01. Female Lead (2)
Yu Qingjia gazed at the flawless moon outside her window. It hung peacefully in the heavens, seemingly without a care as it looked down upon the mortal world.
She let out a quiet sigh.
She had been having these dreams for several days.
At first, she had assumed they were nothing more than wild fantasies.
But as the dreams continued, the details became increasingly vivid and specific.
Only then did Yu Qingjia realize that something was wrong. This seemed to be a prophetic dream.
And what it foretold concerned her own fate.
Yu Qingjia opened her hand. Moonlight slipped between her fingers. She tried to clenched her palms tightly, but caught nothing.
She then said in a low voice:
“So being the Female Lead was actually the original sin?”
Her voice was barely audible.
“I don't think of myself as a Female Lead, and I certainly don't believe that someone's fate can be determined by a book. Your previous life was miserable, but that has nothing to do with me. I have no intention of becoming a stepping stone for you to level up and slaughter your way to the top.”
Yu Qingjia had spent a long time standing in the wind the previous night. As expected, when she woke the next morning, her head felt heavy and foggy. When she tried to recall the dream, everything seemed to be separated from her by a layer of mist.
The people and events within it had become increasingly indistinct.
Sure enough, predicting the future was forbidden by the Heavenly Dao.
It was now repairing the loophole.
Perhaps only her cousin, who was bound to the system, could escape the Heavenly Dao’s interference and use her knowledge of the future to dominate the world.
Yu Qingjia was afraid that after a few more days, she would forget everything completely. If that happened, wouldn't she unknowingly fall into the system and Yu Qingya’s schemes and be killed all over again? How could an ordinary mortal possibly contend with an advanced artificial intelligence from the future and the most advanced interplanar trading technology? She repeatedly recited the most important names in her mind.
As the Heavenly Dao’s forced erasure became increasingly severe, she eventually forgot the names of the male lead, the beggar, and even the names of the great generals and prime ministers.
Instead, she focused on just two names.
Yu Qingya.
The system.
Again and again, she repeated them in her mind.
Yu Qingya.
The system.
Yu Qingya was her cousin, the daughter of the first branch of the Yu family.
The system was an intelligent entity born from advanced technology, something that did not belong to this world.
Three days later, the Heavenly Dao’s correction finally ended.
Yu Qingjia let out a long sigh of relief.
These things could not be written down. Only her own mind was a place that even Heaven could not interfere with. And, as it turned out, she had managed to win. She still remembered that she was the deeply despised Mary Sue Female Lead and she was currently living in a novel centered around the supporting female character.
Her cousin would eventually poison her to death.
And afterward, a tyrant would ascend the throne and massacre the entire Yu family.
In other words—
Forget the Mary Sue halo.
For now, staying alive was more important.
Because her survival was at stake, Yu Qingjia had somehow managed to remember the name of that future tyrant.
The Prince of Langya.
Murong Yan.
At present, the Prince of Langya was clearly a wanted fugitive of the imperial family.
What had happened between the present and that future?
How had he eventually regained power and unified the world?
It was as though she were a lazy student who had never properly studied for an exam. She knew only the beginning and the ending. Everything in between was a complete blank.
As for what the man who would eventually massacre the Yu family looked like, or why he had slaughtered them, she naturally had no idea.
Bai Zhi knelt behind the dining table. Seeing that Yu Qingjia had put down her chopsticks after only a few bites, she couldn't help but worry.
“Miss, you're not eating anymore?”
“I don't have an appetite.”
Bai Zhi had watched Yu Qingjia grow up and was second only to Madam Yu in how close she was to her.
In her heart, Bai Zhi treated Yu Qingjia almost like a younger sister.
Seeing that her young mistress had been listless for several days and had barely been eating, Bai Zhi was deeply concerned.
“Miss, do you have anything on your mind these days?
Yu Qingjia was still thinking about Yu Qingya's matter, after hearing Bai Zhi's words, she immediately shook her head.
“No. I've simply been missing Father, so I don't have much of an appetite.”
Bai Zhi was greatly relieved. Yu Qingjia and her father had always been extremely close. The Governor had already been away from home for more than ten days, which was unusually long. It was understandable that his daughter would become worried enough to lose her appetite.
Although Yu Qingjia had used her father as an excuse, she truly was worried about him.
She asked, “Father went to visit a friend. Has he still not returned?”
Her father, Yu Wenjun, the Governor of Guangling County, was a renowned gentleman of refined character. He was broad-minded and lofty, with little interest in hosting banquets or socializing. He also had no interest in keeping courtesans or indulging in pleasure. He preferred to wander through mountains and rivers and play the qin for his own enjoyment instead.
His temperament is naturally incompatible with the conventional world, but it also attracted a wave of like-minded people. He frequently traveled to visit reclusive scholars and explore famous mountains and rivers. It was therefore not unusual for him to disappear for five or six days at a time. But ever since Madam Yu had passed away, Yu Wenjun had rarely stayed away from home for so long.
Therefore, his prolonged absence was truly unusual.
Bai Zhi shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Yu Qingjia did not press her.
She had the servants move a couch beside the window. Then she knelt upon it and stared blankly at the scenery of late spring outside.
She wore a red, wide-sleeved cross-collared robe with a red-and-white skirt beneath it. A layer of fine, milky-white gauze covered the outer hem. When she moved, the fabric shimmered like flowing light. When she remained still, she looked like a painting.
In this era, beauty was highly valued. People could obtain office because of their appearance, become famous because of their appearance, and even receive promotions because of their appearance.
The Northern Dynasty was somewhat better than the Southern Dynasty because its rulers favored martial prowess.
But even so, the difference was hardly worth mentioning.
Yu Qingjia was a beauty capable of bringing a country to ruin. Her dark hair was as luxuriant as clouds, and her features were strikingly beautiful. The corners of her eyes curved upward ever so slightly, giving her an unintentional air of delicacy and seduction.
Once, a young master from a prestigious family happened to see Yu Qingjia at the Yu family's ancestral residence in Yanzhou.
He had walked five steps away before turning back despite himself.
“I've long heard that there was a beautiful girl born in the Yu Family. Now that I've seen her for myself, the reputation of being 'Beautiful as a Poppy Flower' truly isn't exaggerated.”
After that encounter, Yu Qingjia's nickname, 'Beautiful as a Poppy Flower' spread throughout Yanzhou.
Poppies are also a flower with a slender stem and vivid, intense colors.It was delicate yet sorrowful, blooming with an almost desperate beauty, as though it had exhausted every drop of its life force simply to flower.
The nickname was somewhat frivolous, and there is an allusion to 'Beautiful as a Poppy Flower', and the story of Xiang Yu and his Farewell to Yu Ji before he died. For that reason, the name carried an ominous implication, and Yu Qingjia disliked being called it.
But today, with a faint melancholy in her eyes as she leaned against the window, her red-and-white skirt spread across the couch like flowers in bloom. She looked slender and beautiful, yet so delicate that it seemed she might break at the slightest touch.
Bai Zhi couldn't help thinking of the nickname 'Beautiful as a Poppy Flower''.
From there, her thoughts naturally wandered to the story of Xiang Yu and Consort Yu who was also called beautiful as a poppy. Her young mistress was so precious, Bai Zhi thought, that she certainly deserved to have the greatest hero under Heaven bow before her. But then she immediately rejected the thought.
No, no, no!
Xiang Yu's beloved consort Yu had killed herself to save him from being killed.
Her young mistress and her future husband would absolutely never meet such an end.
It wasn't only Bai Zhi who found Yu Qingjia's unusual quietness strange. The other servants in the Governor's Residence had noticed it as well.
In fact,Yu Qingjia was an exceptionally lively girl.
Although Madam Yu had passed away early, she had treasured her only daughter like a jewel during her childhood. Yu Wenjun, too, had always been deeply affectionate toward his daughter. Even Yu Qingjia's courtesy name had been personally taught to her by her father. With a gentle and virtuous mother and a kind and upright father, a girl raised in such a household would naturally grow up optimistic and confident. Even a small smile from her could brighten someone's heart. Because of the conflicts between the first and second branches of the Yu family, Yu Qingjia was not favored by the family matriarch, Old Madam Yu. But that did not prevent the servants of the second branch from genuinely loving their beautiful and lively young mistress.
As far as Bai Zhi was concerned, her Jia-jia was the moon in the heavens and the stars of the mortal world.
How could that sharp-tongued legitimate daughter of the first branch possibly compare?
While Bai Zhi was lost in her own fanciful thoughts, she suddenly heard Yu Qingjia ask,
“Have there been any letters from the ancestral residence recently?”
Ever since learning about Yu Qingya and the system, Yu Qingjia had been restless for several days. No one could simply ignore obvious hostility.
Nor could anyone remain indifferent to their own reputation and future.
And Yu Qingya might very well decide to kill her herself.
Yu Qingjia did not believe that she owed her cousin anything.
Nor did she see any reason to avoid Yu Qingya simply because one of them had been labeled the Female Lead and the other the supporting female character. She refused to believe that being reborn made someone invincible. She refused to believe that there was no justice in this world. And she certainly refused to believe that someone could dominate others simply by using talents and fame they had obtained without effort.
At the thought, Yu Qingjia became somewhat troubled.
When had Yu Qingya poisoned her in the dream?
She only knew that the poison was colorless and odorless and had been mixed into water.
Surely she couldn't simply stop drinking water for the rest of her life.
Her memories were like a thick fog.
Yu Qingjia racked her brain until her head began to ache, but she still couldn't remember anything useful. The events she remembered had yet to happen, and the Heavenly Dao was deliberately concealing them. In other words, she would have to rely on her own judgment to survive this calamity. But no matter how many plans she came up with, there was little Yu Qingjia could actually do at present. All she could do was wait for her father to return. This was probably another advantage the system had given Yu Qingya.
At the beginning of the story, the original Female Lead, Yu Qingjia, was not even in Yanzhou, where the main events took place.
She had followed her father thousands of miles away to Guangling County in Qingzhou. And Yu Qingya had used that opportunity to earn the first rewards of her new life.
Cheat abilities like this were truly infuriating when one thought about them too carefully. Yu Qingjia was caught between anger and helplessness.
She wasn't there.
Whatever Yu Qingya said or did, Yu Qingjia couldn't interfere.
Moreover, judging from the circumstances, she probably wouldn't leave Qingzhou and return to Yanzhou for another year or two.
That meant she could only watch helplessly as the supporting female character seized the initiative and took advantage of every possible opportunity. And since Yu Qingya's attempt to poison her clearly happened after Yu Qingjia returned to Yanzhou, perhaps she could find some clues in letters from the ancestral residence.
Unfortunately, she was destined to be disappointed.
Bai Zhi said, “There haven't been any letters recently. But Old Madam sent one about half a month ago. Would you like to read it?”
Half a month ago?
Yu Qingjia sighed.
“Forget it.”
She had already read that letter.
It was nothing more than her great-grandmother—the highest-ranking elder in the Yu family—finding different ways to scold her father for being unfilial and ordering him to return to Yanzhou as soon as possible to obey the family's arrangements and pursue an official career.
Ever since Yu Wenjun had brought Yu Qingjia to Qingzhou, letters like these had arrived one after another. Every few days, there was another one. Because of Yu Qingya and the system, Yu Qingjia remained inexplicably agitated throughout the day.
That evening, Bai Ji entered with her head lowered.
Her expression was unusually hesitant, as though she had encountered something difficult to say. Yu Qingjia noticed immediately.
“What happened?”
“Miss, the Governor has returned.”
Yu Qingjia sprang to her feet. She straightened her sleeves and immediately headed outside.
“That's good news. Why do you look so gloomy?”
Bai Ji lowered her head even further, her voice barely audible.
“The Governor also brought back a beautiful concubine.”
Yu Qingjia froze.
She clearly remembered what had happened when her mother had been tormented by the first branch of the family and Old Madam Yu until she became gravely ill. At the time, her father had knelt beside her mother's bed with a face full of guilt, holding her hand and repeatedly apologizing. Yu Wenjun and Madam Yu had been childhood sweethearts. She knew that he had also been caught in difficult circumstances and had never blamed him.
But Madam Yu had only been unable to let go of one thing: Her only daughter, Yu Qingjia.
Yu Wenjun knew that if not for him, his beloved wife would never have withered away at such a young age. He had held her hand tightly and solemnly sworn,
“Azhi, I have wronged you, and I have wronged Jia-jia even more. To atone for my sins, I swear that I will never marry again. Nor will I ever allow another woman to bully Jia-jia.”
The promise was perhaps selfish.
But Madam Yu had still been deeply reassured by it. She was a woman herself, so she knew exactly how much a stepmother could affect an unmarried daughter. After hearing Yu Wenjun promise never to remarry or take another concubine, Madam Yu finally felt at peace.
She closed her eyes, with a smile.
It had only been less than four years.
And now her father had brought home a concubine?
All the emotions Yu Qingjia had suppressed throughout the day suddenly erupted. Her expression hardened, and her beautiful eyes turned icy cold. As his daughter, interfering in her father's private affairs would ordinarily be extremely improper.
But this was a promise her father had made to her mother.
To Yu Qingjia, that promise had always represented something sacred—the unwavering love between her parents.
She wanted to see for herself exactly what kind of vixen her father had brought home.
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