Chapter 41

Among the four male leads, Nan Gongxuan was the crown prince, Jian Yuyan was the eldest son of the Chancellor's household, and Shao Jingyu was the descendant of a renowned military family. Only Jiang Yi was truly from a humble background.
The Jiang family was not in Jinling but in Luoyang, north of Jinling. They were neither wealthy nor influential. The current head of the Jiang family, who was also Yan Yiming's father in this identity, held the position of a fifth-rank official, the assistant prefect of Luoyang.
Compared to Jian Yuyan and Shao Jingyu, this was an insignificant post. However, in a remote region far from the emperor's reach, it still carried some status.
Such a family background could hardly be considered humble, but Jiang Yi's position was quite awkward. In terms of his standing in the Jiang family, he was even more destitute than the average commoner.
In Jiang Yi's generation, there were five brothers and three sisters. Among them, only Jiang Yi's father, Fifth Master Jiang, and the eldest daughter were legitimate children, while the rest were born of concubines.
Jiang Yi was the son of this legitimate Fifth Master Jiang.
Logically, since his younger brother's son was now seeking refuge, both the head of the Jiang family and the matriarch should have welcomed him. But that was not the case, because Jiang Yi was not Fifth Master Jiang's biological son.
Even Yan Yiming, who knew the game's background, did not know who Jiang Yi's biological father was. In the backstory, Jiang Yi's father passed away shortly after his birth. His mother raised him alone until he was three, but due to financial struggles, she remarried Fifth Master Jiang.
Fifth Master Jiang's status was actually quite good, and he was still very young at the time. For Jiang Yi's mother, a widow with a child, to marry him was, in the words of the matriarch, nothing short of a pipe dream.
But Fifth Master Jiang was stubbornly infatuated with Jiang Yi's mother. He returned to the Jiang family and told his mother and elder brother that he wanted to marry her. The Jiang family naturally disagreed and quickly arranged a marriage for him to sever his ties with her.
Unable to defy his family, the young and reckless Fifth Master Jiang ran away from home and left Luoyang with Jiang Yi's mother.
The matriarch was so enraged by her youngest son's actions that she nearly fainted. She cursed her son for being led astray by a seductress and blamed Jiang Yi's mother, a widow who had “cursed” her husband, for luring her son away. Years passed in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Yi's mother had fallen ill after giving birth to him and never bore another child after marrying Fifth Master Jiang. Her health had always been poor, and she carried guilt toward Fifth Master Jiang. Plagued by melancholy for years, she finally passed away when Jiang Yi was nine.
Fifth Master Jiang was truly a man of great free spirit. Back then, he had abandoned everything to elope, and later, when Jiang Yi's mother never bore him a son or daughter, he never once blamed her, instead raising Jiang Yi as his own son. After Jiang Yi's mother passed away, Fifth Master Jiang rapidly declined into despondency. He raised Jiang Yi alone until the boy turned thirteen. That year, after Jiang Yi passed the child scholar examination, Fifth Master Jiang spent a whole night talking with him in relief before ending his own life, which had been muddled for several years.
Fifth Master Jiang always felt guilty toward the Jiang family. For many years, he never returned, and it was only when he resolved to die that he wrote a letter entrusting Jiang Yi to the family's care.
No matter how much Old Madam Jiang and Lord Jiang blamed Fifth Master Jiang for abandoning his relatives for a woman, they still wept bitterly upon his death. Old Madam Jiang cursed Jiang Yi's mother, calling her a jinx who had first brought misfortune to her husband and now to her own son.
Old Madam Jiang harbored too much hatred for Jiang Yi's mother and had no desire to take in Jiang Yi, who was born of that woman and had no real connection to the Jiang family, wishing instead that he would fend for himself and stay out of her sight.
Though Lord Jiang was grief-stricken, he was more rational than Old Madam Jiang. Despite his displeasure, he honored his younger brother's dying wish.
In the depths of winter, half a year after Fifth Master Jiang's death, Lord Jiang finally brought Jiang Yi back to the Jiang family. That year, Jiang Yi was only thirteen.
Yan Yiming finally pieced together the twists and turns of this story. Recalling the elegant and successful Jiang Yi who later thrived in official circles, who would have thought he had such a pitiable background?
Yan Yiming felt a rare pang of sorrow, but before she could dwell on it for long, a dull ache began in her chest, and she suddenly felt suffocated.
Clutching her chest in pain, she closed her eyes, her delicate brows furrowing. Her already pale complexion grew even more ashen, with only the striking red mole at the corner of her eye retaining a hint of color.
This was the most significant trait of her current identity: congenital heart disease.
To be precise, it was a congenital heart defect.
The youngest daughter of Lord Jiang and his wife was named Jiang Shaoqi, sixteen years younger than Lord Jiang's eldest son. Lady Jiang was nearly forty when she gave birth to this daughter. Perhaps due to her advanced age and frail health during the delivery, Jiang Shaoqi was born with a congenital illness.
Lord Jiang gave his youngest daughter a boy's name because she was exceptionally weak. It was said that when Jiang Shaoqi was born, she didn't cry, and the midwife had to slap the soles of her feet for a long time before she let out a faint whimper. It was then that Lady Jiang gave her the nickname “A'Ming.”
As a late-born daughter with a frail constitution from the start, Old Madam Jiang found her sickly appearance irritating. However, Lord Jiang, Lady Jiang, and Jiang Shaoqi's older siblings doted on her excessively, fearing she might get hurt in the slightest.
From childhood, she had the best food and clothing, and medicine flowed like an unending stream, as if money were no object.
The youngest daughter couldn't handle excitement or noisy surroundings, so she was given the best courtyard in the southern part of the Jiang residence all to herself, with far more maids and servants than any of her sisters. Those with congenital heart disease are sensitive to cold, and now in the depths of winter, every room was allotted a fixed amount of charcoal for heating, except for Yan Yiming, who could have as much as she wanted. As long as their daughter was comfortable, Lord and Lady Jiang would do anything.
The maids in the room wore light clothing because the room was too warm, but Yan Yiming, due to her illness, remained bundled up and clung to a hand warmer for extra heat.
She had arrived earlier than Jiang Yi and had already been staying at the Jiang residence for nearly a month. It was only after that month that Lord Jiang sent for Jiang Yi to be brought over.
At the moment, Yan Yiming was curled up on the bed, studying Jiang Yi's card with Little A.
Jiang Yi's card was titled “Topping the Golden List,” meaning the timeline of this card would extend at least until after Jiang Yi achieved the top rank in the imperial examinations.
But Jiang Yi was only thirteen years old now. Yan Yiming roughly calculated: Nan Gongxuan was fourteen, Jian Yuyan was the same age as Jiang Yi at thirteen, and Nan Gongye was still a ten-year-old brat.
How amusing.
Yan Yiming chuckled for a while before realizing something as she counted the ages.
Jiang Yi was thirteen now, and although he was still young when he topped the imperial exams, he would be seventeen by then. That meant, for this round of the game, Yan Yiming would have to stay in this scenario for at least four years. Even if she completed the strategy guide and maxed out the affection meter, she would still have to wait until the entire storyline of this card was finished.
So, she would have to endure drinking bitter herbal medicine day and night, suffer from occasional angina, dread the cold in winter and the heat in summer, and struggle through four years with this fragile, failing body.
Yan Yiming suddenly felt a bit uneasy. Her emotions stirred, and she immediately coughed twice. Covering her chest, she coughed for a while before skeptically asking Little A, “Can this body really survive four years?”
“Theoretically, no,” Little A replied. “In fact, it was because Miss Jiang couldn't endure her heart condition and died that you took over her body. So, every day you're alive now is extra time granted by the system. As long as the system allows it, you can live as long as you want.”
Yan Yiming: “Can we use a nicer term?”
“Ah, then it's time to drift along,” Little A quickly switched to another phrase. “Since Miss Jiang is actually already deceased, once you max out Jiang Yi's favorability and complete the entire storyline of this card, this body will completely perish after you leave.”
Yan Yiming couldn't help but feel that, even before the story had properly begun, it already seemed to be taking a tragic turn.
The back of the card, like the others, featured Jiang Yi's tagline:
“Even a failure like me wants the power to protect you.”
“The future Chief Grand Secretary calling himself a failure is just too humble,” Yan Yiming couldn't help but sigh. Indeed, people are all different.
Besides that, Yan Yiming was curious: when exactly did Jian Yu'er, who was far away in Jinling, and Jiang Yi, who had been drifting around with Fifth Master Jiang, ever cross paths? And how did that encounter leave such a lasting impression on Jiang Yi that all his efforts were motivated by Jian Yu'er?
With so few clues at the moment, Yan Yiming could only set aside her curiosity for now and continue examining the front of Jiang Yi's card.
Among the four, Jiang Yi had the highest intelligence, which was the main reason he had achieved the prestigious “Triple First” honor and risen to a high position at such a young age. Nan Gongxuan and Jian Yuyan both had above-average intelligence, with initial card values around 100 by SR standards, while Jiang Yi's intelligence value was as high as 145.
Just like Jian Yuyan's emotional quotient and Nan Gongxuan's decision-making ability, there was always one standout attribute.
However, unlike these two, Nan Gongxuan and Jian Yuyan had obvious weaknesses, Nan Gongxuan's emotional quotient was too low, and Jian Yuyan's decision-making ability was too low. But Jiang Yi, aside from his exceptionally high intelligence, had no shortcomings in the other three attributes, all of which were at an above-average level.
Judging from his card stats, Jiang Yi had no weaknesses.
Even though he was only thirteen years old now, his card data hadn't changed due to his young age.
In other words, Jiang Yi could no longer be viewed through the lens of a child; he possessed intelligence that surpassed that of an adult.
And yet, such a genius, if she hadn't misheard, was even referred to with contempt by the maid serving Yan Yiming, who uttered the word “bastard.”
Bastard what?
Bastard.
Because he wasn't a child of the Jiang family, and because Old Madam Jiang deeply resented Jiang Yi's mother, she referred to Jiang Yi as nothing more than a “bastard.”
Now, even the maids dared to call him that behind his back.
Yan Yiming turned over and got out of bed. The maids hurried over, “Does the young lady want some water?”
“Help me get dressed.”
“Get dressed?” The maids were all taken aback. Looking at the heavy snowfall outside, they exclaimed in surprise, “The young lady is going out!”
The young lady was extremely afraid of the cold, so she would never go out on such a day. Why would she suddenly want to leave? If Lady Jiang found out, she would surely scold them.
Yan Yiming really didn't want to explain it to them. After repeated attempts to stop her, she grew angry and coldly ordered them to be silent, “I will speak to Mother myself. Help me get dressed.”
Although the young lady had a cool temperament, she was never one to tolerate disobedience. The maids immediately fell silent and quickly attended to Yan Yiming, helping her dress and finally draping a thick cloak over her.
The snow fell heavily, and the cold wind was biting. Even though she was bundled up tightly, she still felt very cold.
Since Jiang Yi had just arrived at the Jiang residence, the first person he would surely visit was Old Madam Jiang.
Old Madam Jiang's courtyard was located in the northernmost part of the Jiang residence, the farthest from Yan Yiming's own courtyard. Yan Yiming walked for nearly a quarter of an hour before she finally saw the vermilion gate.
As she approached the courtyard, she could hear the laughter of Old Madam Jiang and the other Jiang family children inside. Lifting her gaze, she saw the slender boy, dressed in thin clothes, standing quietly in the snow. Perhaps his frame was too frail, as the snow couldn't even linger on his shoulders for long.
Yan Yiming stood at the gate for a long time, watching. Under the puzzled gazes of the maids, she turned and headed toward the courtyard of Lord Jiang and Lady Jiang.
An unknown amount of time passed before Lord Jiang finally sent someone to bring Jiang Yi, who was already frozen stiff, into the house. That night, Jiang Yi was settled in a dilapidated courtyard at the southernmost part of the Jiang residence. On that bone-chilling night, the frail young man burned with a high fever, unconscious, yet no one knew of his plight.