Chapter 2: Chapter 2

"An Ning, why are you back so late? Were they bullying you again?" Seeing An Ning return at this hour, Xitara Wanqing from the opposite bed immediately changed her expression and rolled up her sleeves. An Ning quickly pulled her back.

After much persuasion, her friend finally gave up on seeking trouble and instead began gossiping with great interest. "By the way, do you know what I just heard in the imperial garden?"

If there was one thing about the original owner's best friend, it was that she was excellent in every way except for being overly fond of gossip. With her lively personality, she could chat with anyone and always happened to overhear others' conversations unintentionally. In modern terms, one might say she was born to be a gossip queen.

Seeing her mysterious expression, An Ning became genuinely curious for once. She took off her shoes and outer robe, climbing onto the bed to huddle under thick quilts together.

Two small, furry heads popped out from between two large quilt mounds on the bed.

For low-ranking palace servants, charcoal was a scarce commodity. Their allotted portion wasn't much to begin with, and after layers of deductions, it became pitifully little. Every winter, numerous eunuchs and maids froze to death, and since it wasn't the coldest season yet, they naturally conserved what they had. The room was freezing, and while this huddling looked undignified, it was warm!

On the bed, the two exchanged glances. An Ning signaled with her eyes: Ready, go ahead with your performance.

With their days of tacit agreement, Xitara Wanqing instantly understood. Opening her mouth, she spilled everything she'd learned that morning: "An Ning, have you heard? Zhang Jia Xiuyun—the one taken from the neighboring Chrysanthemum Garden to the Hall of Mental Cultivation recently—was made a concubine this morning and moved to Yonghe Palace! From now on, we'll have to address her as 'mistress'!"

Hearing Zhang Jia Xiuyun's name, An Ning's eyebrow twitched reflexively. Not because they had any enmity—they had no relationship whatsoever.

About a month ago, just before the original owner fell ill with high fever, a new batch of green chrysanthemums had arrived as tribute from Jiangnan. Supervisor Cui had planned to send the original owner to deliver them when the Emperor showed interest, using the flowers as pretext. With the original owner's looks, as long as she performed well, advancement would be guaranteed.

This had been arranged long ago—any opportunity to appear before the Emperor would be given to her.

But just before that, the meticulous original owner made a major mistake in her duties and was punished by the supervising auntie who disliked her, leading to prolonged high fever. Because of this, both the flower delivery and stay at the Hall of Mental Cultivation went to Zhang Jia Xiuyun. However, from An Ning's recent investigations with the system's help, the one who sabotaged the original owner was actually the niece of the Plum Garden's current supervising auntie, another maid with ambitions.

The scheme was discovered by Matron Cui, inadvertently benefiting Zhang Jia Xiuyun.

But was this really just luck?

An Ning had initially been suspicious of the beneficiary on principle, but now, within just one month, this woman had convinced the notoriously stingy Emperor Kangxi to promote her. This spoke volumes about her cleverness—there were numerous maids who had served the Emperor for years in the back halls of Qianqing Palace, some from good families, yet still remained ordinary maids!

This woman clearly had extraordinary methods.

Moreover, she was assigned to Yonghe Palace, residence of Consort De—the greatest antagonist in most Qing dynasty time-travel and rebirth novels. Something felt subtly off.

An Ning always trusted her intuition.

"System, tell me, are you hiding something?" An Ning narrowed her eyes.

"Well... since the original owner left early in this world, unlocking subsequent plotlines requires points," the system replied evasively, clearly guilty.

As a newbie, she had zero points.

"Ahem, as mentioned before, completing the wish-granter's desire at this world's conclusion will earn you substantial points!"

"How substantial?" An Ning suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Ahem, 10 to 100, depending on fulfillment degree."

"And unlocking subsequent plotlines?"

"20 points before mission completion."

Wow. Even landlords weren't this stingy.

"What about opening the system store?"

"That requires at least 100!"

Forget it. I'm done. An Ning felt dizzy—currently, she only had the space squeezed from the system earlier. There might be another character in the palace with unknown cheat abilities.

"An Ning, don't lose heart! Complete this world's mission perfectly, and you can open the store. Take it step by step—things will improve!"

An Ning wasn't in the mood to respond.

"Host, it's not completely non-negotiable..."

While her friend continued chattering gossip, after some "friendly" exchanges with the damn system, An Ning looked at the hard-won newbie package with twitching lips:

- One Beauty Pill (makes skin snow-white—a must-have for harem struggles! Lucky you, host!)

- One Subtle Scent Pill (what's a beauty without fragrance? This has elegant winter plum scent—heh, pervert~)

- One Intermediate Fertility Pill (100% success rate for harem battles! +50% quality. Ensures safe delivery. Work harder—higher-grade pills in store give +100%!)

- One cubic foot of spiritual spring water (given early but part of package! Small but useful! Don't complain—system worked hard for this! Work hard, Ningning! *cute dog emoji*)

What kind of nonsense was this?

Just seeing these items revealed the damn system's schemes. An Ning couldn't help clicking her tongue. But it would be disappointed—as she said before, harem struggles were impossible for a newbie like her now!

Especially with a potential "protagonist" around—who might have cheats. Why walk knowingly into danger?

Yet her gaze lingered on the fertility pill for two seconds. An Ning suddenly had a thought.

"Well? Changed your mind about becoming a favored consort?" The teacup-sized puppy system jumped around excitedly, nearly crying with joy, only to hear its host say slowly:

"Tomorrow's Lantern Festival means most imperial relatives will attend, right?"

"Yes! Wait—why are you asking?"

An Ning didn't answer further.

Seeing her host's determined look, the system suddenly had a bad feeling.