The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 2, Pt 1 - Rumors

Si Xi and a group of maids brought her a cloak and hand stove.

Yuan Luo finished dressing in a hurry, went out the door with a maid, and, bypassing all the winding corridors, arrived at the magnificent hall.

The center of the Empire basked in the rays of the setting sun. Hundreds of civil and military officials had long since left the main hall.  Only a line of guards remained on the periphery, loyal to their duties.

Yuan Luo walked along the corridor to the front of the main hall and at a glance saw a figure kneeling in the east corner.

In the depth of winter, an autumn wind was blowing and a fine snow was falling.  He had been kneeling for a while.  His shoulders were covered with fine snowflakes.  His entire person seemed to have been transformed into a sculpture and was blended with the white jade flooring and snow on the ground.

Looking at him from above, the young man's figure was haggard and pitiful, like a little sparrow accidentally left behind on a cold winter day.

With such a posture, you'd never expect that in a few years he would become the king of Jingbei who killed and decisively commanded 200,000 border troops.

Yuan Luo was in a complicated mood. She picked up her robe's train and slowly descended the white jade steps.  Si Xi walked behind her with an umbrella.

Gu Yi couldn't feel the cold anymore.  When he initially began kneeling here, he could still feel the bitter wind, but maintaining the same posture for a long time caused a lack of good blood flow in his knees and he was truly at a loss.

Even the passage of time has also lost its meaning. Had it not been for the pure inner breath of martial arts training he'd had since childhood used to protect his heart, an ordinary person would have been frozen to death in such weather.

The only thought he had left was to continue to kneel, to gain a ray of life for the lives of the women and children in the family and for the reputation of his father and brother.

He was not reconciled.  He was not afraid of death, but he was afraid of dying silently and dying with such a bad reputation.

Increasingly, he became more muddle-headed. There seemed to be a fragrance blowing on the wind toward him bringing warmth.  Gu Yi raised his head reflexively and saw a fiery red dress, which was so bright and vibrant against the backdrop of the white snow on the ground.

The scene is extremely beautiful.

His cold and silent mind was touched and then he looked up. He saw the face clearly. Although he had only seen it once, it was forever etched in his memory.

Yuan Luo watched as the young man in front of her raised his head, her fiery red cloak reflected in his pure, obsidian eyes, and then the red exploded quickly, spreading throughout both his eyes.  He stared at her like a bloody beast aroused by the red cloak.

Yuan Luo instantly returned to the nightmare at the beginning of her crossing over. There was cold water in all directions and through the water there was a pair of evil wolf-like eyes full of killing intent staring at her...

Yuan Lou's heart tightened and her eyes went dark.  Amidst a cry of surprise, she slid softly to the ground.

----

Opening her eyes, she looked at the beautiful cloud pattern embroidered on the curtains.

"Empress, you are awake," Si Xi said in surprise beside her.  Two white-bearded imperial doctors breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am..." Obviously, the last thing she remembered, she was looking at the male protagonist.  Why had she closed and opened her eyes, only to end up being returned to her bed?

Si Xi said carefully: "Empress, if you are unwell, don't force yourself to go out. Just now, the imperial doctor said that you are weak and cannot tolerate the cold wind, so you fainted."

Is that why? Well, that's definitely better than being frightened by a pair of young wolf eyes and fainting.

Yuan Luo silently took the medicine bowl handed to her by a maid and drank the bitter concoction in one gulp.

The hall was quiet. The copper stove in front of the bed crackled and the charcoal fire soaked in oil and spices burned brightly. Yuan Luo vaguely heard a dull sound again, as if a board was hitting someone.

It can't be because she fainted and Si Konglin dragged people out of the palace to be beaten again!

Si Xi quickly explained: "The Empress is magnanimous and the Emperor did not take out his anger on us. The Emperor heard that before the Empress fainted, she was frightened by little General Gu in front of the palace, so he ordered someone to transfer General Gu to the front of her palace. If the Empress is unable to get better, they will take a board to the little General Gu and give him a hundred lashings a day."

Yuan Luo: !!!

Si Konglin is not afraid that the male protagonist's hatred might be drawn to her even more?

Her trembling hand put down the medicine bowl and she immediately ordered, "Go and tell people to stop and it will be said that my palace is recovered."

Si Xi turned to go out to send the message, but before she had reached the door, she suddenly heard a voice behind her: "Wait!"

Si Xi stopped again and looked at her master in confusion.

Yuan Luo sat on the edge of the bed, her expression gloomy and tangled.

At that moment, a terrible idea suddenly occurred to her, how about beating Gu Yi to death right now? The hatred for killing his father and destroying his family had already happened. It's impossible to whitewash it at this point. It's better to cut down the roots and kill Gu Yi... Don't blame her for being cruel. People always give priority to their own lives.

After hesitating over and over again, in the end she was still ruthless.  To the confused Si Xi she said, "Go quickly and don't stand there frozen."

Si Xi came back to her senses and ran out to stop the beating.

Listening to the dull sound outside, Yuan Luo sighed. It was undeniable that it was very tempting to kill Gu Yi, but she thought of something else. In the story, the rivers in Tianyu Dynasty were declining and farmers everywhere revolted.  One after another, Beirong and other tribes invaded southward and military disasters continued year after year. Once even the capital was captured and countless people were killed. It was Gu Yi's natural talent that drove out the barbarians and recovered the rivers and mountains.

It would be very simple to kill Gu Yi here, but in the future the barbarians would go southward. Who would turn the tide at that time?

Moreover, Yuan Luo had a heart-felt respect for the Gu family with a general who protected the family and the country.  She really doesn't want to be cruel unless she has to be.

Let's control the male protagonist first, then see what happens.

[Dear user, congratulations on making the right choice.] Yuan Luo was startled by the voice inside her head. She raised her head and looked around, but the palace maids and eunuchs were all as open and simple as clay and wood.

Who was that? she said silently in her heart.

【The villain's life completion plan is a system formed by collecting the life regrets and grievances of many dimensional villains. It travels through various worlds to make up for the villain's shortcomings and promotes positive energy for the villains who have left regrets in their lives.】 Yuan Luo was stunned. So her crossing over was contained within a system.

【Prompt the protagonist, this system is a one-time reminder.  After completing the novice guidance, the host will play freely and will not be accompanied for a long time.】 【Your task after crossing over is to fulfill the wish of Yuan Luo, the treacherous concubine Yuan Luo.  Wish one, to resolve the hatred. Completion criteria: Maintain the protagonist’s favorability above 80 for one year. The favorability can be checked through physical contact. The second wish is to save the world and fulfill the standard: eliminate wars and disasters, avoid being overwhelmed, and reverse the deteriorating national fortune of the Tianyu Dynasty.】 Yuan Luo: ...Can I refuse?

Even to the naked eye, it was obvious that these two missions were death missions! Getting positive favorability for a person who had killed his entire family, this is pulling a tooth from a tiger's mouth, let alone having to save the world?!

【Complete the mission and return to the real world. Refusal of the task will cause immediate erasure.】 So overbearing, so she doesn’t a choice... Yuan Luo silently asked: "Saving the world is such a difficult task, is there a golden finger?"

【The novice guide has been completed and the system will shut down automatically. Please make persistent efforts to complete the task as soon as possible.】 Yuan Luo: ...

Si Xi's voice came from outside the door.  "Empress... General Gu came to thank you."

Thank you, what, huh?