Chapter 147 -
The glowing blue-green screen hovered, its light reflecting off the hot tears streaming down Yueqing’s face.
Her knees buckled.
The strength left her body all at once, and Sue Yueqing collapsed onto the cold, cobblestone floor. Her thick coat pooled around her, but no amount of fur could warm the icy horror spreading through her veins.
"My first mission..." she whispered, her voice barely audible over the distant chatter of the town. Her fingers dug into the cold stones beneath her. "My very first world..."
She looked up at Nine, her vision blurry with unshed tears, her lower lip trembling. "I died here, Nine. I spent six agonizing years in a frozen, forgotten palace while the Emperor feasted with his new consorts. I starved so my little boy could eat. I drank poisonous wine from a bronze cup so he wouldn’t be executed with me!"
She pressed a trembling hand against her forehead, letting out a ragged, choking sob.
"I swore I would never think about this world again," Yueqing gasped, her chest heaving as the memories rushed back like a tidal wave, the smell of burning incense in the Cold Palace, the freezing winter nights, and the tiny, terrified boy who used to hide his head under her apron whenever the guard doors slammed.
[System 009: Host... calm down. Your emotional parameters are critically unstable.]
Nine floated down, his small blue-green sprite form hovering inches above her trembling shoulder. His usual mechanical light softened into a warm, worried glow.
[System 009: The Transmigration Bureau recycles world templates when a host reaches their final ascension mission. It is meant to be a closed loop. I... I was not authorized to disclose the historical crossover until you reached the capital.]
"He was five years old when they dragged me away," Yueqing choked out, looking back at the alley entrance that led to the teahouse balcony. "Five years old, Nine! He held onto my skirt, crying so hard his nose turned red..."
Her breath hitched sharply.
His nose turned red.
The image of Xiao Chen sitting upstairs—blushing profusely, his nose turning a bright, dusty pink as he looked away from her—flashed vividly in her mind.
It was the exact same habit. The exact same physical reaction he had when he was a frightened, overwhelmed little boy trying to hide his feelings.
"It’s him," Yueqing whispered, the full weight of the tragedy settling onto her shoulders. "The villainous Third Prince trying to start a war with Wenzhe... is my son."
Nine hovered quietly, his small digital face showing a rare, gentle expression of sympathy.
[System 009: Yes, Host. Prince Xiao Chen is the son of the late Concubine Bai Mila. After your death, he survived in the palace by growing cold, ruthless, and calculating. He learned to trust no one—until today, when you spoke the words his mother taught him.]
Yueqing closed her eyes tightly, fresh tears spilling over her lashes. "He thinks his mother abandoned him to death... He thinks everyone in the imperial family is an enemy. That’s why he’s plotting a coup."
[System 009: Host, you must be careful. You are currently Sue Yueqing, the wife of General Xi Wenzhe. If Xiao Chen discovers your true origin, or if Wenzhe learns of your connection to the Third Prince, the plot stability will collapse completely.]
Yueqing sat on the freezing stones for a long moment, forcing her ragged breathing to slow down.
Slowly, painfully, she wiped her face with the sleeve of her coat. She forced herself to stand up, her legs shaky, but her eyes burning with a dark, fierce resolve.
She wasn’t just a transmigrator trying to survive a web novel anymore.
"I’m not letting him die a villain, Nine," Yueqing murmured, her voice steadying as she adjusted her clothes and smoothed down her hair. "I failed to protect him in my first life. I won’t let him burn in this one."
Sue Yueqing stood frozen in the alley, her jaw tight as she stared at the blue-green light hovering in front of her.
"Nine," she said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, deadly quiet. "In my first mission... why did I have to suffer like that? Why was I tossed into the Cold Palace to die if I was supposed to be a main character?"
Nine floated silently for a long second, letting out a heavy, digital sigh that sounded almost human.
[System 009: Host... you were never a main character back then. The Emperor was never the male lead, and marrying him was never your objective. Your role was far darker.]
Sue Yueqing’s breath hitched, her eyes widening. "What do you mean?"
[System 009: In your first mission, your character, Bai Mila, was designed for a single tragic purpose: to suffer. You were meant to endure the cold palace and die by poison to create the ultimate character development for the real male lead of that story... Xiao Chen.]
Sue Yueqing stumbled back against the cold brick wall, pressing a trembling hand over her mouth as the horrifying truth hit her.
[System 009: Xiao Chen was the male lead of that world. You were the male lead’s mother. Your tragic death was the catalyst that hardened his heart, turning him into the ruthless mastermind who would eventually overthrow his father and become the next Emperor.]
All those years of starvation, the freezing nights, the bitter poison she had forced down her throat... it wasn’t a failed mission. It was a scripted tragedy meant to break her little boy and turn him into a king.
"And... and now?" Sue Yueqing choked out, her voice shaking with rage and sorrow. "What about this world? What happens to Wenzhe?"
Nine’s blue-green glow dimmed, displaying the original narrative trajectory of her current novel.
[System 009: In this current world, Xi Wenzhe is the male lead. However... according to the original, uncorrupted plot line, after he is betrayed by Li Mei, he and the entire Xi family are executed. The Crown Prince and the Empress fall alongside him.]
Nine paused, the glowing text shifting to reveal a dark, imperial crown.
[System 009: With the main faction destroyed, the Third Prince rises from the ashes, wipes out his enemies, and claims the throne as the next Emperor. And do you know who will be his wife?]
Sue Yueqing’s heart completely stopped beating.
"No..." Sue Yueqing whimpered, shaking her head in total denial. "No, don’t say it..."
[System 009: Li Mei. The very woman who betrays Wenzhe joins forces with the Third Prince. Xiao Chen takes Li Mei as his wife to solidify his absolute power over the empire.]
A cold horror washed over Sue Yueqing, leaving her completely paralyzed.
Her son... the little boy who used to weep in her arms in the Cold Palace, the man currently sitting upstairs blushing over a phrase she taught him, was fated to marry the treacherous woman who would ruin Wenzhe and butcher an entire army.
[Nine...] Sue Yueqing thought, her mind spiraling as tears finally spilled over her lashes. [I have to stop My son from forming alliances with Li Mei at all costs!]
Upstairs on the private balcony, Xiao Chen was still sitting at the table.
The broken teacup had been cleared away by a nervous waiter, and fresh tea had been poured. But Xiao Chen hadn’t touched it. He sat in rigid silence, his gaze fixed on the doorway where Yueqing had vanished.
Did I scare her? he thought, his fingers tightening against his knees. Was I too forward?
Hearing light footsteps, Xiao Chen turned his head quickly.
Yueqing stepped back onto the balcony. Her face was slightly pale, but her expression was remarkably calm, her eyes soft as she looked at him.
"Forgive me, Your Highness," Yueqing said quietly, taking her seat across from him once again. "I felt a sudden spell of dizziness, but I am fine now."
Xiao Chen looked at her closely, his dark eyes searching her face. "You look as though you’ve seen a ghost, Lady Sue."
Yueqing looked down at the warm plate of walnut pastries between them. She reached out, picked up a small piece, and set it gently onto Xiao Chen’s plate—a quiet, maternal gesture so natural that neither of them noticed how instinctively she did it.
"Not a ghost," Yueqing said softly, her eyes meeting his with a look so tender and profound that Xiao Chen’s breath caught in his throat. "Just... an old memory."