Chapter 74: My Son Possesses the Bearing of a Great Emperor

In short, the koi fish that hadn't had time to form a deep bond with Qin Ye departed with exceptional value. Unexpectedly, he encountered that ill-fated Lord Koi once again in a mission world.

Just as System Three was about to toss Qin Ye into the next mission world, it discovered it could no longer do so.

“No more missions for now. I want to rest.”

System Three: ???

Wait a minute—is this something you can do or not do at your own whim? With such high-level authority, does the Department Head know about this?

System Three was utterly bewildered, but it soon realized that if Qin Ye was unwilling, it couldn’t so much as move a hair on his head. It was just like a mite trying to shake the human body it was parasitizing—limited, powerless, deluded.

Qin Ye left it with a single, cold statement: “We’ll resume missions in seven days. You should take a break too.”

System Three: …

Thanks, but systems like it don’t need vacations.

As soon as Qin Ye finished speaking, his figure faded from the throne and vanished, clearly having left the system space.

System Three immediately felt as if days dragged on like years.

With nothing to do, it decided to check in on the ending of the previous world—primarily, to see the outcome of the original protagonist.

After all, System Three was still new to the job, and this was the first time it had encountered a Stabilization Division tasker in a mission world.

After losing her koi blood, Qin Sui-sui’s fate returned to normal. Luckily, the affection her parents had for her since childhood was so deeply ingrained it became habit. Even without the luck she once siphoned from others, she wasn’t entirely relegated to her former status. However, the boyfriend who’d benefited from her ability to bring fortune—whose own situation had improved because of her—soon became fed up after her luck ran dry.

In the end, he made off with all of her family’s assets and disappeared without a trace.

This was in the early 2000s, when the SkyNet system wasn’t as omnipresent as it would be in later years, nor did one need a letter of introduction to travel as in the 1980s.

Even if the Qin family reported the theft, they could not recover their lost savings.

Years of accumulation vanished overnight. Qin Long immediately harbored resentment toward his daughter.

The once harmonious family bonds began to crack.

Qin Sui-sui blamed Qin Long for lacking the capabilities of her uncle, while Qin Long blamed Qin Sui-sui for the family’s financial loss. Father and daughter could no longer stand the sight of each other.

As for Zhao Xiaoyan, who seemed to have replaced the cannon-fodder status of Qin Zhizhi and her sister, once her own fortune was no longer maliciously siphoned, she quickly broke free from her cage.

Freed, Zhao Xiaoyan chose to leave her hometown and struggle alone in the outside world, eventually building up her own business.

After reading through the protagonist’s ending, System Three fell once more into the tragic situation of a system left behind.

It wasn’t until exactly seven days had passed, not a day more or less, that Qin Ye returned, and System Three, full of grievance, finally sent him into a new mission world.

Qin Ye, upon returning to the system space, was immediately dispatched to the mission world to complete his task.

Qin Ye didn’t resist. Although his mood during the break had been mixed, at least he’d enjoyed some good moments. Besides, work is work.

Yet, this time, something felt different.

“Master, there has been no word from the Madam’s family for ages. She has no one to rely on, yet she dares to disrespect the Old Madam simply because she bore the eldest and second young masters. She even dared to offend the Old Madam. If you don’t discipline her properly today, the Old Madam will have no place in this house in the future.”

Qin Ye sat upright in the grand armchair. His hand, guided by muscle memory, reached out and immediately stroked a strand of elegant beard beneath his chin.

Below him, a beautiful woman sat collapsed on the floor, clutching two young children aged around six or seven. At his lower right sat a bevy of richly adorned women.

The woman speaking now was dressed in red, hair adorned with pins, her voice brimming with satisfaction and malice as she incited others.

Qin Ye did not reply but closed his eyes.

The original body’s memories surged toward him like a dazzling crystal, unstoppable. The memories were, in fact, quite ordinary.

He’d grown up in a well-off family. In his youth, his father’s business failed, and the family fell on hard times. Clinging shamelessly to his father’s old friends, and leveraging what little they had, he managed to latch onto a daughter of the Cui family.

Now, that very woman—collapsed, grief-stricken, being pointed at from above—was the beautiful madam.

The Cui family had once been powerful and wealthy, but later declined, much like the Qin family.

After marrying, the support of the Cui family revived the Qin family. But soon after, the Qins relocated back to their ancestral home.

Initially, the Qins treated the Cui daughter decently, since her family was still influential.

But once the head of the Cui family died, the male heirs were demoted, and the family fell into poverty, relying on married daughters for support. The Qins’ attitude changed overnight, turning harsh toward her.

The original host had first crafted the image of a devoted husband—taking concubines only under the pressure of societal expectations, claiming his heart was only for his wife.

But when the Cui family lost its power, his true nature emerged. He willingly took in the cousin who’d followed him unmarried, along with other beauties sent by various families.

The household soon filled with a flock of concubines.

As for his wife, she was naturally neglected.

He ignored her, and the Old Madam—once a kindly figure—became a vicious old hag. The more benevolent she’d once appeared, the more venomous she became, as if all her former kindness was a source of shame that now needed to be avenged on the Cui woman.

With the other concubines pregnant, the old hag began to disregard even her two grandsons. Once, she’d been careful not to upset them, but now she tormented them alongside their mother.

The two boys, their status even lower than the household’s illegitimate daughters, faced daily hunger and bullying from the opportunistic servants.

Initially, they still believed their father and grandmother would protect them, clenching their small fists and saying they’d tell on their bullies. But when they did, the old lady merely brushed them off, and eventually didn’t bother to respond at all.

As for their father, he’d always been indifferent to the two children.

Perhaps it was because, when he married the Cui woman, his own status was low, and for her, he was a step down. Forced by the Cui family’s power to treat her well, he’d held on to resentment.

Currently, the original host had three sons and four daughters. The eldest and second sons were by the legal wife, the Cui woman.

The eldest and second daughters were by the cousin who, when her family was even poorer than the Qins, had taken refuge in their home. The third daughter was by a newly acquired concubine. The third son and fourth daughter were by a maid sent by the cousin.

The woman now pointing and inciting, suggesting that failing to punish the lady would be unfilial, was Aunt Xing, the maid who’d borne a son and daughter. Her strongest support was the Old Madam and her original mistress. Moreover, her son was the youngest child—if the two elder brothers fell, her son’s future would be brighter.

She hardly needed anyone’s encouragement—she was all too eager to lead the charge.

Given all this, by their group’s standards, could the original host’s obsession possibly be a harmonious family, with all children loving each other?

Qin Ye was full of questions, but soon sensed the original host’s obsession: to reverse the bad opinion the eldest and second sons had of the Qin family, so they wouldn’t abandon him in the future. Ideally, they’d even make him a sort of retired emperor…

But the following memories left Qin Ye speechless. The original host, thinking the Cui family powerless, tormented his wife mercilessly—only for her younger brother to join the army incognito, rise to the rank of general, and return in glory to visit his sister and nephews.

There, he found his sister on the brink of death, his nephews living like dogs.

Furious at the Qins' inhumanity, Cui Ge, who’d spent his youth on the battlefield, beat the original host to within an inch of his life.

The old hag was so frightened she nearly lost her soul, the family’s wealth was carted away, and the Qins ended up beggars, their fate wretched.

The rescued wife and her sons quickly became famous, while news of their rise left the Qins—especially the original host—regretting their actions bitterly.

Qin Ye: …

As he stood there, feeling at a loss, the white silk curtain fell.

Xu Yinglan was reborn. She knew that chaos would soon engulf the world, and that her cousin, Wen Baiyu—whom she’d always looked down on for his poverty and decline—would seize the opportunity and become emperor.

In her previous life, the Wen and Xu families had been betrothed since childhood, but she’d scorned her handsome but impoverished cousin and refused to honor the engagement. Her doting mother schemed to have Wen Baiyu seduced by an unloved illegitimate daughter, forcing her to marry him instead.

But in the end, Wen Baiyu became emperor, and the empress's seat that should have been hers went to her “lucky” half-sister.

Driven from pillar to post in those troubled times, Xu Yinglan suffered, while her half-sister, having fulfilled the engagement, was cherished and honored by Wen Baiyu—even if he didn’t love her, he still protected and elevated her.

Upon awakening in her new life, Xu Yinglan resolved to change everything. This time, no one would steal her destined wealth and glory.

Qin Ye blinked—ah, a reborn one.

Seeing him remain silent, Aunt Xing grew anxious. “Master, how should we deal with the Madam? Please, give your word!”

“Oh, let her go to the Bamboo Courtyard to reflect. She may not come out until she realizes her mistake.” Qin Ye replied, unconcerned.