Chapter 7
To save their lives, Su Ningxia and Jiang Jin sold out the beloved woman’s daughter and Jiang Jin’s legitimate elder brother without the slightest hesitation.
“This humble woman is Ning Rou. Greetings, Lord Cheng!”
A deep, unrestrained female voice exploded beside me like thunder.
Ning Rou stood eight feet tall and was built like a mountain. One of her arms was nearly as thick as my entire body.
She looked a little familiar.
Was this the Protein Queen in period costume?
If the daughter looked like this, then Prince Yong’an’s beloved woman must have been…
So this was the legendary white moonlight who could uproot a willow tree with her bare hands?
Su Ningxia stood ten feet away, watching the situation with a guilty expression.
Ning Rou, however, had run out of patience. She rounded on us with a demand.
“Didn’t Su Ningxia say you were inviting me to a meal? Where’s the food? You aren’t lying to me, are you?”
At the sight of the queen’s gathering rage, I waved for the imperial kitchens to serve the meal.
No—on second thought, they needed to change it.
With a build like hers, what use were those delicate little arrangements?
I personally took command and replaced the exquisite pastries with great iron pots of mixed stew. The guiding principle was simple: mountains of food, enough to fill a person.
While we waited, Su Ningxia crept over and whispered a warning. “Stay away from my sister while she’s eating. She’s fiercely protective of her food!”
Was that so?
I waved toward the imperial kitchens again. Add two more basins of meat. Add food until there was no tomorrow!
After the queen finished five platters and finally began to slow, I seized my chance.
“Miss Ning Rou, was the meal to your satisfaction?”
Ning Rou set down the half-eaten pig trotter in her hand. “Boo-hoo! This is the first time in my life I’ve eaten my fill. Lord Cheng, I will remember this kindness. If you ever need my help, you have only to ask!
“Why don’t I kill Prince Yong’an for you? Otherwise I won’t feel right accepting this meal!”
I said, “Well, well!”
Su Ningxia: “?”
After considerable effort, I managed to soothe Ning Rou’s burning desire to repay me. Then I headed to the imperial study to see how Jiang Jin and his legitimate brother were getting along.
Before I even entered, I heard Chu Yunmo question someone with cold-edged irritation.
“Do you take the thing on my shoulders for decoration?
“Or do you think I’m some kind of fool who enjoys sitting here while you spew nonsense?”
Jiang Jin’s legitimate brother, Jiang Huai, was pale as paper. His whole body trembled as he repeated in despair, “Everything I said is true!
“A system called the Legitimate-Lineage Supremacy System really did bind itself to me. It assigns me missions and orders me to sell off concubine-born sons!
“But because my mother was a second wife, my status as an eighteenth-generation legitimate heir was discounted. That left me helpless before my father, a seventeenth-generation legitimate heir, so I haven’t been able to complete my system missions. If this continues, the system will erase me!
“Can you understand that, Your Majesty?”
His Majesty did not understand. His Majesty probably only wanted to kill someone now.
Before Chu Yunmo could erupt, I stepped between him and Jiang Huai.
“What exactly is your system mission? Tell me everything.”
Jiang Huai looked as though he had finally found his family. Through tears, he poured out his grievance to me.
“To sell concubine-born sons!
“The system says that once I’ve sold ninety-nine of them, I’ll be released and the system warehouse will unlock.
“It said this was only supposed to be a joke level. It even arranged eighteen generations of legitimate descent for me. Who could have imagined that one wrong move would leave me completely suppressed by my father? How could anyone be as miserable as I am?”
“You don’t honestly think anyone will believe—”
“Fine. I’ll help you!”
Chu Yunmo’s mockery and my answer rang out at the same time.
I turned a level gaze on Chu Yunmo. A second later, his tone did an abrupt about-face. “Believe you? Of course! Who wouldn’t believe such a thing? I believe it, anyway. Whatever happens, it can’t be me who doesn’t believe you!”
Jiang Huai and I watched him argue in silence.
By the end, Chu Yunmo’s ears were red with fury. “Cheng Ruo, you’re joining him in excluding me! We’re supposed to be on the same side!”
I said, “Heh.”