After Becoming the Cannon Fodder Live-in Spouse A (GL) - Chapter 20: The Twentieth Day

Chapter 20: The Twentieth Day

Ye Fuguang slept quite well that night.

But when she woke up, she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but the camellia fragrance she loved, which often surrounded her, seemed to have vanished.

While washing her face, she was still puzzled when Ruyi came to say she had submitted manuscripts to a few bookstores, but the shopkeepers felt they lacked content the common people liked—

In short.

She got rejected.

Ye Fuguang threw down her face towel, shocked. “Tasteless things.”

Ruyi nodded indignantly too.

Yesterday, Ye Fuguang had shared the story’s later developments with her, so Ruyi somewhat guessed the princess had a unique way of clearing the prince’s name. She said, “How about I try a few more bookstores at noon?”

The shattered Pearl Ye wilted, asking, “What’s missing? What do they want to see?”

As soon as she asked, the maid showed a disdainful look, refusing to conform to vulgar tastes. Ye Fuguang nodded. “Got it. They want romance, right?”

More bluntly, spicy scenes.

Ruyi immediately gave her a look of frustration. “How could those commoners be worthy of the prince? The prince is second only to the emperor in the Great Dynasty, above thousands. Those Qianyuan aren’t even worthy of a single strand of the prince’s hair—”

“Hmm, hmm, hmm,” Ye Fuguang nodded, then added, “What about me?”

“What?”

“Those Qianyuan aren’t worthy of a single strand of the prince’s hair,” she repeated Ruyi’s words, then said, “So, do you think I’m good enough? I’ll add a strategist character named Ye Fuguang, write some romance. How’s that?”

Ruyi hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping.

Of course, she couldn’t tell the emperor-appointed side consort of Prince Qi that she was “unworthy.” After mumbling for a while, she heard Ye Fuguang say, “It’s fine. We’ll trick the audience into the story first, then hit them hard.”

Ruyi: “?”

Ye Fuguang grinned wickedly. “It’s time to give them a pure love war god shock.”

People who always eat meat should try some wild greens for a change.

…

Before Ye Fuguang could figure out how to add herself to the story, Yinping and Quhua entered the hall with Yu Qing. Steward Yu, as usual, stood with her back to the bed’s curtains but, unusually, spoke to Ye Fuguang first.

“This morning, the palace issued an edict to the Imperial Medical Academy, promoting Ye Rong to its head. From now on, the person coming to the mansion to check the prince’s pulse will be the princess’s father.”

She paused there, but her gaze never left Ye Fuguang.

Ye Fuguang thought, “?” while trying to recall if this was in the original story.

Then she vaguely remembered that when the original host died, her father was indeed implicated for “failing to raise his child properly” or something and was exiled, dying on the way. Later, when Ye Yuge gained the emperor’s favor and worked for him, her stern demeanor was interpreted by readers as resentment toward the emperor for her father’s death.

Now that Ye Fuguang wanted to save Prince Qi and was on the path to changing the plot, what would happen to Ye Rong?

She hadn’t figured it out yet, but under Yu Qing’s gaze, she stayed silent for a moment before trying to say, “Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roasted flower duck, roasted chick, roasted goose?”

Yu Qing’s face turned as dark as her name.

After several deep breaths, she spoke again. “If anything happens to the prince, your Ye Family will bear the blame.”

Ye Fuguang: “I know.”

“…”

Holding back, Steward Yu said again, “The kitchen didn’t procure bear paw today. If the princess has other—”

Before she finished, Ye Fuguang’s eyes lit up, interrupting eagerly, “I was joking earlier. Just have the kitchen send four hot dishes, three cold dishes, two soups, one porridge, and some pastries.”

Yu Qing didn’t see anything “casual” about that amount.

But she didn’t comment, only giving Ye Fuguang a warning glare before leaving.

–

“Burp.”

So when the side consort’s father stepped into the fragrant Plum Garden main hall, he was greeted by an unceremonious belch.

Overstuffed Ye Fuguang was sipping tea to digest, glancing at him and then behind him. “Where’s Ye Yuge?”

In the original story, Ye Rong had even less screen time than her, a cannon fodder, appearing only in Ye Yuge’s inner thoughts as filler for her family background. Ye Fuguang knew her father was a scumbag who, aside from clinging to powerful people, had no real skills.

Whenever he faced a difficult diagnosis, he’d secretly ask his younger daughter at home.

Ye Fuguang couldn’t be bothered to act with a scumbag father who had less screen time than her. She openly showed her disdain, unsurprisingly infuriating Ye Rong.

He slammed his medical box onto the rosewood chair by the window, saying, “It’s only been a few days since you married into the mansion, and you’ve forgotten family rules. Ye, side consort, did I ever teach you to disrespect your elders like this?”

“You never taught me anything,” Ye Fuguang said. She believed in holding the guilty accountable. The bad relationship between the original host and Ye Yuge wasn’t their fault but Ye Rong’s, a philanderer who spread his inferior genes everywhere. Now, without a screen and keyboard, she could confront the character directly.

Just as she was getting fired up, she felt a chilling gaze.

Ye Fuguang paused, her eyes shifting to meet Yu Qing’s stare, who had led Ye Rong in. Words reached her lips, but she swallowed, failed to hold it in, and let out another “burp.”

Recalling her recent history of bluffing for food and drink, Ye Fuguang reined in her fighting spirit and urged Ye Rong, “Since you’re here, hurry and check—check the prince’s pulse, burp, Head Ye, burp…”

Her originally bold words lost all momentum due to the burps.

It sounded like the bluster of a clueless, overconfident fool.

Ye Rong’s face darkened further, feeling humiliated. If he’d known he’d one day diagnose Prince Qi, he would’ve sent this unfilial daughter far away when his new wife whispered in his ear!

Thinking this, he carefully recorded the pulse and other details in his medical log.

Ye Fuguang, taking the chance to talk, peeked at his notes. “Father, you get it, right? The prince’s life and death, burp, are in your hands. If you don’t treat the prince well, burp—”

Ye Rong, unable to take it anymore, jabbed her with a needle.

It stopped her burping and he said, “Don’t make trouble here.”

Ye Fuguang, having finished reading his medical log, blinked, clutching her chin where he’d pricked her, stepped back, and asked Ruyi loudly enough for everyone to hear:

“Did he ruin my face?”

“If Head Ye was careless and scarred me, when the prince wakes up, we’ll file an imperial complaint.”

Ruyi: “…”

She looked at this heartwarming father-daughter scene with a subtle expression.

…

Ye Rong left the mansion in a fury, feeling he needed to see his perfect daughter, Ye Yuge, to soothe the pain caused by his unfilial child.

But the servant greeting him had no time for his mood, anxiously saying, “Master! Master! Bad news!”

“What’s bad?” he snapped. “Getting rid of that unfilial girl, I’m doing great!”

Servant: “?”

He quickly shook his head. “No, no, not the eldest miss, it’s the second miss! Something happened to the second miss!”

Ye Rong’s expression froze. “What?”

How could that be?

Didn’t Ye Yuge tell him last night that everything with Prince Qi was under control and he shouldn’t worry?

“What happened?”

“The second miss angered the emperor in the palace and was arrested by the Imperial Guards and thrown in jail! Master!” The servant was so anxious he cried.

Hearing this, Ye Rong’s medical box clattered to the ground.

Since this happened at the mansion’s gate, a servant soon reported it to Yu Qing. Jixiang, who was directing workers to trim flowers at the Plum Garden entrance, overheard, thought for a moment, and returned to the hall to relay the news to Ye Fuguang.

She had just picked up the manuscript with Ruyi when she heard the news and was stunned. “What?”

Ye Yuge was thrown in jail by the emperor?

That wasn’t in the original story! Did everyone burn incense together to petition for a plot change?

But how did the death flag shift to Ye Yuge?