"Yes father." Yanghua said meekly. She raised her head to see an older gentleman with graying hair tied in a top knot. He sported a grayed goatee with a thin mustache on top of his upper lip. Bushy gray eyebrows were plastered upon his hardened eyes. "Daughter, I am impressed that you have managed to awaken. Since your older brother is going to the capital to become an aid to the crown prince, I might as well marry you off to the current emperor." He said as he stroked his beard. Yanghua's eyes widened despite her best efforts to control her facial features. Quietly she asked, "Father, will the current emperor even accept me as his concubine?" Her scum of a father's eyes narrowed, and he boomed "Of course he would accept you. Even though you have the blood of that whore of a mother who birthed you, you still have half of my blood and the Zhang family name. That is more than enough to qualify you as a concubine candidate of the emperor."
Yanghua lowered her head as she nodded. "Thank you for this opportunity father," Yanghua said through her gritted teeth. Through her eyelashes she saw her supposed father smirk. He clapped his hands and waved her out of the sitting room. Yanghua took this as a dismissal and got up from the cold stone floor. Her knees cracked as she hobbled out of the room.
Tangtang quickly greeted Yanghua as she supported her out of the lavish courtyard. Once they passed the gates of her father's living quarters, Yanghua saw a woman dressed in a bright pink tang dynasty dress. Her makeup was so heavy and thick it seemed to accentuate her wrinkles even more. Besides her stood a young man holding a paper umbrella shielding the older woman. "That's your mother, quickly greet her." Tangtang whispered as they walked closer to them. "Good morning mother," Yanghua lowered her head at her step-mother. After what seemed like a millennia, a male voice said "Mistress, I think that's enough." "Mmh, yes. But I seem to recall that you should call me older sister instead of 'mother' you can't possibly think that I was old enough to give birth to you." Yanghua's stepmother chided. Yanghua's eyebrow twitched as she heard the brazen words of this woman. She raised her head and smiled at her. "My apologies older sister," Yanghua said. Yanghua racked her brain to remember if the stepmother had a big part in the story. Yanghua recalled that there was a brief mention of a scandal where many married noble women were caught running a male brothel house. The female lead was the one who found out this scandal and exposed those women. Yanghua looked at the young man and her suspicions about his origins rose. He definitely is not a normal servant, Yanghua concluded. "Your father mentioned that you would be accompanying your younger brother to the capital. In order not to burden him with your filthy blood, he will ride in family's carriage. You will have to find your own way to the capital." Yanghua's stepmother said with a smirk. "Now, get out of my sight." She said as she waved her hands shooing at Yanghua. Yanghua bowed her head and walked away with Tangtang. They quietly passed the many grand houses and courtyards of the Zhang family.
I can't believe he would let his sickly daughter kneel on the fucking cold floor, and that green tea stepmother thinks she can step all over me, well just they wait, Yanghua thought furiously. Soon they arrived at Yanghua's small courtyard, and they entered her shabby house. Compared to the rest of her father's property her house was not even a tenth as grand nor as big. Yanghua looked around and she couldn't see any servants bustling in and out of her little cottage. She assumed that Tangtang and the guard outside her courtyard were her only servants. Tangtang led Yanghua to one of the rattan chairs and bustled around to brew a cup of tea for her mistress. "Tangtang what am I going to do? I'm going to be married off to some old geezer and I don't even know how to get to the capital." Yanghua fretted. "If I don't heed the royal decree I'll be beheaded, but if I don't make it to the capital isn't that a straight death sentence?" Yanghua stressed as Tangtang placed a cup of warm tea into her hands. "Perhaps you can ask your father to hire a guide to get you to the capital? Or you can ride there yourself." Tangtang suggested. Yanghua perked up. "I can ride horses?" she asked curiously. "Young lady, you really seem to have lost your memory! That was the first thing you learned when you were a child, right after walking, was how to ride a horse." Tangtang chuckled as she refilled Yanghua's cup. Yanghua's head was spinning. The information from the system didn't mention this detail, what the hell is going on, Yanghua thought. "Alright Tangtang, you are dismissed until I call for you." Yanghua said. "Of course, young lady." Tangtang bowed as she shuffled out of the room.
"NALA come out." Yanghua ordered. Nothing happened. The silence was stifling. "If you don't come out right now NALA, I'm going to rip off those little wings of yours once I find you." Yanghua threatened. "Alright, alright. Jesus, you don't have to go as far as to incite violence against a small defenseless system!" NALA said exasperatedly. "Where can I find those side missions that you mentioned before? Also, can I see that shop too?" Yanghua asked quickly. "Yeah, yeah. You can't do anything yourself huh?" NALA mocked as it pointed at Yanghua's neck. "Just touch on the necklace I gave you. Now stop yelling for me, I was in the middle of watching this new k-drama." NALA said as it disappeared in a fit of sparkles.
Yanghua quickly navigated around the hologram's home page in front of her. Thank god, that useless system made the interface of this website usable, Yanghua huffed. She clicked on the "Missions: Side" icon and was only greeted with one option. It ominously said, "Walk to the small clearing behind your house and wait" 0/1. Yanghua was puzzled by the simple mission and was speechless as she saw that it would only give her about 10 NALA coins. She sighed as she got up and resolved herself to start the basic mission. 10 NALA coins are better than nothing, Yanghua thought dejectedly.