Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

Qi Ning, having no more scruples, completely followed her own ideas and fully launched her plan to flatter and destroy.

At first, the emperor was indeed willing to indulge Qi Ning and even had the mood to tease her for her diligence. However, as Qi Ning mentioned it more and more, he naturally began to feel a little dissatisfied.

It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with Qi Ning, but rather with the Jiang family and Gao Yun.

After all, there are techniques to using flattery to kill someone. You have to flatter them in a way that makes the emperor wary of Gao Yun and his group, but you also have to make the emperor dislike you.

Therefore, whenever Qi Ning said something that might annoy the emperor, the system would coax the emperor in the dream, which was equivalent to giving him a sweet treat after a slap.

In the emperor's eyes, Qi Ning was just a pitiful person who was being used by the Jiang family and Gao Yun.

On the contrary, Gao Yun and the Jiang family are ambitious and have overreached.

Especially Gao Yun, his good son. Over the years, he has appeared gentle and refined, indifferent to fame and fortune, and never competed for anything. But in reality, his ambition is extraordinary.

It is now the height of summer, and the hot weather makes people even more irritable. Several times the emperor wanted to lash out at Gao Yun and Jiang Jingzhou, but he held back for Qi Ning's sake.

Speaking of the hot weather, Qi Ning has ushered in another good opportunity.

Not everywhere is as cool as the imperial palace. Due to months without rain and the scorching sun, a drought has struck a region near the capital, causing widespread suffering.

The ministers submitted memorials one after another, requesting the emperor to issue an edict to send people to provide disaster relief.

Generally, when the emperor arranged for disaster relief, he would appoint a chief official and a prince. This allowed the prince to both observe the people's conditions and supervise the officials to prevent corruption.

In the original storyline, the emperor initially assigned Prince Gao Yan to provide disaster relief.

Unexpectedly, during the disaster relief efforts, a riot broke out among the victims, and Gao Yan, lacking sufficient manpower, was unable to quell it in time.

Upon learning of the situation, the emperor had no choice but to send Gao Yun again.

Finally, Gao Yun, with sufficient manpower, resolved the turmoil.

The credit that originally belonged to Gao Yan was stolen by Gao Yun because of a disaster relief uprising.

Qi Ning naturally couldn't let things develop as they did in the original storyline.

That evening, the emperor dined with Qi Ning in the Mingyue Pavilion.

Qi Ning asked at the opportune moment, "Your Majesty, I heard that you are currently dealing with the drought. Have you not yet decided who to send to provide disaster relief?"

This afternoon, the emperor discussed this matter with his princes and ministers in the Hall of Diligent Governance.

The emperor has already decided who will be sent as the chief minister in charge of disaster relief.

However, the emperor had not yet decided which prince should be sent along with the group.

However, in the afternoon, both Gao Yun and Gao Yan expressed their views on disaster relief to the emperor. Gao Yan had some opinions on how to manage the drought, and the emperor was more inclined to send him.

The moment Qi Ning spoke, the emperor instantly understood her meaning.

"What, my beloved concubine, do you want me to send the Fourth Prince to provide disaster relief again?"

Qi Ning didn't try to hide it. She smiled and frankly admitted, "Your Majesty is wise. My little thoughts can't be hidden from Your Majesty."

The emperor fell silent, staring at her intently without saying a word.

Disaster relief is no small matter, and the emperor could distinguish the importance of things, so he would not indulge Qi Ning in everything.

The emperor was, after all, the emperor, and his appearance was quite intimidating. The eunuchs and others serving him were trembling with fear. But Qi Ning was not afraid at all. Instead, she reached out and grabbed the emperor's sleeve and shook it.

She said in a coquettish tone, "Your Majesty, I'm not just speaking nonsense because I'm blindly siding with the Fourth Prince and the Jiang family. I genuinely believe that sending the Fourth Prince to provide disaster relief is more appropriate. Don't you want to hear my reasons?"

The emperor sighed and said patiently, "Alright, tell me your reasons. Why do you think it's better to send the fourth prince to provide disaster relief?"

Before I give my reasons, Your Majesty, could you please tell me which prince you originally preferred to go?

The matter has not been completely settled yet, so it wouldn't hurt to tell her. The emperor replied, "I favor the fifth prince. He has considerable knowledge of drought management."

"Fifth Prince."

Qi Ning responded indifferently, seemingly not very approving.

"Do you think it's inappropriate for me to send the Fifth Prince?"

"Your Majesty, please let me explain slowly."

Qi Ning said slowly, "You sent the prince to assist the officials in disaster relief mainly so that the prince could understand the people's plight and be in charge of supervision. As for other matters, whether it is distributing disaster relief grain or managing the disaster, there are special officials in charge. Am I right, Your Highness?"

"Yes," the emperor replied.

“That’s right. Since there are specific officials in charge of specific matters, the prince only needs to understand the people’s conditions and supervise the officials. No matter how much the Fifth Prince studies drought, he can’t compare to the people in charge. This is just icing on the cake, and can be dispensable.”

The emperor looked thoughtful.

This is not without reason. Gao Yan's research on drought management was indeed only icing on the cake and he was not an expert. The ministers in charge of disaster relief were much more experienced than him.

Qi Ning continued, "In that case, it doesn't really matter which prince we send, but the Fourth Prince is more suitable than the other princes in one aspect."

Which place?

“It’s my temperament,” Qi Ning replied.

“Your Majesty, think about it. When the princes go out to provide disaster relief with the officials, it is to represent your reputation. The more gentle and approachable the prince is, the more the people will feel Your Majesty’s love for his people. If an arrogant and aloof prince goes instead, it will only make the people fearful.”

"The reason why I think it is more appropriate to let the Fourth Prince go to provide disaster relief is because the Fourth Prince is gentle and refined, making him more approachable. When the people see that Your Majesty's son is so gentle and approachable, they will naturally feel that Your Majesty is also gentle and approachable."

"The majesty of the royal family can be displayed at any time, but in times like disaster relief, it is essential to let the people feel His Majesty's care for them, like sending charcoal in the snow. Only in this way will the people support His Majesty even more."

Upon hearing this, the emperor raised an eyebrow slightly: "Where did my beloved concubine learn these profound principles? She speaks of them with such eloquence."

Qi Ning raised her chin and gave a soft snort: "I come from a poor family and have never been to school. I only know a few characters. How could I possibly understand any profound principles?"

"But before I was adopted by the Jiang family, I was just an ordinary commoner. Naturally, I understand the thoughts of ordinary people best. Your Majesty, please tell me if what I said makes sense?"

The emperor nodded. So, Qi Ning was judging others by his own standards.

"Although my beloved concubine's reasons are a bit far-fetched, they do make some sense."

Gao Yan was indeed a cold and aloof man. Even the palace maids, eunuchs, and some officials were afraid of him, let alone ordinary people.

Regardless of Gao Yun's true nature, he is indeed gentle and refined, always with a smile on his face, and approachable in his interactions with others.

"Since Your Majesty finds my words reasonable, shall we decide to send the Fourth Prince to provide disaster relief?" Qi Ning asked again.

The emperor pondered, seemingly still considering something, and did not immediately agree.

He admitted that Qi Ning's words made some sense, but that wasn't enough to change his mind.

Since realizing the ambitions of Gao Yun's faction, the emperor no longer wanted to embolden them.

At the same time, the emperor did not want to continue to indulge Qi Ning, lest she become even more demanding.

Seeing that the emperor did not immediately agree, Qi Ning lowered her eyes and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I know that the empress dowager is not allowed to interfere in politics. Originally, I did not want to concern myself with these important national affairs, but a few days ago, my sworn sister came to see me."

The Emperor was aware that Jiang Weilan had visited Qi Ning at Mingyue Pavilion some time ago.

He also heard that Qi Ning and Jiang Weilan talked alone in the room for a long time that day, and it seemed that they had an argument, but he didn't know what they were arguing about.

When Qi Ning brought this up, the emperor asked, "What did she say to you?"

Qi Ning pursed her lips, looking quite troubled, and said, "Your Majesty also knows that I was just a lowly actress before. It was the Jiang family that took me in as their adopted daughter, which is why I was fortunate enough to serve by Your Majesty's side. The Jiang family has done me a great favor."

"It is only right to do something for the Jiang family to repay their kindness, even if it costs me my life. But I can make things difficult for myself, but I don't want to make things difficult for Your Majesty. That's why I had a big argument with Sister Lan that day."

These words cleared up the emperor's doubts, letting him know what Qi Ning and Jiang Weilan had been arguing about that day.

"After the argument, I agreed with Sister Lan that I would do one last thing for them to repay their kindness to me, and from then on, they would not ask me to do anything again."

At this point, Qi Ning looked up at the emperor and met his gaze.

"Your Majesty, if you grant my request and allow the Fourth Prince to take charge of this disaster relief effort, from now on, I will never speak for the Jiang family or the Fourth Prince in front of you again, and I will never interfere in court affairs again."

“Of course.” She added with a wronged expression, “It doesn’t matter if Your Majesty disagrees. This is a favor that I owe to the Jiang family, and Your Majesty should not be the one to repay it for me.”

Qi Ning knew very well that even if the emperor indulged her repeatedly, he would eventually get tired of saying certain things, especially when it came to the issue of the crown prince.

Even if the emperor can tolerate her now, it's only a matter of time before he gets tired of her.

Qi Ning decided to quit while she was ahead.

Recently, Qi Ning's words and actions in front of the emperor have made the emperor wary of Gao Yun.

After the disaster relief effort, Gao Yun's prestige will be further enhanced, both among the common people and in the imperial court. The emperor's fear of Gao Yun will become deeply ingrained, and Qi Ning will no longer need to do anything in the short term.

After hearing Qi Ning's words and seeing her pitiful appearance, the emperor finally softened.

He thought that she was just a candidate for disaster relief, not a candidate for the crown prince, so agreeing to her request wasn't a big deal.

Besides, as long as she agrees to Qi Ning this last time, she will have repaid the debt of gratitude she owed to the Jiang family, and she will never mention these things to him again.

The emperor finally nodded: "Very well, I grant your request."

Qi Ning was finally relieved to see that the emperor had agreed.

The system seemed confused. It asked Qi Ning, "Host, you've gone to great lengths to send Gao Yun to provide disaster relief. Do you want him to encounter a disaster relief uprising like Gao Yan in the original story, thus making a mistake and being punished by the emperor?"

"How could that be?" Qi Ning denied. "I want Gao Yun to achieve merit and make the emperor even more wary of him. How could I let him make a mistake? I will remind them about the disaster relief unrest."

"But in the original storyline, although Gao Yan went to provide disaster relief first, Gao Yun was the one who ultimately deserved credit for the relief efforts. Now you've gone to such great lengths to get the emperor to directly send Gao Yun to provide disaster relief, isn't the result the same? What's the difference from the original storyline?"

"Of course there are differences."

Qi Ning explained, "In the original story, Gao Yun was only sent to reinforce the disaster relief efforts after Gao Yan's mission caused a riot among the victims. This way, Gao Yun had a legitimate reason to go, and his meritorious service was justified, preventing the emperor from being too wary of him."

"By doing this, I'm turning the reason Gao Yun was able to go to disaster relief from the cause of the famine into my own merit. When Gao Yun returns with his merit, the emperor will be even more wary of him because of this."

"Simply put, it's the difference between being passive and being active. Gao Yun's meritorious service in an unexpected situation is different from the merit he deliberately earned. This will further highlight Gao Yun's ambition."

The system understood, but then it added, "This way, you've shielded Gao Yan from another disaster, and he might even misunderstand you."

Otherwise, Gao Yan might be punished by the emperor because of the disaster relief unrest.

"He'll realize then that what I did actually helped him."

The next day.

The emperor officially issued an edict, announcing that the fourth prince, Gao Yun, would accompany officials to provide disaster relief. Three days later, he would set off with relief supplies to Peiyuan County, which was suffering from drought.

This decree came as a surprise to Gao Yun, who had previously given up hope.

That day, Gao Yan spoke eloquently before the emperor, as if he had been prepared in advance, and expressed many views on the management of the drought. The emperor was clearly very satisfied with his performance.

Gao Yun thought he had lost this good opportunity to make a contribution, but he never expected that the emperor would send him again.

At that time, Jiang Jingzhou was in Gao Yun's study.

Gao Yun asked in bewilderment, "Yesterday, Father Emperor clearly favored the Fifth Prince more, so I don't know why he changed his mind."

Jiang Jingzhou's eyes darted around, and he immediately said, "Your Highness, I heard that you stayed at Consort Qi's Mingyue Pavilion again last night. If you changed your mind last night, it must be because Consort Qi said something."

Gao Yun nodded thoughtfully: "It seems that this Consort Qi is still somewhat useful."

He recalled how he hadn't understood why Jiang Jingzhou had chosen Qi Ning, but now he admired him a little.

"Lord Jiang, you have a keen eye for people."

Jiang Jingzhou laughed heartily, shamelessly accepting the praise.

Meanwhile, Gao Yan on the other side had a gloomy expression.

A few days ago, seeing that the weather had been dry for several months, he anticipated that a drought might occur, so he specifically looked at some records of droughts from previous years.

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