[Hello, Host. Welcome to the character-building game, The Enchanting Demon Consort. Your goal is to survive.]
That was the first thing Yu Yuan heard when she woke up. She did not understand a word of it.
Because this thing calling itself the “System” had originally belonged to her cousin, Yu Qing, who claimed she had transmigrated.
Yu Yuan, the only legitimate descendant of the Prince of Zhenbei, daughter of a military family, betrothed to Shen Zhao, the current crown prince, and a pampered young lady no one in the capital dared to cross, had merely gone out to see the lantern festival when she was kidnapped and had her face stolen.
Yu Qing was behind it all. But that night, shouting something about “the heroine” and “taking the throne,” Yu Qing rushed out, only to die before she could get started, falling into a cesspit whose lid had been left open.
With Yu Yuan’s face.
Yu Yuan: “Hey, Ghost, I really am Yu Yuan.”
System: [The Host is really quick to get into character. Now, let’s begin the main storyline of The Enchanting Demon Consort!]
Yu Yuan: “...I’ll find you a spirit medium so you can be reincarnated. Get off me.”
System: [I’ll electrocute you!]
Yu Yuan: “What does electrocute m, Aaaaah!”
Yu Yuan was electrocuted. Yu Yuan was aggrieved. Yu Yuan accepted the fact that she was a character in a story in just three breaths.
But she didn’t understand why Xie Hanzhou, who had been at odds with her her entire life, had fallen madly in love with her in this story.
Oh, correction. He had fallen madly in love with the dead Yu Yuan.
Later, Yu Yuan watched herself receive a lavish funeral and could do nothing to explain.
Later still, she took her own place, entered the Crown Prince’s residence, and became Xie Hanzhou’s crown princess.
From then on, her carefree life became a series of deadly traps.
System: [Nanny Zhao has brought you sour plum soup. Choose: drink it / knock it over / use the chance to question her.]
Yu Yuan unhesitatingly chose [drink it].
And then she died.
System: [Too bad. You made the wrong move. You drank poisoned sour plum soup before the story even began.]
Later, Yu Yuan got smarter and discovered that raising Xie Hanzhou’s affection level could change the choices. But right now, his affection level toward her was -999.
Reluctant but resigned, Yu Yuan began replacing the tea Xie Hanzhou drank every day with her foot-washing water under a guise of tender affection.
With sweet, loving words, she slipped itch powder into his breakfast every morning.
Between honeyed endearments, she tossed dead rats onto his bed.
But Xie Hanzhou’s affection level stayed at -999. He even glared coldly at her. “Imposter. If it weren’t for you, Yu Yuan wouldn’t have died. You poisonous woman, don’t think you can make me fall for you.”
Yu Yuan kept smiling, grinding her teeth in anger. “Hey, Ghost, can I beat him to death and then start over?”
System: “Come on, Host! If sweet talk doesn’t work, try facing life and death together. Save him when he’s in danger, and your intimacy level is sure to go up.”
Oh, saving someone in a crisis? That was easy.
So Yu Yuan repeatedly swooped in at the crucial moment to save the hero.
Where those crises came from was another matter entirely.
Xie Hanzhou had always had a rival he couldn’t stand: Yu Yuan.
When she entered the Imperial College in men’s clothes, he couldn’t stand her arrogance.
They fought like the world was ending.
But then, one day, this rival showed up dressed as a woman.
Yu Yuan was a woman.
He went from shock to resentment, from resentment to confusion, until at last those feelings turned into love.
But Yu Yuan died, and the marriage decree he had begged for ended up being granted to someone else.
Gradually, though, Xie Hanzhou realized that this fake Yu Yuan’s methods...
were exactly like those of the Yu Yuan who had died.
[Reader’s Guide]
1. Bickering couple
Theme: Eat well, drink well, and live forever.
