Chapter 2: System, I Have It So Hard
【System, let’s sever our bond!】
The words struck like a thunderbolt out of nowhere, crashing the System’s CPU.
The System never imagined that merely failing to respond in time would earn it a threat from its Host to sever their connection.
It hadn’t even done anything! It had only been thinking about how to answer its Host.
After all, it had originally been designed as a mission system. But then the Main System made a change, giving it the functions of two different systems.
The Main System had instructed it to let its Host enjoy gossip without risk or worry, while also finding a way to have the Host complete the original system missions without her knowing.
If a mission wasn’t completed, the punishment originally meant for the Host would instead fall on it.
Although the severity of the punishment had been reduced somewhat, it would be delayed until after this Host severed their bond, when it would be reflected in the System’s overall KPI evaluation.
When the person who was originally supposed to be punished was the Host, but the punishment had instead become its responsibility, even the System Sprite felt that it was getting a raw deal.
It felt there was nowhere it could go to seek justice.
But the Main System had said that if it hadn’t run into the wrong time-space and accidentally become bound to its current Host while gossiping, none of these troublesome matters would have happened afterward.
If it didn’t take the blame, then who would?
Even so... despite that... it still felt wronged.
It had taken such a huge risk for its Host, and not only did the Host know nothing about it, she was even threatening to sever their bond.
As a novice system binding itself to a Host for the first time, if its Host voluntarily severed the connection right after the binding, the only thing awaiting it would be being sent back for reconstruction.
Its system life was supposed to have begun with it making a name for itself in the world of systems. Instead, it was about to end before it had even started.
It kept its Host in its heart, while its Host kicked it straight into a ditch.
The System was suffering.
The System was crying pitifully.
It hurriedly sought help from the Main System, asking whether it could conceal its identity as a mission system, lest...
It was having such a hard time.
Had the Main System forgotten that it was only a novice system too? Could it really shoulder such a huge responsibility?
You’re afraid of Huaxia and don’t dare let my Host die, so you come bully me instead.
Fortunately, because of Jiang Yunxi’s special nature, the Main System had been paying close attention to the situation on their side. Its reply arrived in an instant.
After receiving the Main System’s response, the System hurriedly answered,
【Host, rest assured. This System is neither a mission system nor a strategy system. It’s merely an ordinary Gossip System.】
Jiang Yunxi felt inexplicably disdainful of the Gossip System. What use was there in binding herself to a gossip system?
Gossip was only good for passing the time!
With that time, she might as well play on her phone or read novels.
Come to think of it, where had she been transported? Were there phones and tablets here?
Jiang Yunxi had received far too many memories, and her entire body was in unbearable pain. She had no mind to sort through them just then, so she simply asked directly,
【System, you still haven’t told me what era this is, or what happened to the original owner of this body.】
【Ding—】
【The Gossip System is now officially at your service.
As for the gossip concerning this body—in other words, you, Host—would you like to hear it?】
Jiang Yunxi: 【Tell me.】
How could she refuse? At the very least, this would help her figure out her current identity—and let her see whether this Gossip System was actually any good.
The System inhaled sharply: I’m very good.
The System: 【The original owner of this body was also named Jiang Yunxi.】
Jiang Yunxi: “Good. At least I won’t have to get used to another name.”
[She is currently nine years old, the Fifth Miss of the Marquis of Pingyang’s household, a daughter born to Madam Zheng, the Heir to the Marquis of Pingyang’s Secondary Wife.
Because she was born after a difficult labor that left her in poor health, she had always been kept deep within the inner chambers and rarely went out.]
Jiang Yunxi: “······”
From “the Marquis of Pingyang’s household,” “daughter of a secondary wife,” and “the Heir’s Secondary Wife,” she deduced that she had transmigrated to ancient times.
Wasn’t the modern era perfectly fine? If not that, she could at least have gone to some interstellar future. Why did it have to be ancient times?
Please, let it not be the dynasty with the queue hairstyle.
Jiang Yunxi immediately interrupted the System. [System, don’t tell me I’ve transmigrated into the Qing dynasty, okay?]
[Rest assured, Host. This is not the Qing dynasty. It is a dynasty that does not exist in your history—the Yunzhao Kingdom.]
So it was an entirely fictional world.
Fictional was good. Fictional was wonderful. Fictional was absolutely fantastic.
A fictional world meant that no matter what she did here, she would not alter the history of her own timeline.
With the huge weight in her heart finally lifted, Jiang Yunxi urged, [Go on.]
[Yesterday was a holiday from the household academy. The original host was playing hide-and-seek with the maids in her family’s rear garden.
She hid behind a particular ornamental rock, never imagining that someone would sneak up behind her, knock her unconscious with a stick, and quietly throw her into the lake.]
[By the time she was rescued, she had been soaking in the water for far too long and remained unconscious.
The blow to her head had caused a blood clot in her brain. On top of that, she had been submerged for so long that her lungs became infected. With her high fever refusing to break, she eventually died.]
Jiang Yunxi frowned. [So this is an inner-household power struggle?]
What kind of inner-household power struggle was this? It was even more brutal than palace intrigue. They were using real weapons and actually killing people.
At this rate, how many people could possibly be left alive in the Marquis of Pingyang’s household?
The fact that the entire household had not already been wiped out was probably a miracle.
Jiang Yunxi asked with complete confidence,
[Was the person who did it acting on the orders of the original host’s primary wife? Or was it one of her legitimate or secondary sisters? Or perhaps one of the other concubines of the Heir to the Marquis of Pingyang?]
As if she hadn’t read countless novels all these years.
Aside from those people, who else would want to get rid of the original host?
Sigh. Why had she transmigrated to ancient times? And why had she ended up as a physically frail daughter of a secondary wife?
Jiang Yunxi was deeply worried about her future.
With enemies lurking everywhere, could she, a complete novice at inner-household intrigue, survive in the marquis’s household with the help of this seemingly unreliable Gossip System?
Just listen to her title: the Fifth Miss.
In ancient times, sons and daughters were generally ranked separately. From that title alone, it was obvious that the Marquis of Pingyang’s household had quite a few children.
The struggle for power was sure to be······
[Host, you’re mistaken.]
Jiang Yunxi: “······” Why did her face feel so hot?
She had only just tried to show off her cleverness, and she had already been proven wrong.
Was there a crack in the ground she could crawl into?
Or perhaps someone could bring her a block of tofu so she could bash her head against it.
Pretending nothing had happened, she said, [You say I’m wrong, so why don’t you tell me who actually knocked out the original host and threw her into the water?]
[They must have been trying to drown her, right?]
The System replied, [It is true that someone wanted to drown her, but it wasn’t any of the people you just listed.]
[The original host could only be called unlucky. She chose the wrong place to hide while playing hide-and-seek with the maids.
There was a cave not far from the ornamental rock where she was hiding. Two people were inside playing cards.]
[The original host made a noise, startling the two of them.
They saw the original host and thought she had discovered them. To keep their secret from getting out, they decided to silence her for good.]
Jiang Yunxi was baffled. [Playing poker is just playing poker. Why would they kill someone just because they were seen?
It was only a game of poker! Was that really worth it?]
Was it worth taking the original host’s life?
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jiang Yunxi froze. She suddenly recalled the movie recaps she used to watch on TikTok.
Aside from card games, “playing poker” seemed to have another meaning.
It was all the System Sprite’s fault for being so up-to-date—she hadn’t caught on right away.
Suppressing the urge to cough awkwardly in her mind, Jiang Yunxi quickly cut off the System before it could explain.
[All right, no need to explain. I know what “playing poker” means now.]
[Just tell me who that shameless pair is.]
Now that she had taken over this body, the original host’s enemies were her enemies. She had to avenge her.
Just then, the voice of a middle-aged woman drifted over.
“Has Fifth Miss woken up yet?”
“The Old Madam has been worrying about her. She sent me over to take a look.”
The System’s voice suddenly turned shrill. [Host, it’s her.]