Sludge suction system

On his way back to the capital, the Fifth Prince recalled the story General Ning often told him, a story from when Consort Ning was still alive. At that time, the Empress's faction viewed Consort Ning's family, who held considerable military power and influence, as a thorn in their side, wanting to eliminate them at all costs. And then, both the Empress and Consort Ning became pregnant, only a little over a month apart. Even more remarkably, Consort Ning was carrying twins! Immediately, rumors spread throughout the land: "The arrival of twin stars will surely bring auspicious omens."

In contrast, while the Empress was of noble birth, she only had the Prime Minister to back her up. Therefore, the focus of their struggle naturally centered on who could give birth to a prince first. After all, in that feudal dynasty, whoever gave birth to a son first would gain an advantage in the competition for the crown prince position and thus have a chance to control the vast empire.

Thus began a fierce power struggle. Time passed, and the Empress's due date finally arrived. After a painful struggle, she successfully gave birth to a prince. Everyone thought the position of Crown Prince was now settled, but fate is unpredictable. Just two days later, Consort Ning also began labor. Knowing the Empress's ruthless methods, Consort Ning was filled with fear, worried that the Empress would take advantage of the situation. Therefore, she took precautions and had her elder brother—the renowned General of Ning—wait outside the delivery room, just in case.

However, as the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. Even in this tense situation, an unexpected event occurred. Because the Empress had bribed the midwives beforehand and secretly instructed them to tamper with the delivery, when the midwives prepared to carry the newborn Fifth Prince out of the delivery room, General Ning, who was guarding outside, seized the opportunity, struck the midwives unconscious with a swift chop, and snatched the newborn Fifth Prince away. Thus, to protect the Fifth Prince's safety, General Ning, with the infant Lan Yun in swaddling clothes, fled to the frontier, far from the turbulent capital.

Meanwhile, on Consort Ning's side, the midwife took away her youngest son, which triggered a postpartum hemorrhage, and she suddenly passed away. The Fourth Prince, having lost his mother's protection, received extraordinary favor from the Emperor, who placed him under the care of Consort De, who was also a Consort. Consort De, already dissatisfied with Consort Ning, neglected the Fourth Prince, hoping he would become as useless as possible.

"Your Highness, we received a message by carrier pigeon. General Ning and the Fifth Prince will be returning to the capital soon. Please make preparations as soon as possible." After hearing his subordinate's report, Crown Prince Lan Yan waved his hand, signaling his subordinate to leave.

"Fourth brother, fifth brother, just you wait and see! We'll give you a good show!" "Haha, haha..."

At this moment, Ruan Quan was still immersed in the handsome man bathing picture from last night when a familiar mechanical voice suddenly shattered her sweet dream, "Host, wake up! You're about to be in big trouble!"

"What!" With a scream, Ruan Quan sprang from the bed as if she had been electrocuted, her eyes wide open and her face filled with terror as she stared ahead. "What's going to happen to me? Xiao Zha, tell me what's going on!" she asked anxiously while frantically tidying her messy hair and clothes.

"Host, something terrible has happened! The Crown Prince is planning to use you as bait." An anxious voice rang in Ruan Quan's mind.

"What? Bait? What exactly is the Crown Prince trying to do?" Ruan Quan frowned, his mind filled with doubt and confusion.

"The Crown Prince's plan is to make the Fourth Prince feel extreme disgust towards you. If that happens, your mission to win him over will be ruined!" Xiao Zha quickly explained.

Hearing this, Ruan Quan couldn't help but gasp, but soon her attention suddenly shifted to another question: "Oh, never mind that for now, Xiao Zha, tell me quickly, is this Crown Prince handsome or not?" As she spoke, she unconsciously revealed a lovesick expression.

"Host, can you be a little serious? This is a critical moment, how can you have the mind to care about whether the Crown Prince is handsome or not!" Xiao Zha reminded him helplessly.

However, Ruan Quan didn't seem to take Xiao Zha's words to heart and remained immersed in her own imagination. After a moment, she came to her senses and said, "Okay, okay, I know! Then hurry up and continue."

So, Xiao Zha continued his story: "At this time, the heroine, Hua Yu, was unfortunately kidnapped by villains while out and about and did not return home all night. Afterwards, Hua Yu was inexplicably sent home. Although Hua Yu was not actually harmed, her reputation as a young lady was completely ruined. In order to cover up this scandal, the Hua family had no choice but to hastily betroth you to the Fourth Prince. As a result, the Fourth Prince developed a dislike for you. Not only that, but later, in order to cover up his dislike for you, the Fourth Prince took concubines one after another, as many as eighteen. The poor heroine, Hua Yu, was depressed and unhappy all day long, and eventually left this world with resentment."

After hearing this account, Ruan Quan gritted her teeth in anger and cursed furiously, "What a cruel heart! Which bastard came up with such a vicious plan to harm me? It's outrageous! Little scum, what should we do now?"

"Oh dear, I suddenly remembered that the store seems to have those magical super-strength pills! I don't know if I have enough points to redeem one. Quick, quick, help me check!" Ruan Quan said anxiously.

The system responded: "Dear host, the 'Invincible Strength Pill' is indeed available in our shop, but it requires 3 points to redeem. How many would you like?"

Without hesitation, Ruan Quan replied, "Hmm... then take one first! Let's get through this current predicament first. I don't want to fail miserably in the conquest mission before I've even had a chance to properly admire those handsome men!"

"Understood, host. Activate the exchange process for you immediately." As soon as the system finished speaking, a small, emerald-green pill appeared in Ruan Quan's hand in an instant. She carefully placed it into her sleeve, as if it were an incomparably precious treasure.

Then, Ruan Quan asked with some concern, "Um... Xiao Zha, do you think I should just stay home today? Would that help me avoid this potential disaster?"

However, the system ruthlessly shattered her illusions: "I'm sorry, host. You cannot forcibly change the original course of the story. Don't forget, you and your wife had already agreed to go to Qingniao Temple to offer incense and pray for blessings today!"

Hearing this, Ruan Quan sighed helplessly: "Alas, it seems we have no choice but to take all kinds of precautions in advance and try our best to prevent problems before they occur."