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<h5 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="arc-3-story-line">ARC 3 STORY LINE</h5>\n\nDisclaimer: This is an MTL translation that has been edited to make the story flow smoothly which may cause the translation to not be 100% accurate. The Chinese novel: Abused Female Lead And Beautiful Villainess is not owned by me. This is only a fan translation by Idiot Goggle Translations.\n
Chapter 15.1\n
Three days later, the rain stopped.\n
He Qingning, Shen Wan, and their party continued towards their destination. Soon after they left, two people appeared around the inn. They went around the inn several times as if not knowing what they were looking for.\n
The little hen has followed along with Shen Wan and He Qingning and experienced all kinds of storms with them. She was scared and panicked even before, but despite this, she continued to lay eggs on time every day. The stoic guards also felt relaxed whenever they heard the clucking noise of the little hen these days. In the beginning, they thought Shen Wan was crazy for raising the little hen, but now they were happy enough to rush in and feed the hen or take it for walks.\n
The journey wasnât easy. Every now and then, they would encounter assassins in pursuit. They amounted to at least ten to at most fifty people. When they end up surrounded, all the guards felt the tension numb their skulls. Their eyes would then fall on the small figure standing next to He Qingning.\n
They saw her remain unfazed as she told them to protect He Qingning. She then rushed towards the group. Their hearts lifted and followed her instructions to protect He Qingning at their center. The end results were anticlimactic. She may as well be an assassin with her one punch. No matter how good you are at martial arts, with just one punch, youâll only be able to twitch twice on the ground before you drop dead.\n
It only took a while before the small figure was surrounded by corpses lying around her. The guards all stared at her in disbelief, gulping and casting their eyes on those small fists. How much power did it take to punch those assassins huh?\n
After each incident, He Qingning would walk beside her, indifferent to the dead bodies lying around. She would take Shen Wanâs wrist, take out a handkerchief, and carefully wipe the blood on her small fists.\n
âTheyâre all Si Shi.â Shen Wan watched as He Qingning wiped her hands, her mind thrilled that she had to control the impulse to smile. âSince I killed all of them, we wonât be able to ask questions. These Si Shi were strong, so they may have been trained well. Doesnât it cost a lot of money to cultivate them? Who knows what will happen tomorrow. Maybe theyâll send a hundred more to see whoâll win; my hard fists or their Si Shi.â\n
âThese days, there have been many Si Shi that have died by your hands. They probably would not use this method again.â He Qingning grabbed Shen Wanâs hand and said, âBring me water.â\n
Soon a young guard came in with a wooden tub. They were all used to this. Every time Shen Wan dealt with the assassins, Her Royal Highness, the princess, told them to fetch water. She would then help the other woman carefully wash her hands until they were clean.\n
The woman, who was expressionless and blind to Her Highnessâ gentleness, looked as if this was expected. This image is truly bizarre.\n
188: What would they know? With his hostâs virtue, sheâs likely going crazy with joy. If it werenât for her fear of breaking character, she may already be rolling around happily on the ground twice.\n
After helping Shen Wan clean her hands, He Qingning took her to the carriage. She asked someone to bring food and placed it in front of Shen Wan. âLetâs have something to eat first. Weâve dealt with quite a lot of people just now and I donât know what weâll face next.â\n
Sheâs estimated that there are many people who would not want her to return to the Imperial City alive. Not that they see what her ultimate goal is as of yet, but because what she was doing was poking their interests. Despite this, she still needs to go on, now more so, as sheâs not even half way upon finishing her goal.\n
âYour Highness is worried?â\n
âWhat would I be worried about when Iâm with you?â He Qingning smiled and said, âNo matter how many people come today, I wonât worry as long as youâre here.â After saying this, she saw Shen Wan glancing at the plate of food. She did not make any moves, but she clearly felt that Shen Wan wanted to eat, âWhy arenât you eating?â\n
Shen Wan held out her two white palms, âI just killed a lot of people. I donât want to grab the cake with my hands.â When she said this, Shen Wanâs eyes stared straight at He Qingningâs face, but her heart was in a craze, screaming, âfeed me!â How long will it take for you to go about not feeding me? Little princess, hurry up and feed me, Iâm panicking from hunger.\n
âThen I will feed you.â He Qingning said unthinkingly. After what she said, she paused a little. Looking at Shen Wanâs eyes staring at her expectantly, He Qingning smiled as she picked up a piece of cake and pointed it towards Shen Wanâs mouth, âEat.â\n
Shen Wan opened her mouth and bit the cake. The cake melted as soon as she took a bite and it immediately went to her stomach. She looked on with eager eyes and He Qingning couldnât resist the eyes begging to be fed. She picked up another piece and sent it to Shen Wanâs mouth. Shen Wan ate it in a single bite.\n
[188 *humming*: âShen Wan, now that youâve achieved your goal, are you satisfied?â]\n
Shen Wan: âIâm very satisfied. Satisfied enough to die here. Oh, Iâm so happy Iâm going to faint.â\n
The plate full of cakes soon became empty and thus being fed by He Qingning came to an end. If the little princess fed her like this, sheâd be able to eat ten plates without even realizing it!!!\n
âDrink some water.â\n
Shen Wan hurriedly nodded yes. She would need to drink water. After eating so much, she was a bit parched. She didnât think of it before, but after He Qingning mentioned this, she suddenly felt a little tired.\n
She stared at He Qingning eagerly as if she didnât have hands of her own, waiting till He Qingning brought the glass of water to her mouth without raising a hand. Her lips touched the side of the glass and she drank meticulously.\n
Shen Wan: â188, help me monitor our surroundings. If an assassin comes, tell me immediately.â\n
[188 whose life is without love: âUnderstood.â]\n
Shen Wan: âI hope the enemy will send more Si Shi. Once I kill them, Iâll be able to enjoy being fed by the princess. Alas, 188, I wonder if itâs a bit immoral to think this way. Although they are all paper people,<sup>1</sup> just for the sake of my own purposes, my mind actually perceived this shameless idea. It is truly a loss in morality and humanity. 188, you must never learn from me. It is not good for me to be thinking about killing other peopleâs Si Shi in order to get love. Donât ever learn from me. I have fallen and I donât want to also see you, my friend, fall into this deep abyss.â\n
While his host has discovered another opportunity to be loved by the little princess, this would indeed hurt your morals and make you lose your human nature. It is good that the host has set a very bad example for him and is leading him to the right path, but he is an emotionless system. Why would he need to learn this from her?\n
He wouldnât anyway.\n
He isnât like one of those crooked systems.\n
Forget it. Since heâs not talking with the host, he should just help her look around to see if there are any assassins.\n
Once the assassin comes, heâll let her know and then sheâll beat him to death.\n
He hoped that she and the little princess will get to the peak of their lives as soon as possible, be lovey dovey, and then whoosh, a successful end to their lives and the completion of their task.\n
He was still waiting for his new version update.\n
Hmph, heâs a system without emotions, so he wonât fall in love. What is love? He doesnât understand it!\n
For the next few days, He Qingning did not encounter any assassins.\n
The people she has secretly scattered around were very discreet. Even if the enemy had their own speculations, they wonât be able to guess where she will appear next. Add to that, they recently lost too many Si Shi, they wouldnât be able to think of a way to deal with her for a while.\n
When He Qingning arrives at a location, she was still able to handle everything at lightning speed. Corrupt officials were beheaded and killed on the spot by her and then she would report the incident. Once the people in the Imperial City received the news, she would already have left.\n
The emperor looked at the records with a smile. The ministers under him all buried their heads and covertly glanced at each other. Now they all understand that Her Royal Highness Princess Qingning has turned into a sword in the hands of the emperor and where she goes, death will follow. The people she removed were not high ranking officials and the evidence they presented was enough to raid their homes and punish the three clans.\n
Can they say that Her Royal Highness Princess Qingning killed innocent people indiscriminately? They can not.\n
Every time she returned the records, it included evidence of the crimes of those who were slain. Not only were there evidence, there was also bloody fingerprints of the locals that they have personally provided. If they dared refute the sentence, they were afraid that their thoughts will come into suspicion and put them forward as a person involved. Even if they really were involved, who would dare reveal themselves?\n
At this last thought, the emperorâs mood sank.\n
The courtiers felt something wrong with the atmosphere, so they buried their heads lower in response as they listened to the voice of their emperor, âThis month, Qingning has helped me removed many corrupt officials who took advantage of the flesh and blood of the common people. I am very pleased, but I did not expect Qingning would encounter a series of assassinations in almost three days.â\n
The emperorâs majestic gaze glanced at the civil and military officials. He chuckled, his old voice tinged with coldness. âI am curious. Who would want to take my Qingningâs life?â\n
âYour Majesty, since Princess Qingning has been exposed, for the safety of Her Royal Highness, why not have the princess return back to the palace?â A prominent minister rose, âif this continues, the safety of Her Royal Highness Qingning will greatly worry us ministers.â\n
âIs that so?â The emperor glanced at the courtier kneeling down. Naturally, the courtier did not dare say that this was not true. He could only repeat his worry about He Qingningâs safety several times.\n
Upon seeing this, most of the civil and military officials knelt down and asked the emperor to call back He Qingning saying that if this continues, He Qingningâs situation will become more and more dangerous.\n
He Qingningâs brothers, the princes who had the ability to compete for the throne, also knelt down. Each had a worried expression saying that they were concerned about He Qingningâs safety. With most of his brothers making their intentions clear, He Xiyan had no choice but to request this as well. In actuality, he felt that his brothers could care less about He Qingning and he was afraid that she would die outside the palace. After all, if she died out there, she would no longer be able to support him.\n
âI also want Qingning to come back, but she is not willing to come back.â The emperor said, âShe told me that she still wanted to roam around and help me find places where the same exact things are happening in this country. Qingning said that she is a princess and has enjoyed such honor for more than ten years. She wants to do something with the power that comes with being a princess. Since this is what Qingning would like to do, I allowed it.â\n
âI have decided to send more people to protect Qingning. This is also a way to find out who would want Qingningâs life.â After saying this, his eyes fell on the civil and military officials. What his eyes contained said deeply,<sup>2</sup> âHopefully, they are just some refuse.â\n
After retiring from the court, many of the courtiers were drenched in sweat. The emperor left the matter alone and had no intention to recall the princess back. He even warned them off. People with guilty consciences left quickly; trying to remember if there was anything that they missed.\n
âThird brother, what do you think of this?â\n
He Xiyan stopped and swept his eyes to the brothers he has always been at odds with, âThis is what Qingning wants to do. Father has always favored her. Those who take advantage of the common people should be punished indeed.â\n
âAt this moment, third brother must be very happy, right? Qingning is in a dangerous situation, but her status is no longer the same as the past.â\n
He Xiyan did not care about their sour words.<sup>3</sup> It was because He Qingningâs movements were so noteworthy that his brothers could not sit still. At the same time, what the others said was also true. The more He Qingning gains power, the more it will be good for him. After all, they are grasshoppers tied to the same boat.<sup>4</sup> He Qingning supported him. If she returns to the Imperial City in one piece, the more certain he is that the emperor will side with him.\n
At this thought, He Xiyan made a decision. He will secretly arrange protection for He Qingning. If something really happened to He Qingning, it will only be a disadvantage to him and will bring him no benefits.\n
It didnât take long for Shen Wan and He Qingning to discover something interesting. Several times before an incident happens, someone would quietly warn them and they would discover assassins that have already been long since taken care of.\n
âYour Highness, could the emperor be worried about you and privately resolved all these little assassins?â Shen Wan, who had her indifferent face on, was particularly unhappy. Recently, she hasnât been able to beat any assassins, so she couldnât find any excuses for the little princess to feed her food. This emperor is really nosy.\n
He Qingning shook her head, âIt is not my father. This method, it is not one my father would use to send people. My father must have sent someone to follow me, but he will never do this. Unless I am in a very dangerous predicament or I am about to die, his people will not care about my situation. If I were in my former position as the princess and an assassin appears, my fatherâs men would all appear, but my father right now considers me as one of my brothers and is treating me equally.\n
âTo cultivate the future monarch, father emperor will not be so kind. If he starts spoiling me again and Iâm unable to support myself, he will not choose me.â\n
Shen Wan thought it made sense, âAnd who else would that be?â She suddenly widened her eyes and He Qingning revealed a dawning expression. The two faced each other and laughed out loud.\n
âItâs Your Highness, isnât it?â\n
âIt should be.â He Qingningâs lips curled up, âIt would be bad for most people if I returned to the Imperial City alive, but it would be different for third brother.â\n
Shen Wan laughed and said, âYour Highness, then letâs live up to the third princeâs generosity.â So it turned out to be that scum He Xiyan. Haha, that guy is really surprising. His influence has a long reach, but this is a good thing. Letâs stay on his good side for the time being.\n
âYour Highness, with He Xiyan taking action, the rest of your brothers wouldnât be able to stand still. They probably wonât let you return.â\n
He Qingning nodded, then smiled, âDonât worry so much. He Xiyan will confront them. Weâll just do our own business.â\n
These things were what she expected from the start, but what she didnât expect is He Xiyan taking action so early. He Xiyanâs capabilities are not weak and those of her other brothers are outstanding as well.\n
She came out of nowhere, which will definitely cause dissatisfaction from several parties. When the time comes, they will all bury the hatchet and fight her, the princess, first. Therefore, her plan was to let them fight first, wait for losses from both sides and catch their mistakes, then she will stand against them while they no longer have the power to compete.\n
šT/N: Paperman, a popular word on the Internet , refers to the characters in the two-dimensional animation or game. Since the works of the two-dimensional are two-dimensional, like paper, the characters inside are called paperman.\n
²T/N: I wasnât so sure if this sentence actually implied âmurderâ behind the emperorâs eyes or if the emperor just stared at them and his voice was the actual threat to his actions here by the word âdeeplyâ, so I just picked one. I think eyes are scarier than voice. *shrugs*\n
ÂłT/N:Â Being sour means being envious, jealous. \n
â´T/N:Â This is what I found about the meaning about the grasshopper things: The figurative meaning of it is that we are both on the same side and tied to each other. If you failed, I would also fail. If the rope breaks, both grasshoppers will die. E.g. If Iâm doing an illegal business and my friend benefits from it, we are âgrasshoppers tied to a boatâ. If either of us get caught, the other will also be caught.\n
T/N:Â Itâs suuuuuuuper hard to determine whose perspective it is Iâm translating.\n
T/N2:Â I didnât proofread this coz Iâm a bit dronk.\n
T/N3:Â #Rant\n
Sometimes itâs really hard to choose whether I should literally translate something or change it to different wording because the literal translation may just be the MTL doing its job to literally translate word for word without any concerns for expressions and other some such important things.\n
At other times, I think they are literally what the author wrote, but the tone of the sentence doesnât really come off right in English. For example, the sentence translated in MTL is:âThe emperorâs face sank.â I should have kept it as such or edited this to something like, âThe emperorâs complexion sank.â\n
This sounds as if the emperor was shaken, sad, or sick because English expression dictates it so. But the emperor was actually angry and acted coldly after this, which means the English isnât right for it. So instead, I changed it to âThe emperorâs mood sank.â\n
With this, at least the general assumption isnât as clear cut, but it still begets the fact it wonât be the authorâs exact words Iâm putting out anymore.\n
I feel morally compromised about this because Iâm already using MTL and now Iâm changing things even more.\n\nSigh⌠I never knew translating was such an emotional and complicated process. Why did I take this on? T_T (Yuri of course)\n
T/N4: Who cares about T/N3 anyway? Letâs all just drink! Merry Christmas everyone!\n