Chapter 124: Fourth World: "My Lord, You're So Naughty"

T/N: Just a short reminder, the following worlds are translated using two pirate sources (since original got taken down) and I have no guarantee that either of the pirate sources I'm using are the most complete (because some have typos and missing characters/lines). But this is the best you're going to get since it's all I have so no complaining lmao

Sounds of horns rang out, and the beat of gongs and drums shook the sky.

Chu Jiao got a headache from the noisy and clamorous sounds ringing in her ear. She opened her eyes and only saw red.

What was going on??

She lifted her hand and brushed away the red cloth obstructing her view but what entered her view was another layer of red!

She turned her head and looked around, finding herself currently situated in a narrow space. Except for where she was sitting and the three walls that surrounded her, the whole space kept moving and shaking, as though...as though...it was a palanquin!

It looked like she had transmigrated to an ancient world this time...

Chu Jiao quietly lifted the screen on the side of the palanquin, allowing light from the outside to flow in. This allowed her to finally identify what the layer of red in front of her was. As clear as day, it was a red door! The heavy ornamental jewelry pressing down on the temples of her head and the sight of everything before her immediately reminded her that she was about to get married!

[419, Quick pass on the story, quickly quickly!]

Feeling that the sedan was gradually getting slower and slower, Chu Jiao hurriedly called the system out in her head, hoping to decipher the situation in time.

As soon as the celebratory sedan stopped in its place, Chu Jiao reckoned that it was time to do the ritual kneeling. She didn't even know who she was nor did she know who she was doing this ritual with.

[Alright....Host, the plot is being transmitted...]

Chu Jiao didn't pay much attention to the short pause the system made between its words and quickly received the plot.

This time, she transmigrated into a world of power struggles among the upper class. The female lead was the younger sister of the male lead's deceased wife and was incidentally rescued by the male lead. To cooperate with the mission that the male lead was carrying out at that time, she pretended to be the male lead's wife, and soon, their pretend play became real, and rated-18 events came into action.

Apart from the smut, the whole book also told the story of how the male and female leads pretended to be pigs and ate tigers(1). Their crafty plots and machinations eventually succeeded as counterattacks, and before long, the two admitted to their feelings and made love. Along the way, they also won against the villains and walked to the peak of life. If it weren't for her time being limited in this world, Chu Jiao would've relished watching the plot unfold. The fights between clans in ancient times were exhilarating.

It is a metaphor for trickery, intentionally pretending to be a fool and making the opponent negligent, and then takes the opportunity to win the final victory.

However, sitting in this open palanquin on a ticking clock meant that she could only quickly skip through the rated-18 parts in between and first understand the story between the male lead and this supporting female.

The setting took place in a made-up dynasty——the world of Xie's Dynasty. Although the emperor of the Xie Dynasty was young, his skills were profound and terrifying. From then on, he began to suppress all the clans and noble families, causing all the important families to suffer miserably and putting their lives in peril.

The male lead, Shen Zhen, was a trivial but good-brother-figure to the emperor. At the same time, he was also a bastard of the Shen Family Clan...

Shen Zhen's mother, Rong Ji, was a singer by the Qinhuai River. After she became pregnant with Shen Zhen, she was brought back to the residence by Father Shen and gained a title. However, the first wife, Zhu Wanning, despite having a name that meant 'gentle', had a dark heart that lacked tolerance for anything in her way. During the time that Rong Ji was pregnant, Zhu Wanning schemed against her over and over again.

Fortunately, Rong Ji had some skills to her and was able to evade Zhu Wanning's plots. Yet, after all her effort, Shen Zhen still ended up being born prematurely. And subsequently, Rong Ji became gravely ill. Some time during Shen Zhen's youth, Rong Ji failed to escape the mistress's framing and sadly passed away in the empty rear court.

Shen Zhen suffered in silence for many years, having been forced to marry a wife suffering from tuberculosis due to the household mistress's 'goodwill.' Finally, when the emperor had ascended the throne, he had successfully become the highest-ranking official of the Shen family and no longer needed to rely on others for the air he breathed(2).

To depend on someone's whims for the sake of living.

It was such a pity that his wife couldn't manage to last until then. After everything that had happened, she gradually weakened and slowly passed away in their second year of marriage.

Shen Zhen held no affections for his wife. But after his wife died, Shen Zhen conveniently used the excuse of mourning for his deep love to express his unwillingness to remarry. However, this peace did not last for long.

Zhu Wanning gave birth to two sons. The eldest son, Shen Zhichang, was a good-for-nothing fool that only knew how to eat and drink all day and every day. The second eldest, Shen Zhimao, had a knack for reading, and by the time he was in his twenties, he had participated in the imperial examination brimming with confidence. Even so, the top scorer that year was Shen Zhen, who was merely 18 years of age.

Zhu Wanning later realized that the tiger she was nurturing, invited calamity(3) into her life. How could she idly stand by and watch that unsightly bastard soar through the ranks and snatch the power of the Shen Family away from her sons?

This means that if she didn't kill her enemy early, it would pose a threat to her later on.

Since Shen Zhen was unwilling to marry again, she sneakily persuaded the clan elders with reasons of not wanting Shen Zhen's title to go to waste, to give Shen Zhichang's second son to Shen Zhen for adoption.

Although Shen Zhichang and his wife were reluctant at first, Master Shen had already passed away at this point, so every major and minor decision when it came to the Shen family's affairs were all decided by the family's reigning matriarch, Zhu Wanning. She had also told the couple of her devious plans in private. Shen Zhen had already taken a slow-acting poison she had slipped in. When he dies, wouldn't his vast wealth belong to Shen Zhongxing? In the end, their clan would have greatly benefited from his death.

When the couple heard this, they were also tempted to go along with her plans, and so, they hurriedly sent their six-year-old son to Shen Zhen's yard.

On the other hand, Shen Zhen had enough of Zhu Wanning's plots and schemes. He secretly changed the poison early on, and the sickly front he had put up for Zhu Wanning to see, was merely an act. At that time, he was embroiled in a faction struggle, fighting both out in the open and secretly in court. As such, when would he have the time to care for such petty conspiracies. As for the child, because he originally had a poor immune system, shortly thereafter, he inadvertently contracted the same illness as Shen Zhen's wife in the rear court.

Rumors began to circulate in the capital that the life of Shen Zhen from the Shen family was bitter and rough. Not only did he take his mother's life away, but he was also pushing his son to the brink of death.

Naturally, Shen Zhen was too indifferent to control this kind of nonsense.

Although he loathed the Shen family, he would never act against a child. He invited an imperial physician, resulting in Shen Zhongxing managing to live to 14 years old by a hair's breadth, but it was clear in anyone's eyes that his time was nearly up.

For the time being, the Shen family was being tossed about by wind and rain(4). After only a few short years of no income coming in, the silver in their treasury had nearly reached the bottom. Zhu Wanning also saw that the time of exploiting her grandson was almost running out, so she came up with a strategy of hitting two birds with one stone.

In an unstable situation.

High-ranking big households always showed their best sides to outsiders, so Chu Dahai, the son of a wealthy businessman in the Northwest, thought that the Shen family was still a big aristocratic family, capable of encasing the sky with one hand.

He came to the capital from the Northwest, intending to obtain a meager official position. But under the current emperor's rule, he didn't expect that even with the incredible amount of money he stuffed in people's pockets, he couldn't make any useful connections.

Henceforth soon, Zhu Wanning quickly set her sights on him.

His character was foolish but his pockets were lined with riches.

Finding an accomplice took a lot of effort, but she eventually succeeded in making Chu Dahai believe that if he married his sister to Shen Zhen's son and attached a large dowry, then Shen Zhen, as the assistant minister of the Ministry of Appointments, would definitely be able to help him find a job.

Chu Dahai's imagination ran wild. What was this? It appeared to be timely rain(5) for him! His whole head was solely wrapped around in his desires of becoming an official that he didn't dig around and gathered more information. And just like this, he anxiously fixed a date and married his sister off.

Timely assistance

Chu Dahai was completely unaware that his new brother-in-law was not Shen Zhen's biological child. He also had no idea that Shen Zhen clashed with the Shen family like water and fire, and was impartial and incorruptible in settling official business. His dowry was as though he were beating a dog with meat buns, in that he never turned a profit or even received a return.

He also didn't know that he was delivering his sister into the lion's den on a silver platter. Within less than two years, she would die floating in the pond of the Shen Clan's rear court.

Chu Jiao held her forehead, deep in ponder.

She could easily guess her current identity.

Chu Dahai, who dug his sister's grave. Just wait until she could go out, she'll definitely beat him into a pulp!

She didn't want to marry anyone, but he persistently insisted on marrying her off to the male lead's son!

In that case, how was she—going to capture him like this!?

T/N: New Worlds, New Problems Huzzah!