"Mu Zibai, you're not getting any younger. I've arranged a marriage for you. You should know about the second young lady of the Wenren family. The Wenren family is powerful and wealthy. It'll be a fine place for you to settle down."
Settle down? That meant marrying into the family.
Mu Zibai was an illegitimate son of the Mu family in the Capital City. His mother had been a maidservant, and to his father, Mu Hedao, he had been nothing more than the product of a moment's whim. Who could have known that one careless night would leave her pregnant?
Since he'd been conceived on a whim, Mu Zibai naturally had no standing in the Mu family. He could be called utterly lowly.
As a transmigrator, Mu Zibai did have a cheat, but he couldn't use it.
The system was a shop, and its rules were simple: as long as he had points, he could buy any item in the shop.
[Item 1: God-tier Marrow Cleansing Pill, price: 1,000,000 points]
[Item 2: Supreme Profound Treasure, price: 2,000,000 points]
[Item 3: Streamer's Pink Companion, price: 10 points]
[Item 4: Shen Nong's Herbal Compendium, price: 10,000 points]
[Item 5: Mysterious Flame Cultivation Method, price: 100,000 points]
The shop stocked five items a day and refreshed right on schedule. The items were random, and once he bought one, it would never appear again.
They were all good things, except for the occasional strange item that somehow slipped in. Overall, the shop was excellent. The only problem was that he had no points.
How did he earn points? Simple. The other person had to be someone of high status. After staying by their side for thirty seconds, he could trigger a touch.
Once he touched them, he would receive a certain number of points.
It looked pretty awesome, right? Just like Heartsteel, the new item recently added to League of Legends. He'd been planning to join the Steel Gate Warriors.
Unfortunately, Mu Zibai had never managed to use the ability even once. As an illegitimate son, he simply had no chance to get near anyone of high status.
The system determined who counted as high status. The one time Mu Zibai had gotten a chance was at the full-month celebration for Mu Hedao's youngest daughter. Just as he was about to pick up his little sister, First Madam had blocked him. She thought he was too lowly and unworthy.
[Name: Mu Zibai]
[Cultivation: None]
[Points: 0]
He couldn't even afford Streamer's Pink Companion. Sigh.
As for the second young lady of the Wenren family, Wenren Lingmeng, she and the Mu family did indeed have a marriage agreement. It said she would marry a young master of the Mu family. Wenren Lingmeng was renowned for her beauty and peerless talent.
Unfortunately, half a year ago, the family had gone to Moon Gazing Tower to admire the moon. After they returned, Wenren Lingmeng fell unconscious and became a vegetable.
The Wenren family had been troubled by this ever since. They had consulted countless famous doctors, and even many Imperial Physicians had been brought in, but none could do anything.
Even the Capital City's most renowned Imperial Physician couldn't cure her. She would probably remain a vegetable for the rest of her life.
With the wedding date approaching, the Wenren family naturally wanted to honor the marriage agreement. There was the belief that a wedding could bring good fortune to someone in poor health.
The Mu family was obviously against it. How could Mu Hedao let his son marry a vegetable? No matter how wonderful Wenren Lingmeng had once been, she was now a vegetable, a useless person.
But the Wenren family wielded too much influence—they were the maternal relatives of the current Emperor. Mu Hedao couldn't simply break off the engagement, so he thought of Mu Zibai as the perfect scapegoat. The agreement only said "Mu Hedao's son." It never specified which of his children.
Mu Hedao had only two sons, and one of them was Mu Zibai. Back then, the Wenren family hadn't even known Mu Hedao had another son, or they would never have left such a loophole.
To show how righteous he was, Mu Hedao even said outright that Niece Lingmeng had difficulty moving, and that, for her sake, he would send Mu Zibai to marry into the Wenren family and take good care of her.
The Wenren family had been left with no choice. Though they were deeply unwilling, they could only swallow their grievance. Fine, Mu Zibai it was. They would just treat it as a wedding to bring good fortune to Wenren Lingmeng.
Wenren Lingmeng probably wouldn't wake up anyway, so she wouldn't object.
At that thought, Mu Zibai suddenly realized something. Wait, wasn't this a good thing?
Wenren Lingmeng was a vegetable, and the Wenren family were imperial relatives.
Wenren Lingmeng was certainly someone of high status. Didn't that mean Mu Zibai would finally have the chance to touch her?
At the thought, he drew in a sharp breath, and the chill in his heart eased.
His father had never cared about him. Today, though, he'd given him a generous gift.
Things had gone so far that the matter was as good as settled. There was no turning back.
The wedding was held a few days later. Not a single member of the Mu family attended. As Mu Zibai was leaving, Mu Hedao stopped him and gave him a few instructions.
"Once you arrive at the Wenren Manor, take good care of Niece Lingmeng. Put her first in everything. She's frail now, so there's no need to come back for the customary post-wedding visit."
Mu Zibai was already used to it. Everyone in the Mu Estate, right down to the maids, treated him indifferently. They didn't make things difficult for him, but they weren't particularly kind either.
The wedding was modest, with few guests, just as he'd expected. The people from the Wenren family didn't look too happy, either.
Mu Zibai wore a solemn expression, barely managing not to shed a couple of tears. But inside, he was laughing. He'd nearly lost control, and was doing his best to hold it in.
How could he not be happy about this? It just wouldn't be appropriate to laugh out loud at a time like this, so he'd have to sneak off and laugh when no one was around.
The Wenren family were fairly polite to Mu Zibai, their new son-in-law. They didn't insult him. At least they treated him like a person.
That night, Mu Zibai was escorted into the bridal chamber. They called it a wedding night, but with a vegetable? And there were more than a dozen maids standing on both sides. How terrifying.
This was nothing like a wedding night. It was more like a tribunal, with every maid scrutinizing Mu Zibai as though he were a criminal.
"Everyone, leave. Don't stand around in here."
Just then, the door opened, and a maid dressed in fine clothes walked in. One glance was enough to tell she was Wenren Lingmeng's personal maid, Xiao E. She had grown up alongside Wenren Lingmeng, and the two were very close.
Mu Zibai looked at Wenren Lingmeng lying on the bed. She wore a red wedding dress and was breathtakingly beautiful, just as the rumors claimed. It was a pity she was now a vegetable.
She needed someone to take care of even her most basic needs, like eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom. Thinking of how haughty Wenren Lingmeng had been in the rumors, then looking at her now, Mu Zibai figured she would be devastated if she knew what had happened to her.
Mu Zibai turned his head and saw Xiao E looking him up and down, her gaze wary.
Though Mu Zibai was officially the Wenren family's son-in-law, most of the Wenren family didn't recognize him. With his status, who would think highly of him?
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