Chapter 1

Early morning, Ten Li Street.

Rain marks on the capital’s main road still hadn’t dried, carrying a slight dampness. In an instant, snow began to drift from the sky, adding another layer of broken white.

Black boots trod through the snow, splashing frost.

Eunuchs carried the Dragon and Phoenix Bridal Sedan, advancing steadily forward. The tassels hanging from the edges swayed and fluttered amid drumbeats.

Today at the hour of the rabbit, it was the Fourth Prince’s wedding.

The groom rode a white horse. The wedding procession stretched from the street’s head to its tail.

Eight eunuchs together lifted the bridal sedan, with over forty guards following behind — a truly grand display. Drums and gongs beat along the way, waking the residents on the long street.

Commoners rubbed their drowsy eyes, propped open windows in their towers, and leaned out to look down.

But they weren’t attracted by the Fourth Prince’s procession. Instead, they focused all their attention on another troop of cold and murderous guards below.

Because at the very front of the line, conspicuously set up, was a wheelchair.

And on that wheelchair sat a person.

Someone who absolutely shouldn’t be there.

Actually, Xiao Jin knew what the onlookers were thinking.

Indeed, her correct entrance should’ve been lying in a coffin, not sitting in a wheelchair.

Of course, if today’s bride-snatching failed, the royal mausoleum probably still reserved a spot for her.

“Host, please note: the bridal sedan is only 500 meters away.”

“Reminder again, Host! Your remaining lifespan is only 1 hour. Please manage the bride-snatching time carefully, complete the quest as soon as possible. After completing the quest, your lifespan will be extended.”

The mechanical voice sounded in her mind.

Hearing the System’s words, Xiao Jin was somewhat moved.

Even though she’d transmigrated into such an old-school bloody melodrama, the built-in System was still somewhat humane. At least it gave her nearly two days to buffer, not releasing the quest immediately.

Well, in essence, it wasn’t much better either.

Yes, the one sitting in the wheelchair right now wasn’t the Third Prince of Qi, Xiao Jin, but an innocent transmigrator.

Xiao Jin’s process of transmigrating into the book was simple.

Two days ago, she finished reading “The Great Yao Female Emperor,” a web novel that wore the skin of a strong female lead but actually revived old-style bloody melodrama.

After reading, Xiao Jin neither cursed nor sent her regards to the author’s family.

She just gave a negative score and left a bland comment:

“Pretty bloody, and I even have the same name as that cannon fodder who can’t live past three chapters. Tsk, afraid of transmigrating into a book now.”

Below, someone agreed and left a message:

“Hahaha, I suggest you memorize the whole novel, sis,” “Hurry up and read the extras, sis, looks like modern society can’t keep you.”

Then Xiao Jin transmigrated.

The System told her that she’d become the 18th-tier supporting female character inside the novel.

A bizarre woman who combined disability, cross-dressing as a man, and an obsessive crush on the male lead.

The original host had glorious battle merits and held a high official position, yet she obediently followed the male lead in everything; if he told her to go east, she’d never go west.

What a forced-down version of intelligence.

The System explained: “Host, you transmigrated into an old-school bloody fictional novel — anything is possible.”

“Because of the setting, you can’t live past three chapters. So your current lifespan is only 48 hours. Please complete the first quest as soon as possible to extend your lifespan.”

Xiao Jin was a veteran bookworm; she understood the tropes.

She nodded, indicating she understood. “What’s the quest?”

“Quest One: Bride-snatching — forcibly marry the female lead who is about to wed the second male lead.”

“Friendly reminder, Host: only after you complete all quests and then let the female lead kill you will the life countdown stop and allow you to return to the original world.”

Xiao Jin: “…”

Never mind that the original host had destroyed Yao Kingdom and the female lead had an irreconcilable blood feud with her.

Just imagining a terminal lung cancer patient, unable to walk upright, coughing blood while wheeling a wheelchair to snatch the bride on the female lead’s wedding day — her toes were already curling.

After careful consideration, Xiao Jin proposed a feasible plan: “Can I just choose death and then wrap up the story?”

“No, Host.”

…

After two days of psychological preparation, the current Xiao Jin had been reborn and could bravely lead the prince manor’s guards to the female lead’s wedding to snatch the bride.

The bridal sedan was right ahead, but Xiao Jin showed no intention of making way. Instead, she took the brocade handkerchief handed by a servant, covered her lips, and coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood.

After coughing, she even had the leisure to fold the bloodstained handkerchief neatly and hand it back to the servant.

Only when the sedan drew closer and Xiao Jin spotted the Fourth Prince on horseback did she finally react.

But her reaction was unexpected.

Xiao Jin lowered her eyes and drew a feathered arrow from the quiver at a guard’s waist.

Yesterday, the System told her that she had inherited not only the original host’s brief lifespan but also her skills.

Since the original host had been on battlefields and could be appointed Grand General of the State, she must have some ability.

Even with ruined legs, muscle memory should still be there.

Xiao Jin was a little curious just how high the original host’s martial arts could go. As fate would have it, a live target came right to her.

The Fourth Prince rode a fine horse, holding the reins, dressed in dark black and crimson wedding attire. He exuded an exuberant air, his brow nearly flying to the heavens.

But Xiao Jin looked at him as if he were a mouse moving at a constant speed.

Her fingers brushed the feather fletching of the arrow, and her gaze even showed some pity.

As if saying, you’re just unlucky.

Xiao Jin pitied him only for a moment. Right after, she nocked the arrow, drew the bow, and precisely aimed the arrowhead at the Fourth Prince’s position.

It had to be said, Xiao Jin’s series of operations truly baffled the System.

What was the Host doing?

The core of this quest was bride-snatching, not assassination.

The System sweated: “Host, although you possess the original host’s skills and muscle memory, you can’t just kill off the second male lead right at the start…”

The commoners were also dumbfounded.

If they weren’t mistaken, Prince Yan was drawing her bow and arrow, aiming at… the Fourth Prince?

The System originally wanted to say a few more words of persuasion.

But Xiao Jin didn’t listen at all. Her fingers grasped the tail of the wild goose feather arrow, pulled back, and released the arrow neatly.

“Swoosh—”

Upstairs, a child who saw this scene would’ve cried if his mother hadn’t covered his mouth.

However, in the next moment, when he saw the arrow graze past the groom’s crown and precisely hit the sedan curtain, the expression on his face gradually turned to delight.

A moment later, he giggled.

Of course, not everyone could laugh like that child.

Because after that cold arrow shot through the air, the scene downstairs had already spiraled out of control.

Horses neighed fiercely. The guards drew their swords in unison and shouted, “Assassin—protect His Highness!”

The morning sun rose.

The capital’s early morning thus began.

…

When the guards shouted and surrounded the rebellious assassin, they instantly fell silent.

Looking at Prince Yan sitting in her wheelchair, the guards felt as if they were living in a dream. For the first time, they realized that drawing a sword to protect their master might actually be a career-ending move.

Now they held their swords high — they couldn’t strike, nor could they sheathe. It was truly a difficult situation.

The Fourth Prince had barely managed to calm his startled horse. When he rode forward with a belly full of fury to face the wretch, he froze.

Because he encountered someone whose fury was even heavier than his own.

The person in the wheelchair had clear black eyes, extremely pale skin, and seemed to carry some illness. Even wrapped in an ink-black fur cloak, she couldn’t hide her sickly lethargy.

Yet her appearance was extremely good, with cold, sharp brows and delicate features so pretty she seemed like a woman.

But due to this lord’s temper, no one dared say that aloud; at most, they could only mutter in their hearts.

In fact, Xiao Jin also felt that the original host’s face didn’t look like a man’s at all.

Anyone with retinas could see the original host was a woman disguised as a man. Yet the original host had cross-dressed for over twenty years without ever being exposed.

No wonder this was an old-school bloody web novel — if you read it with your brain on, you’d lose.

The System was still in shock.

Because it had just fast-forwarded the scene to the Fourth Prince being shot in the forehead, blood splattering everywhere.

But unexpectedly, the Host only wanted to… shoot the sedan curtain?

In Manchu weddings, there was indeed a custom of the groom shooting the bridal sedan with an arrow. But this was a fictional web novel, and the Host was here to snatch the bride.

She couldn’t really think of herself as the groom, could she?

While the System frantically guessed Xiao Jin’s intentions, the scene fell silent.

More than silence, it was dead silence.

The Fourth Prince sat on his horse and stared at Xiao Jin. The wedding guards and Xiao Jin’s guards had both drawn swords, forming a confrontational stance.

This eerie atmosphere was finally broken by Xiao Jin’s coughing.

Xiao Jin frowned, took the brocade handkerchief from the servant.

In front of the Fourth Prince, and in front of a crowd of onlookers from the buildings above, she put away her bow and arrow and started coughing violently.

The coughs tore at heart and lungs. The eunuchs carrying the bridal sedan trembled with every death-knell-like sound.

After coughing up all the blood in her throat, Xiao Jin used the handkerchief to wipe the red from the corner of her lips, then raised her eyes to look at the Fourth Prince. “Today is Fourth Brother’s great happiness. Though this prince’s legs are inconvenient, I should still come to offer congratulations.”

Congratulations?

Everyone fell silent. So your way of congratulating was shooting an arrow over the groom’s head?

After hearing Xiao Jin’s words, the Fourth Prince was silent for a long while.

After getting his facial expression under control, he finally spoke, his words very direct: “Third Brother, what exactly are you trying to do?”

It seemed the original host’s younger brother was very dissatisfied with her.

Xiao Jin coughed a few more times, thinking that indeed it was better to convince people with virtue, or else completing the quest wouldn’t be so easy.

So she began convincing people with virtue.

Xiao Jin put on the original host’s inherently arrogant disposition and replied calmly, “This prince is here to snatch the bride.”

The System: “…”

The Fourth Prince suppressed the fury in his heart and asked expressionlessly, “Why?”

Xiao Jin was somewhat incredulous.

Did snatching a bride even need a reason?

Still, Xiao Jin decided to reason with him, and asked in return: “This prince conquered the entire Yao Kingdom. You ask why?”

Hearing this, the guards’ eyeballs nearly popped out.

The eunuchs carrying the crimson bridal sedan, even though their legs were shaking, held on and dared not let it touch the ground.

The long street fell silent once more.

Xiao Jin’s words might seem shameless, but for a moment, no one could find grounds to refute them. Because Yao Kingdom really had been conquered by this person.

The Fourth Prince was the son of Noble Consort Mu. Raised pampered by those around him, when had he ever suffered such grievance?

His temper was already bad. Now unable to endure it, fury naturally rose. He looked down at Xiao Jin’s legs from his high horse and smiled, “Even if Third Brother carries home the beauty, who knows if you’ll have the fortune to enjoy her?”

Detecting the Fourth Prince’s glance over her legs and his disdain, Xiao Jin’s brow twitched. That counted as a personal attack.

If you don’t offend me, I won’t offend you.

So she decided to strike back.

Xiao Jin raised her eyes to the Fourth Prince and said unhurriedly, “Whether this prince has the fortune to enjoy it is another matter. First, let’s talk about Fourth Brother.”

“Fourth Brother, you’re merely a prince. No official rank, no title, no fief — yet you dare to clamor before this prince. You have quite the nerve.”

“As the whole nation knows, this prince is the lord of Yan territory and also the General Who Guards the Nation personally appointed by His Majesty. Even foreign rulers, who detest this prince, still have to call me ‘Prince Yan’ out of courtesy. And you…”

Xiao Jin paused here.

Then she asked slowly, “What the hell are you?”