Shen Qingyan was sleeping soundly when a noise woke him. Who had so little consideration for others, beeping away in the middle of the night?
Annoyed, Shen Qingyan opened his eyes and got up to look out the window. The streetlights were on, but there was no car in sight.
The beeping continued. Only belatedly did Shen Qingyan realize that the sound was coming from inside his head.
It was still chilly in the early spring weather, but Shen Qingyan was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.
His legs a little wobbly, he made his way to the bed and pulled up the covers, wrapping himself so tightly that not even a strand of hair showed.
Strangely enough, the beeping stopped the moment he got under the covers.
Shen Qingyan clutched the blanket, trembling a little. Looks like the blanket trick still works.
It’s a dream. It’s a dream. Shen Qingyan closed his eyes and waited for daylight, when he’d wake up for real.
“Ding! Congratulations, host! You’ve been bound to the Beloved Consort System! This system will help you become the most beloved consort, rule the imperial harem, and enjoy boundless favor!”
Shen Qingyan fell silent for three seconds. Waaaaah, it wasn’t a dream. It was talking.
At least it was a system, not a ghost. But a system was scary too!
Before Shen Qingyan could say anything, the system shrieked, “Why is the host a ma—man?”
Shen Qingyan felt as if someone had chiseled into his brain. It hurt a little. This system was way too loud.
“Waaaah! X﹏X I was supposed to get the lovely Miss Shen Qingyan! How did I end up with a man?” The Beloved Consort System was falling apart. How was a consort system supposed to do its job with a male host?
Shen Qingyan swallowed and tentatively suggested, “Couldn’t you just unbind from me and switch to Shen Qingyan?”
Sorry, Shen Qingyan. I don’t know you, but better you than me. I’m a guy; I really can’t do consort missions. This windfall of riches is all yours.
The Beloved Consort System was even more distraught. “I’m already bound to you. I can’t switch! Waaaah! I can’t unbind unless the host fails the mission.”
“Ah. So if I want to unbind, I have to go do some consort missions with you first?” Oh no. He didn’t want to. He was a guy. Sure, he was still a bachelor, but he wasn’t especially interested in any girls—and he wasn’t especially interested in guys either. He was more inclined toward staying single and child-free.
The Beloved Consort System pulled itself together. “Well, what’s done is done. Let’s team up for a little while. I’ll take you to another world, and once you fail the mission, I can unbind from you. Then I’ll find my proper host. Just think of it as playing a game. When it’s over, you can uninstall it for good. Deal?”
Could he say no? Even the system was falling apart and couldn’t unbind itself. What was he supposed to do? But he really didn’t want to do any consort missions. He wasn’t happy about being sent to another world as a man, and he’d be even less happy if he were turned into a woman.
“Fine. Since you’re not saying anything, I’ll take that as agreement. Let’s open the newbie gift pack first.” Having reached the point of no return, the Beloved Consort System listlessly went through the motions.
The unknown was what truly frightened people. After chatting at length with the system, Shen Qingyan climbed out from under the covers and curiously tapped the virtual gift pack before him.
The gift pack burst open in a spray of confetti. Then it vanished, replaced by an assortment of bottles and jars.
The Beloved Consort System had not expected Shen Qingyan’s luck to be so good. The starter pack had yielded quite a few useful items: a Self-Selected Identity Card, a Prophetic Pregnancy Dream, a Fetus-Protecting Medicine, a Beauty Pill, a Father’s Love Pill, and a Heavenly Omen.
If these items had gone to any other girl, becoming a beloved consort would have been no problem at all.
The issue was that Shen Qingyan was a man.
Overwhelmed with sorrow, the Beloved Consort System shed two more electronic tears.
Looking at the items, Shen Qingyan hurriedly called out to the system crying in his head. “System, what are all these things? What do they do? Stop crying already.” He was hardly a genius; what if all that crying flooded his brain and made him stupider?
The Beloved Consort System stopped crying and introduced the items dejectedly.
“The Identity Card allows the host to freely choose their identity and time period. Legitimate wife, concubine, princess, noble lady, maid—anything is possible. You can even create your own identity. The time period can also be chosen freely.”
“The Prophetic Pregnancy Dream lets you designate someone to have an auspicious dream foreshadowing pregnancy. It’s generally used for the host’s child, granting them a sign before conception that they are destined by Heaven.”
“The Fetus-Protecting Medicine—once it is taken, no matter whether the mother is poisoned, falls, or even jumps off a cliff, the child can survive on the nourishment provided by her corpse, even if the mother dies.”
Shen Qingyan swallowed hard. What terrifying medicine. This was practically divine medicine, wasn’t it?
“The Beauty Pill automatically adjusts the user’s appearance to the pinnacle of contemporary beauty standards: ethereal beauty, jade-like features, flawless purity, sparkling eyes, and beauty capable of toppling a kingdom.”
“The Father’s Love Pill allows for two-way designation. The host can designate themselves and their father, or designate their own child and the child’s father. It will make the father cherish them as though they were his only child, with the effect of ‘His Majesty’s Firstborn Son.’”
They were all excellent items. Yet neither man nor system had much hope for the mission anymore.
The Beloved Consort System had no hope whatsoever, while Shen Qingyan resisted it in both body and soul.
In order to avoid having children and competing for favor, Shen Qingyan put every brain cell he had to work. “System, what exactly counts as completing the mission? Do I absolutely have to become a consort and bear children?”
The Beloved Consort System gave two dry laughs. It was a Beloved Consort System—if not a beloved consort, then what else could it possibly be? Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
Looking at the mission requirements, the system read aloud, “There is no hard requirement that you must become a beloved consort—or even a consort. However, to complete the mission, the emperor must regard you as a treasure more precious than life itself. You must leave your name in history, possess political privileges, and receive ceremonial honors beyond what etiquette permits. Only when these conditions are met will the mission be considered complete. And those who achieve such accomplishments are either beloved consorts or empresses. Everything sold in my shop is related to that as well.”
Shen Qingyan was not discouraged by any of this. On the contrary, it gave him a new idea. Since there was no hard requirement that he had to become an imperial consort, it was not as though he could not find a way to achieve those accomplishments by other means.
More importantly, Shen Qingyan did not want to change sex. Every month, his younger sister suffered so terribly from menstrual cramps that she practically wished she were dead; he really had no desire to experience that himself. And then there was childbirth, which sounded even more painful.
After learning from the system that his target was Yongzheng, Shen Qingyan had an idea.
