Encountering a fellow transmigrator in another world—especially one she’d previously wronged, Dian Lanyu—brought tears to her eyes.
To be honest, even though she barely knew this fellow, he was already far more reliable than the “freebie” relatives she’d acquired after coming to this world. And after witnessing what she had on the road, plus the friendly attitude of the Crown Prince’s Inner Attendant and Imperial Guard, she sincerely… went down on her knees.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around, she released the Crown Prince’s hand and rubbed her flushed face hard. “Sorry, I’m a bit emotional.” Then she bowed her head in apology again. “Let me officially apologize to you! I’m sorry! I really didn’t know you weren’t—”
Xuan Qing cut in, “The short-lived, foolish son of a fallen king?”
Dian Lanyu finally relaxed. “So you have read the plot too.”
Xuan Qing just smiled without saying more.
Dian Lanyu took his silence as consent. Since they’d both revealed themselves, she decided to go all in and roughly recounted the plot she’d seen, adding commentary as she went. “The novel says I was Wei Guangmei’s official match. Not only does Wei Guangmei have Han Xuerou—his true White Moonlight—he also slaughters the last Emperor of Great Zhou, Jiang Jingzhou’s four imperial consorts after their fall. Only Han Xuerou’s daughter, Tuantuan, survives. The part about how Wei Guangmei treats Tuantuan made me sick. So after crossing over, I decided there’s no way I’d marry him. But teaming up with Wei Guangmei to bring down Great Zhou, I could do, because in the novel the last Emperor Jiang Jingzhou is a full-on psychotic pervert.”
“That sounds pretty reasonable,” Xuan Qing replied.
Dian Lanyu had relaxed a bit more by this point. “I’m not what anyone would call a good person, but I do have principles, you know. Seriously…” she sighed, “If I’d known you were a transmigrator too, I’d never have chosen Wei Guangmei’s side.”
Xuan Qing’s expression stayed neutral. “Is that so?”
He couldn’t bring himself to dislike such a straightforward, lively girl, but purposely changed the subject. “But the medicine recipe you gave to Wei Guangmei nearly killed me.”
Wait—a dose of attitude from him?
Dian Lanyu went silent for a moment, then lost her composure and pleaded, “I’ll get down on my knees for you! I really didn’t know! However you want me to make it up to you, I will! You’re not really going to demand my life, are you?”
Xuan Qing looked serious. “Now where did you get an idea like that?”
Suddenly, something occurred to Dian Lanyu and her whole demeanor slumped. “You! You’re not going to make me sign one of those ‘slave contracts’ with at least twelve hours of work a day, are you?!”
Xuan Qing kept smiling in silence.
Dian Lanyu looked close to tears. “You can’t be serious! Even capitalists would cry over this!” She hesitated, then tried to bargain, “At least give me one rest day per week, otherwise I’ll just work myself to death. Do what you want.”
Xuan Qing burst out laughing. “Eight hour work days, two days off a week, but you have to work for me without pay for five years. After that, we can talk salary, bonuses, and shares.”
Dian Lanyu tried another question. “Does that… come with room and board?”
“Of course,” Xuan Qing replied decisively.
Dian Lanyu let out a long sigh of relief. “Alright then. When do we get started? Not gonna lie, I’ve got this divine medicine System binding me, and now that I’m here, I’ve got to make a name for myself—make history!”
Xuan Qing couldn’t help laughing then. No wonder his father and Miss Ling had said that in this world, out of the four Fate’s Sons, all three men were irredeemable scum, and only the female lead was normal.
Having reached an agreement with Dian Lanyu, Xuan Qing took her to Qianqing Palace to meet his father and Miss Ling.
In Qianqing Palace, after sending away the imperial family members, Inner Cabinet Grand Secretary, and the ministers of the Six Ministries, Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing were heads together, laughing and discussing their plans for the future.
Their top priority was still agriculture.
Only when you have grain can you have money, and with both grain and funds, you can talk about raising troops—and raising elite troops.
This world had no high-yield seed varieties for now, but as long as they improved irrigation, supplied tools, and distributed blended fertilizer and pesticides, with a bit of extra effort from the farmers, doubling yield per mu was a conservative estimate.
So the two were currently discussing using the slack season to post recruitment notices for laborers, and to begin large-scale construction around the newly designated test fields on the outskirts of the capital before the ground froze.
The capital of Great Zhou was a bit warmer than the one back home. There weren’t too many days in winter where it dropped below minus five or six degrees.
Though a heavy snow had just fallen, the temperature had rebounded these past few days. Daytime was up to seven or eight degrees, and nights were above freezing too, so all the snow had melted, which was ideal for transportation.
Of course, since they were requisitioning laborers, they’d provide padded jackets and tools, at least two working meals with meat, eggs, and vegetables, plus fair wages.
The current tentative daily wage was three hundred coins. A sturdy worker could do about twenty-four days of labor a month, earning over seven taels of silver—the equivalent of a year’s living expenses for a family of six, without having to pinch pennies.
If you had children in school, at least three strong adults from the family would need to work.
Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing felt this pay was reasonable and decided to settle on it.
Next, they’d hand it over to the Inner Cabinet scholars—the Emperor’s secretaries—for polishing, finalization, and public posting.
Just then, Xuan Qing brought Dian Lanyu over.
Xuan Qing sat down beside his father and introduced her, “This is my father. My real father.”
Dian Lanyu caught on instantly. “You’re also a transmigrator?”
Qin Jingzhou smiled and looked to Ling Jing.
Ling Jing, hearing Xuan Qing’s transmission, also smiled with narrowed eyes. “Hello, fellow traveler.”
Dian Lanyu let out a squeal and, realizing there were no outsiders around, spun around excitedly on the spot. “This is amazing! We’re all transmigrators! Thank goodness I was wise enough to turn back in time!”
She then sincerely introduced her System’s functions and what she could do at present.
Qin Jingzhou, with a wave of his hand, immediately granted her two imperial estates for growing medicinal herbs.
Dian Lanyu was delighted. At the Dian family, she hadn’t been able to get so much as a Manor, and just trying to grow a few hardy and common medicinal herbs in her own courtyard had meant endless arguments. Old Madam Dian and Madam Dian never agreed, always repeating that girls should be virtuous and reserved, not saying what shouldn’t be said, nor doing what shouldn’t be done.
She’d only gotten her wish after finally appealing to her father, who made the decision. But as soon as she got her way, Old Madam Dian and Madam Dian, feeling slighted, were deeply displeased.
“They didn’t exactly abuse me, but endless rumors and mean-spirited comments, that never stopped.” She told her new fellow transmigrators of her experience. “So I feel nothing for the Dian family. If it’s convenient, please find a reason to let me move out.”
Ling Jing studied her for a moment. “Let me ask you—do you have feelings for the Crown Prince?”
Dian Lanyu looked seriously at Xuan Qing for a bit and slowly shook her head. “Just thinking how I almost got him killed makes me feel guilty. Cooperation is fine, but anything else… forget it.”
Ling Jing smiled. “You’re not worried he’ll be upset?”
Dian Lanyu blinked. “He doesn’t like me like that anyway, does he?”
Xuan Qing grinned. “She’s definitely an honest and clear-headed girl.”
This fellow transmigrator was just as generous as expected. Dian Lanyu, reassured, grew even bolder. She asked Ling Jing, “Goddess, you and the Emperor are a couple, right?”
Ling Jing laughed, “That’s right.”
Dian Lanyu clapped. “Let me tell you, ever since I got here, your husband hasn’t taken his eyes off you! Though, to be fair, his hand hasn’t left his son’s head, either.”
Ling Jing turned to look—it was true. She burst out laughing. “Not bad eyesight.”
Dian Lanyu pointed to her own eyes, grinning. “I’m nearsighted, but I see people with my heart.”
Qin Jingzhou spoke too. “She’s a good kid, easily worth working with.”
One thing’s for sure, when Qin Jingzhou made a decision, it carried a lot more weight than Father Dian’s.
Father Dian had spent a restless day in the Ministry of Rites’ yamen. By the afternoon, with no summons, he thought he might’ve gotten away with it. Then an Inner Attendant arrived to “block the door.”
He could only follow the Inner Attendant to Qianqing Palace.
After entering and saluting, he went quietly to one side, waiting for the Emperor to decide his and his family’s fate.
As for resisting, that had never crossed his mind. The two hundred death soldiers the Wei family had trained for years hadn’t even caused a ripple. The two visiting Heir Apparents from top Noble Families last night also planned to flee, not take on the Emperor directly.
Besides, the Empress who’d been banished was his own elder sister. The Crown Prince was his nephew. Admitting guilt and showing remorse surely wouldn’t lead to execution.
Qin Jingzhou looked over at Father Dian, who might as well have been wearing a mask of pain. “Your daughter was misled, and the most important thing is that the Crown Prince is willing to forgive her… The marriage is off, but your daughter really does have great talent, so she can stay in the palace to grow and prepare medicines. As for you, go home and reflect on your mistakes. Write a memorial and we’ll discuss it.”
Father Dian was overjoyed.
This was really… taking away with one hand, returning gently with the other! He knew his daughter had talent, but that would take years to prove! Anyone hoping to achieve something in medicine had to dedicate at least ten years of hard work.
So he believed the Crown Prince was simply being merciful.
His voice shook as he said, “Your subject thanks Your Majesty for Your Grace!” Then he added, “May your subject request an audience with the Crown Prince?”
Every day, Xuan Qing would work in the Eastern Palace, then, after finishing official business, return to his rooms in Qianqing Palace… He still lived in a side hall there now.
Qin Jingzhou waved him off. “Go ask yourself.”
Even the Inner Attendants sensed the Emperor’s impatience and quickly went up to escort Father Dian out.
At this moment, Xuan Qing was in the side hall, teaching Tuantuan how to write. Upon hearing Father Dian had come looking for him, he just waved his hand, “Not seeing him!”
The Inner Attendant went out to relay the message.
Tuantuan, sitting on her brother’s lap, lifted her head. She could only see his chin and nose. “Brother, don’t be sad. My uncle is also very bad! But you have Father, and me… and Mother Consort, too.”
Xuan Qing smiled. “Brother’s not sad at all. He just thinks your uncle is a bit annoying.”
Tuantuan let out an “oh.”
She believed her brother really wasn’t too sad and turned her attention back to studying her characters.
Meanwhile, Fate’s Son number two and number three had escaped the capital and were hiding underground at one of their backup Manors in the suburbs. After nightfall, they finally learned Dian Lanyu had entered the palace and hadn’t come back out, but Father Dian had returned home safe and sound.
The two of them cursed in private, Women really are useless!
They were convinced Dian Lanyu had cracked under interrogation, ruining everything even faster than Wei Guangmei would and spilling even more secrets. After all, she’d been easy to deal with and quite cooperative when facing them.
But… what could they do?
Without the right medicine recipe, even if they used the deepest plants they’d spent years embedding in the palace and successfully took out Wei Guangmei, what then?
All that would do was prove they were involved in the regicide.
So their deeply planted spies would stay hidden until the crucial moment. It would be too late otherwise.
No matter how unwilling they were, the times were against them. They could only abandon the network they’d built in the Capital for so many years and run.
Their families left the Capital in waves, returning to their ancestral homes within a month. The two families debated and quickly reached an agreement: they would start a rebellion ahead of the Emperor!
But you can’t just rebel without something to rally the people behind!
Could they say the Emperor was planning “to cut down the vassals,” meaning he’d strip Noble Families of their special rights, so they had to strike first?
The common folk weren’t starving yet—who would join?
So they hit upon an idea: blame everything on a “demon Empress descended from heaven as a calamity.” Not only did they pin the use of pills concocted by the National Preceptor for cultivation on the Noble Consort, they made up an outlandish story declaring that in order to maintain her beauty, the Noble Consort needed to drink the blood of virgin boys and girls regularly! So far, at least a thousand children in the Capital were said to have fallen victim!
And the details read… just like a horror novel.
When the Xie Wen reached the Capital, Ling Jing couldn’t help laughing: when all is well, she’s the peerless White Moonlight. When trouble comes, she’s a nation-ruining demon consort.
Qin Jingzhou found it funny too.
He even had the Inner Cabinet scholars copy the Xie Wen and post it around the Capital for all the citizens to see just what the two Noble Families were really like.
One thing to note: Ling Jing was always thorough, in both word and deed. When Qin Jingzhou had first arrived in this world, he’d ordered the Grand Steward to release all the children as soon as the Han and Wei families were seized. The Grand Steward hadn’t had time to carry this out, so Ling Jing had taken care of it.
Later came the scene Dian Lanyu had witnessed on her way to the palace: all the parents, clutching snacks and pastries plus five taels of silver, leading their children home beaming with joy… Well, except the little boy who’d started sobbing after eating his father’s bamboo shoot and pork.
In ceremonies that followed, Ling Jing always recruited children for her “atmosphere team.”
With food, gifts, face, and cash—for a chance to see the big world—Capital commoners vied for these roles.
It was so popular that, were it not for Ling Jing’s rule that only children from spotless commoner families could participate, every official family in the Capital would have been lining up to send their own kids.
So when the two Noble Families’ Xie Wen was pasted up in the Capital for all to see, the literate were furious. Those who couldn’t read got even angrier after hearing it read aloud: Utter nonsense, are Noble Families all like this?
Ordinarily, it’s bad enough they bully and deceive ordinary people, but now they’re daring to slander the Emperor and the Noble Consort too. They must be tired of living to be so desperate.
Meanwhile, the laborers fixing the irrigation channels outside the capital heard the news after work and immediately sought out the steward: “Let us enlist! We want to fight the traitors for Our Emperor!”