Chapter 110 - 3.6

A smile bloomed on Xie Yongrui's face. He clapped his hands in happiness. "That's how you should've answered right from the start. Yue, Yao, take this girl with us, we are going back to the estate."

"Understood, milord." The two guards, named Yue and Yao, were twins that got picked by Xie Yongrui at the same time. They were an excellent pair who never lost their loyalty towards their master no matter what stood in their ways. Since before they even became proper guards, they were severely indebted to the man.

If Xie Yongrui wanted to walk into a pit of fire, then they would gladly jump into the pit first to test out the heat. Their devotion was that severe.

How could that happen? Were they all fed poison that made them obey Xie Yongrui unconditionally? Blackmail, curses, or any other plausible explanations?

Naturally, it was all because Xie Yongrui was just that competent of a person.

Just looking from the data System sent, which couldn't have been unbiased, you get a glimpse into what it's like to be the most perfect human being to ever exist. There was only one drawback that you could find after extensive research conducted by no one else but the System.

His lineage was pristine, his looks were as if it was crafted by God himself, his power akin to no one under the same sky as him. Xie Yongrui, the last living family member of the Xie imperial lineage.

The empire was currently being run by the Huo family. Huo Jingshen was the one sitting on the throne. Naturally, for an empire to change dynasties, it couldn't be as simple as handing the throne to another bloodline.

So, what did Huo Jingshen do in order to gain the throne?

It was simple. According to the information that the System had acquired for her, Huo Jingshen was formerly the prime minister of Xie Yongrui's father, whose name was Xie Yonghai.

To say that Xie Yonghai was a virtuous ruler, it wouldn't be exactly correct. Xie Yonghai wasn't a tyrant, and he wasn't a demon who terrorized the Empire. However, there was one flaw that he had, constantly putting him at a disadvantage.

His lazy personality.

In his era, he treated Huo Jingshen as someone who was lower than him, even though the prime minister was actually the one who handled the most important and troublesome matters. Xie Yonghai was not someone who is keen on war, so he left the arsenal management with the Great General. His eyes were bad, and he was lazy to look at the documents all day long, so he split his work with the Prime Minister, even going so far as to lend him the imperial seal when it was needed.

One word. Carefree. Xie Yonghai was too carefree, but he desired too much from his people. He wanted to be able to sit on the Emperor's seat without having to do much, leaving everything to his subordinates after making sure that they were kept by tight reins that prevented them from rebelling.

For example, hurting or keeping captive of his vassals' loved ones. Threatening them to submission.

Such a ruler, it was obvious that he was bound to get dethroned by a rebellion sooner or later. Since Xie Yonghai wasn't stern and preferred to ride out his fate casually, he was swept under the rug when Huo Jingshen gathered up allies to take over the Empire's control.

In this sense, it might've been a good thing that the Empire was taken over.

However, it also had to be noted that Huo Jingshen did not only instruct for Xie Yonghai to be executed, but also ordered the killings of every single Xie family member. He didn't just issue a baseless order, but made sure to exploit constructed evidence to properly convict the Emperor.

That was how the Xie dynasty ended and got swapped with Emperor Huo's reign.

The aforementioned kill list included Xie Yongrui, of course.

But, now that Xu Jiaqi was seeing the man in person, he didn't look dead, and was still breathing.

What happened to the order that was issued? The System was only able to pry so much before his intel routes were blocked. This meant that what Xie Yongrui did must have been quite secretive, since there were only brainless speculations roaming about. No one knew which prediction was real, but one thing was for sure.

For Xie Yongrui to escape unscathed and being able to roam around freely like this, there must be a special reason.

It intrigued Xu Jiaqi. She raised her head as she watched the man that had just ordered for her to be taken into his residence walk away. From behind, his broad back faded into a distance, and she was taken by the two guards through a separate path.

Her eyes were covered with a black silk cloth, and she was warned to not dare do anything funny.

'..System, you know what to do. I don't think that they are going to try anything stupid, but just in case...' Xu Jiaqi instructed, to which the System replied enthusiastically.

She was then carried in a bridal carry by the female guard, Yue after asking for permission. They were going in an absurd speed, so it was no wonder that when Xu Jiaqi was released a few minutes later, she felt like her head was spinning around and that it was impossible to stay up straight.

Her silk cloth was untied, and she was led to her private quarters.

Bling bling! Everything was dazzling. She was brought to her room, which was spacious and well decorated. 

Almost as if it was too good to be true. Did it make sense for someone to be this generous without expecting something in return?

[Host, let's get away from his clutches! If we tie ourselves with this kind of guy, we would never be able to run!] The System reviewed the content that it had obtained after researching and was not amused. The more he dug in, the more he was unable to find anything.

The man was too clean. And the cleaner he was, the more the System was unwilling to believe in his credibility. How can someone not have a single dirt plastered on him. Could it be, the Duke sealed off the fates of whoever dared to cross path with him.

'Calm down. I need to play it safe first to observe what kind of person I am exactly up against. I can't run either.. I might've gotten myself into a large death trap, but what can I do about it now? We just have to face it, System. Let's be cautious.' Xu Jiaqi communicated as she eyed her surroundings.

Xie Yongrui wasn't lying when he said that he was going to treat Xu Jiaqi well. He gave her a glorious living quarters that was positioned in the main area. There were servants sent to her. It was unknown whether their jobs were just to serve her, or to keep tabs at her, but they were very impeccable at their job, not allowing even the smallest of mistakes to be seen. Almost like a robot that was programmed to do so.

Xu Jiaqi didn't lower her hostility, however. Contrary to that, she showed wariness towards every single thing in the room. After all, if she relaxed too much, it might give Xie Yongrui the wrong idea.

Xie Yongrui's idea of taking a fancy on her seemed extremely out of the blue, but Xu Jiaqi knew that her action of dropping down from the ceiling was abnormal as well. The only thing that could come to mind when Xie Yongrui said that he was going to take her in was because of this attitude she showed.

He clearly sought something different from the norm. Then, she should just play along with his tastes! At least for now, she had to maintain the current living standards she was given. In the future, she would finally have time to branch out after she manages to recuperate.

Until then, she had to bid her time and plan out her moves.

'I swear to God, if the next world is also going to have a similar start, if not worse... I'm going to stay in the System space forever!' Xu Jiaqi complained jokingly.

The System pouted, mumbling that he couldn't do anything about it unless he received a major upgrade and her authority rises along with the missions. Then, he could finally do power abuse! He could even flex his achievements to another System!

However, the Host was being awfully negative and optimistic at the same time. A clashing bundle. 

'I'm not someone who likes to play a damsel in distress. I would rather be given the role of a cruel, evil villain that is infamous for being a mad dog. Wouldn't that be funnier?' Xu Jiaqi thought and proclaimed inside her heart. 

It would be much more interesting than having to play a meek character, when her own self is clearly far from that.

[Host, your tastes are.. peculiar, to say the least.]

'How many years have you stuck with me, living rent free inside my head? It's time for you to be accustomed to my tastes, no?'

[Um... I'm not sure if you didn't know yet, but I actually can't pry into your head that well.] The System spoke.

Xu Jiaqi's ears immediately perked up at his words.