True and False Daughters of a Prestigious Family 1
Qin Jingzhou’s “save the world mission” was also a stopgap measure, one that merely prolonged the world’s lifespan rather than solving the root problems. Yet, because he had left behind a legacy, establishing the very first teachers of the realm, the world quickly began transitioning into a xuanhuan setting. The world’s essence and chance at self-preservation were at least preserved, so the World Will was thoroughly pleased, not only granting him a hefty reward but even—just as promised—throwing in a bonus.
Meanwhile, the Antimatter World felt the other side had stopped rapidly invading Matter World, so they delivered their promised payment as well.
With the rewards from both World Wills combined, Qin Jingzhou did some calculations and felt relieved. “That’s a quarter of what I need to ascend.” He turned his attention to the system. “You’ve been holding your tongue for a while now.”
The system gave a nervous laugh. “Brother Zhou, the vast amount of energy released when those worlds collapsed… are you able to absorb it?”
Qin Jingzhou nodded slightly. “I can.”
After a pause, the system said, “Isn’t that a missed feast?”
Qin Jingzhou chuckled. “A gentleman loves wealth, but acquires it with honor.”
The system was truly moved. “Brother Zhou, I’ll get you only the highest-paying quests from now on!”
Qin Jingzhou poked the system’s little light-ball with his divine sense. “That’s not necessary. Honestly, I only made it this far unharmed because I never committed wicked deeds—my Five Element Spiritual Roots are one of Heaven’s Jealous Constitutions.”
The system grew even more excited. “I know what to do then!” It immediately picked what it thought was a very suitable mission. “It’s a True and False Daughter of a Prestigious Family story... but with some twists.”
Qin Jingzhou skimmed the synopsis and nodded in agreement. “Indeed, it’s more than a little unusual.”
In many “switched at birth” stories, usually one family is wealthy or noble while the other, even if not scraping to survive, doesn’t even qualify as “well off.”
But in this task’s world, one of the families who’d lost their daughter was genuinely a wealthy clan, while the other was not doing badly either—the father was a university professor. And the daughters’ being switched was truly the hospital’s mistake, not any human scheme.
If it hadn’t been for the wealthy family’s eldest son needing a kidney transplant, prompting the whole family to get tested, they might never have realized their youngest daughter wasn’t their biological child. Once the truth was discovered, the wealthy couple spared no expense, hiring people to track down their real daughter.
Setting aside whether the true and false daughters received comparable love growing up, there was little difference in their education and material well-being.
It was self-evident: when the truth was revealed, there were grievances but no hatred, and the adults of both families mostly felt regret. Afterward, they would likely sit together peacefully and discuss a solution, ending with a heartwarming resolution.
If the story truly unfolded that way, Qin Jingzhou wouldn’t need to handle it personally.
Sure enough, the system explained, “Before the real and fake daughters were reunited, a transmigrator girl arrived, bringing a dubious ‘center-of-attention system.’ She decided that the true daughter’s childhood friend was the Fate’s Son, and did everything to split them up.”
After arriving in the book world, the transmigrator girl completed several tasks to win favor with those around her, earning points. She immediately redeemed a charm card that rekindled the romance between the true daughter’s foster mother and her old flame, causing both women to lose their senses and run off abroad with the lover, abandoning everything...
The true daughter’s foster father, being a university professor, was devastated by his wife’s disappearance and pulled into a police investigation, understandably left in a terrible state.
With things like that, disaster was inevitable.
And as expected, while distracted in the lab, he caused an accident while supervising students, leaving one of his graduate students’ left hand and forearm badly burned.
No matter how remorseful or willing to compensate his student, the true daughter’s foster father had to be suspended for investigation.
Having enjoyed a vigorous, successful life, the true daughter’s father was suddenly overwhelmed by despair. Returning home in an impulse, he attempted suicide by overdosing on pills—not anticipating that he’d end up in a vegetative state.
At that point, the true daughter had yet to be found by her family. In order to pay for her father’s medical expenses, she unhesitatingly plunged into the entertainment industry—a place everyone knows is never as pure as the stories say.
To keep earning, the true daughter kept crossing lines, until her reputation was so tarnished that when her biological parents eventually found her, they were repulsed and unwilling to recognize her.
Originally, the true daughter and her childhood friend should have remained desk-mates, both admitted to one of Hua Country’s top universities, both embarking on careers in research... Twenty years later, they would have become renowned dual stars of the academic world, their achievements benefiting countless people.
But the transmigrator’s goal in reuniting the true daughter’s family was only to break up the true daughter and her childhood friend. With a jumble of skills and cards, she got her wish and the childhood friend became hers. Yet how could a “center-of-attention system” be satisfied with only one Fate’s Son? After being “transformed” into a love-obsessed fool, the childhood friend died not long after, killed in a jealous struggle with another rival.
At this stage, the true daughter's reputation had rotted further. Her foster father never awoke, while her mother returned from abroad only to be burdened with “addiction.” After her childhood friend’s funeral, she received his belongings from his mother.
Though driven half-mad by the transmigrator, the childhood friend managed to record his suspicions and deductions during moments of clarity.
Had fate been kinder, the true daughter could have become a globally acclaimed research star. Sharp and clever, with her friend’s reminders, she gradually uncovered evidence—the irrefutable proof that pointed at the transmigrator. Just as she was about to present her findings to the Officials, the transmigrator, alerted by her system at the last moment, rallied her entourage—including the true daughter’s own brother—to kill her.
Notably, the one who landed the fatal blow was the false daughter, convinced the true daughter was trying to ruin their parents, who seduced both her brother and the true daughter’s husband in her quest for revenge.
The false daughter deluded herself into thinking she was upholding the public good. Even when taken by police and brought to trial, she showed no remorse.
Some years later, the transmigrator, having milked enough Fate, thought herself ready to ascend as the system promised. Yet in her moment of triumph, her system turned on her, tearing her spirit apart bite by bite until nothing was left.
With the transmigrator dead, all the men who’d been rendered numb to right and wrong or stained with blood by the system’s cards and drugs gradually came to their senses—but by then, it was much too late.
The “center-of-attention system,” still using the transmigrator’s body, visited each of the men in turn, repeating the process... swallowing each of them, one by one, before departing with a satisfied burp.
“Another total annihilation ending.” Qin Jingzhou gazed with interest at the scrolling script before him. “For the true daughter’s foster father—a professor—to have acted on impulse and tried to end it all? That transmigrator’s cards and drugs must truly be something.”
Brother Zhou is getting excited! Time to light incense for the transmigrator and her fish-pond full of lovers in advance!
The system confessed honestly, “I’d like to take that ‘center-of-attention’ system. But Brother Zhou, if you turn it in to the main system, you can get a reward, too.”
Qin Jingzhou smiled. “It’s yours.” He was quite content with his own little system, which seemed not to advance by absorbing spiritual energy.
The system spun in place. “Thank you, Brother Zhou!”
This time, the mission reward was again provided by the World Will. The transmigrator and her system snuck in, and in less than twenty years, managed to ruin more than ten Fate’s Sons and candidates, so it was hardly surprising that the World Will was out for blood.
After informing the World Will to “watch the show,” Qin Jingzhou flashed into the mission world, entering the body of the true daughter’s foster father.
The man’s soul had already shattered, his three spirits and seven souls scattered, leaving not even the strength for simple communication. He left Qin Jingzhou only two obsessions: “care for my daughter, make it up to my student,” before dissipating completely.
Qin Jingzhou understood at a glance. The original host had lived blamelessly, with outstanding ability and great fortune, as did his adoptive daughter, and her childhood friend was even luckier still. Combine all that, and it became the host’s very own “original sin,” making him the first target for the transmigrator’s killing blow.
When the host became a vegetable, most of his fate was devoured by the transmigrator—he was her first genuine windfall in her “center-of-attention” operation. Without him, she couldn’t have exchanged for cards or skills effective against the true daughter or her childhood friend.
Qin Jingzhou donned his new mantle, using his divine sense to gently tap the original soul’s brow. “I understand. Rest easy, and move on.”
Watching the soul’s peaceful departure, he carefully sensed his surroundings. The drugs exchanged by the transmigrator were neurotoxins of only a basic level.
Though this world possessed spiritual qi, it was so thin as to be useless for mortal cultivation, barely allowing for a handful of spiritually imbued specialties.
Qin Jingzhou wasn’t bothered. “That center-of-attention system is from a high-tech civilization. Then let’s use something even more advanced... Neurotoxins? Let’s push the world’s brightest mortals a step further, granting them the ability to sense the system’s presence, and even to faintly eavesdrop on its conversations with the transmigrator.”
System: ...This is cutting the problem off at the source.
Qin Jingzhou kept his eyes closed, not hurried to “wake up.” “Where’s my daughter?”
Of course, Brother Zhou meant the true daughter, who had entered the entertainment industry for her foster father’s treatment.
The system replied, “She’s filming abroad right now. To make money, she’s gotten involved with a wealthy young master… He’s unmarried, has no steady girlfriend, but more mistresses than he can count, and right now he’s with the transmigrator. The transmigrator is about to max out his favorability, then betray your—your daughter.”
Qin Jingzhou sat bolt upright, ripped off the oxygen mask, pressed the call button, and looked at the doctor and nurses who rushed into the room. In a raspy and intermittent voice, he said, “Please… help me contact my senior brother.”