Chapter 174: Palace Intrigue X Self X Main Character Influence (3) + (4)

Chapter 174: Palace Intrigue X Self X Main Character Influence (3) + (4)

Before stepping into the task, Keding remembered an important detail.

"The young palace maid is of a different gender than me."

"Of course," the system skillfully pulled up the eighth volume of the business guidelines and highlighted the thirty-second clause for him to see: "To protect the privacy of the parties involved, opposite-sex commissions are generally handled by finding alternative roles of the same category."

"If you take on this task, your identity will likely be that of a minor male court servant—most probably a young eunuch."

Keding rubbed his head and said, "Alright, let's see if we can change all of this."

While waiting for the task to start, he continued to think about the price she had paid.

Her soul, her afterlife—she sacrificed everything.

All she wanted was fairness.

Keding subconsciously wondered what kind of personality this young palace maid would have, whether fierce or stubborn. No matter her appearance, there must be a strong determination inside her.

She was kind, but from the beginning, she realized that everyone's demeanor changed after encountering the protagonist. She desperately resisted the main character influence that she couldn't understand in that lifetime.

Reaching this point was already impressive.

After the system submitted the application, several additional notices were received and unfolded for him to sign.

"Because you need to influence the self-awareness of most characters, you cannot tear the book or forcefully tell them these are just storylines."

"Otherwise, even if the basic data channels remain stable, those imperial concubines and princes might think you're crazy."

"Secondly, you will encounter the young palace maid herself in this world, but you cannot reveal any external information, or it will interfere with her contractual stability with the company."

Keding was reviewing the terms of the notice when he looked up and asked, "Can I see her in person?"

"Yes, because the storyline is being re-promoted, her current life's ending will also be influenced by you."

"At least she can be inspired to live a new life," Keding's tense state finally relaxed a little. "What's her name?"

"She was born into a farming family, and her parents called her Third Daughter." The system searched through the naturally derived subplots in the timeline: "After entering the palace, she was assigned to the palace of the Virtuous Consort and was given the name Huacui."

Keding shook his head slightly.

She deserves a name that belongs to her alone.

"Your identity will be that of a sweeping eunuch in the Cold Palace, a place where fallen nobles and disgraced concubines are sent to live out their days in isolation. Your name will be Xiao Tongzi." The system received another newly generated file and introduced it carefully: "It is now the first year of Yuan Biwei's entry into the palace. She comes from a humble background, an insignificant daughter by a concubine, framed by her eldest half-sister and main wife, and sold into the Cold Palace as a humble maid named Zhi Nuan. You're likely to meet her."

Cold Palace eunuch, Cold Palace maid—sounds like a setup for an emotional entanglement.

Worried that he might be affected by the protagonist's influence, the system kindly said, "I'll monitor your feelings toward her. You can set a limit in advance, and any excess will be automatically cleared to avoid occupational injuries."

Keding was startled. "Can she even charm someone like a eunuch?"

"With your abilities, you might become a high-ranking eunuch with significant influence," the system felt a headache coming on. "Her influence is overwhelming; in the main storyline alone, six or seven men are madly in love with her. No man with charm or power can resist her."

Keding: "Keep the favorability under fifty, thanks."

System: "Hilarious, your normal favorability for random characters is 60; 50 means you find them somewhat annoying."

Keding: "How much affection do I have for her now?"

System: "Let me check. Oh, it's thirty. You're fine."

As Keding transitioned into the new world, he felt an unprecedented gust of wind.

He waited for his consciousness to settle and asked the system, "What was that wind?"

"It's the soul of the minor female court servant in the process of resetting," the system said. "She has been waiting for a long time. Fortunately, you looked over."

When he opened his eyes again, the old eunuch impatiently kicked the bed once more.

"Get up! We need your help!"

"I'm on my way, Master," Xiao Tongzi said, jumping out of bed, wiping his face, and following him out. "Is there an emergency?"

"Didn't you hear me when I was talking to you earlier?" Although the old eunuch was impatient, he wasn't harsh with him. "You're a fortunate person to sleep so soundly in the Cold Palace."

"The old tai fei in the West Court is sickly and about to pass away. We need to handle her aftermath!"

"Later, you'll help clean her body. There will probably be a lot of dirty vomit. Bear with it."

"Yes, Master." Xiao Tongzi obediently agreed but felt some hesitation. "Tai fei... Shouldn't we find a young palace maid to help care for her?"

"The young palace maids need to prepare her final appearance. There aren't enough people to take care of her." The old eunuch was indifferent. "Can the masters in the Cold Palace still be called masters? Whether they were tai fei or favored concubines before, once they enter this place, if they don't have money to use, they are even worse than dogs!"

Keding hadn't done such tedious physical labor for a long time. After following his master into the West Court of the Cold Palace, he was busy for a while and reviewed the plot again.

This early palace intrigue story was reportedly quite successful because it had all the elements, with classic highs and lows.

Of course, the word "classic" can also mean cliché.

The protagonist, Yuan Biwei, was born without her father's love and lost her mother early. She was endlessly bullied by her legitimate older sister. The trivial matters in the mansion alone filled thirty chapters.

After finally escaping her manipulative father's arranged marriage by entering the palace, she ended up in the Cold Palace, but her legendary life truly began there.

She was self-reliant and never looked down on herself, so even in the Cold Palace, she worked diligently. With her meager monthly allowance, she bought books to read and played the flute late at night, captivating a spoiled prince who fell for her.

"Wait a minute," Keding interrupted. "Why would a prince wander around the Cold Palace, and at night?"

"Because he's a spoiled prince," the system said. "It's a fantasy story. Don't question it."

"Also, the prince must have seen many people sing, play instruments, and dance in the brothels. Why would hearing her play the flute make him fall in love at first sight?"

"Because she's free-spirited, passionate, and unpretentious," the system said. "It's a fantasy story. Don't question it."

To everyone's surprise, the emperor couldn't stop thinking about a certain heartless consort in the Cold Palace. When he secretly visited her, he was heartbroken again. In a drunken state, he favored her, but the next day, he didn't give her a title, only a bowl of contraceptive soup.

"Cold Palace young palace maids have to sleep in the communal barracks at night, right?!" Keding was frustrated. "Even if she's the maid personally attending to that concubine, for the emperor to do this is illogical. Is he deeply in love or just reckless?!"

"That's the author's brilliance," the system corrected. "It somewhat reflects the plot where the protagonist will also hate the emperor for his coldness later on. You wouldn't understand!"

The protagonist came to hate the emperor for controlling her fate and using his power to take any woman he wanted, leaving her powerless to refuse.

Determined to reclaim her place, she devised a plan. First, she used a poem to stir the emperor's memories and successfully regained her rightful title, becoming a royal concubine.

Upon re-entering the inner palace, surrounded by beautiful women, her proud and aloof nature quickly caused her to lose the emperor's favor. Five months later, haunted by dreams of the Cold Palace and spurred by her trusted ally, she realized her mistake and decided to act.

She found a way to casually meet the emperor again by the imperial lake. That day, she danced gracefully on the lake's surface, captivating the emperor. She was promoted to a higher rank, received his undivided attention, and soon became pregnant.

In this process, her complex emotions of love and hate towards the emperor continued to deepen, reaching an extreme and dark conclusion.

"Hold on," said Keding. "Is this some kind of bizarre palace drama?"

"Why do all the men fall for her just because she shows off a little talent?"

"Can't the emperor have some aesthetic preferences? Is the palace's dance and music troupe just eating for free?"

"Palace intrigue stories are like this," said the system. "Sing a song, dance a little, and boom, the favorability meter is maxed out, easy."

"Also, wait, don't flip ahead," said Keding. "If the female lead was suppressed and humiliated by her evil father, living a life worse than death, how does she have the resources to learn dance and play the flute?"

"The female lead is like that," said the system. "Perfume-making, poetry, playing the piano, singing, taming horses, weaving, embroidery, cooking—the author just waves a magic wand, and she suddenly knows everything—no learning required."

Keding: "Weaving? Really? What’s the point of that?"

The system said, "Don't worry about it, it's a power fantasy."

As the system was about to flip through the plot, Keding raised his hand again.

The system was very patient: "Go ahead."

Keding: "Why does she start at such a low level? I checked the structure of the nearby palaces and the eunuchs' clothing styles. This is modeled after the Ming dynasty, right?"

"Imperial consorts were actually promoted quite frequently in ancient times, especially during the Ming dynasty. If the emperor casually favored someone, they'd be granted a title the next day. There wouldn't be any 'seventh-rank' business."

"You don’t know much about this genre," said the system. "This is essentially a monster-battling progression story. In these kinds of stories, you have to start from the depths of insignificance, and it can't be smooth sailing. There have to be dramatic highs and lows—that's just how these stories are written."

"Look, now she's pregnant. Following the unwritten rules of palace dramas, if you're pregnant, you're bound to be framed. The first pregnancy has a 90% chance of miscarriage; otherwise, the author can't depict the treacherous nature of the deep palace and the horrors of human hearts! How could they let her have a smooth first pregnancy?"

Keding looked confused.

"……Huh?"

Following the established rules, the female lead's first pregnancy was sabotaged, but instead of wallowing in sorrow, she immediately used the situation to consolidate her position in the emperor's heart, earning a consolation promotion to the rank of sixth-grade imperial concubine.

She secretly wept for her lost child, while also searching for the true culprit behind the miscarriage and planning a larger scheme to secure her position.

On the night of the Qixi Festival, she managed to lure the emperor away from the empress's quarters to her own palace, where they vowed eternal love, sealing their bond with a ceremonial hair-tying ritual.

"She’s got serious ambition," said Keding. "Looking at it this way, the emperor seems like a puppet she can manipulate at will."

"Palace intrigue rule number four: No male character has the right to refuse or be wary of the female lead. With just a little trickery, the male lead will respond with deep affection."

"If you want to see the male lead slam the table and say 'who do you think you are playing mind games with, old hag?' then feel free to head to the horror section."

Soon after, she became pregnant again and voluntarily requested to go to the Empress Dowager's palace to burn incense and pray, where she successfully gave birth to her first child.

The system paused.

"Aren’t you going to critique this?"

"Huh? Me?"

"Oh right, you don't read palace intrigue stories," the system said regretfully. "This is palace intrigue rule number five."

Keding was startled. "The plot seems pretty normal, what's the issue?"

"To show that the female lead isn’t just about having baby boys, in palace intrigue stories, the first child of the female lead has a 95% chance of being a daughter," said the system. "But later on, she's guaranteed to have sons, and 98% of the time, she'll have two or more."

Keding: "……?"

Keding: "So, her first child is a daughter?"

"Yes."

"And then she gave birth to three sons in a row?"

"Yes."

"And finally, she had another daughter?"

"Yes, this shows that she balances her family with both sons and daughters."

Keding: "Is this reasonable?"

He perfectly timed his response, saying in unison with the system: "This is a wish-fulfillment narrative; don't question it."

The system burst into unrestrained laughter.

The protagonist's rank fluctuated dramatically, rising and falling like a roller coaster. She was promoted to the fifth-rank Wan Yi during pregnancy and to the fourth-rank Rong Hua after giving birth. However, she was soon framed by the Imperial Concubine and lost favor overnight, plummeting back to the humble seventh-rank Cai Ren.

She regained her ruthless methods, reconciling with the Imperial Concubine without holding a grudge, and acted as the concubine's secret agent, plotting against the empress. After dealing a heavy blow to the empress's faction, she received the concubine's support and quickly rose again to the fourth-rank Jie Yu.

Soon after, she was counterattacked by the empress and confined by the emperor in anger.

Keding: "The emperor is just a pure tool in this story, I don't care about him anymore. But why do the other characters randomly scheme against her?"

System: "This is also part of the bizarre rules of palace politics, rule number six."

"The female lead must face setbacks and schemes; she must be repeatedly subjected to hellish moments in order to continually rise from the ashes and strike back."

"To match her awakening and upgrades, others, even those securely positioned as concubines or empress, must scheme and humiliate her. Regardless of whether there is any conflict of interest between the characters, there is no risk assessment awareness."

"Whenever she needs to face setbacks, they must become tools for female competition. When she needs a beautiful counterattack, they must collapse and perish."

Keding: "I wonder how furious the minor court servant will be when she learns about all this."

"Her fury would be unimaginable."

The system paused, then said: "And then comes the seventh bizarre rule of palace politics."

"When the decline becomes irreversible, the female lead will inevitably discover she is pregnant."

"Because the author couldn't be bothered to come up with a more creative way to write a comeback."

So, while still under house arrest, the female lead fainted in the bath and woke up to find herself in the emperor's arms. He, having completely changed from his previous wrath, treated her like a precious treasure, his voice dripping with gentleness.

She went from victory to victory, managing to bring down the empress after giving birth to a son and was promoted to the second-rank Chen De.

After giving birth to a son, she was promoted to the first-rank Imperial Noble Consort and then sent to the cold palace.

Keding nearly choked.

"Wait, she was just promoted to Imperial Noble Consort, and now she's suddenly in the cold palace?"

System: "You don't understand. At this point, a big fall will enrage the readers, and the subscription rate will be secured."

"With all her previous success now wasted, she will struggle to survive in the cold palace, allowing the author to stretch the story into hundreds of thousands of words, which would fill several books if published."

Keding angrily said, "What crime must an Imperial Noble Consort commit to be sent to the cold palace?! Can we please talk with some logic!"

"There's a standard playbook for this," the system said. "If the child can't be aborted, she'll be falsely accused of having an affair with an outsider."

"Although the female lead has made quite a few men fall for her at first sight, she's too proud to accept any pursuits. These troublesome men will only hold her back."

"In palace intrigue novels, there are countless cases of the female lead being falsely rumored to have emotional infidelity. You have to understand, one trick fits all, and everyone follows suit."

Keding: "Would the emperor believe it? Is there evidence?"

"Of course, there's a mix of real and fake evidence, whatever is needed," the system said, recalling several famous scenes with a smile. "Even though the female lead is innocent, the male lead has emotional scars, and the villainous female rivals will create barriers in his heart. A trip to the cold palace is inevitable."

Later on, there were more ups and downs, schemes, false accusations, counterattacks, and the classic victor's perspective death farewells.

The female lead finally ascended to the position of empress, looking down on thousands, entering a new phase of the 'chasing after her heart' trope.

She had the highest power, but she would never love him again.

System: "You zoned out."

Keding: "Yes, I was focused on cleaning the table."

System: "You didn't use to be like this. Before, every time I gave a plot summary, you would read it for a long time and even review it."

Keding: "Yes, or maybe you should just call the police."

What a mess of a plot!!

What kind of chaotic mess is this with all the villainous characters and obsessed lovers!!!

Why are there bizarre rules thrown in? What kind of absurd task is this!!!

If he were a minor female court servant knowing these ridiculous plots, he would grab a machete and kill everyone to end the feudal system!

The system was also speechless, silently watching Keding busy himself as Xiao Tongzi in the elder consort's quarters.

Bored, she took a look at the female lead's position and found that the person had no intention of coming over.

Deaths in the cold palace were countless, and the person already knew, so there was no need to come over for a lesson.

"Wait, I checked the timeline," the system said with some surprise. "Stop cleaning the stool for now; tonight is when she'll play the flute on the wall and make the prince fall for her at first sight!"

Keding was stunned. "Then I need to go."

He didn't even need to ask why the protagonist had to play the flute on the wall.

Pose, look good, bathed in moonlight with a soft glow, that's how these stories work.

"What are you going to do?"

"She sings, and I'll find a nearby young palace maid or eunuch to dance along with the music, with the soft lighting and filters maxed out. Let's see who the prince is infatuated with."

He initially planned to go himself but didn't want to get involved with the irresistible charm, so he decided to leave this 'honor' to someone else.

"I should remind you, if she succeeds again, that means the company's product quality is lacking, and you owe me 80,000 points as emotional compensation."

The system was silent for a few seconds.

"Forget the compensation for now," she said incredulously. "Dancing? Do you want to dance backstage and have someone mimic you in front?"

"I can't dance," Keding shrugged. "I'll buy a feature token with points and give it to a side character."

"Oh, so we'll choose a classical dance, right..."

Keding shook his head, speaking with utmost sincerity.

"We're only choosing social dance."