Life Is Full of Endless Possibilities - Chapter 1

After a rustling in the bushes, a head popped out.

“Is that the female lead? Wow, she really is pretty.”

[…That’s the female supporting character. The female lead of this world died young due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, which threw the entire world line into chaos. Your mission this time is to help the female supporting character become the new female lead of this world.]

That’s right. I’d transmigrated into a novel.

The one talking to me was the System.

The novel world’s original female lead had died in childhood from an unknown illness.

As a result, the entire world line was on the verge of collapse.

And I was the poor corporate drone the System had dragged in to work for free.

The chosen wage slave tasked with making sure the world line returned to normal.

“Ha! Leave this to me and you can give up all hope!”

[…?]

“Pah, no, I mean—leave it to me and don’t worry!”

A glimmer of foolish confidence flashed through my crystal-clear eyes.

Despite having no physical body, the System suddenly felt a chill.

[You must complete the mission according to the plot line. As long as the female supporting character successfully completes the story that originally belonged to the female lead, you’ll be able to go home.]

I thumped my chest hard enough to make it boom.

“Mission guaranteed! Don’t worry. I’ve got a save-and-reload cheat!”

[…Fine.]

The female supporting character was named Yang Fuxue. At the moment, she was washing clothes by the river.

The rippling stream reflected light along the side of her face. She was a very beautiful girl.

I climbed over somebody’s wall and stole some clean clothes that were drying on a pole.

Then I pretended I’d just come over to wash clothes too and struck up a conversation with her.

Yang Fuxue was very innocent and trusting. It didn’t take long before she opened her heart to a shamelessly overfriendly stranger like me.

“Sangsang, I think we must’ve been best friends in our last life too. Everything I like, you like. Everything I know, you know too.”

I smiled and nodded. “That’s what you call ape-finity!”

I carefully left out the part where I’d already used my save-and-reload cheat more than a dozen times to learn everything about her.

Over the next few days, the two of us often arranged to wash clothes together by the river.

The village also frequently echoed with furious curses directed at a certain clothes thief.

She would smile and chat with me about the weather, food…

And before long, we became best friends.

Following the System’s prompts, I subtly guided Yang Fuxue into the mountains one day.

There, she rescued the Crown Prince after he had been attacked and fallen from a cliff.

The System informed me that the Crown Prince was the male lead of this story.

After Yang Fuxue saved him, I didn’t interfere too much.

After all, whether sparks would fly depended on how the two of them got along.

To my surprise, it only took a few days for them to fall for each other.

When I asked about it again, Yang Fuxue blushed from head to toe and fidgeted with the corner of her clothes.

“Sangsang, Xiao-lang and I have pledged ourselves to each other. I… I’m already his woman~”

My eyes flew wide open.

Who said ancient people were conservative?! Ancient people were way too open-minded!!

It had only been a few days. Not even a week!

I frowned. The Crown Prince might be the male lead, but he was no good man. His Eastern Palace was already full of women.

I wanted Yang Fuxue to become a Zhen Huan who could seize control of her own fate, but she seemed determined to become a long-suffering Ruyi instead.

So I began trying to deprogram her.

I told her all kinds of stories: about a social-climbing man who abandoned the wife who had suffered with him, a scholar who rose to power and immediately sacrificed the woman he loved, a supposedly devoted general who cheated after the sweet-romance ending…

But Yang Fuxue was already hopelessly in love with the Crown Prince.

Sigh. Time to let go of my urge to save people and just live my own life.

Anyway, I was only a transmigrator here to complete a mission. Once it was over, I could dust off my hands and go home.

I’d said everything I could. If she refused to listen, there was nothing I could do. (Shrug.)

Before long, she was brought into the Crown Prince’s residence as a low-ranking concubine.

As her friend, I was brought into the Eastern Palace too.

To outsiders, Yang Fuxue claimed I was her personal maid. In private, she told me we were still best friends.

The luxurious life of the Crown Prince’s residence was more than enough to dazzle a girl from the countryside.

Because the Crown Prince had personally brought Yang Fuxue into his residence, she immediately became a thorn in everyone else’s side.

For a while, our lives were extremely difficult.

But back in the modern world, I’d read a few palace-intrigue novels and watched plenty of dramas.

On top of that, I had my cheat ability.

So whenever danger came, the two of us managed to come through it unscathed.

I racked my brain for strategies and finally helped her rise from low-ranking concubine to Liangdi.

From the Eastern Palace into the imperial palace.

From Concubine Yang to Consort Yang.

And finally, that year, I got hold of incriminating evidence against the Noble Consort and successfully helped my female lead ascend to the position of Empress.

Finally! Finally!

The novel’s ending was the female lead becoming Empress.

Which meant I could finally go home!!

I spent the entire day floating in the excitement of finally being able to return.

Yang Fuxue wore phoenix robes, her entire body filled with the same joy and exhilaration.

“Ye Sang, after all these years, I finally did it.”

Looking at this best friend I’d spent seven years with, I suddenly felt reluctant to part. After all, once I left, I’d never see her again.

I stepped forward to straighten her collar.

“Fuxue, when I go home, I’m going to miss you…”

Yang Fuxue frowned. “Go home? Ye Sang, isn’t the imperial palace good enough? You’ve been by my side for so many years, and I’m used to having you serve me. Why would you go back to that little village?”

My hands froze on her collar as she continued.

“Also, now that I am Empress, you shouldn’t address me by name so casually…”

She gave me a faint glance. There was the contempt of someone in power in her eyes.

“Ye Sang, you need to understand your place.”

I lowered my eyes, hiding my expression. The next second, I dropped to my knees and respectfully kowtowed.

By now, I was very practiced at doing this.

“Your Majesty, please forgive me. I overstepped.”

Yang Fuxue gave a soft hum through her nose, apparently pleased with the way I’d admitted fault.

“All right. Get up.”

She brushed at sleeves that didn’t have a speck of dust on them and tossed out one last order. “And stop thinking about going home. Make the arrangements. His Majesty is coming tonight.”

With that, she turned and left.

I remained kneeling until her figure disappeared, then slowly rose.

Power really was a wonderful thing. Seven years was all it took to completely change a person’s nature.

Yang Fuxue of East Mountain Valley—the Yang Fuxue who had sworn we’d be best friends for life—had become Her Majesty the Empress, the Mother of the Nation who now ordered around the people who had once been closest to her.

My face went cold.

I said to the System, “Let’s go. There’s nothing here worth missing.”

The System’s emotionless voice sounded in my mind.

[I’m sorry. Host, you have not met the target conditions. Please remain here and continue your mission.]