[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining":3,"chapter-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-16":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","QT: I hijacked a harem system and now I'm ruining every plot(GL)",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1854791,2462,"Chapter 16: Lost daughter","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-16",16,"\u003Cp>The cemetery was quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stillness lingered in the air, thick with the scent of damp earth and freshly cut grass. The sky stretched endlessly above, pale gray clouds rolling across the horizon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I exhaled slowly, tightening my grip on the bouquet of white lilies in my hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today was my mother's death anniversary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another reminder of what I had lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another step closer to making the Zhen family pay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>> \"Don't worry, Mum. I will avenge you soon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The promise burned in my chest, an oath carved deep into my bones.As the car rolled to a stop, I barely waited for the driver to open the door before stepping out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cemetery was familiar—a place I had visited every year without fail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today, something felt... off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something wasn't right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I paused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two figures stood near her grave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man. A woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their postures hunched, their presence completely foreign to this space that had always belonged to me and my mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart stilled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then it began to race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who were they?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why were they here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What right did they have to stand at my mother's grave?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stepped forward, my strides lengthening as irritation twisted inside me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The closer I got, the clearer the scene became.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman was crying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No—not crying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wailing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her frail shoulders shook violently, her hands clutching the tombstone like she was holding onto something that was already slipping away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I clenched my jaw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had never seen anyone grieve my mother like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not even me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>> \"Excuse me, who are you people? What are you doing at my mother's grave?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My voice came out sharper than intended, laced with an urgency I didn't understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman jerked at my words, as if my voice had physically struck her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man turned slowly, his tired, weathered face settling on mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—recognition hit me like a fist to the gut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jiang couple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuxi's adoptive parents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>**\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stood there, silent, processing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air felt heavier, the weight in my chest pressing harder with every second that passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Jiang straightened his posture, gripping his cane as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mrs. Jiang, however, barely acknowledged my presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her face was a wreck of emotion, her eyes red and swollen, her body trembling as she clung to the tombstone like she was trying to sink into the earth itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sight made something in my stomach twist uncomfortably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she whispered it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Barely a sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it rang in my ears like thunder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>> \"My baby...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sharp, unrelenting ache shot through my ribs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was looking at the tombstone as she said it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not at her husband.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At my mother's name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't move, couldn't speak could only stare as the pieces of a puzzle I never knew existed began clicking into place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The missing Jiang daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child they had spent their whole lives mourning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl lost in an earthquake decades ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their baby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I swallowed, my throat dry, my mind trying to reject what my heart already knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What are the odds?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jiang name was common.There had been no reason to ever think we were connected.No reason to ever search.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No reason to believe my mother had a family beyond the two of us.And yet—here they were.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crying.Mourning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Screaming for a daughter they had just found, only to lose again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My fingers dug into the bouquet, the stems bending under the force of my grip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mrs. Jiang collapsed onto the grave, her hands shaking as she traced the letters of my mother's name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>> \"She was alive... She was alive all this time... and we didn't know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her sobs grew louder, raw and unrestrained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Jiang didn't stop her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply stood there, shoulders hunched, his face lined with grief too heavy for words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My own breath shuddered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had no memories of my mother speaking about her family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No stories. No mentions of parents, siblings, or a home she once belonged to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had died believing she was alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Died thinking she had no one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, they had found her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only to lose her all over again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>**\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sharp sting built behind my eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn't someone who cried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had buried my grief years ago, locked it away beneath my ambitions, my hatred, my drive to destroy the Zhen family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now—now it clawed its way out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because my mother had been someone's daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she had been wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the family she had lost had been searching for her this whole time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And she had died not knowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let the tears fall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the years we lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the time that would never be recovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the cruel twist of fate that had played us all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mrs. Jiang's wailing grew quieter, but she didn't stop crying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Neither did I.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, in the System Core...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>> SYSTEM 404: [CHECKING PLOT INTEGRITY...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SYSTEM 404: [PLOT STABLE. MAJOR FAMILY REVELATION HAS OCCURRED.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SYSTEM 404: [THE MALE LEAD'S TRAGIC BACKSTORY HAS BEEN ENHANCED.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SYSTEM 404: [PERFECT. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SYSTEM 404: [HOST'S LOCATION REMAINS UNKNOWN, BUT PLOT IS UNFOLDING FLAWLESSLY.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SYSTEM 404: [ALL ACCORDING TO PLAN.]*\u003C\u002Fp>",876,"2026-06-09T07:29:29.245Z",1,"novelbin.me","4bee97e8d1a3d1678f988dabcf25884bf9c7040797b29063ebfbf7973d8b8aee","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-387","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-386",399,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fqt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-cover.jpg"]