[System No. 12345 is always at your service.]
Just then, the system replied to her. Lin Qiao got even angrier. What a useless system! Service my ass! Your host is being taken advantage of!
Lin Qiao withdrew her hand and pretended to get the medicine. She forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty is joking. It's Your Majesty's great fortune that you've survived."
Luo Siyuan laughed even more lasciviously. "When I'm fully recovered, the Empress will truly become the Empress."
Bah! Old lecher. Just wait to die!
Lin Qiao was like a version of Pan Jinlian in the imperial palace, scheming how to get rid of her nominal husband.
Then...
Become the Empress Dowager, live in the harem in comfort, hold great power, and enjoy her later years. Hehe...
However, Lin Qiao didn't forget the reality. It was still the time to be humble. So she lowered her eyes and said meekly, "Your Majesty, I haven't come of age yet."
"Oh," Luo Siyuan seemed to lose much of his interest. "The Empress should grow up quickly. Don't keep me waiting impatiently. Such beauty should not be wasted."
Lin Qiao started to drift off. She recalled when she first transmigrated into the book. Although she was always afraid of being made into a human swine, this face of the bewitching beauty who would bring ruin to the country was really freaking gorgeous.
The book described Lin Qiao in great detail: She was dressed in red. Under her slender jade neck, her breasts were like creamy white jade, half-hidden. Her slender waist was so thin that it could hardly be grasped. Her almond eyes were full of charm and coquettishness, like a misty lake. Her small mouth was slightly upturned, and her red lips were slightly parted, as if inviting people to kiss her. She was a bewitching beauty who exuded charm from the bottom of her bones.
In appearance, she definitely had the potential to be a bewitching beauty who would bring ruin to the country.
If she looked like this in modern times, just taking pictures and posting on Weibo every day, she could live a wealthy life without worries. Maybe she could even be one of Wang Sicong's ex-girlfriends...
"Chen'er lost his mother recently. No one is protecting him, so his life is hard," Luo Siyuan looked into the distance. After a pause, he said, "You don't have a child yet. Adopt Chen'er."
Lin Qiao was still missing the national husband Wang Sicong. She didn't react for a moment. "Yes, Your Majesty, I will obey—"
... Wait a minute—
No way! The time for adoption has been advanced?!
Does that mean the time for me to be made into a human swine will also be advanced?!!
Help! I haven't lived enough...
As the saying goes, raise sons to provide for one's old age...
But!
This son will make me not live to old age!
Lin Qiao came to Yongshou Palace tearfully.
Yongshou Palace was the residence of Luo Nanchen's mother, Concubine Rou. Ironically, when Luo Siyuan bestowed this palace, he had the good wish of making Concubine Rou live a long life.
But unfortunately, things are changeable. The emperor's favor didn't last long, and she didn't live a long life either.
According to the timeline in the original book, Concubine Rou should have been fine at this time, and there was no problem at all. In the end, she was personally given death by the original owner in front of herself.
But now, Concubine Rou has died of illness.
Lin Qiao couldn't figure out what went wrong. If the timeline was wrong, it would be a matter of her life! Concubine Rou's death was advanced, the adoption of Luo Nanchen was advanced, then wouldn't her being made into a human swine also be advanced?!!
The more Lin Qiao thought about it, the more scared she became. She knocked on the system several times, but the system didn't respond.
Just now it was System No. 12345 at your service, but now when it's needed, it's nowhere to be found. It's really timely when there's no problem, but becomes mute when there's a problem.
Bah! Useless system.
Luo Nanchen was kneeling in front of the memorial tablet, with his back to Lin Qiao. His small body was sobbing softly, looking very thin.
An old eunuch beside him saw Lin Qiao and quickly knelt down to salute. "Greetings, Empress Dowager."
"Get up."
The old eunuch said to Luo Nanchen, "Sixth Prince, the Empress Dowager is here. Sixth Prince—"
Luo Nanchen spoke. His voice was still as childish as the day she entered the palace, but now there was more sarcasm and coldness. "So what if it's the Empress Dowager?"
Lin Qiao didn't care about Luo Nanchen's tone.
After all, in this situation, no one could care.
The simple mourning hall didn't even have elegiac couplets. There was an oil lamp burning on the offering table in the mourning hall, called the "ever-burning lamp". In the middle of the offering table was the memorial tablet of Concubine Rou. On the memorial tablet was Luo Nanchen's childish handwriting, 'The Tablet of My Late Mother, Nangong Rou'. The writing was so deep that it seemed to penetrate the wood.
Luo Nanchen was already eleven years old, but his body was only about eight or nine years old. And since the day she entered the palace and saw Luo Nanchen, he had always been dirty. Obviously, Luo Nanchen and Concubine Rou didn't live well. Even when Concubine Rou was alive, they often went hungry.
Lin Qiao walked over. "Luo Nanchen."
Her tone was flat, without any emotion. This should not be out of character, and it shouldn't deduct her B-rank.
Damn it. If it's deducted again, she'll have to go to the underworld.
Luo Nanchen didn't look up, as if Lin Qiao didn't exist.
Lin Qiao continued in a cold voice. "Let's go. Go to Changle Palace."
Maybe Lin Qiao pretended too well and her tone was really too cold. The old eunuch beside her was already sweating coldly. He also urged Luo Nanchen. "Sixth Prince, you've been guarding here for three days. Concubine Rou will be gratified in the afterlife. Please go with the Empress Dowager."
Lin Qiao took a deep breath. "Luo Nanchen, don't make me lose my patience."
Luo Nanchen finally looked up at her. The corners of his eyes were red, and his eyes were full of disdain. "The Empress Dowager has made me understand a poem."
Lin Qiao didn't say a word, waiting for him to continue.
"If life were just like the first encounter."
Although this poem was about love, Lin Qiao didn't react. She just thought that Luo Nanchen, a child, didn't understand the meaning of the poem. "Hey, you little brat—"
"If time could stop half a month ago..." Luo Nanchen stared at Lin Qiao with red eyes, stubborn and determined. "I won't recognize you as my mother. You'll never be my mother."
Lin Qiao took a deep breath and said in the harshest tone but with the most sincere words. "Let me tell you. First, don't blame me for your mother's death. I don't know her, and I have nothing to do with her.
"Second, do you think I'm willing to have a half-grown son like you? You're ungrateful, always hungry, and likely to stab me in the back.
"Third, even if it's not me, your father will arrange you to someone else. You'll have another mother. It's better to take advantage of me who has great power. I know you're smart. Think it over yourself."
After saying all this without taking a breath, Lin Qiao let out a long sigh.
She was really risking her life to negotiate with Luo Nanchen. After all, all the bravado and toughness she showed now would be the knives Luo Nanchen would stab into her in the future.
[Congratulations to the host for completing one of the tasks in the primary stage, threatening the male protagonist.]
[B-rank increased by 20. Current B-rank is 20.]
??? The system shows up now?
Such a useless afterthought.