Spring flowers

Chapter 1 Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character: Wei Family Girl

Summer Solstice, the capital city

Wei Yishang looked Ye Mingzhen up and down as he arrived.

The young man, dressed in red, was dignified and composed, his eyes like pools of spring water.

His eyes were slightly red at the corners, his eyebrows were raised, and his black hair was tied up high with a jade crown, giving him an indescribable air of arrogance.

From the moment this third-ranked scholar first appeared at the poetry gathering, the women present all lost their composure as young ladies, their eyes either staring directly at him or intentionally or unintentionally lingering on him.

Before Ye Mingzhen arrived, the Shuyu Poetry Society had already heard of his reputation for being a handsome man.

It is said that the princess fell in love with him at first sight in the imperial palace.

It has always been customary for the third-ranked scholar to become the emperor's son-in-law. If the previous son-in-law had not died less than three months ago, I'm afraid His Highness would have immediately made him the emperor's son-in-law, thus dashing the hopes of countless women waiting to be married.

At first, everyone thought that this third-ranked scholar was indeed somewhat handsome, but now, at first glance, he seemed like a celestial being.

"It's a waste of talent for Scholar Ye to come to the Shuyu Poetry Gathering today. These are all young masters still in school or young ladies who don't often leave their homes. Scholar Ye, you'll have to go easy on them later."

Princess Anping was the organizer of the Shuyu Poetry Gathering. This third-place scholar had been there for a long time, and everyone just stared at him without saying a word. Naturally, she had to step forward to strike up a conversation and show goodwill, in order to demonstrate her hostess demeanor.

Ye Mingzhen bowed to the Princess of Anping with both hands, saying, "Princess Anping is too kind. You gentlemen are all very talented. I will do my best to help you."

Ye Mingzhen has a handsome appearance and speaks in a humble and gentle manner, which makes him even more likable.

Princess Anping blushed, covered her face with a round fan, and made a "please" gesture: "Please take a seat quickly."

After Ye Mingzhen took his seat, the Princess of Anping invited everyone to drink.

A sip of peach blossom wine reveals a sweet and slightly bitter taste.

As a concubine's daughter from a fourth-rank family, Wei Yishang knew that her status among this group was insignificant, merely a supporting character, and that she probably wouldn't get to say much, so she drank a few more cups of fine wine.

Since it's a poetry gathering, drinking naturally involves poetry to enhance the experience, and the various poetic phrases piled up are just right to accompany the drinks.

Suddenly, she heard a burst of applause and laughter from the crowd. She turned her head and saw that the person who had just composed the poem was Ye Mingzhen himself.

Whether the poems were good or not, Wei Yishang didn't know, but the ladies' reactions were certainly respectful, which made the young men who had just composed the poems unable to suppress the jealousy in their eyes.

Wei Yishang put a chilled lychee into her mouth. In the sweltering summer heat, ordinary officials didn't have such good fruit in their homes.

She was only concerned with eating and drinking, and when the wine ran out, she asked people to refill it, but she didn't even glance in Ye Mingzhen's direction.

One is that he doesn’t want to, and the other is that he doesn’t dare.

According to the plot, she was supposed to plagiarize her friend's poem at the poetry gathering to save face for herself and successfully strike up a conversation with Ye Mingzhen, whom she had fallen for at first sight.

But she knew that doing so would arouse the jealousy of the women present, lead to her being disfigured by the Princess of Anping in a scheme to vent her anger, and later be discovered to have plagiarized her poems, causing her reputation to plummet. She could only stay at home to worship Buddha and dared not go out again.

The reason is that the world she is in now is a novel, and Ye Mingzhen is the most popular male supporting character in the book, while the friend whose poems she plagiarized is the female protagonist of this story.

In the novel, after she appeared before Ye Mingzhen with the heroine's poetry, Ye Mingzhen's affection for her increased.

But later, Ye Mingzhen discovered that the poems came from the female lead, and he became disgusted and contemptuous of her, turning his heart to her instead.

For the sake of the female lead, he rejected many women who showed interest in him, such as the Princess of Anping County, the Eldest Princess, and the daughter of a high-ranking official. He even castrated himself on the day the female lead married the real male lead, insisting on remaining chaste for her sake.

At that moment, Wei Yishang's eyes widened when she saw Ye Mingzhen castrate himself with a knife.

However, the author explained that such a good second male lead shouldn't be given to another woman even if he's not the female lead.

At that time, Wei Yishang was still muttering to herself, "What did this charming second male lead do to deserve this? He can remain unmarried for life if he can't get the female lead. In ancient times, medical conditions were not good. If he castrated himself, he would easily get a wound infection and have to go to see the emperor."

Unexpectedly, a few months later, Wei Yishang transmigrated into the body of a cannon fodder female supporting character, Wei Jia Nu.

Knowing the plot, she naturally wanted to live a peaceful and stable life and never have anything to do with Ye Mingzhen.

The poetry gathering had come to a close and the atmosphere had cooled down a bit when Princess Anping, who rarely spoke to Wei Yishang, suddenly called out her name.

"Miss Wei, why is it so quiet today? I haven't heard you say much. By the way, why isn't your most talented sister here? It would be much more lively if she were here."

The "sister of Wei Yishang" mentioned by the Princess of Anping is Feng Yueqiao, the female protagonist of this story.

At this moment, Wei Yishang thought to herself: Isn't it because you, Princess Anping, thought the Feng family was too shallow that you didn't invite them? Oh, perhaps there's also the reason that you're afraid of being overshadowed.

Wei Yishang stood up and curtsied: "Sister Feng has been feeling a bit cold lately and is unable to come out. As for me, I am not very talented and just now, listening to everyone's eloquent and beautiful poems, I suddenly became flustered and racked my brains but couldn't come up with anything good. Please forgive me for making a fool of myself."

"So, Miss Wei, who do you think read it best?"

Princess Anping seemed determined to get a straight answer from Wei Yishang.

Wei Yishang pursed her lips. She had been lost in thought and hadn't listened to anyone reciting the poems.

I only remember Ye Mingzhen saying in the book, "There is no end to the night in Changping, and the lights illuminate those who are separated."

"Ye Tanhua's poem is excellent. The long and arduous battles of Changping were like an endless night, but there was always a beacon to light up the battlefield for the soldiers. The idea is excellent and has a profound vision. And today, with the rain drizzling down, the lighting of several lamps in the pavilion is also very fitting."

Wei Yishang seemed to be doing a reading comprehension exercise.

After saying this, Princess Anping reluctantly asked Wei Yishang to sit down.

As soon as Wei Yishang sat down, she glanced at the admiration in Ye Mingzhen's eyes, then at the displeasure on Princess Anping's face, and realized that she had gotten the reading comprehension question wrong.

Princess Anping asked her to answer in order to amuse herself and to highlight her own elegance, but she did not understand.

Thinking of the disfigured ending in the book, Wei Yishang shuddered and quickly calmed her nerves with alcohol.

Fortunately, the county magistrate of Anping did not make things difficult for everyone and continued to discuss poetry and public opinion with them.

Wei Yishang had drunk quite a bit, so she went to change her clothes. The Anping County Princess's mansion was too large, with winding corridors, and Wei Yishang, being drunk, couldn't tell which way was which.

Unfortunately, the maid Cui'er who came with them was also confused and couldn't find her way back to the pavilion.

Just like a headless fly bumping around aimlessly, suddenly they heard voices coming from behind the rockery in the small garden: "The county princess has feelings for him, how can I take away someone else's love?"

“Miss, whether the county princess was interested or not is not important. What is important is whether Young Master Ye is interested in her. Although the county princess is the most distinguished today, Young Master Ye’s gaze did not linger on her. The two have little acquaintance and their conversation is brief, with no hint of anything. On the contrary, Young Master Ye has paid great attention to you, Miss, and even praised your poetry.”

"That's true. Young Master Ye is a man who values ​​talent. The county princess is just the daughter of a commoner, with no education. How could Young Master Ye possibly be interested in her? Besides, in terms of family background, she has a princess above her."

Wei Yishang found the words somewhat familiar, and after a moment's thought, she realized that there seemed to be a passage in the book.

These words were spoken by Pei Xiaorou, the daughter of the Minister of Works, and the one who agreed to her earlier must have been her maid.

Not wanting to cause any further trouble, Wei Yishang pulled Cui'er away. The two wandered around for a while before finally returning to their seats.

Just then, the weather turned against them, and thunder rumbled.

Princess Anping was so engrossed in the poetry gathering that she didn't want to part ways with Ye Mingzhen too soon, but now she had no choice but to leave, since she didn't have enough guest rooms at home.

After delivering his speech, the county magistrate of Anping dismissed the guests and rose to see them off.

As everyone began to leave, Wei Yishang breathed a sigh of relief, wanting only to leave quickly and have no further involvement with Ye Mingzhen.

However, distracted, she tripped over the threshold when she went out, stepped on the hem of her skirt, and fell forward uncontrollably.

Just as she was about to embarrass herself in front of everyone, a hand suddenly reached out from around her waist and wrapped around her.

Wei Yishang barely managed to stand still when the hand was pulled back.

She looked at the owner of the hands, the young man in red, who had already clenched his fists and said gently, "The situation was urgent just now, and I was afraid that Miss Wei might be injured. I apologize for the offense."

"Thank you." Wei Yishang nodded to Ye Mingzhen, her attitude distant, and stepped out the door.

But then he heard the voice of Pei Xiaorou, the daughter of the Minister, from behind: "Young Master Ye, farewell."

Ye Mingzhen's voice was indifferent. He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "May I ask which family's young lady you are?"

"You don't recognize me?" Pei Xiaorou's voice was somewhat shocked.

He had forgotten her surname, but remembered Wei Yishang's.

Cui'er, hearing that there was a good show to come, turned her head away, but Wei Yishang pulled her back.

Wei Yishang lowered her voice: "What are you looking at? It's none of your business."

She led Cui'er into the carriage, and then the thunder grew louder and louder, the booming sound sounding somewhat eerie.

She told the coachman to hurry the carriage, preferably back to the house before it rained.

With a crack of the whip, the wheels rolled forward, and Wei Yishang closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

She's passed the poetry gathering hurdle; she's changed the course of the story, and should be able to live a good life in this world as the second daughter of the Wei family.

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, a voice suddenly appeared in her mind.

[Host, we have noticed your alteration of the story's direction and have activated the romance system for you. Complete the romance with the male supporting character Ye Mingzhen in the book, and achieve the ending where you marry him to receive generous rewards.]

[The system has detected that Ye Mingzhen's favorability towards you is 20. Please continue your efforts.]

[Ye Mingzhen will be returning to his hometown for a gathering soon. His hometown is in Ju County, which is the same hometown as your current identity. You can go to Ju County to create a chance encounter and increase your favorability.]

Wei Yishang: What?!
She actually has a system as a cheat code?

But she managed to change the course of the story and escape the fate of being disfigured by jealousy.

The system, however, insisted that she repeat the same mistake and win over a popular male supporting character who was admired by many noble ladies.

Not to mention the powerful and influential eldest princess, even a minister's daughter could easily put pressure on her father, a hardworking and meritorious vice minister who had climbed up from the bottom.

Wei Yishang frowned and pondered for a long time before asking the system in her mind, "What are the rewards for successfully completing the mission?"

If the reward isn't generous enough, wouldn't it be a waste to do something that threatens your life?

System: [Host will receive the following bonuses: Economy: Ten thousand taels of gold; Power: Noble Lady; Ability: Mind Reading; Fortune: Wishes come true, and there is a chance to bring the acquired items back to the modern world.]

Wei Yishang:
With such a generous reward, she had no reason to refuse.

A general who risks his life on the battlefield, or a scholar who studies diligently for decades, may never achieve either of these accomplishments in their entire life, but the opportunity is right in front of her.

The only condition is to seduce a man.

Wei Yishang opened her eyes.

Raindrops pelted down from the carriage roof, sounding like drums beating against her heart.

Suddenly, a horse neighed, and someone tightened the reins.

Wei Yishang lifted the curtain at the window and looked over, only to see that Ye Mingzhen's carriage had been stopped on the road.

He lifted the curtain with some confusion and looked over, just in time to meet Wei Yishang face to face.

He nodded slightly and looked ahead.

The man who stopped the carriage rode a fine horse and, with a dark expression, produced a token. He said to Ye Mingzhen, "Young Master, the Princess invites you to come with me to the Princess's residence."

Ye Mingzhen frowned noticeably.

(End of this chapter)