and had heard about a treasure called “Jue Ming Zhu” in the Marquis Anping’s Mension that could restore sight.
However, how could a place like the Marquis’ Mansion be easily accessible to him? Now that it was Bai Su, he naturally had his own methods. Since his beloved was the noble of the Marquis’ Mansion, Bai Su had ample reason to come here and set his sights on the wedding.
The person originally chosen for the marriage of Ling Yanchen, the heir of the Marquis’s manor, was the daughter of Steward Bai from the manor outside the Marquis’s manor. Her name was Bai Su, which coincidentally had the same pronunciation as Bai Su’s name.
It was said that this Miss Bai was selected because the fortune-teller determined that her Eight Characters matched Ling Ziang very well and would surely bring him back to life.
The emperor had always been concerned about the bloodline left by his younger sister. After learning about this, he also agreed to the Marquis’ Mansion’s approach. So regardless of whether the steward Bai was willing or not, he had to marry his daughter to Ling Ziang.
Steward Bai was in his fifties and had only one daughter whom he cherished like a jewel in his palm. Naturally, he was unwilling. In normal families, who would be willing to let their beloved daughter marry a dying cripple? Moreover, having served under Ruan Mingshu for many years, he had long understood Ruan Mingshu’s character.
But under Ruan Mingshu’s coercion, he had no choice but to agree. Father and daughter could only wipe their tears every day.
Therefore, Bai Su took the initiative to approach them, saying that their family had a girl willing to marry to replace Miss Bai. He wasn’t afraid of world trouble, just wanted to be a few lady of the house, live a rich and noble life.
Although steward Bai felt something was amiss, he gritted his teeth and agreed to them.
On the day of the wedding, after sending Bai Su into the sedan chair, steward Bai immediately packed up his luggage and left with his family. He planned to run away to a place where no one knew them and start over again.
Before Bai Su realized it, the procession had already completed the route, and he had entered the Marquis’ Mansion as he wished.
Since the world was still lying in bed and couldn’t get up, Bai Su was assisted out of the sedan chair by the ice man. The hall was crowded with guests, making it especially lively. However, the formalities were rushed through, and Bai Su was immediately sent to the courtyard where the world was located.
His head had been covered with a red cover, and he was taken to the room after being sent by others, as if to prevent him from escaping.
No one paid any attention to him as the so-called new wife, as if he had been married over to be used as an ornament.
Bai Su sighed with relief that he had eaten before going out, or else he would not be tired and hungry.
Once the room was devoid of others, Bai Su pulled off the red bridal veil from his head and turned around to see his lover, who had not yet awakened, lying on the bed.
The young man was wearing white sleepwear, covered with a red wedding quilt, lying peacefully on the large bed.
The bright red color of the room made his complexion appear even paler. Although his face was elegant, his extremely thin cheeks and dark circles under his eyes made him look somewhat frightening, as if he were terminally ill.
Bai Su reached out his hand and gently caressed his face. In this life, his lover’s appearance had changed again, but it still made his heart flutter. He understood long ago that as long as the soul within this body remained the same, it would ignite all his love.
But now was not the time for sentiment. Ling Yancheng’s condition was clearly very poor, so Bai Su immediately took out the life-saving pill he had previously exchanged from 555 and fed it into the young man’s mouth.
Seeing that after a long time, the other party still could not swallow on his own, Bai Su poured a cup of tea from the table, took a sip himself, and then transferred it to the man mouth-to-mouth.
Once the pill was successfully ingested, the young man’s complexion visibly improved, finally allowing Bai Su to breathe a sigh of relief. However, according to 555, it would take until tomorrow for him to fully wake up.
Thinking of Yan Shengchen in their past life, who, despite being somewhat foolish at first, lived a very happy life, made Bai Su’s heart ache even more for this vastly different Ling Yancheng in this life.
Although his lover in the past life had grown up with fake familial love, at least his father genuinely loved him. But in this life, it seemed that from a very young age, Ling Yancheng had been burdened with too much.
When Ling Yancheng was six years old, he broke his leg and became unable to walk properly. Everyone thought it was an accident, but it actually wasn’t. While he was secretly playing on the rockery alone, someone suddenly pushed him from behind, causing him to fall from a height.
Ling Yancheng passed out from the pain on the spot and, upon waking, was told that his legs were crippled and would never recover.
Although he said someone had pushed him, no one saw who it was. But considering who in the Marquis’s household might want to harm him, it was undoubtedly that Yuan clan member.
At that time, the Royal Princess was about to give birth. Upon hearing that her child was harmed, she was so shocked that she went into early labor. After that, her health was never good, and within a few years, she died of depression.
Ling Yancheng regretted his playful actions that caused such a tragedy and deeply hated the person who harmed him from behind.
The resentment in his heart built up, leading him to become suspicious and distrustful of others.
Gradually, everyone knew that the heir of the Marquis Anping’s household had a gloomy and eccentric personality, difficult to get along with, and even the servants served him with trepidation, fearing a scolding at the slightest displeasure.
In this era where servants could be sold like livestock, being scolded was not considered a serious matter. However, someone had deliberately demonized him, making the entire capital aware and spreading the rumor that the heir of the Marquis Anping’s mansion was a violent person.
As for who spread the rumors, Bai Su didn’t need to think hard to know it had something to do with the Ruan Mingshu and Ling Ziang.
These people, with all their plotting, were ultimately after Ling Yancheng’s life. A cold gleam flashed in Bai Su’s eyes.
Although his beloved was still in a coma, as a good partner, Bai Su would not let his lover suffer this injustice in vain. With the hall full of guests outside, if they wanted to put on an act of being a loving father and mother, they would need his cooperation.
With this thought, Bai Su lowered his head and placed a light kiss on the man’s cheek, whispering, “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll go get justice for you now.”
After saying this, he opened the door and easily left the courtyard with the aid of the spiritual shielding effect. He did not notice that after he left, the young man lying in the sickbed frowned slightly.
Before long, Bai Su arrived at the bustling hall. Though he had removed the bridal veil, his red wedding attire was still very eye-catching.
Speaking of which, Bai Su’s current body was not very old, only about eighteen or nineteen years old. He had a tall figure, fair skin, and a delicate appearance. Before coming, he had even applied some makeup, lengthening his eyebrows and coloring his lips red.
With this attire, he indeed looked like a pretty young woman. However, he was a bit too tall for that.
In the open-minded Chiyue Kingdom, although on the wedding day, it was usually the groom who went out drinking and socializing while the bride waited in the bridal chamber, it was also common for brides in ordinary families to accompany the groom in greeting guests.
However, the rules were stricter in noble families, so Bai Su’s appearance was against the rules, but it wasn’t a major offense.
Marquis Anping, sitting in the main seat, noticed Bai Su. Although he had never seen this so-called daughter-in-law before, he could tell who she was from her attire.
On the wedding day, not following the rules and running out of the bridal chamber displeased Marquis Anping greatly. He directly scolded Bai Su, “Why aren’t you staying obediently in the room? What are you doing out here? Get back to your room immediately!”
Ruan Mingshu and Ling Ziang didn’t expect Bai Su to appear here either. As soon as Ling Ziang saw Bai Su, his eyes lit up with astonishment.
He thought his crippled elder brother was indeed lucky, getting such a beauty even for a ghost marriage. The tall figure, delicate features, and confident, dignified demeanor made a unique impression, especially compared to the shy, gentle young ladies he was used to seeing. Bai Su’s confident and graceful manner was particularly refreshing.
Bai Su was disgusted by Ling Ziang’s gaze. Turning his head, he saw Ruan Mingshu glaring at him with a threatening look. But Bai Su, not being the daughter of a mere steward, was not about to be intimidated by her.
Bai Su smiled lightly and said to Marquis Anping, “The Marquis is right. I should indeed be in the room taking care of my husband. However, today is our great wedding day, and from now on, I will share both the joys and sorrows of my husband.
Since my husband is currently unable to meet the guests, as his wife, I must fulfill his duties on his behalf. How could I let the Marquis and his wife take care of everything? That would be unfilial!”
Upon hearing this, the guests nodded in agreement, thinking that although this heir’s wife was not from a prominent family, she was quite magnanimous.
Hearing Bai Su’s words, Marquis Anping couldn’t insist on sending him away. He just glared at him harshly, allowing him to stay at the banquet. Bai Su took his seat and toasted everyone with tea instead of wine.
However, Bai Su’s purpose was not just to make an appearance and toast. Observing his surroundings, he found that the customs of Chiyue Kingdom differed from those of the Eastern Hua Kingdom, where he had previously lived. Men and women could sit together, though male guests were concentrated on the left side of the banquet and female guests on the right.
Both sides chatted and laughed, making for a lively scene. Due to his status, Bai Su found an excuse to go to the female guests’ side to offer tea. As he walked and observed, he noticed the edge of a skirt peeking out from behind a screen, indicating someone was spying.
A gleam flashed in Bai Su’s eyes, and he suddenly pointed at the screen, loudly saying, “Who is sneaking around over there!”
This drew everyone’s attention to the screen. Shi Anrong had no choice but to come out, trying her best to remain calm and gracefully salute everyone.
Shi Anrong had been quietly carried through the back gate in a bridal sedan chair to marry Ling Ziang the day before. She was already pregnant, and given her prior engagement to Ling Yancheng, her status was awkward, so her marriage had to be kept discreet.
But she was ultimately unwilling.
As the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s household, she had once envisioned a grand wedding procession with a ten-mile-long red bridal sedan. However, she was engaged to a grim and crippled man.
Having met Ling Yancheng a few times before, Shi Anrong knew he was always cold to her, even suggesting that the engagement did not matter and that the Prime Minister’s residence could break off the engagement at any time.
Shi Anrong knew that if they initiated the breakup, it would indeed save her face. But how could Ling Yancheng say such a thing to her, showing no regard for her at all?
As the capital’s number one talented woman, with countless admirers, how could she tolerate being despised by a cripple?
Unhappy, Shi Anrong was lured into agreeing with Ling Ziang. Later, she found Ling Ziang, though illegitimate, to be talented and better than Ling Yancheng in every way, lamenting why Ling Ziang was not the legitimate heir.
Although marrying Ling Ziang felt a bit of a compromise, being with the one she loved made it all worthwhile.
However, today, seeing the Marquis’s legitimate heir marrying with an eight-carrier bridal sedan and a grand wedding, Shi Anrong felt incredibly jealous. Even though she knew he was marrying a nearly dying cripple, she still felt envious.
Why, as the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister’s household, did she have to marry so humbly, unable to even publicly announce her marriage?
Such a nameless daughter of a steward could have such face in the Marquis’s mansion. This filled Shi Anrong with both jealousy and hatred, making it impossible for her to swallow this anger!
She hadn’t expected that her sneaking behind the screen to spy would be caught red-handed by Bai Su.
“Isn’t this Miss Shi from the Prime Minister’s residence? What is she doing here?”
Most people present did not know that Shi Anrong had married Ling Ziang the day before. Someone recognized her and curiously asked.
Upon hearing this, Bai Su immediately put on a delighted expression, stepped forward, and said to Shi Anrong, “You must be Miss Shi. Thank you so much for not marrying. If it weren’t for you marrying the younger brother first, how could I have the chance to marry the heir?
I have always been grateful and thought that once I entered the mansion, I must thank Miss Shi first. I didn’t expect to meet you so soon! No, now I should call you my sister-in-law.”
Bai Su spoke with a smiling face, truly looking full of gratitude, but this made Shi Anrong’s face turn red with embarrassment.
Many guests were puzzled, as they knew that the Prime Minister’s legitimate daughter had long been engaged to the heir.
Although they had heard that to ward off bad luck, the heir had to marry a young lady from the Bai family as his main wife due to a master’s divination. Naturally, the Prime Minister’s legitimate daughter could not be a concubine, so the engagement was logically canceled.
But how had Shi Anrong suddenly become the younger sister-in-law as Bai Su mentioned?
The legitimate elder brother had just met with an accident, and in the blink of an eye, she married the younger brother. Moreover, she married him before the legitimate elder brother’s wedding. How could this be reasonable?
And wasn’t the marriage a bit too rushed?
Thinking of this, many people’s gazes toward Shi Anrong became strange.
She also shouldn’t live happily
Thank you for your translation 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Time to sit back and let the face-slapping show begins 🍿
Thank you for the chapter
Thank you for the chapter! It looks like there’s a section in the middle of the chapter that repeats, and after that, there are some small grammar and translation errors. Is there a mix-up with the draft?