I Govern a Nation with an Anti-Scam App

Warlords vie for supremacy, and smoke rises from battlefields everywhere. Occupying a single city is enough for anyone to call himself a hegemon.

The good news: She has transmigrated into the daughter of the lord of Jizhou.

The bad news: Her father is dead, Jizhou is tiny, and the former governor of Jizhou, whom her father drove from office, is preparing to rebel.

Jiang Zhen...

What can she do? Naturally, with the support of the trusted minister her father charged with her care on his deathbed, she pretends to be a man, dons a crown and ceremonial robes, and takes her place as lord.

Luckily, the anti-fraud app she had bound in her previous life came along when she transmigrated. It isn't much use, but at least she can console herself that she's one of the chosen, blessed with a useless golden finger.

That is, until the former governor's son publicly challenges her, accusing her of being unworthy of her position and warning that disaster will surely befall her. Suddenly, the anti-fraud app she is bound to responds.

[Ding! Fraud Detection has detected an anomaly. Friendly reminder: The other party may be a scammer trying to steal your throne. We recommend you don't fall for it!]

The former governor's son (his face turning red, then white): Your servant would never dare...

The courtiers, who had been on the verge of forcing her to abdicate moments earlier, hear the anti-fraud app's warning and are shaken to their core. They all drop to their knees and cry out, wholeheartedly, "My lord!" They are terrified that if they kneel even a moment too late, their true thoughts will be exposed and they will be humiliated in public.

Jiang Zhen: I love the anti-fraud app!

*

Three states that have designs on Jizhou send envoys to persuade her to submit. They speak in unison: "Jizhou is weak. You would do better to submit to our lord, who will guarantee you a lifetime of wealth and honor!"

The anti-fraud app makes another appearance.

[Ding! Fraud Detection has detected a foreign threat. Friendly reminder: There are risks abroad, so protect your kidneys. The other party has already picked out a place to bury you!]

The three states' envoys (enraged): "You spread lies to mislead the public! Marquis Jiang, are you so arrogant that you don't fear our armies at your gates?"

[Ding! System upgraded. New feature added: Scam Exposed. Please check it out!]

[Scam One: See how Wei is gradually tricking Zhao into forming an alliance?]

[Scam Two: Secretly accepting Song's treasure just to say nice things? Don't become an accomplice to Wei's destruction of a state!]

Jiang Zhen gazes at the confused envoys from Wei, Zhao, and Song before slowly smiling. For some reason, the sight makes their hair stand on end.

From then on, a proverb spreads among the states: "When Marquis Jiang smiles, no one knows who will live or die!"

Little Vignettes

The anti-fraud app not only helps Jiang Zhen's pursuit of dominion go smoothly, it also deals a heavy blow to her love life.

Suitor A: My lord is as beautiful as a celestial fairy.

[Friendly reminder: The other party is sweet-talking you in an attempt to deceive you!]

Jiang Zhen: ...Heh.

Suitor B: Your servant fell in love with my lord at first sight. I adore and admire you.

[Warning: The other party is suspected of emotional fraud. He already has a wife and intends to commit bigamy!]

Jiang Zhen: ...Bring out the dog-head guillotine.

She has no interest in the matchmaking banquet her trusted minister arranged for her when Suitor D appears.

Charming and smooth-tongued, a brilliant debater, and not a single honest word in his mouth, Suitor D: In my eyes, my lord shines brighter than the sun, a heaven-gifted genius and as beautiful as a goddess from the highest heavens. I have loved you for many years, but would never dare to profane you...

Jiang Zhen listens coldly to his thousand-word torrent of praise, waiting for the anti-fraud app to expose him and make him eat his words.

But after three breaths, then a full quarter of an hour, the anti-fraud app remains silent.

She asks the app directly.

[Dear, no lies detected~]

All right, all right. So your endless eloquence is just a disguise. Deep down, you're a hopeless romantic.

Jiang Zhen nods with satisfaction. A hopeless romantic is the best dowry a man can bring.

Recommended completed novels: I Made My Fortune in Troubled Times with My Sharp Tongue, Bound to a System with the Emperor at the Same Time, and I Became the Early-Deceased Younger Sister of the Dragon-Proud Hero.

Recommended upcoming novel: Everyday Life in Bianjing

When Chen Yuanniang was born, her father was demoted from assistant commandant to commoner. She, too, went from a pampered young lady of an official family to a farm girl, spending her childhood cutting grass, herding cattle, and doing hard labor.

Even her betrothal, arranged when she was still in the womb, went nowhere.

With the family's grain jar nearly empty, Chen Yuanniang is scolded by her grandmother as a money-losing burden and sent up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables. Fortunately, she's the sharpest-eyed girl within ten li, and always manages to gather the most.

Then good fortune falls from the sky: she never has to dig for wild vegetables again!

Because her fiance's family has sent someone to break off the engagement!

A thick stack of silver notes, countless trunks of gifts in compensation, and even the ancestral home that once belonged to her family. What kind of broken engagement is this? It's clearly the God of Wealth arriving to enlighten and save them.

But it also makes the whole village jealous, and people seeking her fortune come to propose until they wear a path to her door.

Her grandmother looks at her beautiful granddaughter, then at her young grandson, who is old enough to begin his studies and pay tuition, and makes her decision through gritted teeth.

"We're moving! Moving house!"

The whole family quickly relocates to Bianjing, settling in a small courtyard with a shopfront on a bustling street. They begin a lively life among the city's common folk.

Little Vignette One:

Her younger brother goes to school, while her grandmother and mother knead dough in the shop to make steamed buns. As for Yuanniang...

She rolls up her sleeves and is just about to help when her grandmother mercilessly slaps her arm, leaving a red mark on her fair skin.

Her grandmother's sharp voice fills the room. "You brainless girl! What respectable young lady bares her arms and legs? Do you want to get married or not? Does this family really expect you to earn a few measly coins?"

Her mild-mannered mother silently rubs the injury.

"Buy a couple of pretty outfits." Her grandmother tosses down a heavy little purse and continues gruffly, "Finding a good husband is what matters."

Yuanniang smiles without a word of protest, quickly stuffs the purse into her sleeve, and nods over and over like a squirrel.

Her little brother, back from school, puts on a solemn face. "Sister, don't worry. I'll study hard, and when I pass the highest examinations, I'll earn noblewomen's titles for you and Mother. We won't need outsiders to bring honor to our family."

Little Vignette Two:

With everyone in her family so striking, Yuanniang has no choice but to do as she's told. She takes her little purse and spends her days going out with the girls next door to buy rouge and watch the excitement, becoming a thoroughly native young lady of Kaifeng.

Chen Yuanniang soon sets her sights on a handsome scholar from a wealthy family. He often comes to her family's shop to buy steamed buns, and his gaze is always fixed on her, unable to move away. She pretends to be shy, occasionally tilts up her beautiful face to ask him for help with her writing, and soon has him completely smitten.

From then on, something new appears in front of her family's door every day: sometimes rouge, sometimes pastries, sometimes jeweled hairpins...

One day, a flower lantern is added to the offerings.

A young woman from the neighborhood teases her. "The Lantern Festival is when young men and women in Bianjing share their feelings. Your scholar is probably going to invite you out to see the lanterns and tell you how he feels. Don't be shy. I've checked him out for you. He's generous, so his family must be well off, and he's handsome too..."

"You're a lucky girl," the young woman says with a grin as Yuanniang chases her away.

Sure enough, after the Lantern Festival, the two grow closer and more affectionate.

That is, until the scholar reveals who he is and says he'll come to ask for her hand, intending to marry her properly. Chen Yuanniang freezes, as if struck by lightning.

Isn't he from the family of the fiance whose engagement she broke off...?

Message: Everyone must strive to live their lives.