He pulled out the Zhu hairpin from his hair, removed the bracelet from his wrist and finally felt more refreshed. Once again, he turned to face the system"s data.
The protagonist wasn"t in good health when he was taken by Kang Run. He had been poisoned, but he kept it a secret from them. The poison was very strange. It did not affect the person"s body, but instead, it would slowly destroy the poisoned person"s appearance. The protagonist didn"t want the others to worry, so he would cover his face with a bamboo hat all day not revealing his face towards anyone. Kang Run and the others thought that he had been bullied by Shen Tingwei, so he was in a bad mood and didn"t want to see people. They didn"t ask any questions, only patiently accompanied him and tried to coax him.
After choosing a good place to live in seclusion and settling down, the poison in the protagonist"s body became increasingly serious. Gradually, not just his appearance was affected, even his personality changed. Kang Run and the others finally realized that something was wrong. After talking with each other, they gathered together and had a heart-to-heart talk with the protagonist. The protagonist finally told them the truth. Taking off the hat and veil he was wearing the entire time, he expressed that he wouldn"t force them to stay and that those who couldn"t accept it could choose to leave. The male leads were shocked, and then one by one all said they wouldn"t leave. Their love for him was irreversible and would last until the seas run dry and the stones go soft.
Kang Run found an antidote pill that could cure a hundred poisons for the protagonist. After eating it, although the protagonist"s appearance couldn"t return to what it used to be, he finally lost the concern about his life. He lived a steady and happy life with the male leads, and the male leads were more considerate and tolerant than before.
Life seemed to be stable and peaceful but it was just a facade. Their lover was poisoned by Shen Tingwei. How could the male leads not hate him? After coaxing the protagonist, they began to sneak back to the capital in turns, gathering power to find a chance to kill Shen Tingwei
So, Shen Tingwei, whose wife had run off, began experiencing the ‘going out for a walk and a flower pot fell out of the sky", ‘stepping on nails when out riding", and ‘going out for a drink and had the misfortune of getting involved in a Jianghu fight" kind of unlucky days. Finally, after overcoming the last pit set for him, he decided to simply pack up his things and go back to the border.
Half a year later, the war at the border was tense. Under the meticulous planning of Kang Run and the others, Shen Tingwei stepped into the enemy"s trap and died. The male leads retired successfully and returned to the protagonist"s side to finally start their secluded days.
After Shen Tingwei"s death, the balanced border war became one-sided. The enemy quickly broke through the defensive line and invaded Hua Country, heading straight for the capital.
When the protagonist gave birth to his first child, Hua Country lost most of its cities; when the protagonist gave birth to his second child, Hua Country had been destroyed; when the protagonist gave birth to his third child, Hua Country had become the back garden of another country; when the protagonist gave birth to his fourth child, under the leadership of Hua Country"s royal family orphan, the Hua people went down the path of taking their country back.
The four male leads who all satisfactorily had children finally decided to pay attention to the changing outside world. At first, they were shocked and full of grief after learning that their country had been destroyed and most of their families had died. Then, they resolutely decided to join the army to take back their country.
More than 20 years later, the Hua people finally recovered the land that had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away and occupied by the enemy for that time. Unfortunately, the royal family orphan who led them to achieve this great goal died of illness shortly after the coronation and left no heirs behind. After a period of confusion, the ministers settled on Zhan Xuemi after considering that he was the only person that had blood relations with the royal family, and tried to push him to the top. He was reluctant but got persuaded by the protagonist.
After Zhan Xuemi ascended the throne, he declared the protagonist as the empress and refused to expand the harem. He also conferred the t.i.tle of princes to the protagonist"s four children. The ministers had a lot of complaints regarding this, but their fear of the male leads" power and violent, b.l.o.o.d.y methods made them dare not to say anything. They could only press down the anger in their hearts.
A few decades later, the male leads pa.s.sed away one after another. Afterwards, the long-living protagonist picked one of his sons to become emperor and began to rule from the shadows. Several years later, Hua Country gradually moved from prosperity to decline, until the country was plunged into a national crisis again.
The day before the enemy country invaded the imperial city, the protagonist finally died of old age. The emperor, who had been suppressed by him for many years, hastily buried him and ran away with his trusted aide with the intention of learning from the previous generation of leaving and then reclaiming the country. This time though, the enemy"s deputy chief was clever. Instead of using an appeas.e.m.e.nt policy like decades before, after taking over the capital city of Hua Country, they enacted a ruthless ethnic purging policy.
Hua Country became a purgatory on earth and the emperor and trusted aide were angered. They abandoned the idea of concealing themselves to preserve and nurture their strength. With private soldiers and some of the brave citizens of Hua Country, they infiltrated the enemy country and began fighting back, starting from the small villages.
Just like that, the hatred between the two countries grew extensively until they finally reached the point where neither would stop until the other was destroyed. Both countries completely sank into chaos and upon seeing this, the other countries took the opportunity to invade, triggering a world war. In another few decades, after the postwar treaties between all the countries dissolved, the world ended.
The text on the screen stopped rolling and Ye Zhizhou couldn"t help pinching his thigh. The plot of the world is really… He really doesn"t know how to describe it…
Suddenly there was a noise outside the garret. He got up to open the door and saw a rather small, middle-aged man climbing up a ladder while holding a food box.
Yes, a ladder. The garret he was in was actually suspended, roughly 3 or 4 meters above the first floor. There was no staircase, only a ladder to climb up and down.
When he realized this, he drew a sharp intake of breath. This suspended garret was actually an aerial prison cell?
The middle-aged man climbed up and put the food box at his feet while glancing at him coldly. He spoke apathetically, “Young lady, I advise you to be more careful and stop trying to court death. The young master will not come to see you. You"re just a shu son that married in as a replacement bride. You think you can become the honorable young madam of the Shen family? Stop daydreaming!" After talking, he rolled his eyes and went back down the ladder. When he got down, he moved the ladder away and left while humming a song.
Ye Zhizhou"s mood at the moment could only be described as if he got shocked by five lightning bolts.
“Tongtian… What did you say this body was called?"
[Zou Ming.]
"Just a moment ago, what did that man say?!" Replacement bride? Shen family"s young madam? Isn"t that the protagonist Zou Lan"s setting?!
The light screen flashed as if it was testing the data, and then new words appeared. [The system has given all the information, please trust the system. ]
What a familiar explanation… He rubbed his face and wanted to ask again, but he wasn"t careful and stepped on the long hem of his changpao. His movement was too large when he was trying to stabilize himself, and he ended up kicking the food box directly off the table beside his feet.
Crash! Bang!
The food box and the dishes inside it hit the ground. The emptiness of the first floor infinitely amplified the ear-piercing crashing sound, which made people get a jump scare. The middle-aged man rushed back up and screamed after he saw the hideous mess of food on the floor. He looked up to curse at Ye Zhizhou who was looking down, “Zou Lan! Don"t act so excessively! It doesn"t matter if you have the ability to smash things! I"m going to inform the Old Madam right now to let her drive you away! When that happens, let"s see if you"ll continue to act like this!
The middle-aged man hastily tidied up the mess and then angrily left. Ye Zhizhou tore off the long robe hem and immediately sat down on the ground. After a moment of silence, he asked quietly, “Tongtian, just then, why did that man call me Zou Lan?”
[The system has already given all the information.]
The leftover smell of the meal lingered in the air. Ye Zhizhou sniffed a few times before taking out a bagful of buns from his s.p.a.ce to resolve his hunger problem. He then carefully looked through the information.
First, he checked over the timeline and saw that plot development was at about half a year after Zou Lan became the replacement bride. He frowned and rubbed his chin. No matter how he looked at it, his situation right now did not look like Zou Ming, who was sent to hide in the countryside, but more like Zou Lan, who was confined to a remote courtyard by the Shen family. It"s almost impossible that the system would make a mistake on an important issue such as ident.i.ty… What"s going on? Isn"t this a subst.i.tution marriage situation? How come, at this moment, it looks like Zou Ming married in place of himself, under his brother"s name?
… Could it be that there is a plot hole in the system"s information?
[The plot information is correct, please trust the system.]
He looked at the screen and his brows furrowed tensely. Since the system information is correct, then… Suddenly, the plot of Sihan"s world flashed through his mind. His heart jumped and he rubbed his forehead.
It can"t be…, Another racc.o.o.n cat becoming the prince situation?
Promptly flipping through the plot information again, he looked more attentively and found some clues. When Zou Lan and Zou Ming were four years old, they both had smallpox. Old Madam Zou was worried about being infected as well and had both children sent to the countryside for two years, regardless of her daughter-in-law"s objections. She did not bring them back to the capital until they completely recovered. During this time, they were taken care of by Tao Dong, who contracted smallpox in her childhood.
They returned to the capital two years later. The previous gentle, quiet and lovable Zou Ming became charming and domineering while the lively and energetic Zou Lan, grew quiet instead, sometimes acting foolishly and was not very recognizable.
Not very recognizable… His heart sank. Two years is enough to change a lot of things, but if one wanted to swap children, how did they deal with the problem of appearance?
He switched off the information screen and walked across the garret to stand in front of the dresser mirror. The obviously delicate and beautiful face he saw in the reflection of the small mirror became ordinary and average in the half-length dresser mirror. In the system"s description, Zou Ming was the capital"s most beautiful person… He took out the small mirror, looked at it and saw the delicate and beautiful face again.
Two mirrors, two different appearances.
He put down the small mirror and felt his seemingly normal face. He asked, “Tongtian, is there something wrong with you or is there a problem with this body"s face?”
The small mirror shook, seeming very dissatisfied with his query. The light screen flickered before it popped up with huge words [After system upgrade, the system now has a demon revealing function, it can penetrate through all false appearances.]
A face this plain is actually a facade? He couldn"t feel anything was wrong when he touched it!
“Give this body a scan.”
The light screen faded away and transformed into a light beam that scanned his body.
It stopped briefly on his face before a light screen popped out. [Body is healthy. Excellent fertility. Residue of poisonous substance on face. Suitable Pill: Meiyan Pill. ]
As expected…
“Can you do a scan to determine how long the poisonous substance has existed??”
The light beam swept up and down his face again and then a light screen popped out [More than ten years. The poison residue left behind is too heavy, there is a risk of disfigurement. ]
He sat at the table, lost in thought.
Now, it is almost certain that Tao Dong swapped Zou Lan and Zou Ming the year they had smallpox. It"s no wonder that Tao Dong was so heartless to his ‘son" in the original plot. It turned out the truth was that the two had swapped their ident.i.ties when they were young. So when they swapped places for the marriage, it was the fake Zou Ming knocking out the real Zou Ming, and then having the real Zou Ming marry his original fiancé under Zou Lan"s ident.i.ty?
So the person who had the harem was actually Zou Ming… Wait, it"s not actually Zou Ming. After committing suicide by jumping into the river, the real Zou Ming"s soul had already gone up to heaven. The person who used his body transmigrated from the modern era, but from the start, his real name was never mentioned…
Then in a sense… Wasn"t he the protagonist of this world?! So, his task in the world is to stop himself from creating the harem? Wouldn"t his mission this time be super simple…
[The protagonist is Zou Lan, and the four male protagonists are also supposed to be with Zou Lan. Please calm down host. ]
Ye Zhizhou"s brain was already turned into mush from the plot so he straightforwardly asked, “… Why? Since the one who got married was me, I will also experience the divorce and the rejection by the Zou family. So it should be me that gets familiar with the four male leads. Wait, that"s not right! It"s actually the person who transmigrated from the modern era! So I"ll die and be reincarnated?!”
The screen froze for a bit before it spat out a few words [The soul and body are 100% compatible, there is no danger of being forced out. ]
“What"s to be done about the four male leads? Without that soul from the modern era, how would they fall in love with Zou Lan? No, it"s Zou Ming… that"s not right. Right now I"m Zou Ming… So eventually they"ll fall in love with me?”
The screen disappeared, refusing to talk with this mentally handicapped host.
Ye Zhizhou smacked his head a few times before his train of thought went back to the plot. He tried really hard to get a clear understanding of his thoughts.
In the end, it was Zou Lan who got together with the four male leads, but it was the modern soul in Zou Ming"s body that met the four male leads and won over their feelings. Did Zou Lan and Zou Ming swap ident.i.ties again?
He quickly turned the plot information to when Kang Run stole the protagonist from the Shen family, and he found a faint starting point in his entangled thoughts.
It was at this point, from here on, that the protagonist covered his face with the bamboo hat. Until he took Kang Run"s antidote, he didn"t take off the veiled hat at all. At that time, due to the effect of the poison, both the protagonist"s appearance and personality changed significantly… This is absolutely a different person! The poison and everything else was just an excuse!
Then where did the real Zou Ming go?
Suddenly, the way the original Zou Ming died flashed through his mind. He loosened his grip on the small mirror and felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
In the original plot, Kang Run threw “Zou Ming” into the brothel to help his sweetheart "Zou Lan" get revenge. He also took Zou Lan to see the live s.e.x show. Could it be that moment that the fake Zou Ming discovered the real Zou Ming and came up with the idea of changing their ident.i.ties again? Afterwards, the fake Zou Ming schemed to regain his ident.i.ty, and the real Zou Ming entered the brothel…
Ye Zhizhou felt confused again.
In his childhood, this world"s protagonist first robbed Zou Ming of his di son status along with the most enviable marriage at the time. Then, he stole the four male leads and lived happily with them. Afterwards, when he became the empress, he ruled from the shadows and was able to die peacefully of old age. The real Zou Ming was stripped of his ident.i.ty, married his original fiance as a subst.i.tute, was sent back home and then abandoned by his family. After he committed suicide by jumping into the river, his body was occupied by another soul that used his body to get to know the four male leads. That is to say, throughout the whole plot, no matter how well Zou Ming lived, he was just making a wedding dress for Zou Lan to wear.
Zou Lan deserves to be called the protagonist. The good things are all his, and the consequences are Zou Ming"s. From the beginning to the end, he only suffered in the brothel for a few days because Kang Run helped his sweetheart retaliate against the Zou family! Later on, he was always spoiled by the four male leads.
This f.u.c.king plot! How on earth was the second ident.i.ty swap accomplished?! In the plot, Shen Tingwei was described as powerful and difficult to deal with. How could he miss the ident.i.ty swap when he brought Zou Lan back?
The plot was a hideous mess and from the beginning, he never understood it clearly. All kinds of real and fake Zou Mings and real and fake Zou Lans made his brain feel like exploding. Scratching his hair impatiently, he looked over the system information repeatedly, hoping to get the plot organized.
“Zou Lan, Zou Lan, get out here!”
The voice of the middle-aged man interrupted his thoughts. He opened the door to go out and saw the man moving the ladder over. The man said triumphantly, “The old madam wants to see you. Tidy yourself up and come down. Thicken your skin. Maybe this time a retirement letter is waiting for you.”
He was already feeling vexed because of the plot, so when he heard these words his face became dark. He directly wore the changpao that he tore and climbed down with his hair a mess after taking out the zhu hairpin. Not looking at the middle-aged man at all, he coldly said, “Lead the way.”
“What kind of appearance is this? Completely scandalous! Go get changed!” The middle-aged man blew up and pointed straight at his face, “And this hair! Do you still have any face, going out to meet people like this?"
“What face do I need if I"m going to be divorced?” Ye Zhizhou pushed his hand aside, grabbed his hair and then tied it into a ponytail. He took the lead to walk out, “It"s fine if you won"t lead the way, I"ll go by myself.”
“You, you…” The middle-aged man was speechless. He was angry for quite a while before angrily saying, “A shu son has no education! You deserve to be retired!”
The author has something to say:
At the time of this chapter, my mind was basically blown up…
PS: Catching bugs.
Poor modern and original Zou Ming. This arc is so confusing, the plot twist is so wild even author-san is confused.