Chapter 81

Only then did Yan Yiming realize she was moving. The sound of carriage wheels rolling over the ground echoed in her ears. She lifted the curtain and glanced outside, mountains and rivers intertwined, pavilions and halls exquisitely crafted, flowers and trees flourishing in abundance.
One glance told her this was a scene from Jiangnan, perhaps Suzhou, perhaps Hangzhou.
The temperature was neither too cold nor too hot, and she could quickly sense it was late spring, early summer.
Inside the carriage, she was alone. The carriage was spacious and exceptionally luxurious. Instead of the simple wooden benches typical of ordinary carriages, it had a soft couch large enough for her to rest on. A small drawer nearby held snacks and books, while a securely fixed table held a purple clay teapot, steady and unmoving.
This time, her status was clearly one of wealth and privilege.
But honestly, there was no need for me to guess, especially since she had the divine tool, Little A, by her side.
Little A had been cowering quietly ever since they re-entered this world, not daring to utter a word unless its host spoke first. Finally, when the host leisurely turned their gaze toward it, it immediately straightened up, waiting for instructions.
“Speak. What exactly did you mean by 'completing all storylines'? How can I go back? What is my identity this time? And where are we heading now?”
A barrage of questions. Little A hurriedly processed them in its mind before answering them one by one.
“'Completing all storylines means that all the stories in the real game have reached their conclusion. So, host, you must stay here until the story reaches its end as well.”
Yan Yiming leaned back against the soft pillow and hummed in acknowledgment. “Go on.”
Reaching the end simply meant the story was over, but that answer was too vague. The story had four male leads and one female lead, what exactly constituted an ending?
“Each character has their own corresponding ending, just like in the game. For example, Nan Gongxuan's final outcome is to become the ruler of the world. As long as he successfully ascends the throne, his storyline is considered complete.”
“What about the others?”
Little A hesitated slightly at the mention of the others but didn't dare hide anything this time and began to explain honestly.
The biggest hidden plotline in the script was Jian Yuyan's identity, the orphan of the previous dynasty, burdened with the mission of restoring his nation. According to the original plot, Jian Yuyan eventually turned against Nan Gongxuan and Jian Yu'er, leading the former dynasty's loyalists, headed by Chancellor Jian, to stage a coup.
However, since Nan Gongxuan ultimately ascended the throne, it meant the restoration ultimately failed, though the process was rather complicated.
Chancellor Jian had planned for years. At that time, Jian Yuyan married the daughter of General Wei, who commanded the imperial guards of the capital. Through Jian Yu'er, he also won over the two most favored rising stars of the court, Jiang Yi and Shao Jingyu, while the Nan clan remained completely in the dark. After the coup, the emperor, empress, and crown prince were forced to leave the capital and head to Nan Gongye's base in Beiping.
But if the coup was successful, why did Jian Yuyan ultimately fail? This is where our female lead, Jian Yu'er, played her part.
Jian Yu'er woke up one day to find her identity had changed. According to Chancellor Jian, her status had become even more noble. However, influenced by her upbringing, Jian Yu'er had a strong moral compass. Though shocked to learn that Jian Yuyan was the prince of the previous dynasty, she still believed their actions amounted to rebellion.
That period was the most remarkable part of the entire plot for Jian Yu'er. Although the official narrative exaggerated her persuasive abilities, it was indeed her efforts that led Shao Jingyu to withdraw in time.
Jian Yu'er cleverly targeted Shao Jingyu as her breakthrough. Without Chancellor Jian and Jian Yuyan's knowledge, she successfully persuaded Shao Jingyu to switch sides, then began lobbying Jiang Yi. To her surprise, she discovered that Jiang Yi had actually been acting all along.
Jiang Yi truly lived up to being the intellectual representative among everyone. Initially recruited by Chancellor Jian, even Chancellor Jian failed to realize that Jiang Yi had been playing along from the very start.
He had sensed early on that Chancellor Jian’s approach was not without ulterior motives. After gaining the chancellor’s trust, he uncovered a shocking secret and, without revealing his intentions, positioned himself as a hidden chess piece on Chancellor Jian’s side. In the end, he became the most crucial figure in ensuring Nan Gongxuan’s ascension to the throne.
As for Jian Yuyan, his desire to restore the former dynasty was never particularly strong. Witnessing the people’s suffering later filled him with regret, and he secretly worked to further dismantle Chancellor Jian’s influence. In the end, thanks to Jian Yu’er’s intervention, he relinquished all his ambitions, withdrew from the court, and disappeared into the jianghu.
As for Jian Yu’er, Nan Gongxuan deliberately spared her life. However, with her entire family dead, she eventually vanished, and no one knew where she had gone.
Nan Gongxuan ascended the throne, Jiang Yi abolished the position of chancellor and established a cabinet, becoming the first chief minister. Shao Jingyu ultimately balanced his merits and faults, Jian Yuyan retreated into the jianghu, and Jian Yu’er was never seen again.
Yan Yiming had guessed the outcomes of the four male leads with about eighty to ninety percent accuracy, but Jian Yu’er’s ending was something she had never anticipated.
Yet, upon reflection, it made perfect sense.
She remained loyal to her country and its people but failed to protect her family. In the end, she chose to leave.
A heroine with such profound loyalty and righteousness truly deserved the admiration of so many.
“Shao Jingyu has already severed ties with the Shao family, and the current emperor has shown him favor, so naturally, he won’t be used by Chancellor Jian as in the original plot. Therefore, Shao Jingyu’s storyline can conclude naturally, and we can temporarily set aside his thread. However, it’s important to note that without Shao Jingyu’s support, Chancellor Jian will inevitably seek new allies. You need to identify this hidden agent,” Little A said, marking Shao Jingyu with an “X” in her notebook, eliminating one possibility.
Yan Yiming took the pen and circled Jiang Yi. “But because Jian Yu’er caused him to miss his final meeting with me, Jiang Yi cut off contact with the Jian family afterward, missing the opportunity to uncover Chancellor Jian’s plot to rebel.”
“Smart,” Little A gave a thumbs-up, flattering her before continuing, “Without Jiang Yi discovering Chancellor Jian’s rebellion as before, Nan Gongxuan might not ascend the throne smoothly. So, your task as the host is to create an opportunity for Jiang Yi to learn of this secret again, or to tell him yourself, provided you can make him trust you. However, the system stipulates that you cannot reveal your former identity.”
And I wouldn’t reveal it anyway, doing so would only bring trouble, especially with Jiang Yi. Among the four, he was the only one who made her feel a bit of psychological burden.
Lastly, there was Jian Yuyan.
Jian Yuyan lost his lover due to the cause of restoring the kingdom, and from then on, he began to reject the grand mission of restoration. This made Chancellor Jian wary of him, fearing that he might falter in the future or, in extreme cases, even pose a threat to Jian Yuyan's safety and freedom.
However, as one of the male leads, the system probably wouldn’t let him fall so easily, so Jian Yuyan’s storyline could be set aside for now.
To sum it up, the biggest breakthrough now still lies with Jiang Yi. In other words, the main priority is to make Jiang Yi aware of this matter; the rest can be dealt with gradually.
It had already been three years since the last attempt at winning him over. Yan Yiming curiously checked the current status of the main male leads.
Nan Gongxuan had taken a concubine but still had no children. Jiang Yi, Jian Yuyan, and Shao Jingyu remained unmarried. What surprised her the most, yet felt reasonable, was Jian Yu’er.
Jian Yu’er was already past twenty and still unmarried, making her what people called an “old maid.” But it made sense, after all, she was the female lead, and in the original game, she had remained unmarried as well.
The only difference was that, due to the sudden rise of a female general, the emperor had begun to value women serving as officials. Several women had entered the palace as court officials, and Jian Yu’er was among them.
“All of this is a chain reaction caused by you, Host,” Little A sighed.
“Valuing women as officials is a good thing. It’s great,” Yan Yiming said. Feeling a bit uncomfortable sitting, she lay down and moved on to the next question. “So, what’s my identity this time? Oh, and find me a mirror. I want to see how my face turned out this time.”
Little A conjured a mirror out of thin air and said, “Host, you entered the system too quickly this time. The system didn’t have time to customize your face, so it directly used your own. But it’s not your real self-appearing, it’s a data composite. To be precise, your data was used to create the face.”
Yan Yiming had a pair of exceptionally beautiful phoenix eyes, completely opposite to Jian Yu’er’s yet no less striking. Hers was the most flamboyant and radiant appearance, with a tiny red mole at the corner of her eye adding a touch of allure.
Now, with her hair styled in elegant clouds and dressed in luxurious attire, she felt she didn’t quite look like her former self. Yan Yiming comforted herself, thinking it was probably because she had grown used to other faces and wasn’t yet accustomed to her original features.
“And my identity? This carriage looks even more dazzling than the one from the Duke of Ding’s residence. It shouldn’t be worse than my previous status, right?”
“Of course not!” Little A said proudly. “Host, your identity this time is the daughter of the Prince of Jiangxia. That makes you a princess, naturally, it’s extraordinary.”
“The Prince of Jiangxia?”
“The Prince of Jiangxia is the only non-imperial prince personally enfeoffed by the emperor. He was ordered to guard the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. However, his hidden identity is as another major ally secretly aligned with Chancellor Jian. There are still two years left before Chancellor Jian makes his move. The Prince of Jiangxia is using the pretext of marrying off his daughter to send someone to the capital to assist Chancellor Jian.”
“Marrying off his daughter? Marrying me off? To whom?”
“To the most honorable Crown Prince, of course! Nan Gongxuan doesn’t have a principal consort yet!”
Holy crap, Yan Yiming rarely blurted out a phrase from her hometown. Anyone would do, but why did it have to be Nan Gongxuan? And then, Yan Yiming realized.
“If he’s a hidden antagonist, why would he marry his own daughter to Nan Gongxuan?”
“Hahaha, the host is clever. So, marrying off the daughter is just a pretext. This princess is actually going there to communicate with and assist Chancellor Jian. Chancellor Jian has promised that once Jian Yuyan ascends the throne, he will let the princess marry him. So, nominally, she is marrying Nan Gongxuan, but in reality, she is aiming for Jian Yuyan.”
That made sense. Yan Yiming nodded.
So now that she had become this princess, the important task of establishing friendly relations between the two sides fell on her shoulders.
Excellent. This identity was truly excellent.
Whether it was gaining the trust of both sides or sabotaging them, it was incredibly convenient.
This stop was Hangzhou. It was said that the emperor had specially dispatched a high-ranking minister from his side to receive her, demonstrating his regard for the Prince of Jiangxia.
The carriage slowly came to a halt in front of an exquisite villa. Outside the window, a maidservant whispered softly that they had arrived. Yan Yiming took the veil and tied it on, hearing the official in charge of escorting her, Minister Chen, speaking with someone not far away.
That person’s voice was clear and pleasant, and Yan Yiming felt it was somewhat familiar. After stepping out of the carriage, she looked up and saw a man dressed in a two-toned purple court robe, which clearly indicated he held a position of the third rank or higher. His tall figure stood in the morning light, exuding an even more imposing aura of nobility.
Yan Yiming stared at the familiar yet slightly changed features and felt a jolt. Jiang Yi’s gaze fell upon her, his handsome features revealing a formal smile.
“This humble official has been ordered to welcome the princess to the capital. Greetings, Princess.”