Chapter 23 [TSS 1]

Dead? Who died?

The Crown Princess Consort?

Is the Crown Princess Consort… Yan Yi Ming…?

It seems… to be so?

Yan Yi Ming, the one who just married into the Eastern Palace today.

During this time, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Consort should be in the bridal chamber with lit ornamented candles, preparing for their wedding night. How could she… be dead?

Momentarily, Nangong Ye was unable to react. He could not understand, could not believe, and could not accept it. She was perfectly fine just moments ago. How could she be dead?

This must be a lie, right? Are they trying to deceive him? 

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Ebu?…

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Ubysp bye yzalyeu lawrvle okvbkd vbl kxrlakyz ryzynl.

The vibrant joyous red colors were still on display, but at this moment, they were cloaked in complete darkness, as though a silent mournful tune was playing.

The Emperor and Empress were abruptly awakened in the middle of the night, and Madame Yan fainted immediately upon receiving the news.

A joyous occasion turned into a solemn event, an unexpected conclusion that no one foresaw. Nobody could have imagined that just a few hours ago, everything was filled with felicity, and now it was blanketed in a layer of despair.

The young lady who was adorned in a vibrant red attire, and possessing breathtaking beauty, was now lying limp in Nangong Xuan’s arms. Her eyes would never open again, and she would never speak another word.

Yan Yi Ming… really passed away.

She died right before Nangong Xuan’s eyes. Nangong Xuan could never forget the chilling gleam of the blade that pierced his vision before Yan Yi Ming threw herself in front of him and then came the horrifying sound of a sharp blade penetrating flesh, dyeing everything in blood.

At that moment, it seemed like something uncontrollable gushed out from his chest, only to be shattered into a million pieces in the next instant.

At that moment, Nangong Xuan finally realized how much Yan Yi Ming loved him. However, in the next moment, she had already fallen before his very eyes.

It took a long time for Nangong Xuan to come to the realization that he had lost the woman he loved the most.

When Nangong Ye arrived at the Eastern Palace, Yan Yi Ming had already ceased to breathe. Her exposed skin was pallid, devoid of any signs of life, and even her lips, which were painted with rouge, had lost their rosy hue.

The Crown Prince embraced his consort tightly in his arms and currently also seemed like a lifeless person.

Nangong Ye had never seen the Crown Prince so broken. At this moment, that formidable man, was sobbing.

Nangong Ye initially intended to interrogate him. He wanted to ask why he was careless to let assassins appear in the Eastern Palace, why he could not even protect a single woman. However, now seeing his royal brother, who seemed to have lost his soul, Nangong Ye suddenly felt that he no longer had the desire to question him.

According to the servants in the Eastern Palace, the Crown Princess Consort sacrificed herself by jumping in front of the Crown Prince during the assassin’s attack.

Nangong Ye staggered out of the room. In the darkness, he crouched down while supporting his head with his hands.

What on earth happened?

What was true and what was false? Was it as the servants depicted? Has Yan Yi Ming always been in the Eastern Palace? Or was it as he had seen, the woman who should have been in the Eastern Palace had somehow appeared in Prince Yue’s residence?

No one saw her arrive, and no one saw her leave. Except for himself, no one else saw her, and no one heard her. So shouldn’t it be false?

However, the few candies grasped in his fist were undoubtedly real.

Even now, they were tightly clenched in his hand.

So Yan Yi Ming did come to find him, and she did say those words to him.

She told him that she was leaving. She promised him that she would not marry the Crown Prince. She warned him never to trust another bad woman like herself again.

So when Yan Yi Ming said she was leaving, she meant it in the forever sense. When she said she would not marry the Crown Prince, it was in such a cruel manner.

Was it truly the works of an assassin? Did she really die trying to save the Crown Prince? Or was it because of that promise made to him?… The promise not to marry the Crown Prince? Did she die for the Crown Prince or because of him? Was her death an accident, or was it planned?

In fact, the truth was obvious.

Nangong Ye tightly clenched the area around his heart, gritting his teeth to prevent the overwhelming pain from overflowing. However, tears still streamed down his face.

“I don’t love him.”

“I won’t marry him.”

“I’m leaving now.”

She left, and would never be coming back.

The Eastern Palace was under attack, but the assassins managed to escape. In a fit of fury, the Emperor nearly executed all the imperial guards and attendants who were responsible for the security of the Eastern Palace.

On the day of the Crown Princess Consort’s marriage, she passed away, making the event an extremely ominous one. However, the death of the Crown Princess Consort was in exchange for the Crown Prince’s life. Regardless of any dissatisfaction the Empress had towards Yan Yi Ming at the beginning, only regret and gratitude remained.

Regret because it was only today that she realized that Yan Yi Ming was indeed a good child.

Gratitude because Yan Yi Ming saved the Crown Prince by taking the blade on his behalf.

The joyous occasion of yesterday had turned into a solemn event today. As they were white-haired people sending off a black-haired person¹To send-off one’s child before themselves. This idiom is used to express the unnatural order of life where the older generations send off the younger generations. With white hair symbolizing old age and black hair representing youth., both Old Madame Yan and Madame Yan fell ill simultaneously soon after. To compensate for their loss, the Emperor generously rewarded Duke Ding’s residence. Duke Ding, with tears in his eyes, accepted the bestowment. When he reached home, he also wept bitterly alongside his wife.

Several months later, when the Emperor proposed to arrange another marriage for the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince refused. Eventually, the Crown Prince only took in an imperial concubine, leaving the position of the Crown Princess Consort vacant.

Fast forward several more months, Prince Yue personally went to see the Emperor, and without taking any wives or concubines, he departed from the capital alone, heading towards Bei Ping City.

On the day of his departure from Jin Ling Capital, the imperial city was as warm as spring.

On the day he arrived at his stationed residence, Bei Ping City was covered in a thousand miles of frost, with the wind and snow swirling in the air.

====

All these events happened after Yan Yi Ming departed from that storyline hence, it remained unknown to her.

Although she had temporarily left the fictional story plot, she was still unable to return to the real world. As stipulated before, Yan Yi Ming must successfully capture the hearts of all the male protagonists before she can return to reality.

Because the final two percent of favorability from Nangong Xuan could not be achieved, Yan Yi Ming ruthlessly took matters into her own hands and staged an assassination, orchestrating the whole incident herself.

After taking that slash for Nangong Xuan, his favorability gauge instantly reached 100%.

Nangong Xuan’s card was successfully conquered.

The system rewarded her with 700 diamonds. Previously, after saving Jian Yu’er, the system generously rewarded 300 diamonds. Alongside the various rewards from clearing the card’s capstones in the storyline, increment of the male protagonist’s favorability gauge, and small bonus earnings, Yan Yi Ming accumulated a total of 1977 diamonds after the completion of her first card.

Yan Yi Ming stared at the amount of diamonds she had and really did not know what to say.

Only twenty-three more diamonds were needed for her to be able to do two eleven consecutive draws… Why couldn’t they just give her a few more???

Little Apple thought for a moment and tentatively suggested, “You can draw one card at a time; miracles can occur with a single draw!”

“And as I’ve said before, there is no such thing as miracles for Africans. With my luck, the possibility of drawing nine consecutive R cards is quite high,” Yan Yi Ming refused directly.

Alright then. 

Little Apple exchanged a thousand diamonds for eleven gacha tickets and handed them to Yan Yi Ming, “Do you want to open them consecutively?”

“Yes.”

“Who do hope to draw this time around?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Yan Yi Ming replied. Initially, she had wished to draw Shao Jing Yu, but now, there was no rush in tackling his card. “As long as it’s not Nangong Xuan’s card again.”

After saying that, Yan Yi Ming suddenly felt a little uncertain. She hesitated for a moment and cautiously asked Little Apple, “What if I draw Nangong Xuan’s SR card again?”

“Cough-,” Little Apple awkwardly cleared his throat. “There’s the probability UP advantage that I promised you last time. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get more than one SR card. You should have faith in yourself. Come on!”

She had almost forgotten about the probability UP advantage.

Yan Yi Ming reached out and took the gacha tickets and took a deep breath, “Alright, here we go!”

With eleven gacha tickets, the cards gradually revealed their faces to her—first card, second card, third card, fourth card… 

Yan Yi Ming was trembling slightly. Where was her probability UP advantage? Why were they all R cards?

This damn game was too much of a pitfall! How can it have the gall to face her after all the efforts she had put into conquering it?

Finally, on the sixth card, the bright pink shimmer that belonged to an SR card flashed in front of Yan Yi Ming’s eyes.

SR card – Jiang Yi. 

<Topping the imperial examination>²<金榜题名> is a Chinese idiom that literally translates to ‘Having one’s name on the gold list.’ It is used to describe someone who has successfully passed the highest-level imperial examinations in ancient China and achieved the top rank. This idiom is often employed to praise individuals who have excelled academically and gained recognition for their achievements.

Yan Yi Ming let out a long sigh of relief. Thank the Gods, it was not Nangong Xuan again.

But in terms of the timeline, the setting of this card was situated slightly earlier than when she first tackled Nangong Xuan’s storyline. Yan Yi Ming remembered that during Nangong Xuan’s plotline, Jiang Yi had already risen to a fourth-ranking official. However, this card depicted Jiang Yi to be when he had just become a top province scholar.

With this card at hand, Yan Yi Ming gained a bit of confidence and was finally not as jittery as before.

But the following confirmed the saying that the less one cared, the more surprises one would get. With no further expectations, when the last card was revealed, the dazzling golden glow made Yan Yi Ming cry out in surprise.

This was the golden radiance that belonged to an SSR card!

After the radiance faded, the character and card name finally appeared.

SSR – Jian Yu Yan. 

<The Outstanding and Charming Gentleman>³<清佳公子> When broken down into its individual characters, <清> means clear, pure, or clean, while <佳> often means good, beautiful, or excellent. Together, <清佳> could be interpreted as ‘clear and beautiful’ or ‘pure and excellent’.

Having the choice between an SR card and an SSR card. Anyone with a bit of brain would choose the SSR card. Additionally, compared to Jiang Yi, Yan Yi Ming was more familiar with Jian Yu Yan.

After choosing the card, Little Apple brought up the face customization screen. “Our system has undergone an upgrade. Now, the face customization is more refined than the previous version. This time, Host can create a character that is even more beautiful than the last one.”

Yan Yi Ming tapped on the facial customization screen in contemplation before voicing, “Retrieve Jian Yu’er’s information.”

“Jian Yu’er?”

“Jian Yu Yan only has eyes for Jian Yu’er but is hindered by his identity. If one day, a woman who looks exactly like Jian Yu’er appears, how do you think he will react?”

Little Apple suddenly widened its eyes. Its host’s scheme was truly ingenious!

Excitedly, it quickly retrieved Jian Yu’er’s data. “Do you want to shape your facial features to be exactly like Jian Yu’er’s?”

“Let’s tweak it to have a bit of difference,” Yan Yi Ming said, and then she added a cinnabar mole at the outer corner of the right eye on the face that shared Jian Yu’er’s facial features.

As Yan Yi Ming had a cinnabar mole at the corner of her right eye in the real world, she found herself preserving this distinctive feature when customizing her characters’ faces. The previous Young Lady Yan also had it, and now this face, resembling Jian Yu’er, was also given the same cinnabar mole.

After a close scrutiny, Yan Yi Ming finally nodded in satisfaction, “Good, we can start now.”

Her surroundings started to morph, and when she opened her eyes again, a slight chill was in the air. The red plum blossoms were currently in full bloom.

Jin Ling Capital, Plum Blossom Pavilion.

A melodious and excellent singing voice resonated in the place, sounding refined and sonorous.

Upon listening closer, there was also the chatter of pleasant-sounding women.

“With Young Master Jian’s status, not just anyone can have the honor to serve him.”

“But even Hai Tang Jie-Jie was also kicked out of the hall…”

As Jin Ling Capital’s number one young master, Jian Yu Yan had always been fond of beautiful women and always wore a smiling face. However, today, for some unknown reason, he was tough to please. 

Amidst the worrying crowd, a pair of delicate hands stretched out towards the tray holding the pot of tea and teacup. 

The owner of those hands smiled and offered, “Why not… let me give it a try?”