Chapter 13 [TCFCPC 13]

Yan Yi Ming was not aware of the conversation that took place in Kunning Palace between Nangong Ye and the Empress. She was currently more intrigued by the increase in Nangong Xuan’s favorability.

At this point in time, it was about half an hour since the steward left. There was only one possible reason that could explain Nangong Xuan’s fluctuation in emotion and rise in favorability. The steward must have relayed her words verbatim to the Crown Prince. It would be more excellent if the steward knew how to add more salt and vinegar¹To exaggerate one’s words., such as claiming that Yan Yi Ming had utterly disregarded the Crown Prince’s concerns, or that Yan Yi Ming had shamelessly flirted with the Fifth Prince.

In an instant, the favorability gauge rose by another five percent. Yan Yi Ming could just imagine how angry Nangong Xuan was right now.

This was why men were also quite despicable. Especially Nangong Xuan, who had always stood above everyone else, and even a casual compliment from him could make countless people feel grateful.

No one had ever dared to defy him, let alone Yan Yi Ming, who used to be so infatuated with him.

Yan Yi Ming used to chase after him every day, but Nangong Xuan never gave her a second glance. Now that she was no longer following after him and had chosen to stay by someone else’s side, Nangong Xuan seemed to have finally realized that such a person once existed.

Despite being angry, it did not affect his favorability towards her as it continued to rise. To put it more accurately, Nangong Xuan seemed to have finally realized that he used to view Yan Yi Ming in a favorable light.

Getting 60% on the favorability gauge was a critical turning point. Nangong Xuan’s favorability towards Jian Yu’er was currently 70%. For Yan Yi Ming’s favorability to reach this value meant that Yan Yi Ming now currently stood a chance to compete with Jian Yu’er.

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Eyp vbyv obu pbl bye clld pbsokdt bla ekpzkjl qsa bkx alnldvzu? Ebld vbl lqqlnv sq ekpzkjkdt alynblp kvp rlyj, Zyd Zk Ykdt okzz elhkpl y rzyd vs vwad vbkdtp yaswde? 

Oh my god, this turn of events was even more exciting than before!

Little Apple was stunned as it imagined what might happen next. It could only sigh as Yan Yi Ming was really good at playing games, but then… 

With a tinge of melancholy, Little Apple asked Yan Yi Ming, “But then wouldn’t Nangong Ye be weeping in a corner?” 

Recently, Yan Yi Ming had been spending a lot of time with Nangong Ye, and Little Apple, who had been trailing beside Yan Yi Ming and observing the play, had started to take a liking to this little wolf pup.

In the process, Nangong Ye would inevitably have to suffer from some grievance but Yan Yi Ming had no choice but to temporarily put aside Nangong Ye for her mission. 

Yan Yi Ming turned to ask Little Apple how many diamonds she had saved up thus far.

“Currently, Host has already earned 444 diamonds.”

Yan Yi Ming’s mouth twitched as she tried to ignore the extremely inauspicious string of numbers²In Chinese, the number 4 sounds very similar to ‘die’, so it’s viewed to be inauspicious/unlucky.. “It’s too little, not enough to do the eleven consecutive draws.”

<Emperor of Power> also had a gacha drawing segment. However, the gacha was not something that could be drawn as and when one wishes.

The gacha drawing required diamonds. Once one had saved up a hundred diamonds, they could draw a card. However, if one saved up a thousand diamonds they would qualify for an eleven consecutive draw. This entails the individual having one additional draw and guaranteed at least one SR card. Generally, most people would choose to save up a thousand diamonds to do the eleven consecutive draws.

Little Apple glanced at Yan Yi Ming’s diamond count before reminding her, “Even if you wanted to draw now, you can’t. You’ll have to wait until you complete your current card’s storyline before you can draw and proceed with another card. Besides, why wouldn’t you be able to draw? You can draw four times. People say that miracles can occur with one single draw!”

Yan Yi Ming rejected expressionlessly, “There is no such thing as a miracle for Africans. Never mind, that’s not urgent right now. It’s already bad enough to have 440 diamonds. Why does it have to be 444? Where did the extra diamonds come from?”

Where do diamonds come from? 

Paying players spend money to buy them, while non-paying players rely on grinding to earn them. Unfortunately for Yan Yi Ming, she could only follow the original storyline. Every time she completes a capstone of the storyline, she would receive a corresponding amount of diamonds. Diamonds would also be awarded for every increase in the male protagonists’ favorability gauges. When the favorability gauge maxed out, at the end of the card’s storyline, additional diamonds would be rewarded.

However, those were all fixed rewards in counts of tens. For example, for every ten percent increase in the favorability gauge, 50 diamonds would be rewarded and for completing every capstone in the storyline, 30 diamonds would be awarded. So how did 444 come about?

“That’s because there are also bonus earnings.”

Bonus earnings? Yan Yi Ming gestured for Little Apple to continue.

After pondering for a moment, Little Apple organized its thoughts and explained, “You know that Jian Yu’er is the game incarnate of Lei Feng³Lei Feng was a soldier of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and he died in the line of duty. He was made into a model of altruism and dedication to the Party by propaganda., right? Wherever she goes, she does a trail of good deeds.”  

“Of course, I know that. If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have been able to capture Jiang Yi when she was just a kid. She wouldn’t have been such an unforgettable existence to him all these years.”

“Exactly!” Little Apple was pleased that Yan Yi Ming caught on so quickly. “In the game, Jian Yu’er would receive diamonds for helping someone in the game. So the same thing applies to you. Well… it’s not exactly the same… Helping random characters in the game wouldn’t earn you any diamonds. Only helping Jian Yu’er and the four male protagonists count for you to receive bonus earnings.”

Yan Yi Ming was puzzled, “When did I help any of them?”

“Of course you have! According to the original storyline, on the fourth day that Jian Yu’er came to Yan Residence to apologize, she would sprain her ankle. But because you met up with her, the timing of the incident was missed. This allow the hole in the ground that caused Jian Yu’er to sprain her ankle to be backfilled, preventing her injury. Therefore, the system rewarded you with 24 diamonds.”

Yan Yi Ming, “…”

Yan Yi Ming really did not know what expression she should be displaying. It should be known that she rarely had moments of speechlessness.

So in order to draw more cards in the future, Yan Yi Ming had to find ways to get in touch with Jian Yu’er and the four male protagonists. 

She paid ten diamonds to check the exact time and place that Jian Yu’er would appear during these few days. So when Nangong Ye said he wanted to go to a private teahouse, she chose a location near where Jian Yu’er would pass by.

These past few days, Nangong Ye had been visiting Yan Yi Ming lesser. 

According to Yan Yi Qi words previously, as Nangong Ye was young and the biological son of the Empress, the Emperor doted on him greatly. Therefore, even though the Sixth Prince, who was of the same age as Nangong Ye, had already participated in political affairs, Nangong Ye still acted solely based on his own whim.

In no better words, if one day Nangong Ye became bored, he still had the option to join the political game, but it would be completely up to him.

However, who knew what happened recently? The Emperor suddenly stated that Nangong Ye was no longer a young child and it was time he started actively participating in court. Hence it resulted in him having lesser time to go out of the palace to look for Yan Yi Ming.

And this coincided perfectly with the recent events so Yan Yi Ming could not help but suspect that Nangong Xuan had a hand in Nangong Ye’s sudden increase in political participation.

Upon further thought, participating in political affairs would bring more benefits than drawbacks for Nangong Ye. If he can accomplish something, it would expedite the establishment of his title and fiefdom.

After all, Nangong Ye was Nangong Xuan’s biological younger brother. So Nangong Xuan, would naturally not harm him.

When Yan Yi Ming arrived at the teahouse, Nangong Ye had yet to arrive. So Yan Yi Ming called for Lu Mei and instructed her to go out and buy something while she leaned back in her chair and enjoyed the scenery.

The teahouse was exquisitely designed and adorned. In the main hall on the ground floor, there was even a calligraphy piece done by the current Grand Tutor. Many talented individuals in the capital had also hung up their own calligraphy. The second floor was much quieter, more luxurious, and was mostly frequented by high-ranking officials and aristocrats who preferred to keep a low profile. When Yan Yi Ming was ascending the stairs just now, she encountered a few young ladies who had arranged to have tea together.

Therefore, at this moment, Yan Yi Ming, while marveling at the openness of the Chen Xia Dynasty, also listened to the life-like live broadcast done by Little Apple. Little Apple was relaying the current conversation taking place among the young ladies they just met from the adjacent room.

Back then, Young Lady Yan was very open when she professed her love for the Crown Prince. Although some people envied her, there were more people who looked down on Yan Yi Ming’s conduct.

If a woman took a fancy to the man, she would inform her family and they would seek a matchmaker to propose marriage to the male’s side. Who acted as bold as Yan Yi Ming and confessed as openly as she did?

At the time, this matter also sparked a heated debate amongst the literati. Some praised Yan Yi Ming for her bold confession and for challenging the boundaries of traditional norms, while others looked down on her shameless behavior.

Yan Yi Ming was not present at the beginning to experience the peak of the heated debate when it occurred so she currently found it rather entertaining listening to the chattering of the young ladies.

An example was Young Lady Li, who had intimately addressed Yan Yi Ming as ‘Yan Mei-mei’⁴Mei-mei <妹妹> = Younger Sister. It can also be used as an intimate form of address, not necessarily just between biological siblings. when they first met, she was now sarcastically ridiculing Yan Yi Ming for embarrassing the Yan Residence and ruining Duke Ding’s reputation.

The young lady who had previously pretended to be dignified and aloof had a lot to say currently. Her voice was thin but it was like a never-ending string of firecrackers, “Back then, the number of people who went to propose marriage at Duke Ding’s Manor was like a stampede that nearly crushed their gate. But who would want her now that she’s abandoned? What’s even more ridiculous is that she follows the Crown Prince around every day, but the Crown Prince has never paid any attention to her. I’ve also heard that the Empress even brought up the engagement between them last year, and the Crown Prince outrightly rejected it.”

Another one of the young ladies followed up by asking who Yan Yi Ming would marry in the future. Young Lady Li replied with a sneer, “Didn’t she say she would marry the Crown Prince and no other?”

With that, the whole group burst into giggles and Young Lady Li laughed the most merrily, “Other families in the capital may not be interested in her, but she is the legitimate di granddaughter of Duke Ding and the most beautiful woman in the capital. Even if she can’t be the crown princess consort, there’s still the position as an imperial concubine. So who knows? Just to marry the Crown Prince, she might just agree to be an imperial concubine…”

“Then who do you think Yan Yi Ming is waiting for today? The Crown Prince?” someone asked.

“That’s impossible, the Crown Prince isn’t that free. Maybe she’s by herself?” another replied.

“She may as well drink tea at home if she’s just going to be alone. Say, could it be that His Highness despised her so much that she finally decided to give up and is meeting someone else?”

“Let’s just take a look when the tea is delivered later…”

A sudden silence fell upon the group and Little Apple also stopped its broadcasting. The door creaked open and Nangong Ye took long strides in. His dark-colored clothes made him look even more handsome. His cold countenance instantly melted when he spotted Yan Yi Ming. He walked over smiling at her. His voice carried a hint of childish petulance as he complained, “I was late because Mother Empress kept me for an additional half an hour. Does Ah Ming blame me?”