The Rogue Host Was Such a Handful

Xu Xi pointed at the lone icon on the enormous screen, furious. "That's the shop you were talking about? It only sells one piece of junk?"

"Th-that's not a piece of junk. It's a Beauty Pill. Take one, and you'll have world-shaking beauty." After that feeble explanation, the system seemed to find its confidence, and its tone grew excited.

"Host, you have to understand, wherever you go, it's a world that judges by appearances. If you had world-shaking beauty that no one could match, wouldn't you be able to walk sideways wherever you pleased? Would those trash in the marquis's residence still dare to act all high and mighty in front of you, look down on you, and laugh at you?"

"Hmph..." Xu Xi sneered. "I make a living with my talent, not my looks." Besides, she wasn't ugly. Though she wasn't beautiful enough to topple cities and kingdoms, her looks were above average, and she was a beauty with an elegant bearing.

"Besides, when I call you stupid, you really are stupid," she added. "I have no way to protect myself. In a world where power rules, wouldn't having nothing but beauty be asking for an early death? Have you ever heard that beauties are doomed to unhappy lives? The old emperor summons me to the palace, and the consorts in his harem get jealous of my beauty and plot against a woman like me, who has hardly anyone to back her up. In just a few years, congratulations, you'll have a new host."

She planted her hands on her hips and said viciously, "Listen, if you want a new host, say so now. I'll kill myself right away, and you can go find yourself a new host."

The system: "..."

That trick again.

It took a deep breath, suppressed the resentment in its heart, and said in a feigned hurt tone, "Host, how could you think that of me? I bound myself to you because I saw your high IQ. It's not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry who can catch my eye."

"Cut the bull." Xu Xi was unmoved. "Hurry up and put the other good stuff on display."

That Beauty Pill was fucking useless, and outrageously expensive to boot. It cost ten thousand Wisdom Points.

For fuck's sake, she had practically written her hand off practicing a page of calligraphy, and all she got was one Wisdom Point. When would she ever be able to afford anything?

"There's nothing else, really." This time, the system was genuinely aggrieved.

"It takes energy to open the shop. I'll tell you the truth: I originally planned to wait until you'd saved up tens of thousands of Wisdom Points, then use those points to open it. That way, I could conserve the little energy I had. But you wouldn't go back to the marquis's residence, so how easy would it be to earn tens of thousands of Wisdom Points? That's why I used up my reserves to open the shop. From now on, we'd better not run into any trouble. If you're ever in danger and want my help, I won't have the energy and can only watch helplessly as you die. Then we'll both be finished."

By the end, the system was utterly dejected.

Xu Xi: "..."

What the actual fuck.

Just how badly did this system want her to follow the original plot, return to the marquis's residence, farm Wisdom Points, and slap faces? It had even used its last reserves of energy to open the shop, only for the shitty shop to be fucking useless. Wasn't it screwing her over?

Still, if it thought it could use this to threaten her into returning to the marquis's residence and obediently doing as she was told, no way.

She said coldly, "In that case, let's forget about going back to the marquis's residence. It's so dangerous there. One wrong move and someone could plot against me. Let's just stay in this little mountain village. The food and everything else might not be much, but at least there's no danger, right? If I really can't stay here anymore and have to get married, I'll marry an honest man with a simple family. With my IQ and what I learned in my last life, making a little money to support a family won't be a problem. We won't ask to have once possessed it; we'll only ask for it to last forever. A quiet, ordinary life is what really matters."

The system was dumbfounded.

Why was its host so difficult? Even after all that, she still wouldn't follow the original plot?

Just what kind of rogue host had it bound itself to? Neither carrots nor sticks worked on her.

Watching Xu Xi calmly get into bed and lie down in comfort, looking as though she meant to put down roots here, the system panicked completely.

"Don't, host, please! I'll let you in on something. The calligraphy you're practicing is too low-level right now, which is why you only get one Wisdom Point per page. Once your calligraphy reaches the next level, you'll get two, three, or even more Wisdom Points per page. Think about it: can a primary school student's writing compare with a master's? Wisdom Points are awarded according to value. The same goes for music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."

"Not interested," Xu Xi said lazily.

The system: "..."

It gritted its teeth. "How about this? Once you've saved up ten thousand Wisdom Points, I'll add another item to the shop."

Xu Xi opened her eyes, a little interested. "What is it?"

"A Beautiful Voice Pill?"

"Pfft." Xu Xi rolled her eyes, turned over onto her stomach, and pointed the back of her head at the system.

The system was silent for a long while, as though rummaging through its reserves.

Just as Xu Xi was about to fall asleep, it suddenly spoke again. "An Agility Pill."

Xu Xi was instantly wide awake.

But she kept her eyes closed, pretending not to be interested. She yawned and asked lazily, "How many Wisdom Points?"

The system was secretly delighted. Reminding itself to stay composed, it named a figure. "Thirty thousand."

"Oh." Xu Xi responded weakly and gave no further reaction.

"Host? Host?" the system called repeatedly. "You don't even want an Agility Pill? Then what on earth do you want?"

Xu Xi forced her eyes open, yawning again and again. "An Agility Pill is barely passable, I suppose, but it's too expensive. Who knows whether I'll have saved thirty thousand Wisdom Points in eight or ten years? We'll just have to wait and see."

Seeing that Xu Xi really was about to fall asleep, the system shrieked, "Twenty thousand! Twenty thousand Wisdom Points, and I can't go any lower. I bought it from the shop for twenty-five thousand, so I'm selling it to you at a loss. If you won't take it for twenty thousand, there's nothing more I can do."

By the end, it sounded close to tears.

No system had it worse than this. Fuck, not only had it failed to earn a single penny, it had poured in tons of money and even dug into its burial fund. Could it possibly be any more miserable?

Xu Xi flashed herself a victory sign in her heart, then sank completely into a sweet sleep.

When the carriages carrying Steward Liu, Matron Ruan, and their party returned to the capital, a group of women were sitting or standing in the main hall of the Marquis of Suiping's Residence.

The old marquis had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son and eldest daughter were born to the old marchioness, while his second and third sons and youngest daughter were born to concubines. After the old marquis died, the household had not divided. The people sitting in the main hall now were the ladies of the three branches, their daughters-in-law and unmarried daughters. Add the maids and older female servants, and wasn't it a room packed full of people?

Lady Zhu, the marchioness, sat just below the old marchioness. Seeing how restless Second Lady Wei was, she smiled and comforted her. "Sister-in-law, don't worry. At this hour, they should be back soon."

Then she instructed a maid, "Go and watch the entrance. As soon as Matron Ruan and the others return, come and report it."

The maid acknowledged the order and left.

But the old marchioness, Lady Tang, snorted coldly. "If she had truly cared about that child, she wouldn't have lost her own daughter back then."