Chapter 1

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Shen Yao

September, the autumn air crisp and clear.

It was an ordinary evening; in a not-too-large mansion in the capital, waves of clamorous voices rose from all around.

These past two days the Shen household's servants were all exceptionally happy — after all, the master of the mansion had gained the favor of a noble person above and could enter the palace as a master consort; truly a great blessing.

"Tsk, blessing? You take this blessing — would you want it?"

Merely entering the palace as a minor consort, yet regarded as a heaven-sent blessing — Shen Yao's urge to complain could not be suppressed.

Please, in the Great Jing Dynasty's imperial harem the consorts are divided into nine ranks; apart from the Emperor's legitimate wife the Empress, all the rest are concubines.

Among them, two First Rank Noble Consorts, four Second Rank Consorts.

Six Third Rank Guipin, eight Fourth Rank Pinyu, ten Fifth Rank Pin.

And below those, from Sixth Rank Guiren, Seventh Rank Changzai, Eighth Rank Answering Lady, Ninth Rank Xuan Shi, as well as the unranked Changyi — there is simply no limit on numbers at all.

With so many ranks arrayed, Shen Yao, the Eldest Legitimate Daughter of a Fifth Rank Assistant Official of the Shen family, had merely obtained a Seventh Rank Changzai.

Still a blessing? The blessing of not gaining favor after entering the palace? Or the blessing of growing old alone in loneliness?

Shen Yao rolled her eyes conspicuously; at this moment her transmigration timing was off — the palace selection had already finished, and only two days remained before entering the palace; there was absolutely no other room for choice.

Tsk, is this the karmic reward after she bound that improper system?

This karmic reward truly left her quite displeased.

Shen Yao pinched her fingers, sitting upright before the dressing mirror, looking at the face in the mirror that was merely passable in looks, feeling utterly speechless in her heart.

"System, don't play dead on me — quickly bring out the pills that can enhance this body's functions and constitution."

As a partner who had already cooperated across several worlds, Shen Nian faced this so-called Childbirth System with absolutely none of the previous carefulness.

It wasn't entirely Shen Yao burning bridges after crossing the river — it was because after their tacit understanding reached a certain degree, Shen Yao directly revealed her true self.

Originally, in her modern life she was someone who could live a whole life carefree and unrestrained, completely self-centered, not caring how others viewed her; so when her life reached its final moment and Shen Yao heard the system could let her continue living in another way, she did not hesitate at all — three seconds of thought and she agreed.

After that came the daily life of Shen Yao and the system traversing the three thousand worlds together, constantly living.

The system's full name is the Childbirth System.

No mistake — it is a system related to offspring; its existence is to seek benefits for itself through continuous reproduction of offspring.

And as the tasker who bears offspring — that is Shen Yao herself — she would also obtain corresponding Energy Points and rewards from the system.

Do not underestimate these Energy Points and rewards; to Shen Yao these things are all treasures.

According to the system, as long as she completes enough tasks, sooner or later one day she will return to her original world and continue living happily.

Toward this, Shen Yao expressed neither agreement nor disagreement.

Because Shen Yao does not miss that life of hers — she lived willfully and freely, whether toward family or toward herself, she had a clear conscience.

Since that is so, what could another return make up for? She has no obsession; the only thing that could count as an obsession is simply to keep living, and then enjoy all kinds of beautiful lives.

The system's voice rang out in Shen Yao's mind — a mechanical tone without any fluctuation — yet Shen Yao could hear the other party's helplessness and heart-weariness.

Shen Nian smiled, a somewhat sinister expression making her whole face turn strange.

She has never been an easy person to handle — selfish, doing as she pleases, loving extravagant enjoyment, fond of wearing gold and silver.

Tsk tsk tsk, whichever trait you pull out is not a flattering word.

"Host, the system is a Childbirth System and does not have those pills you want."

The system's words carried a hint of grinding teeth.

Nor can the system be blamed — who made Shen Yao herself sufficiently clever.

The system is a Childbirth System; the various pills it carries are indeed all for the sake of offspring.

However, it couldn't stop Shen Yao from using her brain — taking pills originally meant for offspring and using them on herself.

At first, Shen Yao concealed her intentions and probed the system.

The system couldn't hold its ground, let Shen Yao gain a cheap advantage, and from then on Shen Yao was unstoppable — if not for her childbirth tasks being completed exceptionally well, not only did the offspring born all survive smoothly, but they also brought it sufficient benefits; otherwise the system would have long since thrown in the towel and gone to find a new host to bind.

In other words, Shen Yao's ability to raise the system's tolerance toward her now is completely based on her own hard strength.

Facing the copper mirror, playing with this unfamiliar face, the smile on Shen Yao's face did not diminish — "Seize the time; in two more days I must enter the palace.

For this body to gain favor, relying on this face alone won't do."

The Emperor in the palace — three palaces, six courtyards, seventy-two consorts — countless beauties he has not seen; for this body to rely on its face to gain favor is simply a fool's dream — she might as well wash up and sleep.

So, Shen Yao wants to take another path.

Men — as long as a certain aspect is satisfied, the rest can be made do with.

Besides, with Shen Yao's face, if she seriously dresses up, the Emperor won't even need to make do.

The system did not speak, but its actions fully interpreted what is called saying one thing while meaning another.

See — Shen Yao watched the glowing white porcelain bottle appear out of thin air before her eyes, and her smile grew even more radiant.

"Host, this mission is not simple; the struggles in the palace have always been the most cruel — can you"

The system still had a bit of sense — the last three words it thought in its heart were not spat out.

It and this partner Shen Yao cooperated fairly pleasantly — although this person always likes to steal benefits, mixing public and private, she indeed gets things done.

Thinking of the benefits they obtained in the previous few interfaces, the system felt it could endure a bit more.

It's just that she likes using pills meant for offspring on herself — once it completes a couple more tasks and accumulates enough energy, contacts other systems, it's not impossible to separately purchase some professionally produced pills for the host — it knows the host loves enjoyment most.

"Worried I'll have an accident?"

Shen Yao opened the porcelain bottle in her hand, simultaneously poured out the soybean-sized pills inside, and without a thought swallowed them directly.

This is a Qingduo Pill, originally used on those children who were secretly harmed, a pill to remove all negative effects.

The pills obtainable in the System are all fundamentally about guaranteeing offspring health; the Qingduo Pill is the standout among them.

It's just that this pill was discovered by Shen Yao to also be effective when used on women, and can achieve cleansing the filth inside a woman's body, making the body healthier and more able to nurture offspring.

This body has lived for sixteen years; even though she is the mistress, the small flaws on her body are still not few.

This is the limitation of the era; the development of productive forces hinders social progress.

Let alone that the original body is merely the Eldest Legitimate Daughter of a Fifth Rank official, even the Empress and Noble Consorts high above in the palace are not truly free of flaws.

However, all of this can be completely dissipated and disappear after Shen Yao finishes taking the Qingduo Pill.

Right now, her external skin and internal organs are slowly improving under the effect of the Qingduo Pill.

In no more than a quarter-hour, her skin will become clear, bright, and smooth, not a single prominent pore visible; things like pockmarks and acne will also disappear.

But this Qingduo Pill's efficacy is one-time; what it clears is merely this body's problems from the first sixteen years. Later, after entering the palace, Shen Yao's daily eating and drinking will certainly still burden her body; at that time she only needs to take another Qingduo Pill.

As a reward for having given birth to a Big Shot in the previous Interface, and that Big Shot possessing outstanding talent and making enormous contributions to the Country, Shen Yao can say without exaggeration that she has enough Qingduo Pills to eat them like sugar beans.

"Host, if this time you can give birth to the Imperial heir and smoothly push him to the throne, your rewards will only be even richer than in your previous life."

The System, looking at the already-beautified Host, decided to open its mouth and encourage the other party.

Anyway, they are in a binding relationship — shared glory, shared loss.

Shen Yao stretched out her hand and touched her smooth face, looked left and right, quite satisfied.

"This matter isn't urgent; I heard the Emperor currently already has three sons — legitimate and illegitimate — and the Emperor's age is only twenty-five." She, Shen Yao, wanting to push her own son to the throne, has plenty of time to wait.

"Achieve whatever step we can; anyway this Great Jing Dynasty isn't very stable either."

"When the time comes, becoming Empress Dowager is naturally good; if she can't become Empress Dowager, being an Imperial Noble Consort who can go live in the fiefdom with her son isn't bad either."

Shen Yao hooked the corner of her mouth, feeling she wasn't greedy; anyway the System's purpose is just to have children, her purpose is just to raise children, then let the grown children support her in return.

Tsk, the throne isn't a must-have either; she's bound to this System, not some other System — purely having children, and the System even provides all-round safety protection; she only needs to worry a bit about the children's survival, raising them safely to adulthood.

Tell me, where else is there a Mission simpler than this?

The System expressed satisfaction at Shen Yao's words; this is the fundamental reason it can tolerate Shen Yao.

Shen Yao is very sober, more sober and self-aware than any of the previous Hosts it signed contracts with.

She will definitely take what she should take, but she won't be insatiably greedy, wanting more after getting what she wanted.

Coming to feudal Ancient Times, still having to enter the palace to serve the Emperor — everyone knows that having a son become Emperor and oneself becoming Empress Dowager yields the most rewards.

But people, ah, must still distinguish their own weight, whether they can endure the palace struggles.

The System's previous several Hosts all died for this or that reason.

The reasons differed, but their commonality was greed.

The personality Shen Yao is displaying right now is completely different from those previous people; the System only hopes Shen Yao can maintain this mindset for a period of time — everyone helping each other for mutual benefit, isn't that fragrant?

"Host thinking this way, the System is very happy; looking forward to Host passing through this world smoothly."

The System finished speaking these words and directly disappeared.

Although the two of them are in a binding relationship, they don't need to stick together every single moment; moreover Shen Yao doesn't like always having an elusive thing that can monitor her, even if it's the System.

As it is now, coexisting while leaving each other room, is quite good.