Chapter Fifteen: The Second System Goes Online

The sealed letter bore no name.

“How strange,” Chu Ying murmured in confusion.

She tore open the envelope and read carefully.

“Ah Ying, I hope this letter finds you well:

It has been several years since I left the capital. I wonder if you are doing well. Though the days marching beyond the northern deserts have been harsh and stirring, I find myself deeply missing the times we spent together in the capital, eating, drinking, and having fun.

It’s been a long time since I last wrote; please forgive me.

Xiao Yuan.”

Chu Ying’s eyes widened.

Who?

Xiao Yuan?

The unlucky prince from the book, the one who was successfully pursued by the heroine of the popular charm system and became the key to both her and the young lord’s rise?

The prince Xiao Yuan she had met a few times in childhood, played with a few times?

Chu Ying wore a look of bewilderment and puzzlement.

She had met the prince when they were five years old. Since he often accompanied his elder brother to study at their residence, she would frequently drag him along to share in her mischief—to sneak food, climb trees, and seek amusement—just to have a “good friend” to share the blame with.

But those were only a few times; afterward, he stayed in the palace to study.

She never saw him again.

The most recent news she’d heard was that five years ago, by the emperor’s command, he had led troops to fight beyond the northern deserts.

“Why would the crown prince suddenly write me a letter?” Chu Ying was perplexed.

Although she had played with the prince a few times, she was only five, and he was seven then.

Their shared memories were long blurred.

Still...

Chu Ying smiled softly at the letter’s vigorous, bold handwriting—like the clashing of swords and the thunder of battlefields.

“Though I don’t know why you sent me a letter, thank you!” Her eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled. “You helped my elder brother and sister-in-law. Ahem, so you’re kind of my brother-in-law and sister now.”

After some thought, Chu Ying tidied up Xiao Yuan’s letter and placed it carefully away.

After all, it was a cooperation to help family; she decided to keep the letter.

“Miss,” Ah Yu panted as she finally caught up at the door, “Your servant is here to help you change clothes and then go... to the dining hall, to eat.”

“All right,” Chu Ying responded eagerly.

She wondered how her elder brother and sister-in-law’s relationship was progressing now.

Unaware of much, Chu Ying, at that moment, had no idea how deeply the letter’s sender longed for her as she placed the letter in the drawer of her dressing table.

...

Beyond the northern deserts.

Blinding yellow sand and swirling dust storms swept across the land.

Xiao Yuan stood clad in golden armor on the yellow earth, his bearing heroic and upright like a solemn wind.

His chiseled features were cold and pale, his dark, piercing eyes gazed toward the capital of the Great Dynasty.

[Host, rest assured. As long as you prevent the beggar girl Lin Xiaoyue and the heir apparent Xiao Zhao from their conspiracy to assassinate the emperor and usurp the throne, you can alter the fate of the Great Dynasty’s destruction. You will also save the woman you cherish, Chu Ying.] The system 000 spoke.

Who could have imagined that this world it guarded would be doomed by the rise of a beggar girl Lin Xiaoyue and her alliance with the heir apparent Xiao Zhao, bringing ruin to the Great Dynasty, to other nations, and even the world itself?

Fortunately, it still had one chance to reverse the course, hoping this time, under the leadership of the Great Dynasty’s true future sovereign—Xiao Yuan—the tragic fate could be averted.

Xiao Yuan said nothing, silently staring toward the capital of the Great Dynasty.

On his lips lay only deep longing and sorrowful bitterness.

At first, when the system calling itself 000 informed him that the Great Dynasty and other nations would be destroyed by a beggar girl and his cousin, he had not believed a word.

But after it showed him scenes of widespread suffering and desolation across the lands, he had no choice but to believe.

Though he struggled to remain calm, he could not help but wonder about Ah Ying’s fate.