Chapter 462 : Proper Palace Intrigue (1)

Shi Sheng and Qin Ge’s twilight years were rather boring.

Qin Ge actually ran back to become a professor again and insisted that Shi Sheng sit in the classroom to listen to his lectures.

He said that he hadn’t been able to do so when they were young, so he had to make up for it now.

Given her age, Shi Sheng fully rejected listening to his lectures with a bunch of radishes.

“Reporting, Professor: your wife skipped class again!”

This was the sentence Qin Ge heard the most. ‘Back then, she wouldn’t listen to me teach, and it’s the same now! Are my lectures that hard to pay attention to?’

Qin Ge passed away due to a heart problem. He had been in class at the time, but suddenly had a heart attack.

Shi Sheng accompanied him by his bedside for three days and nights. But in the end, Qin Ge was unable to last.

“Chu-Chu…” On his deathbed, he merely called out her name.

Shi Sheng held his hand. “My name is Shi Sheng. Shi as in time, and Sheng as in music.”

“Shi…Sheng?” Qin Ge’s muddled eyes were full of confusion. He seemed to have heard of this name from somewhere. ‘Shi…’

Qin Ge suddenly grabbed Shi Sheng’s hands strongly. He opened his mouth as he tried his best to say something. But he couldn’t voice it.

Shi Sheng silently watched as Qin Ge closed his eyes. She took a deep breath. ‘See you in the next world.’

……

When Shi Sheng returned to the System Space, she routinely drew her sword.

It had already reverted back to its normal appearance, having lost the random coloured glows it used to have. But it looked much sharper than before.

Other people’s swords turned more lowkey the more they levelled up, but this sword was the exact opposite—it appeared even more eye-catching and threatening than before.

System hurriedly flashed her stats on the screen before she could reach it.

Name: Shi Sheng

Morality Points: -159,000

Life Points: 40

Contribution Points: 34,000

Mission Rank: B

Mission Points: 92

Hidden Quest: Completed

Hidden Quest Reward: 2,000 Contribution Points

Item List: “Queen’s Crown”, “Ghost King’s Heart”, “Dark Night”

She didn’t even have to look to know what happened to her morality points. Show-off Sheng expressed that she didn’t care. ‘But how about you fucking tell me^(lz) what that “Dark Night” is? What’s it used for?’

[Do you wish to enter—]

Pa!

System’s voice abruptly cut off.

Shi Sheng placed one hand against the display, while the other swiftly tapped on the screen. The dense rows of numbers that appeared could cause one to grow cross-eyed.

[Warning! Warning! System has been infiltrated by unauthorised personnel! Activating defence mode…]

The icy-cold robotic voice reverberated throughout the Space.

The woman in front of the screen had no expression as she continued tapping at it.

Roughly three minutes later, Shi Sheng kicked the screen. ‘Fucking hell! The person behind you is really capable, huh?! They actually made it so the data would erase itself!’

[Host, please do not display such dangerous behaviour again.] System warned.

Shi Sheng’s eyes turned, her ill-intentioned gaze hovering over the screen for a few seconds.

System felt its (figurative) anus clench. ‘Host is going to cause trouble again.’

But she didn’t, as if it had just been mistaken.

[Do you wish to enter the next mission?]

[Initialising transfer…]

‘Better to get rid of this scourge sooner rather than later.’

The moment Shi Sheng’s figure vanished, a blurry silhouette appeared on the screen.

[Master?]

“Activate the scanners.”

System was confused. ‘Why do I have to scan myself?’

Though it didn’t understand, System still activated the scanners and combed through itself.

[Master, no issues detected.]

“She must’ve done something.” System’s Master spoke in a sure tone. “I’ll run a check. You go handle things on Feng Ci’s end first.”

‘I already wiped his memories once, but it seems like he remembered something towards the end of the previous world.

But why does Master insist on wiping Feng Ci’s memories? Since he wants Host to fall for Feng Ci, wouldn’t it be better if the latter kept them instead?’

“Feng Ci is very dangerous.”

The screen flashed a few times before the blurred silhouette vanished.

[……] ‘Oh. Sure. Everyone’s dangerous, except for me—I’m an idiot.’

……

This was a transmigration palace intrigue novel.

The FL had transmigrated into the body of Lu Ruo, a concubine who had been sent to the cold palace as a result of being framed and died there. The FL was of the more skilled variety, given that she possessed a system called the “Pampered Palace Concubine System”.

So this system worked as follows: the FL needed to pa pa pa with the ML, so that it could obtain the so-called “imperial aura” from him. Once it had levelled to the max, the system would be able to bring her back to the modern world.

Hence, for the sake of returning home, the FL started on the path of fighting for favour.

And who was the ML? Why, the Emperor, of course.

With her System in hand, the FL was unmatched by all the other concubines in the palace.

Naturally, at the end of the novel, the ML dissolved the imperial harem and no longer took concubines for the FL’s sake. Due to being touched by his gesture, the FL decided not to return home, instead remaining here to enjoy a happy life with the ML.

And Shi Sheng’s current body was named Zhuang Qiong.

She really had suspicions about what the author was thinking when they named her this.

‘Act poor^[1], act poor…really now!’

Zhuang Qiong’s status wasn’t low. As Gui Fei^[2], she was the person the ML doted on the most before the FL gained his favour.

But the odd thing was, he never touched her.

What, did you think he was saving himself for the FL?

Very funny, he already had a kid by this point.

He simply refused to touch Zhuang Qiong. Yet he insisted on pampering, pampering, pampering her.

He even found a pretty good explanation: she was too young, so he couldn’t bear to hurt her.

The sole reason Zhuang Qiong was sent into the palace was to: have a kid, have a kid, have a kid. All so that the Zhuang Clan could install a puppet emperor.

Yep, they wanted to rebel. Subjects that didn’t want to rebel weren’t good subjects.

It was quite obvious that the ML knew about everything.

If the ML didn’t even touch her, then how was she going to have a kid? Asexual reproduction?

Just as Zhuang Qiong was thinking of ways to seduce the ML so that she could have his kid, the FL showed up. As the beloved Gui Fei, Zhuang Qiong was merely there for the FL to do some face-smacking and then use as a stepping stone.

Although Zhuang Qiong nearly killed the FL several times, please take note of the word “nearly”.

The FL always managed to resolve all danger.

Once again proving the law of how leads never die!

Yep, just that awesome alright!

The ML used one of the opportunities created by the FL to uproot the Zhuang Clan and, by extension, Zhuang Qiong. In the end, Zhuang Qiong was bestowed poisoned wine, while everyone else in the Zhuang Clan was executed.

Just before her death, Zhuang Qiong was even forced to listen to the FL’s ‘poison chicken soup^[3]’.

From the FL’s point of view, she was just pitying a woman who was trapped in the imperial harem.

But from Zhuang Qiong’s point of view, the FL was flaunting in front of her. How could she just accept this?

Zhuang Qiong had two wishes.

The first was to get revenge.

The second was to leave the palace.

Zhuang Qiong probably did love the ML, but she had been taught since young that the interests of the clan were above all.

So when faced with the dilemma of choosing between love and her clan, she chose the latter.

Zhuang Qiong probably understood that the ML wouldn’t ever fall for her due to her identity.

These types of people saw the world clearly. They understood what was most beneficial for themselves. There’d always be one or two concubines like this in the imperial harem, and they tended to live longer than others.

If the FL didn’t have the “AOE Debuff: all side characters’ IQ -60%”, Zhuang Qiong and the Zhuang Clan wouldn’t have died so terribly.

This debuff was simply invincible. Even if the FL was an idiot, the side characters could only be even more idiotic.

Of course, stuff like IQ had never been able to stop Shi Sheng—she’d always resolved her problems with violence.

What was so fun about using your brain? Brawns are the real deal!

For example, even if you spent a few months preparing a multi-stage plan, she could just chuck a grenade in there and wipe you out.

Of course, this method was only suitable to those who had the ability to dominate over everyone else.

^[1] Her name is “庄琼”/“zhuang1qiong2”, where her given name means fine jade. But at the same time, it can be misheard as “装穷”/“zhuang1qiong2” which on its own means acting poor. It’s also the first half of an idiom: 装穷叫苦, which means, and I quote: “to feign and complain bitterly of being poverty stricken”

^[2] I’m going to shorten this. I was originally going to put the English translation (Noble Consort) but I figured it’d sound better in speech, and would be easier to remember one term than two. I’ll be doing the same for the rest of the consorts too. Might add a section in the glossary to remind you guys who has what title.

^[3] Just in case it’s unclear, the original meaning of chicken soup is to tell them something motivational to cheer them up (or something along those lines). Poisoned…well, I’m not the best at explanations so take this with a grain (or several sacks) of salt: showing unwanted sympathy. Like say, a girl just broke up with her boyfriend and you tell her, “See, I told you. He’s just blind. I’m sure you’ll find someone better!” when all she wants is someone to listen to her pour her heart out without judgement.

Translator’s Corner:

Would you believe that I only finished up this arc the day the last arc’s final chapter was released? The arc after this is pretty long, so I’m not sure whether I can finish it in time (it starts on the 4th of December). I’m thinking of taking a hiatus after the next arc because my first exams are around the end of January and I really don’t wanna fail them.

Feng Ci’s status in this arc: