01. Female Lead (1)
Moonlight quietly spilled across the green wooden floor, illuminating the silent room. The only movement came from a thin wisp of incense curling from a green bronze burner. It lingered in the air before mingling with the smoky curtains and disappearing into the dark, heavy night.
Behind five ink-painted screens, a massive canopy hung from the ceiling like an inverted bucket, completely enclosing the eight-foot bed within.
The curtains were too thick to see through clearly, but several strands of long black hair could be vaguely seen scattered across the bed. One strand was so long that it dangled all the way to the floor.
A young woman dressed in green silk stood uneasily nearby.
Her gaze remained fixed on the young girl lying beneath the layers of curtains. She appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen years old. Though still young, her delicate brows and features already hinted her extraordinary beauty.
However, at that moment, her slender eyebrows were tightly knitted together, as though she were trapped in an unsettling dream.
In her dream, she saw herself lying beneath the heavy curtains, slowly losing her breath without making a sound.
She saw her cousin standing before a mirror, looking extremely pleased with herself. The girl was holding a comb and slowly running it through her hair.
Then, a voice suddenly rang out in the empty room.
「Congratulations to the host. The counterattack has succeeded.」
Her cousin admired her unparalleled beauty in the mirror and smiled.
「The Female Lead is finally dead. The remaining plot of the original novel is finally mine to control. With the Female Lead gone, the Yu family has also been conquered by me. The next thing I need to do is capture the Prince of Langya's heart and become the founding Empress.」
「Congratulations, Host. The Prince of Langya is the son of destiny. He is destined to unify the three hundred years of chaos. According to historical records, after Prince of Langya unified the world, he appointed the sixth daughter of the Yu clan as his Empress. He never accepted another concubine. Though unpredictable, he was obedient to Empress Yu, who became known in history as Empress Mingxi. As long as the host marries him as the Female Lead, she will enjoy lifelong glory and honor. All of her descendants will surely become princes.」
「But he's only the regent right now…」
「The current young emperor was placed on the throne by him. Everyone in Northern Qi knows that although the throne belongs to the current emperor, The Prince of Langya still has the final say in the country. Soon, The Prince of Langya will destroy Northern Zhao at Heyin and cross the river in winter of the same year. He will also capture the emperor of Southern Qi alive—the fool who doesn't know when to submit. From that point onward, the north and south will be under The Prince of Langya's control. When that happens, do you think the young emperor will still have any say in whether he remains on the throne?」
Yu Qingya, the fourth young lady of the Yu family, smiled coldly.
「You're right. The Prince of Langya is cruel and ruthless. The throne is only temporarily being held by that young emperor. How could he possibly tolerate someone else sitting on it forever? You really can predict the plot of the original novel. You've been such a great help. But we secretly poisoned the Female Lead to death before the two of them even met. What about the original Female Lead and the supporting Female Lead…?」
「Don't worry. Their encounter hasn't happened yet. As long as you follow my instructions, replacing the Female Lead will be as easy as riding on a spring breeze.」
Yu Qingya finally relaxed.
She had spent all her points this time to exchange for a colorless, odorless poison from the system. She had mixed it into Yu Qingjia's tea and successfully killed her.
Unfortunately, she had no points left to exchange for any more cheat items.
From now on, she could only rely on herself.
Yu Qingya struggled to contain her excitement.
「I was able to make my counterattack thanks to the system's help. Let's have a pleasant cooperation.」
The mechanical electronic voice seemed to carry a trace of pleasant emotion. Hearing such words from a one-dimensional synthetic voice created an indescribably eerie feeling.
「Host, happy cooperation.」
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What host?
What counterattack?
Who was the Female Lead, and who was the supporting Female Lead?
Yu Qingjia finally broke free from the nightmare and abruptly sat up in bed, clutching her chest. She was dressed only in a middle garment. Her shoulders were slender, and her slightly disheveled hair fell loosely around her body. Even beneath her rumpled clothing, her natural beauty was impossible to conceal. Yu Qingjia panted heavily. It took a long time before the terrifying sensation of being watched by something poisonous finally faded.
She slowly opened her palm and stared at her slender fingers, smooth and delicate as jade.
Then she raised her head and looked around.
That's right.
This was the Governor's Residence in Guangling County, Qingzhou.
And this was her own boudoir.
Yu Qingjia sat there in a daze for a long time before gently lifting the curtains and climbing out of bed.
She did not disturb anyone. Barefoot, she walked to the window and opened it. She stared at the bright moon hanging in the night sky through the deep eaves of the courtyard,
Who was the first to gaze upon the moon by the riverside?
And when did the river moon first cast its light upon the mortal world?
The night breeze swept through Yu Qingjia's loose hair, gently lifting several strands from her shoulders.
A young girl dressed in plain clothes stood by the window, her long hair cascading down her back. She was beautiful yet delicate, clear and radiant, resembling the goddess Luoshen descending into the mortal world. Yu Qingjia's thoughts returned to the dream she had just experienced. She was the youngest daughter of Yu Wenjun, the Governor of Guangling County in Qingzhou, and the sixth young lady of the Yu family of Yanzhou.
Yu Wenjun and his wife, Madam Yu, had been childhood sweethearts. Their relationship was deeply affectionate, and they had treasured their only daughter like a precious jewel ever since she was born.
Although the Yu family was rife with internal conflicts, Yu Qingjia had never suffered much because of them.
She had grown up under the loving protection of her parents and had lived a carefree life for fourteen years. But the dreams of the past few nights had shattered the peaceful life she had enjoyed in her boudoir. She had never known that she was the Female Lead of a novel. According to the electronic voice, the book was nothing more than a typical Mary Sue novel. It told the story of a girl who grew up surrounded by the love and protection of her parents. As she matured, she experienced a series of adventures and encountered several princes and young masters from noble families.
Eventually, the male protagonist asked for her hand in marriage. When he finally conquered the world, the Mary Sue Female Lead would rise alongside him and become the Empress.
And the ridiculous Female Lead of this Mary Sue novel…
was Yu Qingjia.
Yu Qingjia found it embarrassing to think about it even now. She did not know whether a person's life could truly be determined by the contents of a book.
But she knew one thing.
Her life might soon take a terrible turn.
Because the current world was no longer following the story of a Mary Sue novel. Instead, the story had begun favoring the original Female Lead's cousin—the original supporting female character.
In her previous life, the cousin had suffered a miserable fate after her marriage. After being reborn with hatred and resentment, she discovered that she had merely been a supporting character in a Mary Sue novel.
Unable to accept this, she became filled with hatred. That hatred eventually attracted the attention of a female-supporting-character system.
From that moment on, with the system's assistance, her cousin suddenly became proficient in all kinds of skills. Piano, chess, calligraphy, painting. Even the charms of Daji and the sorrowful beauty of Bao Si could be exchanged for with system points. The poison she had used to kill Yu Qingjia—something that clearly did not belong in the ancient world—had also come from that system.
During the dream, Yu Qingjia had been too dazed to fully experience the emotions within it. But when she saw herself lying on the ground, silently losing her life, she had still felt an overwhelming sadness. Her cousin's miserable marriage in her previous life had nothing to do with Yu Qingjia. Yet after being reborn, her cousin blamed everyone else for the suffering she had endured. She deliberately stole every opportunity that originally belonged to Yu Qingjia and claimed them for herself.
For example, she had taken music compositions that Yu Qingjia would create in the future and written them down in advance. She had also sought out a beggar on a street corner.
At the time, he might have been nothing more than a beggar. But after receiving Yu Qingjia's help, he would eventually achieve great success. There were still many things Yu Qingjia had not been able to see clearly in her dream. Now, she could no longer remember them.
Yu Qingjia smiled faintly at the thought. She was still standing beneath the moonlight, her smile resembling that of a fairy from the Moon Palace. Her beauty was ethereal and fragile. Yet even that delicate appearance could not conceal the mockery in her eyes. Yu Qingya had deliberately sought to replace the Female Lead. She had even secretly poisoned Yu Qingjia to death.
But in the end, Yu Qingya still failed to obtain the position she had dreamed of. Because the Yu family was eventually destroyed by the Prince of Langya.
Murong Yan himself personally wiped them out. Except for Yu Qingjia's father, Yu Wenjun, no one in the Yu family was spared. After The Prince of Langya unified the north and south, the young emperor "voluntarily" abdicated the throne and offered it to his uncle, Prince Murong Yan. Murong Yan ascended the throne and proclaimed himself Emperor. The world was unified, and all under heaven submitted to him.
What countless heroes had struggled and failed to accomplish over the previous three hundred years was achieved by a young man who had not even reached his twenties. However, after Murong Yan ascended the throne, he did not become the wise ruler everyone had expected. Instead, he became a ruthless and iron-blooded emperor. He killed without mercy and imposed a reign of terror across the entire realm.
He was not a faint ruler.
He was something far more terrifying...
He was a tyrant.
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