[Ding——]
A system notification that clearly enjoyed stirring up trouble suddenly rang in her mind:
[Congratulations, host! The plot twist has been successfully executed. Passion Level Assessment: B-Grade (Beginner).]
[Obtained Fragment Writing Color Pen System Experience +10. 90 more experience points needed until the next level up and unlock of new permissions.]
[Please keep up the good work, host. Strive to transform this dragon-triumph revenge story into something everyone will love sooner rather than later.]
Chu Mingzhao stood rooted to the spot, her mind reeling for a long time.
Something was wrong. Deeply, fundamentally wrong.
She had only made a single, desperate change. How in the world had it ended up meaning this?!
The wind and snow were fierce.
By the horse shed, the accumulated snow had long since buried her ankles.
Pei Yan, kneeling in the snow, had finally endured the first wave of that maddening itch. He forced out three words from between gritted teeth, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.
"Chu... Ming... Zhao..."
He lifted his head abruptly.
The cold, aloof red mole at the corner of his eye burned an almost bleeding crimson. It was a mark of utter humiliation, and a physiological tremor he could not control.
"You... have impressive tricks."
Chu Mingzhao's scalp was tingling.
Bro, I didn't mean to do this either. I was just trying to save both our necks!
Forcing a cold laugh, she adopted the malicious facade of a pampered wealthy heiress, jabbing the whip in her hand towards the tip of his nose.
"Miss here has far more tricks than you know. If you dare hide money from me again, our next encounter won't end with just a single item of clothing being stripped."
Having said that, as if repulsed by the foulness of the air, she covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief and turned to leave.
"Wait."
A low, suppressed male voice came from behind her.
Chu Mingzhao halted, hairs standing up on the back of her neck. Oh no. Was she being too mocking? Was he going to snap and kill her?
She turned stiffly, trying her best to look nonchalant. "Something else?"
Pei Yan remained kneeling in the snow, the drifting flakes covering his thin shoulders. He was slightly hunched over, as if desperately trying to conceal the strange affliction in his body.
He stared intently at Chu Mingzhao's retreating back, his expression a complex tangle of emotions.
That maddening itch had surged even more violently the moment she turned to leave.
It felt as though being a little closer to her could somehow alleviate that craving.
This thought had barely surfaced before Pei Yan crushed it ruthlessly in his mind.
Absurd! Despicable!
He, Pei Yan, would rather die and rot in the mud than ever have any improper thoughts about this venomous woman who trampled his dignity!
"...Nothing."
He finally closed his eyes, his voice as cold as if tempered by ice. "Walk carefully, Eldest Miss. The path... is slippery."
Chu Mingzhao caught the underlying threat in his words: Just you wait. I'll kill you sooner or later.
Shivering, she didn't dare linger another second. Leading her maids and senior servants, she made a performatively elegant yet desperate escape from the scene.
Only when the glaring red figure of her clothes completely vanished beyond the corner of the moon gate did Pei Yan collapse as if all strength had been drained from him, slumping heavily onto the snow.
The icy snow instantly engulfed his body, biting cold flooding in from every direction.
But even so, it couldn't quench the fire burning within him.
...
Back in her warm inner chamber, Chu Mingzhao dismissed everyone the moment she entered.
Only when the door was firmly shut did her legs give out. She collapsed gracelessly onto the plush soft couch covered in luxurious fox fur.
"That scared me to death... scared me to death..."
She clutched her still-pounding heart, feeling the cold sweat soaking through her back.
According to the original story, Chu Mingzhao, the villainess, came to cause trouble for the male lead at the horse shed every single day.
What had just happened was just an appetizer. There would be despicable framing and false accusations coming in the future—an encyclopedia of suicidal provocations.
She had to find a way to avoid these fatal plot points!
Just as Chu Mingzhao was plotting a route to survival, the system chimed in again:
[Would the host like to learn more about the operating mechanism of the Fragment Writing Color Pen System?]
Chu Mingzhao perked up. Learn! Of course, she wanted to learn!
Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat. She had to figure out what this damn system really was so she could use it to cling to life more effectively.
[The Fragment Writing Color Pen System is dedicated to bringing happiness to the vast number of readers. It is a great invention born specifically to save stereotypical men's power fantasies.]
[The novel the host currently inhabits, "Imperial Grand Ambition," was originally a male-dominated dragon-triumph revenge fantasy. The full text was filled with formulaic plots like "abuse male lead → male lead darkens → male lead takes revenge → male lead slaughters everyone." The system has deemed this novel a substandard product.]
[Therefore, the system has bonded with the host, granting the host the "Fragment Writing Color Pen" ability. It requires the host to modify the original storyline towards a more ambiguous, romantic direction. The ultimate goal is to transform this boring men's fiction into a passionate story that nobody can put down.]
[The higher the host's Passion Level, the more experience points earned. When experience points reach a certain threshold, the system will automatically level up, granting the host the ability to modify larger sections of text.]
[Current Level: LV1. Permission: Modify one character.]
[Next Level: LV2. Permission: Modify one word.]
[Higher Level: LV3. Permission: Modify one short phrase. And so on.]
Chu Mingzhao nodded thoughtfully.
So, it meant that as long as she kept creating passionate, ambiguous scenes, she could keep leveling up the system, eventually gaining the power to modify whole paragraphs of the story?
That meant she might one day be able to change the part where "Chu Mingzhao is turned into a human pickle"!
Her eyes lit up at the mere thought.
Wait, there was another question.
"System," Chu Mingzhao asked inwardly, "Why did you pick me specifically? I remember before I got transmigrated, I was just an ordinary office worker. Nothing special."
[Accessing host's previous life records...]
[Access complete.]
[According to system backend data, the host has the following "glorious" records during her lifetime:
— Total hours spent reading Fragment Fiction (passion-driven romance/smut) late at night: 8,762 hours.
— Average sleeping time: 3:45 AM.
— And posted in comment sections, "Is that all?", "Not steamy enough", "I want to see the male lead cry/break" and similar beastly comments. A total of 1,892 snarky comments accumulated.]
[According to the Law of Conservation of Universal Energy, since you were this well-versed in the game, this overwhelming fortune naturally had to fall into your hands.]
Chu Mingzhao: ...
Chu Mingzhao was silent. She was now filled with intense regret.
She regretted not going to sleep earlier back then. She regretted her loose mouth in the comment sections. She regretted clicking on all those passionate stories.
Now, her karma had come due.
Not only had she been transmigrated into a passionate romance (smut) story, she had become the evil female supporting character. And she was forced into having a romantic relationship with the male lead.
She was a proper, decent person, okay?! She just wanted to survive!
Chu Mingzhao let out a deep, weary sigh.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the door.
Cuizhu, her chief maid, lifted the door curtain, bringing with her a gust of cold air as she bustled excitedly into the room.
"Eldest Miss, the task you ordered is complete! I told the kitchen staff to fetch a whole bucket of boiling oil. It's hot and ready! Shall we head to the horse shed now?"
The cup of hot tea in Chu Mingzhao's hand nearly spilled all over her.
"Boiling... boiling oil?"
“That’s right!” Cuizhu said with a look of innocent cruelty, as if it were only natural.
“Did you not just say that wretched servant doesn’t know her place—she actually bought a cotton coat to hide the frostbite sores on her body. Since she’s already covered in rotten sores, it would be better to scald them with boiling oil before treating them. That’s what they call fighting poison with poison!”
