Side Story 1: A "Lin Daiyu" Appears Out of the Sky

Side Story 1: A "Lin Daiyu" Appears Out of the Sky

Springtime was late, and the Regent's Palace's back garden was in full bloom with hundreds of flowers.

Since the grand wedding, life in the Prince's mansion has been blissful.

Although Pei Yunjing still wielded immense power, aside from the military and national affairs he had to handle, he spent almost all his remaining time by Tang Li's side, resembling a foolish emperor who "never held court again."

This day happened to be the Flower Festival.

On a whim, Tang Li hosted a small flower-viewing banquet at her residence, inviting several close ladies of high rank to gather there.

"Your Highness, the Princess Consort looks better and better."

"Yes, with the prince's favor, life is naturally comfortable."

Inside the flower hall, several ladies were chatting with Tang Li in a harmonious atmosphere.

Pei Yunjing was originally in the study, but his "I'll die if I'm away from my wife for an hour" illness flared up again, so he made an excuse to sneak into the flower hall to "mooch tea".

The moment he appeared, the once bustling flower hall fell silent. The ladies sat upright, not daring to utter a sound.

Pei Yunjing ignored this.

He walked straight to Tang Li and sat down next to her, naturally taking the half-finished teacup from her, taking a sip, and his brows relaxed.

"Ouch--"

A delicate, mournful cry, like willow catkins blown by the wind, suddenly came from the entrance of the flower hall.

Everyone looked up and saw a young woman dressed in a plain white dress, her figure as thin as paper, leaning against the door frame, her face pale and swaying precariously.

Her large, tearful eyes looked past everyone and landed precisely on Pei Yunjing.

That look in his eyes contained three parts fear, three parts helplessness, and four parts deep affection that hesitant to speak.

She's practically a "Lin Daiyu" who fell from the sky.

"Your Highness... save me..."

The woman let out a weak cry, then her body went limp, and she fell straight down towards Pei Yunjing like a withered white flower.

According to the usual storytelling formula, at this point, the male protagonist should leap up and catch this delicate beauty, thus beginning a heart-wrenching and deeply moving love story.

But Pei Yunjing didn't even lift an eyelid.

He even shifted his body to the side in disgust, as if afraid that the dust kicked up by the man falling would dirty his boots.

"Thump!"

The woman landed heavily on the hard gold brick floor with a dull thud that made your teeth ache.

"Hiss..." Tang Li felt pain just listening to it.

But what interested her even more was the live stream of all the beasts that followed, which only she could hear.

The cat perched on the roof beam: [Meow? Who's this woman? She smells so strong!]

Sparrows outside the window: [Chirp! This is a scam! I saw the old man next door do this to extort money last time!]

The strangest thing was a cold, mechanical electronic voice that suddenly popped into Tang Li's mind.

The voice actually came from the head of the woman who had fainted on the ground:

[Ding! System notification! Target "Pei Yunjing" has appeared! Current affinity: -10.]

[Host, please note! Please immediately use the "Delicate and Frail" skill to arouse the male lead's protective instincts!]

Tang Li's hand, which was peeling melon seeds, suddenly stopped. She looked at the woman on the ground, who was still pretending to be unconscious, in shock.

System? Target?

Good heavens! Has this person encountered a fellow traveler (a transmigrator)? And one with a system at that?

The woman on the ground was named Su Rou.

She was indeed a time traveler, and she was bound to a cheat system called "Childbirth Strategy System".

Her mission is to win over Pei Yunjing, the most powerful minister in this world, have his babies, and then reach the pinnacle of life.

Su Rou lay on the ground, not actually unconscious, but cursing inwardly:

System, you idiot! Wasn't Pei Yunjing supposed to be most attracted to the "delicate and innocent" type? Why didn't he catch me?! My elbow is scraped! It hurts like hell!

The system's cold, mechanical voice sounded again:

[Please don't be discouraged, host. The target character has been detected to have a cold personality. Please use the item "Charming Perfume" to increase your attractiveness. Mission objective: Have a baby with the male lead, starting now!]

To Su Rou's and the system's surprise, Tang Li heard the voice as well.

Big White, the white-browed tiger, was lying on the steps outside the door sunbathing when its ears suddenly twitched.

It raised its enormous tiger head and looked at Su Rou in the hall with a bewildered expression.

[Roar?]

Big White uttered a questioning thought, which made Tang Li's head buzz:

Why is there someone talking in this woman's head?

[The voice from the metal box said... she's going to have that big, dumb guy's (Pei Yunjing's) baby?]

Big White turned his head and glanced at the monkey mountain not far away, his eyes filled with confusion about species isolation:

[Was she a monkey? Or was that big, goofy guy a monkey? Aren't humans supposed to give birth to two-legged creatures? Why did they have to give birth to monkeys?]

This is terrifying... Even monkeys are vying for attention these days?

Tang Li: "..."

She bit her lip hard, almost bursting out laughing. "Giving birth to monkeys?! Da Bai, you're taking it way too literally!"

As the system's voice faded, a sweet, cloying aroma, like fermented rotten peaches, suddenly emanated from Su Rou.

That's a system item—"Popular Fragrance".

"Your Highness..."

Su Rou struggled to lift her head, and with the "system beauty filter" on her face, she did indeed look charming and pitiful, with tears streaming down her face.

She reached out, trying to grab Pei Yunjing's hem, her voice trembling:

"I am Su Rou, and I came to your residence to visit relatives... I did not mean to disturb Your Highness, I deserve to die..."

If this were a man with weak willpower, he would probably have softened his heart long ago.

Unfortunately, she encountered Pei Yunjing.

A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who has overloaded all five senses and whose sense of smell is ten times more sensitive than that of an average person.

The moment that strong "heartthrob fragrance" wafted over, Pei Yunjing's face visibly turned green.

"vomit--"

He suddenly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, as if he had smelled some kind of biological toxic gas. He sprang up and retreated three zhang (approximately 10 meters) away, almost dropping the teacup in his hand.

"What's that smell?!"

Pei Yunjing's brows were furrowed, his eyes filled with disgust and rage, and his voice was as cold as if he were interrogating a criminal:

"Where's that stench coming from? It smells like a dead rat rotting in a sewer and fermenting for three days!"

Su Rou's expression froze.

Stinky...stinky smell?

This is a high-end fragrance redeemed through the system! Has this man's nose gone bad?!

"Your Highness?" Su Rou persisted, still trying to crawl forward. "I..."

"Don't come any closer!"

Pei Yunjing shouted angrily, as if she were some kind of filthy thing: "Han Zheng! Where the hell have you been!"

"Guards! Throw this stinking woman out of here!"

Pei Yunjing pointed at Su Rou on the ground, as if looking at her for even a second would give him a sty:

"Throw it into the lotus pond in the backyard! Wash it with a brush for me! Wash it clean and then throw it out of the mansion! She's made the floor tiles stink!"

"yes!"

Two burly old women immediately rushed over, grabbed Su Rou like a dead dog, and dragged her out.

Su Rou screamed wildly in her mind:

System! Help! This isn't how the plot works! Shouldn't he be asking for my name and remembering me?! What kind of chauvinistic masculinity is this?!

The system was also bewildered, emitting a crackling electrical sound:

[Beep! Abnormal reaction detected in target character... Recalculating strategy...]

Tang Li sat in the chair, listening to Da Bai still agonizing over "why humans can give birth to monkeys," while watching Su Rou being dragged away. Finally, she couldn't help but laugh so hard that she spilled the melon seeds in her hand all over the ground.