Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Jun Zishu laid into the nutrition pod, her consciousness entering a private transit space.
She had passed an interview and a written exam not long ago, so she can finally lie here and begin her internship.
She was interning as a fate changer in the Department of Transmigration.
She had been a businesswoman on Earth before she died. After concluding a business negotiation, a driver under the influence of alcohol accidentally hit her with his car.
Car accidents were a common misfortune that frequently happened around the world. Even so, Jun Zishu never thought that she would meet with such a tragic end.
After she died, she originally thought she would meet the rumored lord of the underworld. However, that did not happen. Instead, she received a notice.
The notice stated that so long as she passed three tests, she could intern as a fate changer and continue living for the time being. Once her internship ended, she could become an official employee and live for however long she wanted.
Jun Zishu didn’t wish to die yet, so she accepted the offer and smoothly passed the three tests. Now, she was lying in the provided nutrition pod and was ready to start her internship journey.
“Welcome to the System Space. This is System No.28, ready to serve you wholeheartedly.”
Suddenly, a creature resembling a fairy fluttered her translucent wings and hovered in front of Jun Zishu, the fairy using a crisp, childlike voice to speak to Jun Zishu.
“Um… Are you System No.28?”
“Yes!”
“You must’ve guided many hosts before, then.”
“No, you are System No.28’s first client!”
“Is that so… Do all systems come in your shape?”
“Not at all, but isn’t my appearance cute?”
After saying so, System No.28 twirled around in the air before lifting her skirt and curtsied to Jun Zishu.
“Cute,” Jun Zishu sincerely complimented, causing the system to nod with joy.
“Host, give me a name. It’ll be a nickname exclusively for your use.”
“Two-Eight, then.”
A simple and straightforward name.
“Huh?”
System No.28 did not think that the beautiful lady in front of her would give her such a tasteless name.
“What’s wrong?”
“I thought of a name for myself,” System No.28 said. “Call me Little Fairy.”
“…If that’s what you want, so be it, Little Fairy.”
“Thank you, Host!”
Little Fairy was delighted, the wings on her back fluttering happily.
“I will be residing in your spiritual sea while we are in the mission world, Host. Let’s enter our first world.”
“Mhm.”
When Jun Zishu opened her eyes again, she found that her surrounding environment had completely changed. Now, she was no longer lying in the cramped nutrition pod. Instead, she was sitting inside a bumpy carriage filled with stuffy air.
[Host, I will be transferring this world’s information to you now. The person whose destiny you need to change this time is Ning Qinghuan, who is also your current body’s elder cousin sister.]
Mhm.
[By the way, Host, have I told you about your assigned role?]
Why?
[The Department has determined that you are more suited to become a life mentor based on your personality. In addition, to give you an easier time approaching your mission targets, you will always be granted the role of your target’s younger or older cousin sister for all future missions.][1]
Okay.
Jun Zishu was quite satisfied with her assigned role. After all, she would have an easier time approaching her mission targets.
Life mentor, is it? Well, misleading people is my strong point.
Jun Zishu was known as the Golden Mouth in the business industry. She strongly adhered to the principle of utilizing her mouth instead of her fist to do business. She was the type of person who could bleed others of their money and make them think that they had gotten a good deal.
At this time, the information that Little Fairy mentioned finally arrived in Jun Zishu’s mind.
If Jun Zishu had to regard her mission’s backstory as a novel, her mission target would be the novel’s cannon fodder.
Ning Qinghuan was General Ning’s daughter. The members of the Ning family’s past three generations similarly served as generals for the empire, and even Ning Qinghuan’s elder brother and uncles belonged to the army. Simply put, every male in the Ning family was a serviceman.
Meanwhile, Ning Qinghuan and the empire’s fifth prince were childhood friends. At the age of 15, the fifth prince proposed to Ning Qinghuan, and Ning Qinghuan became the fifth prince’s consort.
If things proceeded smoothly from this point onward, Ning Qinghuan wouldn’t have needed any saving. Jun Zishu also wouldn’t have given Ning Qinghuan the label of cannon fodder.
Originally, with Ning Qinghuan’s background and brains, she should’ve been a great help for the fifth prince in securing the throne, and she would’ve become the empire’s next empress. Yet, Ning Qinghuan’s fate ended with disfigurement and suicide.
Ning Qinghuan’s fate was wrong. So, Jun Zishu’s job as a fate changer was to reverse this tragic fate.
While Ning Qinghuan wasn’t prohibited from meeting a tragic fate, the idiotic ending she met was simply too inconsistent with the brilliant mind she possessed. It was as if someone had forcibly lowered her IQ for her to stumble into the silly fate she had.
Meanwhile, the root cause of Ning Qinghuan’s downfall was the fifth prince’s true love. That woman was the fifth prince’s Juliet. To avoid the other members of his harem from targeting that woman and others from finding out his true weakness, the fifth prince deliberately pampered Ning Qinghuan and used her as a shield for his true love.
Unfortunately, Ning Qinghuan remained ignorant of the fifth prince’s superficial pampering. She had long since fallen for the fifth prince’s sweet words of love, so she foolishly sacrificed many things for the man. Eventually, though, she came to her senses and noticed that something was amiss.
However, when Ning Qinghuan tried to deal with the fifth prince’s true love, not only did she meet with failure, but the fifth prince had even crippled her arms and legs. To make matters worse, the fifth prince’s Juliet had even “accidentally” spilled hot tea onto Ning Qinghuan’s face. And because Ning Qinghuan didn’t receive the necessary treatment in time, she ended up being disfigured.
With how proud of a person Ning Qinghuan was, there was no way she could tolerate being crippled and disfigured. Hence, she chose to commit suicide.
Jun Zishu shook her head and sighed when she finished reading through the information. In her opinion, Ning Qinghuan was both pitiful and foolish.
According to the provided information, Ning Qinghuan had noticed problems in the fifth prince’s behavior many times before. However, she would always dispel her suspicions after receiving a few of those so-called sweet words of love.
Tsk. Do all women go blind once they fall in love?
[That shouldn’t be the case, which is also why we are here to rectify this problem.]
The system’s loli voice sounded in Jin Zishu’s mind.
Jun Zishu tapped the back of her left palm with her right forefinger, a plan taking shape in her mind. If she wanted to change Ning Qinghuan’s fate, she would have to distance Ning Qinghuan from the fifth prince.
Two-Eight, that fifth prince and his true love shouldn’t have something like a protagonist’s aura supporting them, right? Or something along the lines of ‘the world will belong to them in the end.’
[Those things only exist in the Counterattack Division. Our Fate Changing Division is different. Also, call me Little Fairy.]
System No.28 re-emphasized her name.
Okay, Little Fairy. But aren’t we all fate changers? What’s the difference?
[The Counterattack Department’s fate changers will attach themselves onto the cannon fodder’s body. Then, they will battle against those with the protagonist’s aura or cheats and reach the peak of life. So, they are different from us.]
Okay, I understand.
According to the world’s setting, so long as Ning Qinghuan did not wish to marry the fifth prince, then she wouldn’t have to marry him.
In that case, Jun Zishu felt that her job would be simple. All she needed to do was help the little girl recognize the fifth prince’s scummy side and live the rest of her life in peace and happiness.
Everything was A-OK.
The body Jun Zishu currently occupied was called Jun Wan’er, who was Ning Qinghuan’s younger cousin. Such a person never appeared in the original plot. This was because Jun Wan’er had a frail constitution, and she had died of illness before she could reach the Ning manor.
Jun Zishu let out a few coughs as she pulled apart the carriage’s curtains and looked out the window.
“Miss Cousin, what’s the matter? Are you feeling unwell?” a man riding a horse along the carriage asked with a concerned expression.
Jun Wan’er’s mother was the younger sister of General Ning’s wife, who had married a merchant. However, bandits raided the Jun manor not long ago, and only Jun Wan’er survived the encounter.
General Ning was a kind person. Although Jun Wan’er was only the daughter of his wife’s younger sister, when he heard of this matter, he had promptly sent his subordinates to bring Jun Wan’er to the Ning manor.
Despite their mothers being blood-related sisters, Jun Wan’er and Ning Qinghuan weren’t actually related by blood. This was because Jun Wan’er was adopted. Jun Wan’er’s adopted mother was incapable of bearing a child, so she adopted a child from one of her husband’s concubines. The woman had initially intended to adopt a son, but all of her husband’s concubines ended up giving birth to daughters.
However, the people from General Ning’s manor didn’t know of Jun Wan’er’s origins. They all thought that she was birthed by the younger sister of General Ning’s wife.
Shaking her head, Jun Zishu looked ahead and said, “I’m alright. How long until we reach Uncle’s house?”
“Soon. We should reach it before nightfall,” the man from the Ning manor replied with a smile. The man had a relatively good impression of this “Miss Cousin” before him. Despite having a pitiful life story and a frail body, she still treated everyone around her politely. She was a very likable young lady.
Jun Zishu nodded in response to the man’s words and let down the curtains.
Jun Wan’er was 13 years old this year, and so was Ning Qinghuan. Though, Ning Qinghuan was four months older than Jun Wan’er.
When Jun Zishu thought about how she could meet her mission target tonight, anticipation welled up within her.
…
When Jun Zishu alighted from the carriage, she saw a man holding a lantern and standing by the manor entrance. Judging by the man’s attire, he should be the chamberlain of the Ning manor.
“You’re here, Miss Cousin. I am the manor’s chamberlain. The master and madam are already waiting for you inside, so please follow me.”
Jun Zishu nodded but did not speak. She didn’t look around as they walked through the manor, either. Instead, she quietly kept up with the chamberlain.
“Uncle, Auntie.”
After entering the main house, Jun Zishu gave a customary greeting to the man and woman sitting in the house. Then, she glanced at the little girl standing aside.
The little girl wore a red dress, and she had bright eyes and pearly teeth. The girl had an exquisite look, and she exuded the air of someone belonging to a wealthy family.
She should be Ning Qinghuan.
Jun Zishu lowered her head and revealed a timid look to Ning Qinghuan. In her mind, though, she had a relatively favorable impression of this beautiful girl. She was also determined to become friends with Ning Qinghuan. After all, only by getting closer to the mission target would she have a greater influence on the other party.
“You are Wan’er, right? Come here, you pitiful child. You will be staying here with us from now onwards. That girl there is your elder cousin. Qinghuan, come here.”
Madame Ning pulled over her daughter and introduced her to Jun Zishu.
“Greetings, Big Sister Qinghuan.”
Jun Zishu spoke in a cautious voice, the corners of her mouth curving up only slightly as she looked at Ning Qinghuan. As a 13-year-old girl who had just lost both her parents, it was only right for her to be cautious of everything.
“Greetings, Little Sister Wan’er.”
Ning Qinghuan curiously observed the younger cousin she was meeting for the first time. A few days ago, her mother had already told her that one of her younger cousins would be moving in with them and becoming her playmate. She also heard that this cousin of hers had a pitiful life story and that both of the girl’s parents had met an unfortunate demise.
From what Ning Qinghuan could tell, this cousin of hers looked very weak, as if she would fall at the slightest gust of wind. Her cousin’s complexion also looked pale, evidence that the girl wasn’t in good health.
Ning Qinghuan honestly disliked fragile little girls. She typically avoided playing with such girls since she felt they would break with the slightest touch.
She looks like a rabbit, soft and white. She looks like she will be docile and harmless, Ning Qinghuan thought as she caressed her chin and observed how her cousin was looking at her.
However, what Ning Qinghuan didn’t know was that this rabbit knew how to eat people.
TL Notes:
[1]you will always be granted the role of your target’s younger or older cousin sister for all future missions:
Just a heads up: This is a lie. Jun Zishu won’t always play the role of a cousin.