A Cannon Fodder Who Became The Future Queen - Chapter 5

The capital. 

Inside the Prince Yang’s study. The man was still wearing his court robes and was rubbing a white jade pendant in his hand.

“This morning, Father ordered that all court officials wear mourning clothes during my seventh sister’s funeral. No bells or drums will be tolled, and her palanquin will be carried by eighty-one attendants. He even personally gave her a posthumous title. This is a treatment normally reserved for the crown prince.”

When he said “crown prince,” the young man’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the slender middle-aged woman in front of him. “With such a grand ceremony, do you still think I’ve gone too far?”

The woman’s expression was calm, her thin back unbowed. “The Seventh Princess was intelligent but not favored by His Majesty. Granting a posthumous title is simply to reassure General Yu at the border.”

The implication was that the emperor was wary of General Yu, and no matter what, the Seventh Princess would not have affected his plans. The man had indeed gone too far.

The man sneered, and the white jade pendant in his hand broke into two. “My Third Sister is so dull and foolish, yet she still caught Father’s eye. Wasn’t it all because my Seventh Sister was helping her with her schemes?”

“Now that the Seventh Sister is gone, what support will my Third Sister have? I much prefer dead people. They will never compete with me.”

After a moment, he regained the gentle, refined demeanor he showed to outsiders, with no trace of his previous ruthlessness. “Since you are my mother’s old friend, I hope you will do what is required of you, Minister Li.”

The woman’s eyes lowered slightly, and she said softly, “Of course.”

*******

After eating sweet potatoes for breakfast, Shen Zhiyu looked at the other things inside the kitchen. She had intended to make the wheat flour into flatbreads for lunch, but Suisui stopped her forcefully, so they just ate wild vegetables together.

Afterward, Shen Zhiyu walked around the yard. Not finding a sickle or a hoe, she settled for picking up a rock. She felt humiliated when she remembered the Alpha gripping her wrist yesterday, leaving her helpless. The rock wasn’t big, but it had a sharp edge. Shen Zhiyu tried to press the rock against her scent gland and felt a sting spread from her neck. She withdrew her hand, clutching the rock in her palm, and realized that her impulse to scratch her scent gland last night had been rash.

The scent gland was one of the most vulnerable parts of an Omega’s body. Even a small injury could cause a person to pass out from the pain. If she had really damaged her scent gland, the Alpha wouldn’t have treated her wound. Instead, she would have taken advantage of her extreme vulnerability, and Shen Zhiyu would have been at her mercy.

“Ah Jiu, I want to go pick some wild vegetables. Do you want to come with me?”

Suisui’s voice interrupted Shen Zhiyu’s thoughts. She pushed all her ideas aside, looked up, and replied, “I’ll be right there.” The house still smelled of the Alpha, and Shen Zhiyu didn’t want to stay home.

As soon as they stepped out, Shen Zhiyu heard a woman’s voice. “Suisui, what did you eat for lunch?”

She looked up and saw a kind-looking woman from a nearby house talking to them across the fence. The woman seemed to be very familiar with Suisui. The child was much more natural than she was around Ji Ping’an. “Auntie, I boiled some wild vegetables.” It was then that the woman saw Shen Zhiyu next to Suisui. She froze for a moment before continuing. “Come to my place. Manman has been wanting to play with you.”

Manman was the woman’s child, about the same age as Suisui. The two kids got along well. The woman knew what kind of person Suisui’s big sister was, so whenever her family had a little extra, she would give Suisui a piece of bread. This time was no different. When Suisui came over, the woman gave her a piece of bread.

“Thank you, Auntie!” But Suisui didn’t immediately go inside to play with Manman. She turned to look at Shen Zhiyu first. “Can Ah Jiu come with me?”

Shen Zhiyu stroked her head. “I’ll talk to your auntie.” Seeing the woman nod, Suisui took the bread and ran into the house.

“Ah Jiu?” the woman asked hesitantly.

Shen Zhiyu nodded. “You can call me that. I don’t remember my name.”

“My name is Lin Yun. Everyone in the village calls me Yun Niang,” the woman said, quickly introducing herself. “Do you want some bread? I can get you some.” She looked at the girl in front of her. Even with the injuries on her face, her looks and demeanor were undeniable. She must be the Omega the rumors said Ji Ping’an had brought back. She was probably someone with a hard life.

Shen Zhiyu looked at the calluses and scars on the woman’s hands and shook her head. “No, thank you. Save it for Manman.” She could accept the sweet potatoes Ji Ping’an left behind, but she couldn’t easily accept the bread Yun Niang had saved. After saying that, she asked Yun Niang, “Can you get to the county from here?”

“Just follow this road north. But it’s busy because its farming season now, so there are no ox carts. You’ll have to walk if you want to go to town.” Yun Niang had wanted to warn Shen Zhiyu that many people had fled here to escape the drought this winter, and an Omega traveling alone would inevitably be targeted by criminals. But she swallowed her words. Compared to Ji Ping’an, it was hard to say which was worse.

“I’m not going, just asking.” Shen Zhiyu had been standing for a long time since she woke up, and her knees were starting to ache. She had to use her time to make a plan that was best for her.

Yun Niang nodded. “If you ever want to talk, just come find me.” Thinking of Ji Ping’an’s troublemaker ways, Yun Niang couldn’t find the right words to console her, so she just tried to make things a little easier for her and Suisui.

*******

By the time Ji Ping’an returned from the county, it was already dark. Smoke rose from every household’s kitchen, signaling dinner time. When she arrived, Suisui and Shen Zhiyu had just returned from picking wild vegetables and were sitting in the yard talking. Since the sun was out, the vegetables grew quickly, and they had gathered a lot today. Shen Zhiyu had given her vegetables to Suisui to carry.

Suisui looked more cheerful than she had last night. She hugged the vegetables and walked toward the kitchen. “I’ll put these away. It’s enough for three days.”

Shen Zhiyu’s eyes followed her before she turned and saw Ji Ping’an pushing the gate open. Her normal expression instantly turned cold. At that moment, Suisui came out of the kitchen. She remembered the sweet potatoes she had eaten that morning and was suddenly terrified.

“Big sister…” she called out weakly. What if big sister regrets letting her eat the sweet potatoes? Will I get hit again? If she had known this would happen, she would have saved the bread Auntie gave her to calm her big sister down.

Ji Ping’an didn’t know what the child was thinking. She walked into the yard and closed the gate, waving to the child. “Suisui, come here. I brought you some buns.” As she spoke, she put her basket down and took out the buns.

The buns had gotten cold from the walk back from town, even with her covering them with vegetables. They weren’t as fragrant as when they were fresh, but the wrappers were made of fine flour, which looked softer than the coarse grain bread. The buns were big, thin-skinned, and thick with filling. Suisui swallowed just from looking at them, and her stomach started to rumble.

“Big sister, are these really for me?” Suisui pursed her lips. She felt like these buns looked even better than the sweet potatoes from this morning.

Ji Ping’an bent down and handed her a bun. “Yes, I bought it just for you.” Seeing Suisui take it, she handed another to Shen Zhiyu. “The other one is for Ah Jiu.” Shen Zhiyu took the bun after a brief moment of hesitation.

Ji Ping’an’s eyebrows raised slightly. Since she’d gotten home, Shen Zhiyu had been silent. She had thought it would take some effort to get her to eat. But this is good. Eating will help her get better faster, and then the favorability will increase!

The buns were so big that Suisui had to hold one with both hands. She took a tentative bite of the wrapper and tasted the fragrant sweetness of the flour. The vegetables inside weren’t the bitter wild ones she was used to, but instead were sweet and fresh. It was so delicious that her eyes nearly closed.

Noticing the little girl’s expression, Ji Ping’an couldn’t help but curve her lips. “Is it good?”

Suisui nodded hard. “It’s good.” Ah Jiu hadn’t lied to her this morning after all. Big sister had not only left her sweet potatoes but had also brought her buns. She didn’t have to worry about being hit anymore.

“If it’s good, eat a lot.” While Suisui was looking down and eating the bun, Ji Ping’an seized the opportunity and reached out to touch her hair. Ji Suisui instinctively looked up, her mouth still chewing, her eyes filled with confusion. After a second, she realized it was Ji Ping’an. She blinked, swallowed the bun, and asked, “Big sister, did you eat?”

As Suisui asked that, Shen Zhiyu’s eyes also fell on Ji Ping’an.

“I ate already. You just eat. You don’t have to give me any.” When she said the last two sentences, Shen Zhiyu could clearly feel the Alpha’s gaze on her. Shen Zhiyu swallowed a bite of bun and scoffed in her mind. Did the Alpha think she would share the bun with her?

It had to be said that Shen Zhiyu’s guess was right. Ji Ping’an hadn’t expected Shen Zhiyu to share her bun, but she had been waiting for the favorability to increase. It was only after receiving Shen Zhiyu’s cold stare that she came back to reality. It seemed the system wasn’t malfunctioning; it was simply that Shen Zhiyu was much harder to please than Suisui.

While they were eating the buns, Ji Ping’an took her basket to the kitchen and put the rice and flour into the grain jar. She had walked from the mountain to the county with game on her back, and her stamina was gone, so she had only bought a single dou. She could buy more when it was finished.

After putting away the rice and flour, Ji Ping’an took out the meat and the rabbit. She placed the meat on the stovetop; it was getting late, so she could render the fat tomorrow. The kitchen door was open, so Suisui and Shen Zhiyu could see everything clearly.

Suisui’s eyes were wide. Her little head darted back and forth between the meat on the stovetop and the rabbit in Ji Ping’an’s hands. Meanwhile, Shen Zhiyu narrowed her eyes, watching the busy figure. This Alpha was very different from the one she had seen yesterday.

Even with both of them watching her, Ji Ping’an was completely at ease. She held up the rabbit. “How about we have roasted rabbit tonight?”

She had bought buns, but one bun wasn’t enough to fill a person up. Plus, after walking back from the county, the bun Ji Ping’an had eaten was long gone. She needed to eat something more substantial.

Roasted rabbit would be the most flavorful. The skin would be golden and crispy, so much so that you could hear a crunch if you tapped it. Breaking through the crispy skin, you’d find tender meat that fell right off the bone. It was so fragrant it could make a person swallow their own tongue.

When she heard the words “roasted rabbit,” Suisui remembered the time her mother used to make it for them. She was little then, but she had never forgotten the delicious smell.

“Big sister, are we really going to roast it?” Suisui was so excited she almost dropped the bun in her hand. “Ah Jiu and I just gathered some firewood today. I’ll go get it right now.”

She could see the neatly stacked pile of firewood by the courtyard gate, so there was no danger in letting her get it. Ji Ping’an let her have her way. “That would be a big help, Suisui. Bring as much as you can.”

With the confirmation, Suisui carefully placed her bun in a bowl and began hauling firewood over to Ji Ping’an. As she ran, her frizzy, dry hair bounced with a new energy.

Ji Ping’an sat down next to Shen Zhiyu, seemingly unfazed by her obvious distance, and made conversation. “The firewood you gather yourself probably makes the food taste even better.”

Being so close, the Alpha’s scent was much stronger. Shen Zhiyu subtly tightened her grip on the rock in her hand, her expression still cold. “Is that so?”

“It is,” Ji Ping’an replied, completely oblivious to the danger. She then looked down at Shen Zhiyu’s leg. “Does your knee still hurt?”

Shen Zhiyu finally looked at her directly, her voice filled with sarcasm. “Wouldn’t you know? I thought maybe someone else had done it.”

“…” 

Ji Ping’an rubbed her nose and cleared her throat. “I got you some medicine. You can put it on after you eat the roasted rabbit.”

Shen Zhiyu’s gaze was deep as she observed the person in front of her. “You’re different from yesterday.”

The person from last night was a drunken bully. Her tone was greasy and exaggerated, her face full of malice. You could tell her character with just a glance. But today’s Ji Ping’an had not only brought back food but was also acting impeccably. Could a person really change so much in such a short time?

Ji Ping’an knew that if she were only talking to Suisui, she might have been able to get away with the lie. But the person sitting in front of her was a future empress. Even the slightest hint of a lie would be noticed.

“Big sister, is this enough firewood?” Suisui hadn’t paid attention to what they were saying. After running back and forth a few times, a large pile of wood was now in front of Ji Ping’an.

“I am different from yesterday,” Ji Ping’an said, deciding not to hide the truth. “I’ll tell you about it after we eat.”

“This is plenty. You’re amazing, Suisui.”

After she finished speaking, Ji Ping’an picked up the rabbit to prepare it, but a serious problem dawned on her: there was no knife in the house. She wanted to save the rabbit fur to make a scarf later, which would require a knife. But when she was in the county, her mind was so preoccupied with how to cook the rabbit that she forgot to buy one.

Seeing Ji Ping’an just sitting there, Suisui’s courage grew. “Big sister, what’s wrong?”

“Suisui, do you know if any of the aunties in the village have a knife for cutting meat?”

At first, Shen Zhiyu had thought Ji Ping’an was regretting her offer and didn’t want to cook the rabbit. But when she heard the question, she couldn’t help but look at her twice.

A quarter of an hour later, the three of them stood at Yun Niang’s doorstep. Ji Ping’an had initially thought of sending Suisui and Shen Zhiyu to borrow the knife, since her reputation was so bad. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she changed her mind and said she’d go with them. Since she was using their knife, it was only right to give them some of the meat, and it was better for her to do the asking herself.

When Yun Niang heard Suisui’s voice, she came out and saw the three of them standing neatly outside her fence. After a moment of surprise, she asked, “Suisui, do you… need something?” The fact that Ji Ping’an was there too, standing straighter than usual with a different demeanor, added to her confusion.

Ji Ping’an spoke up. “I found a rabbit on the mountain today, but we don’t have a knife at home, so I wanted to ask to borrow one.” As she spoke, she held up the rabbit so Yun Niang could see that she wasn’t lying.

Salt and iron were state-owned, and things like knives could only be bought in county stores. They were expensive, and most ordinary families weren’t willing to lend them out. Yun Niang was hesitant. The knife was made by her husband in the county, and he was conscripted less than three months after getting it. The knife was the most valuable thing in her home.

“I’m not going to steal your knife,” Ji Ping’an said, a hint of the original host’s impatience in her voice. “How about this: you come to my house, and I’ll give you and your child some of the roasted rabbit.”

Shen Zhiyu glanced at Ji Ping’an. This Alpha seemed different from the one she had seen in the yard just a moment ago. Yun Niang was still unsure, but when she looked down, she saw that her child, Manman, had come out and was looking at the rabbit in Ji Ping’an’s hand with longing eyes. She sighed. “Alright. I’ll go get the knife from the kitchen right now.”

Ji Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Yun Niang hadn’t caught on to anything strange.

Since the children couldn’t help with the roasting, Suisui and Manman played in the yard while the three adults divided the work. Ji Ping’an built a simple spit, Yun Niang prepared the rabbit, and Shen Zhiyu brought a flint from the kitchen. Roasting the rabbit couldn’t be rushed, and the fire couldn’t be too strong. That was how you made the skin crispy and the meat tender.

Yun Niang said, “I’m going home to put the knife away.”

Ji Ping’an waved her hand. “Go on, go on. Don’t make it seem like I’m eyeing your knife.” As Yun Niang walked to the gate, she raised her voice. “Remember to come back and eat the roasted rabbit, or everyone will say that Ji Ping’an is a liar!” Her tone was arrogant and rude, perfectly in line with the original host’s personality.

The fire cast a warm glow, dispelling the chill of the night. Shen Zhiyu looked at the fire and spoke. “Why did you say you were different from your usual self just now?”

Ji Ping’an wanted to say that she wasn’t the original, notorious host, and that none of this had been her doing. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, a large red warning box suddenly popped up on her system screen.

[Warning: Do not violate the rules of this world!]

[Warning: Do not violate the rules of this world!]

She had to rephrase it, choosing her words carefully. “I am Ji Ping’an, but I’m not Ji Ping’an.”

Shen Zhiyu’s voice was frigid. “Are you saying that the person yesterday and the person today are not the same person?”

Ji Ping’an nodded frantically. No wonder Shen Zhiyu becomes the female lead, she thought. Look how smart she is. She understood what I meant even though I was being so vague!

“Then where are you from? And where is the other Ji Ping’an?”

Ji Ping’an wanted to say something, but due to the system’s restrictions, she couldn’t get a single word out.

“Can’t talk now?” Shen Zhiyu looked at her, her eyes filled with understanding. She can say something as absurd as “I’m a different person,” but now she can’t even tell a coherent lie. She’s acting just like the mindless troublemaker from yesterday.

Ji Ping’an defended herself. “I can’t answer that question, but you can ask me other things.” She continued, “And you can rest assured that I won’t ever hit you or Suisui again.” She added, “I’ll help you heal your wounds. From now on, no one will ever bully you again!”

Her tone was so sincere that she might as well have been swearing on her life. With these words, she might have been able to trick a few naive Omegas. But to Shen Zhiyu, they were just empty words, a gust of wind passing by without a ripple in her heart. She poked the fire, imagining what it would feel like for a glowing red log to touch a person’s skin.

“Are you saying that you’ll grant me anything I want?”

Ji Ping’an nodded immediately. “Yes. Even if I can’t do it right now, I’ll definitely try my best to help you achieve it in the future.”

As the words left her mouth, her eyes met Shen Zhiyu’s. Her pupils, the color of shallow ink, reflected the flickering flames. “What if I want you to let me go?” Shen Zhiyu’s voice was clear and pleasant, with a hint of seduction.

Ji Ping’an didn’t think twice before refusing. “I can’t do that!”

If Shen Zhiyu left, she definitely wouldn’t be able to complete her system missions. In this new world, with only a [Prey Aiming Scope] to help her, she couldn’t even guarantee her own survival!

And as soon as Shen Zhiyu spoke, the system in her mind started beeping repeatedly.

[Warning: The host’s and the mission target’s life values are linked.]

[Warning: Please refuse the mission target’s request.]

[Warning: Please refuse the mission target’s request.]

But after refusing, Ji Ping’an felt a little awkward. In one sentence, she had offered to grant any request, and in the next, she had said, “I can’t do that.” She was literally contradicting herself. She pursed her lips and no longer dared to look into Shen Zhiyu’s eyes. “I meant, besides leaving, I can fulfill any other request.”

Then she heard Shen Zhiyu scoff.

[Target’s Favorability -10]