I really am about to die.
…
In my haze, Tạ Ngộ Triều fastened something ice-cold around my ankle.
Whenever I moved,
it jingled and jingled without stopping.
I tried to open my eyes and look.
Through the blur, I saw a silver chain glittering in the moonlight, swaying back and forth.
“Tạ Ngộ Triều! You…!”
“Hmm?”
“You bastard! You pervert! Aaaah!”
He accepted it all.
“Mm. I’m also a madman.”
…
After a long while.
I wrapped my arms around Tạ Ngộ Triều’s neck and mumbled, “Could we take a break? I’m so exhausted I feel like I’ve built an entire pyramid.”
Tạ Ngộ Triều paused. “What’s a pyramid?”
“A pyramid is a tomb that looks a lot like a zongzi. They bury the dead in it, hoping their souls will live forever.”
No.
Tạ Ngộ Triều, are you even listening to me?!
Why are you starting again?!
7.
I was utterly exhausted and slept like a log.
In my dream, I returned to the time when I had just arrived in this world.
In that poor, desolate village, it rained eight days a week.
The System took a fishing rod from its storage and handed it to me:
[Host, just fish here. I’ve checked the plot, and you should get a bite pretty soon!]
I looked at the water, which was covered in duckweed.
I squatted down beside it.
And fell into deep thought.
[Are you sure there are fish in here???]
System: [You’re not fishing for fish—you’re fishing for a person!]
[The radiant and noble Crown Prince Tạ Ngộ Triều of Liang will soon be framed, deposed, blinded, and ambushed, then thrown into the water and swept here. When he asks, just say you happened to fish him up. That makes sense, right?]
It made perfect sense.
So much sense that this fishing rod didn’t even have a hook.
Am I supposed to catch him with my hands?
The System continued, lost in its own thoughts: [He’s so miserable, and he’s a yandere. Then you do this and that and this and that, redeem him a little, and your mission will be complete.]
After that, it didn’t forget to add:
[Pretty simple, right?]
Simple my ass.
I sat by the river with the fishing rod for a whole month before I finally caught Tạ Ngộ Triều, unconscious and wrapped head to toe in seaweed, his whole body nearly swollen with water.
The System scratched its nonexistent head. [Secretly, he was thrown into the sea. It took a lot of effort for him to drift all the way here.]
8.
The favored son of heaven had fallen into the mire overnight, becoming a drowned dog anyone could trample.
Tạ Ngộ Triều was utterly disheartened. Blind and unable to see, he was hostile and wary of every sound around him.
When he groggily woke, I was preparing to feed him something.
At the sound, he counterattacked, grabbed me by the throat, and demanded viciously:
“Who are you? What do you want with me?”
After I made him drink seaweed soup for days on end,
he finally stopped making trouble.
He became especially obedient and sweet, though a little clingy.
Like a little dog that clings to you when it gets rained on.
To get close to him, I pretended I didn’t know who Tạ Ngộ Triều was.
“What’s your name?”
He clamped his mouth shut and didn’t answer.
I turned over his name plaque. “Your surname is Tạ? If you won’t tell me, I’ll call you Tạ Little Dog.”
Tạ Ngộ Triều continued to keep silent.
I took that as his agreement.
The System was very pleased: [Host, I knew you were the born savior I picked out of hundreds!]
I was very pleased, too.
Complete the mission ahead of schedule, and the bonus doubles.
Tạ Ngộ Triều reclaimed everything that belonged to him and welcomed a bright, forward-looking life.
We both had bright futures ahead of us~
My future had a mansion, a car, fried chicken, milk tea, hot pot, and grilled skewers.
I didn’t know what Tạ Ngộ Triều’s future held.
Whatever it was, it didn’t include me.
Saving him was my mission.
Running away was where I belonged.
9.
“Tạ Little Dog, I want some sticky rice cake.”
“Go buy me some sticky rice cake.”
I rolled over and, out of habit, shoved the person beside me.
I shoved empty air.
Only then did I jolt awake.
It was five years later now. There was no Tạ Little Dog anymore, only the mad dog Tạ Ngộ Triều, who could fly into a rage at any moment.
I struggled to prop up my battered body, wanting to sit up and see where Tạ Ngộ Triều had gone.
Oh. I couldn’t move.
Looking down, I saw that I was tied up from head to toe!
The System, which had been pretending to be dead, finally came back to life: [Host, your favorite, most thoughtful Little System is back! Oh my God! Bondage play, and you two are going this hard without inviting me?]
Hearing the commotion,
Tạ Ngộ Triều came in from outside.
His eyes lowered as he silently watched me.
I glared at him angrily. “Why’d you tie me up? It’s been years since we last met—has your taste changed? Do you like zongzi now?”
“I was afraid you’d run.” Tạ Ngộ Triều sat beside me and slowly untied me.
The moment I was free,
I immediately threw my arms around Tạ Ngộ Triều.
“Believe me, I won’t run.”
System: [Host, judging by his expression, I don’t think he believes you. Let me check his trust level toward you… Oh, -1,000…]
Seeing that Tạ Ngộ Triều still didn’t move,
I kept trying. “I mean it! I came back this time for you!”
System: [Host, that sounds an awful lot like, “You fool, I came back to find you so I could do my mission again!”]
[Is that not true?]
[… Don’t be so blunt. We systems need to save face, too.]
10.
Tạ Ngộ Triều’s eyelid twitched.
At last, he looked at me.
His handsome face was hazy in the moonlight.
…He seemed strangely vulnerable.
He took my finger and gently rubbed it. “Chiêu Chiêu, which do you like better, apples or pears?”
I was a little confused. “Apples, I guess.”
Then he asked, “What’s your favorite little animal?”
I thought for a moment.
“Rabbits.”
“If I die, will your mission never be completed?”
Caught off guard, I blurted out,
“Yes.”
The System panicked and shouted: [Host!!! He’s trying to trap you!!]
A lightbulb went off in my head.
Tạ Ngộ Triều was tricking me!
“Chiêu Chiêu.” Tạ Ngộ Triều looked at me. “If you still think about leaving me, I’ll make sure you can never complete your mission.”
His voice was calm, as though he were saying, “Get me a bowl of salty tofu pudding.”
Who taught him that?!
If he died and this world collapsed, then all my work really would have been for nothing!
No, I had to calm him down.
I definitely had to leave eventually.
If I don’t go back, once I finish the mission, what will I do with all the reward money—the cars, the houses, the gold and silver?
But not now.
I smiled brightly. “What are you talking about? How could I ever leave you, my dear Emperor?”
At that, Tạ Ngộ Triều looked at me and carried me to the imperial study.
He took out a roll of yellow paper and spread it out before me.
“Then sign here.”
I looked closely.
A… an imperial decree appointing me empress?
“Sign it?”
“Yes.” Tạ Ngộ Triều’s expression was solemn.
“You once said that back in your hometown, when two people in love marry, they have to sign the marriage certificate together for it to count as sincere.”
The palace was ablaze with light, red candles flickering.
Tạ Ngộ Triều’s eyes and brows softened. He clasped my hand around the brush, dipped it in golden ink, and wrote our names stroke by stroke.
Just as the final stroke was about to fall,
His face suddenly stiffened, and he clutched his chest.
He spat out a large mouthful of blood—
11.
The bitter smell of medicine filled the air.
All the imperial physicians were kneeling before me. Their leader cautiously reported,
“Your Majesty, His Majesty’s illness is too complicated. We cannot determine its cause. We have failed you.”
I waved them away.
In the vast, empty hall, only Tạ Ngộ Triều and I remained.
I kept watch beside the bed, my heart burning with anxiety.
I looked at his eyes.
I looked at him lying on the bed.
His eyes were tightly shut, his face pale, his hands ice-cold.
As if…
As if he were a puppet stripped of all vitality.
The System spoke at just the right moment: [Host, it’s confirmed. The male lead’s descent into darkness has caused an error in this world. The original plot hasn’t changed and is still unfolding, which means…]
The System paused briefly—a rare occurrence.
[That means you not only have to resolve his darkening to complete your mission, but also get him back onto the original plotline as much as possible.]
That’s right, there was still the original plotline.
From the very first day I accepted the mission to come to this world, I knew.
There was another host here besides me.
Sở Ương Ương.
Do you Systems always like choosing hosts with names in the “ABB” format?
After the plotline labeled my “redemption story” came to an end,
Sở Ương Ương would take my place and become Tạ Ngộ Triều’s destined love.
So,
Sở Ương Ương was the true heroine of this world.
I was only the one who kicked off the plot.
To put it crudely, I was just a tool.
12.
The imperial physicians couldn’t diagnose what was wrong with Tạ Ngộ Triều.
But I knew.
It was because he wanted to make me empress today.
The world’s rules had detected that he was seriously affecting the course of the plot, so he’d been punished.