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As soon as Sheng Shuyi opened her eyes, the doctor dispatched the nurse to call Madam Sheng, then sighed in amazement at the steady pulse he felt from the young lady's delicate wrist. Just a moment ago, he had been preparing to declare her as dead!
"Miss Sheng, how do you feel?" The doctor asked in an elderly yet gentle voice.
"Hmmm ... I feel very tired." The young lady's voice was rather weak, so the doctor just nodded as if to agree with her. "Of course you feel tired, you practically died and then came back to life!" The doctor thought without changing his expression.
However, before he could continue his conversation with the patient, a beautiful married woman entered the room. This woman's brown eyes, that were normally as translucent as honey, currently had a hint of red from crying and her pink lips had become slightly pale.
"Mother ..." Sheng Shuyi called out weakly and stretched her delicate pale hand towards the pretty woman who had just come into the room.
"Ohh, my poor Shu'er!" The woman's voice was gentle and rather hoarse. She took her daughter's hand as more tears ran down her beautiful face.
"I'm fine now." Sheng Shuyi's voice sounded weak, but it had a trace of warmth as she comforted her mother.
After much persuasion from the doctor, Bai Fan, Sheng Shuyi's mother finally calmed down and left the room, along with the doctor, leaving the patient alone with the nurse. Soon after that, Madam Sheng explained to everyone that Sheng Shuyi was fine, but she still needed to rest. With that, everyone went back to their respective chores. Only Madam Sheng, her personal maid, and the doctor remained in a room adjacent to Sheng Shuyi's room.
"So, Doctor Bai, what was wrong with my daughter?" Madam Sheng's voice was cold and her gaze was hard. The caring and teary-eyed appearance that she showed in front of her daughter just now had completely disappeared!
"Originally, she had only been given an infertility drug, but she took some medicine because she had the flu and they mixed together to form a virulent poison!" Dr. Bai Fan hid nothing from Madam Sheng.
They all knew that Madam Sheng was a strong and fierce woman. Even her husband could not control her, so it was a good thing they loved each other. Besides, General Sheng needed a strong woman who could take care of things during his long absences in military campaigns.
"How long has she been poisoned for, what are the aftereffects, and is there anything that can be done?" Madam Sheng was very angry, but she knew that it was more important to make sure her daughter was taken care of first. Once that was done, she would look for the person who did this and take out all of her built up anger on them.
"It seems the young lady took the infertility drug about a week ago. But, as long as she gets some rest and takes the proper medicine, it won't have any lasting effect on her. However, her body is still quite weak at the moment, so this is a crucial time for her. She needs to pay special attention to her health for now or else there will be no guarantee that she will be able to completely recover. " Doctor Bai calmly replied while explaining the information on Miss Sheng's health chart and suggesting some useful remedies that could help restore her strength.
Finally, he once again reminded her that the young lady should not be exposed to any more trauma during the next two months. If she was, she might not heal probably and could even become a cripple if the situation became severe.
Madam Sheng agreed with Dr. Bai and arranged for Sheng Shuyi to be taken out of the capital and moved to one of their homes that were farther away. She decided to send her daughter to their ancestral home, which was situated in a flourishing valley where the Matriarch of the Sheng Family resided. She had also ordered Sheng Shuyi's younger brother to go as well.
Although she was known as Madam Sheng, her real name was Chen Mingzhu and she was the daughter of the current emperor's most trusted advisor. Her father held one of the highest positions in the kingdom, which allowed the Chen Family, as a family of scholars, to grasp a majority of the positions of power. The remaining positions were mostly divided between the Lin Family and Shun Family, who were also very wealthy scholar families.
The Sheng Family and the Long Family (1) held most of the nation's military power. At least 80% of it was in the hands of these two families, while the other 20% was in the Emperor's hands. So it was only natural that the emperor would feel threatened by these two families. However, both patriarchs had no interest in imperial power, so the emperor still did not find them problematic enough to try to fight these two patriarchs. On the contrary, the emperor was even the godfather of Sheng Shuyi and Long Lifen, the daughters of the Sheng and Long family's first wife.
Of course, the biggest reason to tolerate the existence of these two powerful families was that both on them conflicted with each other on the surface, constantly disagreeing with each other's point of view. Because of this, General Sheng commanded the military in the north and General Long commanded the military in the West.
However, the biggest reason he felt threatened by them, which the emperor would never admit to, was that both families were self-sufficient! Both families had very good logistics and their own farmland!
His Imperial power would be threatened if either one of the generals ever became interested in fighting for the throne. The emperor was only confident that these generals would do nothing because of the support each empire receives from the Martial Dao Sects. (1)
Returning to the current situation with Madam Sheng, she intended to send her children to the Sheng's ancestral home while she did some "house cleaning" among the servants. All of their personal servants would remain behind so that the culprit would not be able to escape while she was busy investigating. She had already sent a letter to Matriarch with an explanation of the current situation and a request for the Matriarch to find new servants for her grandchildren in the meantime.
While Dr. Bai and Sheng Shuyi's mother were busy discussing her health, the bedridden girl had been left alone. Once the nurse finished giving her the medicine, she exited the room, leaving the patient, who currently had her eyes closed, to think about her situation.
"So, 'Supreme Hero' is not just a crude web novel about cultivation and harems!" Sheng Shuyi thought as she sifted through the previous owner's memories and compared them with the web novel she had read. Because of the colleague at work that pestered her until her ears turned purple, she now had both the first person perspective of the previous Sheng Shuyi and a third person perspective as a reader of the web novel.
"What a sad life," Sheng Shuyi thought as she finished sorting through, comparing, and combining the information.
"Yes, very sad." The voice of the cute rabbit sounded in her mind. The 16-year-old girl opened her eyes, startled and happy.
"Rabbit, are you going to become my cultivation grandpa?" Sheng Shuyi asked anxiously, hoping to at least have an extra hand on this quest.
"In your dreams girl, why would a divine messenger like me help you?" The rabbit said arrogantly.
"Then why did you come? Do you expect me to believe you were worried about me and came to see how I was doing? " Sheng Shuyi said in dismay. She would not believe that this arrogant rabbit came here to see her just because he was worried!
"I've come here to give you a system that will help you complete your tasks. It will assist you in fulfilling the desires of the previous hostess as quickly as possible. The previous hostess is currently trapped in limbo and only has two years before her soul will be completely consumed!" The rabbit said seriously. He would never admit that he felt guilty for leaving this woman alone without any help!
"I thought she was going to reincarnate!" Sheng Shuyi was agitated. The previous hostess was quite unfortunate. She had already led an unhappy life and now she was even going to be stuck in that infinite darkness until her consciousness dissipated ?! This girl really had some terrible luck!
"She can't because her soul had been dispelled. As you well know, it was only because her master(1) used a forbidden technique, evoking the power of the Celestial Tao, that it was possible for her to go back in time, and the price that her master has to pay is very high. He has to face tribulation and endure thousands of blasts to his soul. At this very moment, the poor guy is trapped somewhere in this kingdom and being tormented as we speak! " the rabbit spoke with a touch of sorrow in regards to these unlucky characters in this human world.
"Since her soul received this blessing from the heavens, she has to complete certain tasks in her second life. However, that girl believed that, even though she no longer had feelings for her treacherous husband, she would still be unable to kill him. Also, without her Master here to help her out, she felt that staying here would only prolong her suffering and that of her family. She thought that her death would prevent that traitor from joining her family. Woman, you can not imagine how much it cost for the reaper of death and the angel of reincarnation to persuade that girl to wait until a strong soul could be found to fulfill this mission. She clearly understood that her soul would have to stay locked away in the darkness until the new soul fulfilled her mission. Even with the knowledge that the new soul could very well refuse or complete the task very slowly, Both of which would result in her soul perishing!" The rabbit explained everything patiently to the stunned Sheng Shuyi, who felt a little guilty because she really was going to do things slowly!
"Anyway, I've come to give you a system that will organize your tasks," the rabbit said. At this exact moment, a status window, that only she could see, appeared in front of Sheng Shuyi's eyes.
This window had her information, along with 12 other options to select from. Characters from "Supreme Hero", Real Life People, Personal Abilities, Ally Abilities, Enemy Abilities, Acquired Knowledge, Main Mission, Secondary Mission, People Saved, Contracted Spirit Beasts, Loyal followers, and Relationship Status. (1)
Each of these tabs had sub-tabs that explained about the characters, as well as their life stories, personalities, and a scoring system for friendship, gratitude, loyalty, and intimacy!
However, there were no rewards listed and there wasn't even a tab for it... Sheng Shuyi almost spat blood when he saw that the Main Mission tab didn't have any rewards!
"Help your brother become the best steward in the kingdom. Help your father with war. Help your family survive calamities like droughts and floods ... " If that was all there was, she would have been fine with it. After all, it was related to her family and the well-being of their relatives, so she could understand it.
"Help the little dog Shen get a life partner. Help the little Wen-Wen bird heal its wounds..." Sheng Shuyi looked at them with an unbelievable expression. Some of the missions had a red tag next to them. The colors defined the danger involved in these missions, White, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red, going in increasing order of danger.
"Messenger…. Where are the rewards for the missions?" Sheng Shuyi asked in a depressed manner after she saw the contents of her system.
"There are no rewards. You reincarnated into the body of someone who had wealth and a loving family, so the karma of the Celestial Tao has already rewarded you for your previous life. Now, you must diligently fulfill the missions. Foolish human, this is a system created by the Celestial Tao. It is only to your benefit to fulfill the tasks. Even without those so-called rewards, won't you be helping yourself?" The rabbit spoke sarcastically while thinking how stingy humans are!
"But ..." she tried to argue, but the rabbit interrupted her.
"Also, if you look at the button near the X then you will see a schedule that has been set so that you can accomplish everything in a timely fashion without exceeding two years. If there is a delay in the missions, there will be punishments!" The rabbit said in a voice full of malice.
Sheng Shuyi clicked the tab that had a skull icon on it and a list quickly appeared with all the missions and the timing for each one. It even included the starting date and the deadline.
"Messenger ... I don't see a mission related to romance with the villain. Why isn't it mentioned in any of the missions?" Sheng Shuyi asked curiously. After all, it was the last request of the previous hostess.
"You can not force love, not to mention that the previous hostess only asked you to help make him happy, so you don't have to fall in love with him!" The rabbit said contemptuously to Sheng Shuyi, who was stunned.
She had forgotten that the villain didn't even know her yet, so how could he be in love with her?!
However, Sheng Shuyi was determined to create a romantic relationship with the villain. What woman wouldn't want such a faithful man ?! In this world, monogamous relationships were a rarity!
When Sheng Shuyi thought of the villain whose soul had been dissipated while trying to save the woman he loved, dying alongside her, she remembered some unpleasant scenes from her past life, including the man whom she married and the cold father that she hated.
Sheng Shuyi quickly calmed herself down, sighing as she reminded herself that now was not the time to think about these things, not to mention that she had no idea whether or not she would even like the villain. After all, everything she knew about him was as a fictional character, so he might be completely different in this reality. She would have to find a chance to meet the villain when she had time and then decide whether or not she wanted to fall for him.
Even though she was in the body of a 16-year-old girl, Sheng Shuyi still had the mentality of a woman in her 40's. She had gone through very harsh situations in her life, so she could not look at romance through rose-colored glasses like a naive young girl. There was also another question... Would the villain have any feelings towards her? Even with this personality? She was not as smooth and gentle as the previous hostess.
Sheng Shuyi's heartfelt torn when she thought about what the villain had experienced, but she was still wary. In the end, she decided to help the villain, but she would decide about the rest when the time came!
In short, Sheng Shuyi was keen to run into the villain's arms, but she feared that the relationship would not be like she imagined and that the villain might have a change of heart, so it was better to be cautious for now.
"So that's it. It's time for me to say goodbye. Good Luck!" Said the rabbit, leaving without even giving Sheng Shuyi a chance to protest!
"Hey, divine messenger, all you did was give me more work! All I wanted was a golden ticket, something to help me become strong! An old grandpa would have been good enough! What's with this mission 'Avoid being raped by xxxx'? And it has a red tag. If I fail, I have to take 40 lashes from a magic whip! This is so difficult, divine messenger, can't you at least give me a holy beast for protection?!" Sheng Shuyi wept silently in her mind.
A few courtyards away, in a simpler place, an older woman and a pretty teenage girl were sitting together. The older woman had a desolate look and the younger one was holding a handkerchief in her delicate hand with a hateful look on her face.
"That damn bitch didn't die!" The young woman spoke in a voice filled with hatred as she twisted the handkerchief. She was a beautiful 16-year-old girl with brown hair and dark brown eyes, a pale complexion, phoenix eyes, rosy lips, and a small but sharp nose.
However, because of the expression of hatred on her face, she just looked like a crazy young woman!
"Qian'er do not say things like that out loud, someone might hear you," said the older woman while anxiously looking around.
"Mother! You don't need to worry about that for now, but Dr. Bai must have discovered the infertility drug! Now that useless woman can be healed!" The adolescent grunted with hatred.
This young girl was Sheng Qian, the second daughter who General Sheng had with a concubine named Chao Biyu.
In truth, General Sheng was a man who only wanted to marry one woman for life, which is why Chen Mingzhu accepted him as her husband. However, during their first year of marriage, General Sheng had to go out for a military campaign. There, an ordinary woman full of ambition disguised herself as a Yi Ji to infiltrate the camp. Normally, Yi Ji only sing, dance, and serve drinks to encourage the soldier's morale, but this woman was not really a Yi Ji, so she bribed one of the people serving the generals to put an aphrodisiac in General Sheng's drink. It was colorless, unscented, and would not show up even if they tested it since it wasn't poison.
After General Sheng was drugged, Chao Biyu slipped into his bed and engaged in a night of pleasure. The next morning, before the general even woke up, the woman had already disappeared from the camp. The general himself thought he had some sort of nightmare because he could not quite remember what had happened that night.
However, Chao Biyu became pregnant and spread a rumor that General Sheng likes to take advantage of civilian women. Once this rumor reached the ear of the emperor, he ordered General Sheng to take Chao Biyu as a concubine with status and honor. Of course, the real reason the emperor did this was to alleviate some of the anger he felt over his inability to control the military power that was in the hands of General Sheng.
He was so focused on his petty revenge that he even forgot the official wife of General Sheng was the daughter of his most trusted advisor!
That was how Chao Biyu became part of the Sheng family. However, she quickly found out that she had miscalculated. It never occurred to her that General Sheng would only have eyes for his wife. As such, he never touched Chao Biyu, not even once! The main wife ended up giving birth a few days after Chao Biyu entered the house, to a girl. Because of that, the concubine still had some hope since she was pregnant and might give birth to a son. Unfortunately for her, she gave birth to a daughter as well.
Chao Biyu and her daughter, Sheng Qian, were placed in a courtyard that was separate from on the general's estate, but they still had servants, good food, and their daughter had a good education. The main wife provided everything and did not attempt to bully them.
Of course, it wasn't because Madam Sheng had a kind heart. The real reason was that Sheng Qian was still her husband's daughter and also because she did not want to be accused of picking on the weak. Not to mention that Chao Biyu had no family to support her and no power that could be bartered with inside the General's mansion.
In other words, the main wife, Chen Mingzhu, looked at Chao Biyu and Sheng Qian as mere ants that could be crushed with a snap of her fingers!
Even though she had not been bullied by either the main wife or her half-sister, Sheng Qian envied her older sister because she had everything Sheng Qian did not have, her father's affection, noble status, wealth, and beauty!
Sheng Qian became like this because of the influence of the ancient society that repressed concubines and their children, and because her father did not show her any love. In the end, she felt bitter for not having the privileges her half-sibling had. As a woman, she did not resent her 10-year-old brother as much, but she hated her older sister. In her warped and twisted mind, she blamed Sheng Shuyi because if she did not exist then her father would love her. If it wasn't for Sheng Shuyi's existence, then she would be the pearl of the Sheng family.
On top of that, Sheng Qian was able to cultivate, but Sheng Shuyi was a failure. Were it not for being the daughter of the main wife, who had a strong background, the general's eldest daughter would have been considered rubbish!
For someone like Sheng Qian, who already possessed an unbalanced mind and lived in a strong self-delusion, with the addition of being in a society that repressed the children of concubines while still admiring the strong, she could not bear to be lower than rubbish!
Because of the combination of all these things, she began plotting to take away everything Sheng Shuyi had, including the ability to have children! It just goes to show how cruel and crazy she was!
"Calm down, don't you still have other plans to put into motion?" Chao Biyu tried to persuade her daughter. It was not that she hated the main wife and her stepdaughter, but that she loved her daughter more and wanted her to be happy, so she supported her daughter in all things.
Chao Biyu was an ambitious woman who only had one goal in life, and that was to have a powerful man in the palm of her hand. However, General Sheng only had eyes for his wife. So, even if his wife died, Chao Biyu knew that she would still be ignored. Furthermore, now that she had become a concubine and was unable to grasp her husband's heart, she became dispirited. She could not fulfill her life's ambition, so she supported her ambitious daughter wholeheartedly!
In this way, she could still fulfill her dream through her daughter!
"Yes, but I do not want to use that person. You know I love him, Mom... What if he fell in love with that garbage?" Sheng Qian said while twisting her handkerchief nervously.
"Hasn't it been decided that he will start his cultivation the day after he gets married? When would he have time to fall for that girl?! Do not worry, do you think that man will fall for her money and status? You are the only one in his heart!" Chao Biyu's gentle voice slowly persuaded her daughter by showing her how well thought out the plan was.
"You're right, Mom, I'll go look for him tomorrow," said Sheng Qian in a voice that was almost a whisper.
"You can't. You must wait until a week or more has passed now that Madam Sheng has discovered the infertility drug. She will definitely do a 'house cleaning' and investigate everyone. She'll be watching our every step. Qian'er you did not leave any evidence behind, did you?" Chao Biyu asked with signs of doubt flicking in her eager, dark brown eyes as she looked off to the side.
"Mom, do not worry, I just grabbed some random herbs and asked my master to create this drug. No one knows that I have a master who is skilled in the Dao of Poison. Plus, I already planted evidence on one of that garbage's trusted servants! Hehe, I doubt she'll find out the truth." Sheng Qian laughed scornfully.
"Okay, Mom will believe you," said Chu Biyu, breathing in relief.