(Quick Transmigration) Small Cannon Fodder Has Great Power

Gu Yunyun transmigrated to this world, and the moment she opened her eyes, she was dazzled by a sea of ​​red. She moved slightly and realized that she was covered by a red veil.

This story is set in a fictional world during the Republican era, a time of clash and intertwining between the old Qing dynasty system and the new era. Gu Yunyun is the only daughter of a late Qing dynasty prince—Aisin-Gioro Minyun, a princess raised with traditional values. Her mission is to help the male protagonist protect the imperial seal, a cultural relic, from being stolen by the Japanese.

The male lead is the man Gu Yunyun is now married to—the eldest son of the Yao family who returned from studying abroad.

Speaking of the original owner's father, the old prince, he was a rare open-minded person among the Manchu nobles. When he was young, he married a Han woman against his family's wishes and loved her dearly for the rest of his life, which was a sensational news story at the time. He also chose a young man who received a new cultural education for his daughter.

However, the original owner was just a background character in the story. The young master hated the corrupt feudal culture and naturally disliked this Qing Dynasty princess. Even though he was tricked by his family into returning and getting married, he did not touch Gu Yunyun. Instead, he left her in a small villa outside and never saw her again. Later, he married a modern female student from the school.

The Yao family patriarch was an avid collector of antiques and artifacts, among which his most prized possession was an ancient imperial jade seal. On the eve of the Japanese invasion of China, Japanese officers stationed at the Japanese residence in Shanghai learned of the Yao family's jade seal and sought to seize it. But how could China allow the Japanese to possess such a cultural relic? Moreover, the Japanese desired the imperial jade seal not only for its inherent value but also for its profound symbolism, a blatant display of their wolfish ambitions.

The reason the existence of the imperial seal reached the ears of the Japanese was due to the modern female student whom Yao Yulang had fallen in love with. The student's father, secretly wanting to curry favor with the Japanese, told the Japanese officer at the Japanese embassy about the seal's presence in the Yao family's possession. The Yao family refused to hand over the seal, angering the Japanese and leading to their tragic downfall and the loss of the seal. After Yao Yulang's death, the female student became the favored mistress of that Japanese officer.

To complete her mission, Gu Yunyun couldn't just be a background character with no presence like in the original story. Her first priority was to stay by the male lead's side.

However, what Gu Yunyun was most concerned about at the moment was—Holy crap, did I end up with bound feet??

Beneath the red veil, a pair of small, adorable feet were visible, encased in red embroidered shoes. They seemed almost half the size of her feet in her previous life. Although Manchus did not practice foot binding, the original owner's mother was Han Chinese.

Thinking back to the photos of deformed small feet I had seen online before, and imagining that my own feet might have been tortured into that horrific state, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Gu Yunyun lowered her hands, feeling utterly hopeless. "I don't want to take my shoes off... I'd rather die than take them off... I don't want to see my feet, they're too horrible!"

Upon seeing this, the system immediately guessed what Gu Yunyun was thinking. It watched her mournful face with schadenfreude for a while before speaking, "Don't worry, you didn't bind your feet."

"How can it be so small?!" Gu Yunyun was both surprised and puzzled.

"This body was born with small feet. The old prince and his wife doted on their only daughter, and with the rise of new culture in the changing times, they did not have their daughter's feet bound."

"Phew... thank goodness." Gu Yunyun's mood instantly brightened, and she happily sat on the edge of the bed, wiggling her toes.

"However, as everyone knows, the original owner's mother was Han Chinese, and the old prince practically spoiled this Han Chinese wife rotten throughout his life. In addition, the original owner was born with bound feet, so those who had seen her privately said that this Minyun Gege was a combination of the worst aspects of both Manchu and Han culture, inheriting both the old Manchu royal system from her father's side and the bad habit of foot binding from her mother's side..."

"...Pah!"

···

She sat on the bridal bed for a while when she heard a noise outside the door. The groom, surrounded by guests, arrived at the bridal chamber. But instead of the usual lively wedding festivities, it was rather quiet. Yao Yulang was escorted to the bridal chamber by the steward like a prisoner. As soon as he entered, the servants outside closed the door and even locked it, showing how much Yao Yulang resisted this arranged marriage. Hearing the lock click shut, Yao Yulang, unable to bear it any longer, turned around and kicked the door several times.

Hearing the loud clanging, Gu Yunyun shuddered in fright. "Holy crap, he's not going to hit me, is he?"

The system leisurely munched on sunflower seeds, saying, "It's alright, you won't die before you complete the mission."

Gu Yunyun: Embrace the weak and vulnerable.

Dressed in traditional wedding attire, Yao Yulang strode to the table, lifted his robe, sat down, poured himself a glass of wedding wine, and downed it in one gulp. Gu Yunyun, her ears perked up, listened intently to the commotion, sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed, too afraid to move.

After a long silence, Yao Yulang finally spoke, "I'll be frank, I don't want to accept this marriage." He glanced at the bride, who was sitting obediently and silently with her head covered by a red veil, and felt that the red filling the room was so glaring that it made him feel irritable.

"I was tricked into coming back this time and forced into this marriage. It wasn't my wish, so I won't touch you. It would be best if you were willing to divorce me. If you really don't want to, I can support you, but don't think about anything else."

“…Oh.” Gu Yunyun responded hesitantly, inwardly thinking: She speaks quite logically, it seems she doesn’t intend to take action. However, her words are indeed direct and blunt. If it were the princess in the original story, she would definitely be shocked and devastated upon hearing this.

The male protagonist is currently very resistant to this marriage and avoids her like the plague. If she shows any intention to get close to him at this time, it will only push him further away. Therefore, the first thing to do is to lower the male protagonist's guard against her.

Gu Yunyun thought that it was like wanting to pet a cold and bad-tempered cat. In order not to scare it away, you had to look straight ahead and pretend to be indifferent and walk past it. Then, when it was off guard, you seized the opportunity to hug it and give it a good cuddling.

Yao Yulang was prepared for his bride to cry and make a scene, even going so far as to complain to their parents, after he finished speaking. But his mind was made up. Even if they could force him to marry, even if they could lock him up with a strange woman, they couldn't possibly force him into the bridal chamber, could they? Unexpectedly, he heard the bride's timid voice, completely devoid of the expected shock and anger:

"Do you keep your word?"

Yao Yulang was stunned for a moment, "...What?"

The bride gently lifted her red veil, revealing a pretty, chubby face. Her round eyes, like a fawn's, cautiously looked him over. "You said you wouldn't touch me and that you could take care of me. Is that true?"

This reaction was completely unexpected by Young Master Yao. A princess raised in a feudal and corrupt environment, and supposedly pampered and spoiled, shouldn't she feel deeply humiliated, ashamed, and crying uncontrollably after hearing his words? He was even prepared to be beaten—he owed her, after all—so why was she so calm and even seemed somewhat expectant? Was it just his imagination?

"Ah...yes." Yao Yulang was still somewhat dazed.

"Will you mistreat me?" Gu Yunyun asked, a slightly uneasy look on her face. "Raising me is very expensive."

“…I have money.” Yao Yulang didn’t know how to react.

The girl in front of him secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had been put to rest.

Yao Yulang pinched the bridge of his nose. Could it be that he'd been worrying about his marriage all this time, and now he was dreaming about it? It felt a little unreal.

Gu Yunyun smiled shyly, "I haven't eaten all day and I'm a little hungry. Shall we eat and talk?"

What could Yao Yulang say besides "okay"? He suddenly felt a sense of helplessness, like having prepared a cannonball, ready to create a massive wave, only to have it misfire and not even make a ripple. But at least this seemed closer to his expectations; he'd see how it went.

Gu Yunyun got up and hurried to the table. She'd been hungry all day since before dawn, and her stomach felt like it was about to collapse. She poured herself a cup of hot tea and began to eat small bites of the pastries on the table. As she ate, she suddenly noticed the man opposite her staring at her strangely. She choked for a moment, put down the osmanthus cake she was eating, and gently pushed a plate of delicate pastries toward him, saying, "You should eat some too."

Yao Yulang hesitated for a moment, then picked up a pastry and ate it. He suddenly realized that he had barely eaten anything all day, only feeling hungry because his mind was filled with resentment, anger, and confusion. It wasn't until he sat here and gradually calmed down amidst this bizarre turn of events that he began to feel hungry. Especially now, seeing the innocent-looking girl across from him eating with relish, he felt as if his appetite was beginning to revive.

"What are you planning to do with me?"

Yao Yulang paused, his hand reaching for a snack, and suddenly felt a little awkward. Facing the young girl with her almond-shaped eyes looking at him calmly, he couldn't bring himself to vent his anger on her. After all, she was the truly innocent one. He could still put up some resistance, but what could this girl, raised with feudalistic values, possibly do? She was several years younger than him, and he'd heard she'd just turned sixteen this year.

Yao Yulang avoided his gaze. "I bought a small villa in the north of the city, not far from your Prince's Mansion. You can live there. I will cover your living expenses and the cost of hiring servants. I know you live a life of luxury in the Prince's Mansion, and I will try my best to provide you with a comfortable life. I have some business partnerships with friends, and the profits are quite good. I will give you one hundred silver dollars a month for living expenses. As for servants... how about five or six? Is that enough for you?"

Fearing that this ethereal princess might not have any concept of prices, he added, "Now, one silver dollar can probably buy thirty catties of high-quality rice, or eight or nine catties of pork."

Gu Yunyun was incredibly excited. Free villa living, servants to wait on her, and a hundred silver dollars a month—it was practically like being kept by a tycoon! And she didn't have to do anything or please her sugar daddy!

The system noticed that the host's heart rate was a bit fast and quickly poured cold water on it, saying, "Host, wake up, you're here to do a mission."

Gu Yunyun quickly adjusted her expression, hoping she hadn't appeared too joyful. "So, how do you plan to appease both sets of parents?"

Yao Yulang was clearly stunned for a moment, seemingly unable to believe that things had gone too smoothly. "It's all my fault, you don't need to worry."

"So you're planning to fight it out head-on?" Gu Yunyun sighed upon hearing this. "Young Master Yao is an honest person. Although he doesn't like me, he still arranged everything for me perfectly, which shows he has a lot of responsibility. I also admire your courage to fight for your freedom. It's just that our parents probably won't let this go easily."

To be honest, if I could, I wouldn't want to marry anyone. I just want to stay with my parents for the rest of my life, but unfortunately, they can't keep me there forever. It's just that my parents are getting old, and I really don't want them to worry about me. They've already gone through so much for me. If I were to cause them more worry at this age, wouldn't that be unfilial? Uncle Yao and Aunt Yao would certainly not feel good about it either.

So, if possible, I still hope that Young Master Yao can use some gentle methods, at least to make my parents feel that I am doing well. She raised her bright eyes and looked at him expectantly.

"you mean……?"

"I'll just pretend to stay in the mansion for now. Once you move out of the Yao mansion and live on your own, I'll secretly move to the villa." Gu Yunyun was afraid he would think she was trying to entangle him, so she sincerely assured him, "You sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the couch. I will absolutely not have any improper thoughts about you!"

"You... let me think about it." Actually, he was already somewhat tempted by the suggestion, but he was still a little uneasy and planned to think it over carefully tonight.