The Female Supporting Character Just Wants to Farm [Transmigration] - Chapter 1

Year 23 of the Tianyan Era.

By May, the heat of midsummer was already pressing down. Cicadas buzzed incessantly from the thick canopy of parasol trees.

Dressed in a plain gray homespun shirt, sleeves and trousers rolled up, Gao Luoshen walked through the melon fields, occasionally bending down to inspect the growth of the latest crop of watermelons.

Many servants were at work in the fields; whenever they saw her, they bowed and greeted her respectfully.

This was the well-known Luoshen Manor. It had once been the estate of Duke Gao Jun of Dingguo, spanning nearly eighty acres. Not long ago, Duke Gao gifted it to his eldest daughter, Gao Luoshen, and renamed it Luoshen Manor.

But this Gao Luoshen was not the same as before. She had originally been a university student in the twenty-first century. While reading a novel titled The Empress, she’d been stunned to find a cannon-fodder villainess sharing her name. Upset by the villainess’s tragic fate, she had even cursed the author in secret. Who would have thought that, after falling asleep, she would wake up inside the book as that very character?

Luckily, she hadn’t come empty-handed. With her transmigration came a “golden finger”—the Shennong System. Not wishing to end up like the original villainess, who met an early death by constantly scheming, she had requested this estate from Gao Jun a few months earlier. Her plan was simple: farm in this idyllic retreat outside the capital, far away from the heroine, the hero, and every bit of messy entanglement.

Just as Gao Luoshen bent down to check a watermelon, the steward’s voice drifted over.

“Miss, the young master from your mother’s family has arrived.”

That “young master” was Qi Wei, the only son of her maternal uncle Qi Yutang, pampered since childhood and unbearably arrogant. In the novel, he was a supporting male character—and the villainess’s early crush. Unfortunately, his heart was entirely set on Gao Chun, the third miss of the Gao family, and he’d never spared Gao Luoshen so much as a glance.

Gao Chun, though, was the real star of the story. Having read most of the novel, Gao Luoshen knew that Gao Chun was the heroine of The Empress. She wasn’t Duke Gao’s biological daughter but the legitimate princess of the empire. When the Empress and Crown Prince were falsely accused and killed, the infant princess had been secretly smuggled out of the palace and entrusted to the Empress’s close friend for safekeeping.

Duke Gao had long known of Gao Chun’s true identity. As a result, the most cherished child in the household was not the rightful eldest daughter, Gao Luoshen, but Gao Chun. Everyone in the family, from masters to servants, doted on Gao Chun while Gao Luoshen endured constant criticism. It was out of this disparity that the villainess’s jealousy had taken root, pushing her to scheme against the heroine again and again. But who could ever hope to resist the heroine’s halo?

“What’s he here for?” Gao Luoshen muttered, brushing the dust from her clothes before heading to the reception hall. She wasn’t the original owner, so she had no intention of fussing over appearances in front of Qi Wei.

The Qi family made their wealth in trade. Normally, with the Gao family’s noble lineage, they would have looked down on merchants. But years ago, Gao Jun who was then the heir had insisted on marrying into the Qi family, even at the cost of his title. He gave up a secure future, joined the army, and carved out his own merits. When the emperor rewarded him, he refused riches and honors, asking only for the right to marry his beloved. People praised Duke Gao and Lady Qi as the perfect couple. Yet only a few years later, he began taking concubines, doting especially on Lady Liu. Eventually, Lady Qi died of illness, and Duke Gao never remarried, perhaps out of fear of gossip, perhaps not.

In theory, the ties between the Gao and Qi families should have withered after Lady Qi’s fall from favor. Instead, Duke Gao and Qi Yutang had become sworn friends, and the Qi family was a frequent presence in the Gao household. Qi Wei, having grown up half in the Duke’s residence, was one of them. The original villainess’s heartbreak and descent into darkness owed no small part to him.

The man in the reception hall wore a brocade robe, strikingly handsome and brimming with self-assurance, a folding fan in hand—a picture-perfect young gentleman. If it had been the original Gao Luoshen, she might have blushed, heart fluttering, and stepped forward with shy eagerness. But Gao Luoshen was no longer that foolish girl. She cast him a cool glance and asked bluntly, “What are you here for?” She didn’t even bother with the word “cousin.”

She hadn’t forgotten how, in the novel, the villainess once confessed her feelings to him in a letter. He had copied it and circulated it among the scholars of the capital, turning her secret into a public joke. She’d been ridiculed as shameless and fickle.

Qi Wei knew his cousin’s temperament—whenever he appeared, she would normally rush to fawn over him, never half as dignified as Gao Chun. He disliked her forwardness, but today he had no choice but to come. Still, her indifference caught him off guard. Was this just a game of hard-to-get? Thinking so, he smiled gently and said, “Luoshen, you’ve been out here for quite some time now. Why not return to the Duke’s estate? And dressed like this—if people didn’t know better, they’d mistake you for a servant. If word spreads, won’t it be a laughingstock?”

Gao Luoshen glanced down at her clothes and saw nothing wrong. Looking back at him, she smirked inwardly at his false concern and shallow smile. Raising a brow, she replied coldly, “If you have nothing important to say, then leave. I have work to do.” There were still watermelons, cantaloupes, and other fruits waiting to be checked.

Even with the Shennong System allowing her to grow out-of-season crops unseen in this land, the plants still required human care. Her farmers were skilled, but many of the fruits were unfamiliar to them, and mistakes could happen.

She was dismissing him? Qi Wei could hardly believe his ears. His smile faltered, but after a moment he flicked open his fan, coughed lightly, and shifted his gaze away from her. “When will you return to the estate, cousin? I came today mainly to deliver a message from Uncle. The date for Prince Qin’s selection of a primary consort is approaching, and all the noble ladies are preparing.”

Prince Qin, Yin Chunxi, was born to the emperor’s favorite consort. After the Crown Prince was deposed, he became the most likely contender for the throne. In the novel, he fell for the heroine at first sight. But the heroine, well aware of her own identity, used him mercilessly. When he finally ascended the throne, she revealed with ruthless clarity that she was his bl00d sister—the late Crown Prince’s legitimate daughter. Prince Qin, crushed, died in despair.

Gao Luoshen had no intention of joining that mess. She shot Qi Wei a glance, as though looking at a fool, and spat out a crude, “None of my damn business.”

Here at Luoshen Manor, she was the mistress. No one dared to cross her. Unlike the original owner, she no longer restrained her temper; her modern sensibilities were still intact.

Without sparing another glance at Qi Wei’s astonished expression, she frowned and ordered coolly, “See the guest out.”

Qi Wei had thought she was merely putting on a show to make him yield. But when the servants really stepped forward to escort him out, panic flashed across his face. Hastily, he stepped forward and blurted, “Cousin, wait—I have another matter! I heard that the vegetables and fruits supplied to the Lanting Pavilion all come from your estate?”

The Qi family’s business, the Fengyue House, was the largest restaurant in the capital. But recently, their patrons had been flocking to the rival Lanting Pavilion across the street. After some inquiries, Qi Wei discovered that the Pavilion’s produce was no longer purchased from the market but came exclusively from Luoshen Manor. He had even sent people to bring back some dishes, and indeed, the flavors far outshone those of Fengyue House.