According to the game’s rules, new areas could be unlocked every time points reached 2, 5, 7/8, or 10. The size of the area determined the cost.
And the palace was huge—surely, it would need at least six more points to unlock.
In other words, she needed to reach thirty-eight points.
But where could she possibly find a task to complete for those six points right now?!
But according to the game’s logic, each map segment should unlock as the main quests progress.
Could it be that she’d missed some task?
Unable to help herself, Su Xi asked the system, “Did I make a wrong move somewhere? Or is this a bug?”
System: “The problem lies in Main Quest Three.”
> “Main Quest Three is: ‘The protagonist befriends the Second Prince during the Qiuyan Mountain Hunt and enters the Imperial Academy.’
> The total reward is 12 points. Once the protagonist talks to the Second Prince on Qiuyan Mountain, that completes half the quest, granting 6 points.
> However, for some reason, the protagonist spoke to the Fifth Prince instead, and seems to strongly reject the Second Prince.
> Therefore, half of the main quest is considered failed.”
System notification:
> “Additionally, the protagonist’s favorability with the Second Prince: –60.”
Su Xi: …???
Su Xi was dumbfounded. She hadn’t expected that!
Why—why did her little Zai Zai dislike the Second Prince?
In her impression, that little Second Prince NPC had been pretty mild and low-key. He hadn’t done anything detestable!
Could it be… because she had saved the Second Prince, and her little Zai Zai was unhappy about it?
Then doesn’t that mean that, by doing a side quest, she accidentally interfered with the main story?
Su Xi asked, “Then what if I hadn’t saved the Second Prince that day? What would’ve happened?”
System: “Saving the Second Prince is mandatory. There is no ‘what if.’ The protagonist can only enter the Imperial Academy by becoming a prince’s study companion. After the Second Prince is rescued, there will be one open slot for a companion. The protagonist may or may not become his companion—it depends. They might end up with another prince instead.”
Su Xi understood now—her little Zai Zai disliked the Second Prince, so he never approached him.
The befriending quest failed.
But the Second Prince didn’t dislike her Zai Zai. On the contrary, because her Zai Zai had shown great skill at Qiuyan Mountain, both he and several other princes took note of him.
So the “become a prince’s companion” and “enter the Imperial Academy” portions of the questline should still succeed in the end.
It’s just that for now, because of her mistake, she couldn’t unlock the Palace map.
She wouldn’t be able to follow her Zai Zai inside.
Su Xi felt a twinge of regret and stopped her hand midair, refraining from lifting the sedan curtain.
Better not to let her Zai Zai know she was there, only to have him find out she couldn’t follow him in—what a disappointment that’d be.
She stood on the long street, watching her Zai Zai’s sedan slowly pass through the palace gates.
The in-game sky was heavy and dark.
The palace loomed grand and magnificent—the crimson palace walls and glazed eaves shone like a crouching lion in the night, majestic, solemn, and oppressive.
Her Zai Zai’s sedan disappeared through the gate, as if stepping into the very vortex of the capital.
And within that vast vortex, the illegitimate son of a fallen prince seemed all the more insignificant.
───♡───
At that moment, Lu Huan lifted the edge of his own sedan curtain as he entered the palace.
The courtyard walls on both sides towered high, allowing only a narrow strip of black sky to be seen above.
His expression grew heavier, more solemn.
Su Xi couldn’t follow him into the palace, nor could she see what was happening inside.
But she left the game running as she continued her homework.
Tonight’s banquet scene included a plot point where the General of Zhenyuan would deliberately embarrass her Zai Zai.
Since she couldn’t enter the palace, she couldn’t help him this time.
Still, Su Xi thought, with her Zai Zai’s intelligence and composure, he’d surely handle it well.
No need to worry too much.
She spent over forty minutes finishing a test paper—about two shichen [traditional two-hour period] had passed in-game.
By the time night fell completely, the palace gates opened again.
One by one, the sedan chairs of those who had attended the banquet emerged.
Su Xi immediately spotted her Zai Zai’s sedan and at that moment, a pop-up appeared on the screen, displaying the summary of the banquet’s events—
【At the night banquet, the General of Zhenyuan cast a mocking glance at the Old Madam, showing utter disdain for her constant attempts to curry favor with the Second Prince and push her grandson toward his circle. In his eyes, if the men of Prince Ning’s household had even a shred of true ability, he might think a little better of them. But as it was—from Prince Ning himself to those two useless sons, Lu Yuan and Lu Wenxiu—they were all disappointments, nothing but mud that couldn’t be molded.】
【He’d heard that during the Qiuyan Mountain hunt, a concubine-born son of Prince Ning’s household had taken first place. Yet he wasn’t impressed. Having long been familiar with the Old Madam’s petty schemes, he assumed it was just another one of her manipulations to make her grandson look good. As a result, his impression of the protagonist was unfavorable as well. During the banquet, when the protagonist repeatedly toasted him, he ignored the gesture again and again, making the boy lose face.】
Su Xi gripped her pen tightly.
This General of Zhenyuan—how could he be like this?!
Her little Zai Zai was at least a distant relative of his, and he still looked down on him like that?
【But unexpectedly, during the banquet, the Fifth Prince suddenly suggested that it wasn’t proper for the Second Prince to be without a study companion. He volunteered to transfer his own companion to the Second Prince. Then, taking advantage of the emperor’s act of rewarding the protagonist with gold and silver treasures, he requested that the protagonist become his companion instead.】
【The Second Prince argued with him over it, but at that moment, the emperor—already suspicious that the Second Prince’s “assassination” at Qiuyan Mountain had been staged by himself—was displeased with him. Thus, he favored the Fifth Prince and actually granted his unreasonable request.】
【The protagonist received two chests of gold and silver as a reward that night and, starting immediately, was appointed as the Fifth Prince’s study companion, gaining entrance to the Imperial Academy.】
System:
> “Congratulations on completing Main Quest 3 (Basic) (1/2): Failed to befriend the Second Prince at Qiuyan Mountain — Points: 0, Gold: 0.
> Successfully entered the Imperial Academy — Points: +6, Gold: +100.”
Su Xi: …?
Su Xi blinked, stunned by the quiet undercurrents and power plays hidden beneath the surface of the banquet.
That the Fifth Prince valued her little Zai Zai—she knew that already.
Back at Qiuyan Mountain, the prince’s intent had been clear enough.
The Fifth Prince had always been sharp-edged and bold, unafraid to offend. Whatever talent or treasure he found, he wanted to claim it for himself.
When he’d heard that the Minister of Revenue had met that divine physician, he had immediately gone to meet him too—so such behavior from him wasn’t surprising.
But as for the Second Prince… it seemed her side quest had somehow worsened his situation?
If she hadn’t saved him, he’d have been bedridden for at least three months. With such severe injuries, the emperor wouldn’t have suspected anything.
But because he was injured and recovered too quickly—ten short days—and even used illness as an excuse to skip court and avoid the northern frontier, the emperor’s suspicion had been aroused instead.
Su Xi: …Second Prince, I’m so sorry.
Still, at least this meant she’d successfully completed the “Enter the Imperial Academy” part of the quest.
…It was just that, since she hadn’t managed to stop the Second Prince from stabbing himself during the side quest and had instead saved him after he’d done it—the main storyline had veered slightly off course.
As a result, her little Zai Zai became the Fifth Prince’s study companion, not the Second Prince’s.
Su Xi didn’t know what kind of consequences this narrative branch might bring, but whatever came next, she would protect her little Zai Zai no matter what.
At that thought, her expression turned slightly serious. She plucked a pear blossom petal and went to greet him.
Switching the view to inside the sedan, the simple sketch-style graphics showed her little Zai Zai sitting there—his short legs not quite touching the floor, one small hand rubbing his brow, his bun face slightly furrowed.
Moonlight drifted in through the occasionally lifted curtain, brushing across his face, but she couldn’t quite tell what was wrong.
Had he drunk wine at the banquet?
It was the first time Su Xi had seen him drink.
Curious about what he’d be like afterward, she couldn’t help spending some premium currency for a one-minute original art scene.
The screen shifted to the detailed rendering.
The young boy lounged slightly against the corner of the sedan, eyes lowered, his gaze cool and still.
Moonlight flickered faintly across his face. He lifted a hand to press his brow, his fine brows drawn together.
A faint blush colored his fair jade-like cheeks, yet even that warmth seemed cold and restrained.
After drinking, he was even quieter than usual, his expression calm and unreadable—no one could tell what he was thinking.
Su Xi thought to herself, it seemed her little Zai Zai could really hold his liquor.
At a palace banquet like that, they must’ve had plenty to drink, yet he didn’t look drunk at all.
Just as she was thinking that, the image on the screen suddenly rippled—pa!—a puff of mist appeared, then dispersed.
And once it cleared, the stately young man was gone, replaced once more by the short-armed, short-legged, expressionless little dumpling.
Su Xi: … forced smile.jpg
She’d get used to it.
She brushed her finger lightly across the screen, summoning a small gust of wind.
Inside the screen, Lu Huan had already been brushed by countless breezes that day. Each time the wind stirred against him, his heart gave a tiny leap—he couldn’t help wondering if it was her.
But each gust passed without answer.
Until now.
A petal of white pear blossom, luminous as jade, drifted down to his brow, slid along the bridge of his nose, and came to rest in his palm.
In that instant, the coldness between his brows melted.
His lashes lifted, bright with joy, as though he had been waiting for this all along.
He straightened from his previously lazy posture, sitting upright and attentive.
“It’s been one day and one night.”
Outside the screen, Su Xi smiled.
Her little Zai Zai really did have an impeccable sense of timing.
“What did you do today?” Lu Huan couldn’t help but ask softly.
They had parted the previous night under the lantern lights of the marketplace, and now, meeting again only after nightfall, a full twelve hours had passed.
Where had she gone? Whom had she seen? What had she done?
But none of these were things he could ever know.
Su Xi thought, How am I supposed to answer that?
Seeming to realize his mistake—that she couldn’t actually speak—Lu Huan gave a faint, self-deprecating smile.
“Then… I shall ask you questions that can be answered with yes or no. Will you reply to me that way?”
Su Xi noticed that her little Zai Zai, who once rarely smiled, seemed to smile a bit more now that he knew she could reach him—though, of course, only a little.
Lu Huan asked softly, “Did you go out to play today? Were you happy?”
Su Xi hooked his tiny left hand.
He continued, “Did you meet someone?”
Of course she had. How could one go out without seeing people? You couldn’t even wash your hair otherwise.
Smiling, Su Xi hooked his left hand again.
On the screen, her little Zai Zai glanced at his own hand.
Perhaps affected by her cheerful movements, the faint curve in his eyes deepened.
Still, he tried to keep his expression composed, as if it were just a casual question.
“And the people you met, were they men or women?”
Su Xi tugged at his left hand… then, before he could react, she tugged at his right as well.
