Chapter 661: Bound by the Child-Bearing System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 662: Background Rabbit Spirit (34)

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

"Yao Niang"

Lin Xingzhi was both helpless and wronged; did these people really think he was someone addicted to wine and women?

And that he was deliberately putting eye medicine on him in front of his wife, dabbling in both plump and slender beauties?

Lin Xingzhi silently cursed these self-righteous people to high heaven in his heart, humph!

Shen Yao soothed him, "Husband, don't be afraid; it's just a desperate measure. I'm afraid Prefect Gao has driven them to desperation."

Otherwise they wouldn't have lost their senses and taken crooked paths; surely there was no other way on the right path.

Lin Xingzhi snorted lightly, "Earlier the Hu Family hesitated; that should have been their best chance to take the initiative, but they insisted on watching and waiting, giving the Hu Family time and letting them seize the initiative first."

Now the imperial court stands with the Hu Family; even if both sides fight to the point of family destruction, the Hu Family still has a chance to make a comeback and a trump card to save their lives. As for the remaining Zhang, Zhou, Ning, and Wang Four Families, they can only pray that heaven opens its eyes and their ancestors protect them.

But if these four families truly had fortune on their side, they wouldn't have been suppressed by the Hu Family for so many years; even if the Hu Family was on its last legs, they still couldn't stir up any waves.

One wrong step leads to another. Shen Yao watched the plump beauty being dragged away with cold eyes, thinking to herself that these great families were still too dependent on established paths. Even if they truly wanted to offer a beauty to save their lives, they had to find a beauty similar to her or one with a stark contrast to her.

The carriage continued forward. Shen Yao leaned sideways in Lin Xingzhi's arms, and the two discussed the situation of the great families in Hejian Prefecture today, finally reaching a conclusion that wasn't really a conclusion: being too conservative and timid was one of the main reasons for the decline and fall of the great families.

'How should this be adjusted?'

The system was curious, wondering if the offspring and descendants the host bore in various worlds would also be like this.

'It cannot be adjusted. This is the objective law of normal development for all things: from beginning to prosperity, and once at the peak, decline is inevitable.'

Shen Yao had none of the system's sentimentality. She had long known that certain things were irreversible, and that nothing would last forever.

System:...

'We are taskers. While doing well in the present, complete the main mission; there's no need to take other things too seriously.'

Shen Yao smiled at the corners of her mouth, her expression gentle, but the depths of her eyes were ice-cold.

Perhaps this was the price of a different kind of immortality—nothing was too much to let go of. Even if there was, after transmigrating to a few more worlds and living for several hundred or a thousand years, one would discover that everything was more or less the same.

System:...

In the South City area of Hejian Prefecture, there were many teahouses and restaurants. The dishes here were varied, and the flavors tended toward sweet.

They chose a restaurant that perfectly suited the three children's tastes and got out of the carriage. Shen Yao held her tearful eldest daughter in her arms, while Lin Xingzhi followed behind, holding one chubby son in each hand as they blamed each other.

Lin Chengyan and Lin Chengjue battled over who had made their sister unhappy.

Lin Chengyan felt it was Lin Chengjue's fault. Who let him eat the last piece of pastry? That was his sister's favorite milk cake.

Lin Chengjue felt it was entirely Lin Chengyan's gluttony. He had drunk his sister's sour fruit soup, and it was only after he finished drinking that his sister filled her eyes with tears.

"It's your fault."

"It's your fault."

"Hmph!"

Lin Xingzhi:...

Lin Xingzhi looked at his two grown sons in his arms and shook his head with a helpless sigh.

Fortunately, the restaurant before them had everything. Novel pastries and beverages covered the entire square table, successfully ending this farce.

The three children reconciled as before, returning to the state of calling each other dear older brother and good younger sister. The quarrel when they got out of the carriage earlier? It didn't exist.

Eating and drinking, playing and having fun.

After a pleasant outing, Shen Yao changed into a newly made dress and looked at herself left and right in the full-length mirror that reached her height. Occasionally, she would call Lin Xingzhi, who was sitting on the bed reading, over to help give advice.

"Yao Niang is extremely beautiful. These clothes and jewelry are not one ten-thousandth of Yao Niang." They simply couldn't bring out Yao Niang's posture and appearance; it was a complete waste of Yao Niang's beauty.

Shen Yao:...

Although she believed she fully deserved the title of a beauty of the nation, Lin Xingzhi's behavior of being completely blinded by a filter still made her extremely embarrassed.

Yes, it was too much of a case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder.

"Xingzhi is truly expressing his feelings from the heart. Yao Niang doesn't believe it?" After saying this, Lin Xingzhi lowered his head. The two touched foreheads, nose to nose, their exhaled breaths intertwining.

The servants who had originally been staying in the room had retreated to the doorway at some point.

In such a large space, only Shen Yao and Lin Xingzhi remained, making the intimacy that should have been restrained become increasingly unrestrained and bold.

The newly put-on upper garment fell to the ground again. The hair strands fixed by the hairpin scattered behind her head. Shen Yao looked at the man before her, who kept kissing the corners of her lips, with amorous eyebrows and eyes, half-resisting yet welcoming.

Lin Xingzhi's qi and blood surged throughout his body. He raised his hand, picked her up, and sent her to the bedchamber.

"Wait, wait."

Shen Yao, panting, raised her index finger to block Lin Xingzhi's action of wanting to kiss her again. "It's still broad daylight. What madness is this?"

Before she finished speaking, her lips were blocked with a muffled sound. Lin Xingzhi lowered his eyes, kissing her while smiling foolishly. "It seems I've been poisoned by Yao Niang. Except for Yao Niang, no one can cure it."

Shen Yao:...

No matter what she said, she couldn't stop the surging lust. So Shen Yao no longer refused, but raised her hand to wrap around Lin Qinghuai's neck and actively cooperated. Soon, the two fell onto the bed together, and their physical contact became even more intimate.

……

After waking up from a sleep, the sky outside had already darkened.

Shen Yao got up from the bed and called out loudly. The servant waiting outside the door came in carrying washing utensils.

"Where is the Prince?"

"Replying to Princess Consort, the Prince is in the front courtyard, and Lord Gao is also there."

Hearing this, Shen Yao silently raised her eyebrows, thinking to herself, Prefect Gao is this diligent and hardworking?

'Tsk, he's just timid as a mouse and afraid to take responsibility.' The more things were dragged out, the more serious they became. The rolling snowflakes grew larger and larger. Prefect Gao still thought of governing by doing nothing; how could he be willing to take responsibility?

【A person like this, used well, is not bad at all — at least they won't make mistakes,】 but one can't expect anything good from them either.

Shen Yao sat before the dressing table, lifting her gaze to meet the languid beauty in the copper mirror.

「Princess Consort」

The servant called out respectfully.

「Mm, serve the meal. 」

Not going out, nor needing to deliberately change clothes, Shen Yao asked about the three children again; hearing they had finished their late dinner and were playing, she did not have anyone bring them over.

Eating small bites of dishes perfect in color, fragrance, and flavor, once she had filled her belly smoothly, Lin Xingzhi pushed the door and entered the room.

「Yao Niang」

「Xingzhi」

Lin Xingzhi walked to Shen Yao's side and waved his hand to have the servants by the table withdraw.

In an instant, only the two of them remained in the room; Shen Yao said softly, 「What's wrong? 」

Lin Xingzhi raised his hand and pulled Shen Yao tightly into his arms, his voice muffled as he said, 「The Hu Family Head is dead. 」

Dead?!

「Suicide; he left enough evidence before dying, and the Zhang, Zhou, Ning, and Wang Four Families will all be buried with him. 」

Lin Xingzhi felt somewhat heavy-hearted, but he also understood that if the Hu Family Head did not die now, he would not survive later either; they were all deeply entangled, and whether for the clan or anything else, death was the best outcome.

Shen Yao raised her hand and patted Lin Xingzhi's back, telling him not to take responsibility for this matter upon himself; this was the Hu Family Head's own choice.

「Perhaps the Hu Family Head himself was willing, 」 some people could give everything for the clan, and the Hu Family Head might even thank Lin Xingzhi; without the imperial court helping to cover the bottom, given all the Hu Family's deeds over the years, not even half their assets could be saved, let alone all of them.

The Hu Family Head might have seen things clearly, or perhaps grief greater than a dead heart; Shen Yao shook her head in her heart — being an ordinary wealthy family was not bad, at least they need not live in constant fear.

Lin Xingzhi made an affirmative sound, 「I can understand the Hu Family Head's choice, but I am also surprised by his determination; 」 not everyone dares to end themselves, and many would choose to regret at the moment of action; the body's self-instinct contends with rationality, and people suffer greatly at such times.

「The Hu Family Head is dead, so the other four families have no need to continue entangling.

Yao Niang, the trap we laid earlier should be sprung now; it is also time for us to leave Hejian Prefecture. 」

The next destination was Xi Yun Cheng, with streams and lakes both inside and outside the city; the vegetation there was lush and grain abundant; compared to the heaviness and gloom of Yuanshui Cheng and Hejian Prefecture, it could be considered a good place to relax.

Hearing this, Shen Yao's eyes brightened again and again, her complexion uncontrollably joyful, 「Husband~」

Truly wonderful; compared to the Hejian Prefecture they had already grown tired of playing and touring, the next destination was more exciting.

Lin Xingzhi was quickly lifted by Shen Yao's lively little expression; his earlier gloom and heaviness, like a gentle breeze, vanished without a trace after blowing past.

With the death of the Hu Family Head, the struggle stirred up by the great clans of Hejian Prefecture finally drew its curtain.

The clan heads of the Zhang, Zhou, Ning, and Wang Four Families could not escape death; all family members were escorted back to Jingcheng, those of the Hu Family with solid charges were all arrested together, leaving only some inner chamber women and children and clansmen on the edge to escape calamity; they took the Hu Family's remaining half of assets and began splitting the clan and dividing the household.

When Shen Yao's party set off from Hejian Prefecture, this group of the Hu Family had not finished making trouble; every day they performed various internal strife and competition on that one mu three fen of land of the Hu Family, showing that the Hu Family's decline and desolation could not be resisted by human power, and these remaining assets would be lost faster than imagined.

However, these had nothing to do with Shen Yao and the others; the matter promised to the Hu Family Head had been done, and the rest depended on the Hu Family people's own abilities — gather more if they could, and if they couldn't get a bargain, it was others' lack of ability; no matter how they resented and fumed, it could not be blamed on them.

「Set off」

「Your subjects respectfully send off the Prince」

「Respectfully send off the Prince」

For a long while, until the car fleet ahead disappeared from sight, Prefect Gao straightened his bent waist again.

「Sir, it is time to return to the Prefecture. 」

The subordinate officials around him changed one batch after another, their attitudes flexible and changeable; the only thing that never changed was Prefect Gao himself.

That was not quite right either; Prefect Gao clearly felt he himself had changed quite a bit — at the very least, the four words "non-action governance" he could not say now.

Ha

Perhaps this was life; one never knew when things would change unexpectedly.

「Go back; have the assets of the Zhang, Zhou, Ning, and Wang Four Families all been organized? 」

「Reporting to Sir, the subordinate official has already registered them into the ledger. Would you like to look them over? 」

「No need; pack them all up and send them to Jingcheng together. 」

Prefect Gao raised his head to gaze at the distant sky; his ears were filled with the clamor of the human world.

…………

Xi Yun Cheng

It was already a hundred li from Hejian Prefecture, and its environment was worlds apart.

Perhaps because Xi Yun Cheng had many streams and lakes, there were no deeply rooted great clans here; the city's common people lived in peace and contentment, and the countryside outside the city was very beautiful.

The carriage traveled on a road that had clearly been repaired; Shen Yao lifted the hanging curtain to gaze into the distance.

Lin Chengyan and the other two could not sit still for long and had long been placed by Lin Xingzhi on horses outside.

The silly and bold children laughed and joked all the way, without a trace of worry or fear.

「Yao Niang」

Lin Xingzhi wore a dark green long robe embroidered with dark patterns, his long hair tied into a horse tail and placed behind his head.

「Xi Yun Cheng is not far ahead; would you like to get off the carriage early to walk around? 」

Unlike Yuanshui Cheng and Hejian Prefecture, which were thick with official airs, Xi Yun Cheng had quite a feeling of landscape and elegance; even the local parent-official was a leisurely imperial clansman who loved to send his emotions to mountains and waters.

Mm, speaking of which, he was also related by kinship to Lin Qinghuai, and could be counted as his cheap uncle.

He was not the Former Emperor's half-brother of the same father, but the Former Emperor's maternal cousin; for Lin Xingzhi's generation, the kinship relation seemed thin, but they also shared the Lin surname.

Shen Yao made an "oh" sound; no wonder Lin Xingzhi knew so much about Xi Yun Cheng — it turned out this place was originally imperial clan territory, and there was no phenomenon of evil slaves.

Lin Xingzhi nodded with a smile, 「Uncle Wang's nature is even more detached than mine; because he has long disliked staying in Jingcheng, the Imperial Elder Brother entrusted Xi Yun Cheng to him. 」

Xi Yun Cheng's geographical location was special, and the surrounding environment was very suitable for people of idle clouds and wild cranes; at that time, when the Emperor ascended the throne, the entire imperial clan relatives all contributed, sitting in a row to divide the fruits, and this Uncle Wang thus gained a city's territory.

Shen Yao: ……

Putting it that way, the Emperor was still quite generous; he would not be stingy toward those with merit.

Lin Xingzhi shared in the honor, "Imperial Brother has always done well in this regard," otherwise he himself would not have gone out of the capital on others' behalf again and again.

Compared to certain people who like to paint cakes but never deliver, the Emperor's word is his bond, and can better mobilize enthusiasm.

Leaning on Lin Xingzhi's hand, she stepped down from the carriage, and the two walked forward along this path beneath their feet that was not too dirty.

Three children let the servants carefully support them, babbling and pointing at the surroundings where seedlings had already sprouted in the fields, discussing them; they did not understand what these were, yet knew to rejoice.

Very soon, Xi Yun Cheng appeared before everyone's eyes.

Their party was large and mighty; even if they kept a low profile, they would still spark discussion among the common people.

Lin Xingzhi laughed heartily and said they would not stay at the Official Courier Station this time, but would directly reside in the Government Office in the city, to chat about family matters and draw closer to this King Uncle of his whom he had not contacted for a long time.

Hm?

Why so?

Before Shen Yao could ask the reason, they saw this King Uncle staying in the Government Office.

It was also the other party's appearance that let Shen Yao confirm why Lin Xingzhi wanted to draw closer.

This King Uncle is a Half-Demon Hybrid!

"King Uncle"

"King Jing is too courteous"

According to Lin Xingzhi, this King Uncle had been away year-round since his earliest memory, rarely having time to return to the capital; now that Lin Xingzhi had long since come of age, this King Uncle was at least in his forties, yet looked so young and spirited.

'It is a White Crane, so of course its bearing is graceful and elegant; it can even fly after it reverts to its Demon Form.'

The System spoke the truth in one sentence, and by the way praised this half-demon hybrid as not bad, able to freely switch between Demon Form and human form with no time restriction, far better than other half-demons who either have to hide their ears or hide their tails.

Shen Yao:... Although, as expected, one should not have expectations of the System.