Chapter 2 Binding System This system, could it be asking her to save…

Chapter 2: System Binding — This System Couldn’t Possibly Want Her to Save...

A large sorrel horse pulled a wooden carriage slowly along the muddy road.

With each step, the horse’s hooves made a squelching sound as they lifted from the mire, and the carriage wheels were caked with thick mud, making the pulling especially strenuous.

If not for someone leading it from the front, the horse would have long refused to move.

It had finally rained a couple of days ago, which was rare, making today’s road difficult to travel. Jin Yanqiu poked her head out of the carriage, looked at the sky, and asked the middle-aged guard walking ahead, “Uncle Zhang, how much longer until we reach Juyong Pass?”

Commander Zhang smiled at the young lady sitting in the carriage. “Lady, we’re about thirty li from Juyong Pass.”

Jin Yanqiu said, “I’m afraid we won’t make it to Juyong Pass today. Uncle Zhang, let’s find a place to settle down and let everyone rest well.”

Thirty li then was about fifteen kilometers in modern terms.

It was now around three or four in the afternoon—not particularly late—but the group was exhausted, both people and horses, and couldn’t go on.

Traveling in ancient times was truly grueling.

The roads were unpaved and muddy, and the carriage wheels were made of wood with no shock absorption. The journey from Luoyang to Juyong Pass had shaken her up so much she couldn’t eat.

And that wasn’t all—the carriage was extremely small.

After axle widths were standardized, the distance between the two wheels of an ordinary carriage was fixed at six chi, roughly 1.4 meters in modern measurements.

The carriage body sat between the two wheels, so its width didn’t exceed 1.3 meters.

Her carriage was 1.4 meters long, 1.2 meters wide, and 70 centimeters high. She couldn’t stand straight or lie flat inside; sitting for too long made her whole body ache.

But at least she had a carriage to ride in.

The household servants and guards had neither carriages nor horses; they walked alongside the carriage. On clear days it was fine, but if it suddenly started raining halfway, they would have to endure the downpour.

They also had to carry luggage, and on bumpy sections, they even had to carry her carriage over rough spots.

At this moment, the carriage didn’t need to be carried, but because of yesterday’s rain and the muddy road, two guards followed behind carrying long wooden poles.

If the carriage got stuck in the mud, these two guards would use the poles to “pry” it out.

Jin Yanqiu always felt like she was mistreating them.

By modern standards, this was indeed abuse.

They were heading to Juyong Pass to find her father. The group had set out from Luoyang and had been traveling for fifty days.

During those fifty days, the servants and guards barely ate or slept well, averaging ten hours of walking per day, leaving their feet covered in blisters.

Compared to this, a 996 work schedule was a walk in the park.

Yet her household staff adapted well. Even the two young maids of only fourteen or fifteen never complained; instead, they were deeply grateful to her.

Because she never urged them to hurry, and the food she provided was quite good by their standards.

Commander Zhang had traveled between Luoyang and Juyong Pass many times and was the most familiar with this route. Hearing that Jin Yanqiu wanted to rest, he said, “Lady, as far as I know, there is an abandoned village not far ahead where we can stay.”

“Alright, we’ll rest there.”

Upon receiving the news, Commander Zhang yelled to let everyone know.

Knowing they’d only need to walk a little more before resting, the group smiled and picked up their pace, and whispered among themselves about how kind the lady was.

They had traveled very slowly. In the past, delivering grain to Juyong Pass took only a month, but they had already been on the road for fifty days and still hadn’t arrived.

The lady not only refrained from blaming them but also occasionally gave them flatbread and pickled vegetables, and even meat a few times. She was truly the best mistress anyone could ask for.

The group walked another two li (about a kilometer) before reaching the abandoned village Commander Zhang had mentioned.

The place had long been deserted, and the houses were falling apart, but at least it provided a place to stay.

Jin Yanqiu sat in the carriage and looked outside through the window.

The Jin family’s guards cut tree branches to repair the village houses and set up temporary “shelters,” while the servants each had their own tasks.

The older servants tended to the horses, feeding them hay and beans; the younger ones retrieved stored fire-starting materials and clay pots from the rear carriage to prepare food.

Someone came to Jin Yanqiu and asked if she needed anything.

“I’m fine,” Jin Yanqiu said with a smile to her personal maidservant, a skinny, dark-skinned girl who had just turned fifteen. “Xiao Tao, how are those children?”

In recent years, natural disasters had been frequent, and man-made calamities even more so. Many commoners had starved to death or become displaced.

Along the way, they had encountered many people struggling to survive.

In Luoyang, Jin Yanqiu had already witnessed much human suffering, but once she left Luoyang, she saw what felt like a living hell.

She didn’t consider herself an exceptionally kind person.

In her previous life, she’d been born in the countryside, her family was poor, and the elders favored males over females. Her childhood had been quite tough.

Back then, she only ate meat once or twice a month. Even making simple egg-fried rice got her scolded by her grandmother, who thought leftover rice soaked in water with some pickles was enough for a meal and that eggs and oil shouldn’t be wasted.

After she grew up, she made her way alone in the big city.

To save money for an apartment, she rented a tiny room that barely fit a single bed, cooked instant noodles every day in a tiny electric pot, and lived on a shoestring.

She wasn’t the type to have extra kindness to spare for others—she didn’t donate to poor children or care for stray cats and dogs.

But after coming to this era, she could no longer steel her heart.

The common people back then were truly too pitiful.

They’d left Luoyang in a hurry with limited food supplies. Jin Yanqiu couldn’t help everyone, so she secretly gave grain to those near starvation and secretly rescued a few children, placing them in a carriage behind hers.

Xiao Tao said, “Lady, they are all fine. These kids are tough as weeds—they survive with just a little food.”

“Good, as long as they’re alright.” Jin Yanqiu breathed a sigh of relief. A few days ago, one of the injured children she had saved died of an infection, and it still weighed on her mind.

Such a young child, so thin her thighs and calves were the same size, and a wild dog had bitten off one of her arms… She struggled to survive, but Heaven took her anyway.

Pushing the thought aside, Jin Yanqiu said, “There are still some flatbreads in the carriage. Xiao Tao, take them all out and hand them out to everyone.”

“Lady, these flatbreads are for you. Why are you giving them to us again?” Xiao Tao objected.

Jin Yanqiu smiled. “We’ll reach Juyong Pass tomorrow, and I won’t be able to eat that many. Take them and hand them out.”

“You deliberately brought extra flatbreads,” Xiao Tao muttered, then took the flatbreads stored in Jin Yanqiu’s carriage. She purposely set aside two: “Lady, keep these two for tomorrow.”

The flatbreads Xiao Tao handed out made the whole group’s faces light up.

The common people of Da Qi rarely had the chance to eat wheat flatbreads made from milled flour, let alone salted ones.

These were delicacies only the wealthy could enjoy.

After Commander Zhang distributed the flatbreads, everyone eagerly began to eat, but Xiao Tao crumbled three flatbreads into a clay pot to cook them.

These were for Jin Yanqiu and the several children in the group.

Watching all this, Jin Yanqiu sighed inwardly.

It had been sixteen years since she came to this world, yet she still couldn't quite adapt to life here.

Jin Yanqiu had transmigrated as a baby. In her previous life, she had finally saved enough for a down payment and was about to buy a small house of her own when she was suddenly hit and killed by a falling object.

When she woke again, she had become a tiny infant.

Once she could see her surroundings clearly, Jin Yanqiu realized she had traveled back to ancient times.

She didn't like the ancient era, but having a second chance at life was ultimately a good thing. Moreover, she had several servants attending to her, clearly born into a wealthy family... At first, Jin Yanqiu was fairly content with her life.

But as time passed, she began to notice something wrong—the era she lived in was extremely backward.

The level of development of this dynasty was similar to that of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period, and the emperor was equally absurd.

When she first traveled here, Jin Yanqiu had many ideas. She wanted to improve food, invent things, and make a name for herself in ancient times. But after learning about this world, she abandoned all those plans.

The emperors of the Qi Dynasty were each crazier than the last!

For instance, the previous emperor not only tortured and killed his own clan members, gutting ministers, but once, while out sightseeing, when he saw a pregnant woman, he bet on whether the baby was a boy or a girl, then cut her belly open right there to check.

The current emperor was no better. He not only made musical instruments from human bones and used iron plates to scald people to death, but also loved inventing all sorts of brutal punishments.

With an emperor like that, Jin Yanqiu even had to cook stir-fry at home in secret, afraid that if news got out, the emperor would notice her.

Jin Yanqiu also heard bad news from time to time.

One year there was a drought somewhere, the next year a flood, followed by a rebellion somewhere, and then an official's entire family was executed for admonishing the emperor...

Natural disasters kept coming, the emperor was a madman, and the court ministers were just as bad. The aristocratic families excluded officials from humble backgrounds, seized land on a massive scale, and kept their own private armies...

Da Qi felt completely rotten.

Naturally, the common people suffered terribly living in such an era.

Fortunately, Jin Yanqiu's family was well-off.

Her mother was born into the wealthy and prominent Qian family, and brought a substantial dowry.

Her father, Jin Mingtang, while not from a distinguished family, was highly capable and served as a border general commanding a hundred thousand troops.

Because Jin Mingtang was always stationed at the border, rarely seeing his wife, the couple had only one daughter, Jin Yanqiu.

As an only child, Jin Yanqiu had always had a comfortable life, but in recent years, she had faced many setbacks.

First, her mother fell ill and passed away, and then her maternal grandfather's family ran into trouble.

Although Jin Yanqiu's grandfather was a collateral branch of the Qian family, he was skilled in business and immensely wealthy, and had always kept good relations with the main family.

However, shortly after her mother's death, the main branch of the Qian family suddenly started making trouble for her grandfather for no known reason. Her grandfather's family had to cut their losses, give up their property, and move away from Luoyang.

Upon seeing this, Jin Yanqiu decided to keep a low profile under the guise of mourning, moving to a manor that was part of her mother's dowry. However, the head family of the Qian clan refused to let the matter rest and even seized her manor.

The Jin family was an obscure minor clan, far inferior to the Qian family, so Jin Yanqiu had no choice but to swallow her pride.

Fortunately, she still had a father who held significant military power, so she wasn't entirely defenseless against bullying.

But two months ago, her father also ran into trouble.

For some reason, the emperor suddenly ordered her father to be demoted.

Originally, her father commanded a hundred thousand troops stationed at the border, but now he was leading five thousand conscripted laborers to build the Great Wall at the Juyong Pass.

As if that weren't enough, their residence in Luoyang was also confiscated.

The emperor was clearly making a move against her father, and if she stayed in Luoyang, her fate would be dire.

Thus, Jin Yanqiu acted decisively, taking some of the household servants and, under the protection of the private soldiers her father had left in Luoyang, set out for the Juyong Pass.

Jin Mingtang had been leading troops at the border all along, returning to Luoyang only twice before Jin Yanqiu turned ten. As a result, she had very little interaction with her father, mostly communicating by letter.

But from his correspondence, she could see that Jin Mingtang was a capable man.

He must have had a backup plan to protect her.

Now, the Juyong Pass was almost within reach.

As Jin Yanqiu was lost in thought, her maid Xiao Tao brought over a bowl of wheat cake gruel: "Lady, your meal is ready."

The wheat cake gruel was gray in color, with a boiled egg and some pickled vegetables inside.

In her past life, when Jin Yanqiu was young, her grandmother was stingy, so she didn't eat well.

But later, when she started school, the meals provided by the school were decent, with meat in every meal.

Once she began earning money, though she ate plain noodles and steamed buns to save, she knew the importance of health, so she'd fry two eggs, stir-fry some meat and veggies, and occasionally treat herself to a meal out.

At the time, she thought she was eating simply. But after coming to this era, she realized that her modern diet was as good as what the nobility ate in this era.

The nobles in Luoyang ate "gao liang li lao"—the name might sound impressive, but "gao liang" referred to fats and finely processed grains, while "li lao" was a sweet porridge made with malt sugar, almonds, and wheat kernels.

These things would be unremarkable in modern times.

But in this era? Da Qi didn't even have stir-fried dishes!

Back when she secretly made stir-fried dishes for her mother, her mother would always praise her nonstop and eat every last bite.

Of course, there were some decent foods in this era—Jin Yanqiu quite liked the common Luoyang mixed stew—but its flavor couldn't compare to the hotpot she made in modern times with her small electric pot.

Back then, she had hotpot base, that magical ingredient.

Jin Yanqiu took the gruel and began eating slowly, while Xiao Tao told the servants to unload the luggage from the rack on the back of the carriage, then take off the rear door and lay it flat on the rack to extend the carriage's length.

Finally, they covered it with a curtain, turning the carriage into a bed.

This bed reminded Jin Yanqiu of her college dorm bed with curtains.

Knowing that stepping out would make the guards and servants nervous, she didn't climb out but instead lay in the carriage, doing simple exercises, lifting her legs and arms.

The medical care in this era was extremely poor.

Her mother fell ill when she was twelve, and her health deteriorated day by day.

At that time, her maternal grandfather still had a lot of pull in Luoyang and hired many doctors to treat her mother, but none of them could cure her.

This drove home the importance of having a healthy body for Jin Yanqiu.

Over the years, she insisted on exercising daily without fail.

While exercising, Jin Yanqiu suddenly felt a pain in her head, and then a voice echoed in her mind: "System binding in progress."

Immediately after, a panel appeared before her, showing the binding progress.

1%, 3%, 7%... The progress ticked forward, but Jin Yanqiu felt a bit helpless.

Wasn't this system arriving a little too late?

She had already been transmigrating for sixteen years! Why was the golden finger only now arriving?

Wait, that wasn’t the main point.

The main point was what this system wanted her to do.

If it simply gave her a golden finger, that would be a great thing for her. But if it assigned her all sorts of troublesome tasks, she would rather not have this system at all.

Watching the binding progress approach 100%, Jin Yanqiu’s expression turned serious, and she intended to have a serious talk with this uninvited system.

Just then, a little yellow ball with eyes and a mouth—very much like a basic emoji—appeared on the system panel: "Hello, host! I am the World-Saving System 899!"

World-Saving System? As soon as Jin Yanqiu heard that name, her heart sank.

Did this system intend for her to save the world?

Wasn’t that expecting too much of her?

If such a system were going to bind a host, it should bind her father, who once commanded a hundred thousand troops!

Jin Yanqiu said nothing, but 899 had already started rambling: "Host, the world you’re in is derived from a book, and you are the female lead. But now something has gone wrong with this world. A reborn character from the book has stolen your rightful male lead. Normally, swapping the female lead wouldn’t matter, but she doesn’t have your abilities, so she can’t help the male lead unify the nation, and that's why this world is in trouble..."

Jin Yanqiu listened for a long time, asked a few more questions, and finally understood the situation.

She was the original female lead of a book.

According to the book's plot, after her mother died, she would move to a manor outside Luoyang and then chance upon saving the severely injured Wei Lian, the eldest son of Duke Wei.

Wei Lian fell for her at first sight, but because he was in a hurry to return home, he left a jade pendant and departed.

Later, the emperor was killed by his attendants, Luoyang fell into chaos, and several imperial relatives fought for the throne...

Da Qi had already seen frequent rebellions across the land, with some factions seizing territory. After this incident, the entire region fell into complete turmoil, and Duke Wei also set his sights on conquering the realm.

Wei Lian, a born military genius, even conquered large swaths of land early on.

At that time, she and her maternal grandfather's family, carrying a large amount of wealth, escaped Luoyang and sought refuge with her father, Jin Mingtang.

All factions wanted to win over Jin Mingtang, who commanded a formidable army. Duke Wei was no exception, so he sent Wei Lian to the border to marry Jin Mingtang's only daughter—that is, her.

When she saved Wei Lian, she used a pseudonym, and Wei Lian didn’t know she was Jin Mingtang’s daughter. He refused the marriage on the grounds that he already had someone in his heart. Duke Wei had no choice but to send Wei Lian and his half-brother by a concubine to the border to propose marriage on behalf of the younger brother.

Then Wei Lian recognized her, snatched her away from his younger brother, doted on her endlessly, and gained the support of Jin Mingtang and her maternal grandfather.

Jin Mingtang supplied the troops, her maternal grandfather provided the funds, and with Duke Wei’s full support, Wei Lian began to conquer the realm. In just a few years, he unified the country and established Great Wei.

According to the system, this was a deeply moving romance, and Wei Lian loved her deeply.

For example, Wei Lian had a bad temper and was somewhat bloodthirsty. Once, after a long siege to capture a city, he was furious and ordered a massacre.

No one could make Wei Lian change his mind, but when she rushed to the scene and pleaded for the lives of the city’s people, he rescinded the order.

Another example: when Wei Lian’s half-brother by a concubine coveted her, Wei Lian schemed against him, causing his death on the battlefield.

Such incidents were numerous.

The system said: "Host, according to the original book plot, Wei Lian loves you very much. Unfortunately, the reborn daughter of the Qian family, at the time of your mother’s death, snatched your manor and also stole the favor of saving Wei Lian’s life. Now, the Qian family is already negotiating marriage with the Wei family!"

"That’s fine," said Jin Yanqiu, mentally flipping through the book.

The female lead in this book should be her.

She was from modern times and couldn’t accept things like massacres, so she would oppose them fiercely.

At that time, Da Qi lacked food, and some armies would use human flesh as military rations. She also couldn’t accept that, so she worked hard to develop agriculture, ensuring a steady supply line for Wei Lian’s army.

In the book, she also improved papermaking and printing technology, found ways to make money, and proposed many methods to restore people’s livelihoods.

Many of the things she did were ideas she had repeatedly pondered over the years.

In the book, she did a lot for Wei Lian, acting as his steadfast support, but Jin Yanqiu felt that she would not have loved Wei Lian.

This Wei Lian was irritable, bloodthirsty, arrogant, and possessed the inherent pride of this era’s aristocratic families.

She despised such people and would never fall in love with Wei Lian.

Since that was the case, perhaps she did all that because she was trapped in a chaotic world with no choice.

She thought that perhaps she agreed to the marriage because something went wrong on Jin Mingtang’s side, such as a shortage of military supplies.

The court never sent enough grain to the border. Every year her father would arrange for private troops to buy grain from all over, and he would write to her and her mother, asking them to send any surplus food at home to the border.

In the book, after the emperor’s death, the world fell into chaos, and surely no one would continue sending grain to the border. Her father’s 100,000 troops were likely facing a grain shortage.

Duke Wei occupied Jizhou and had plenty of grain, which might have been the only place for Jin Mingtang’s Zhenbei Army to turn to.

Under such circumstances, if Wei Lian wanted to marry her, she had no choice but to marry him.

Jin Yanqiu felt a bit resentful at the thought of this possibility.

She had no interest in Wei Lian at all. Since the reborn woman wanted him, she might as well let that woman have him.

What she worried about now was Jin Mingtang and her maternal grandfather’s family.

Unless something unforeseen happened, her maternal grandfather’s family being driven out of Luoyang and Jin Mingtang being demoted were probably orchestrated by that reborn woman, who had manipulated members of the Qian family.

She wondered if they would keep up their schemes.

Thinking carefully, the current situation might not be a bad thing. Since Jin Mingtang had already been demoted, he no longer needed to manage those 100,000 troops. Once she arrived at Juyong Pass, she could try to persuade Jin Mingtang to take her to join her maternal grandfather’s family, and then they could find a place to live in seclusion.

After Wei Lian unified the nation, they could come out of hiding and enjoy a peaceful life under a prosperous reign!

The more Jin Yanqiu thought about it, the more viable the plan sounded. But the system panicked, its voice trembling: "Host, this is terrible! This is terrible!"