Ning Shengsheng pressed one hand to her head, while the other was about to help Zaoni up. The girl’s forehead was already red from kowtowing.

Wait—

Her outstretched hand paused in mid-air. The original owner would never do something as considerate as helping a palace maid.

She changed the direction of her arm, snatched up a rouge box, and threw it. “Get out!” she snapped. “If this princess weren’t in a good mood today, I’d have your life.”

“Y-yes, Princess…”

She… she wasn’t dragged out and beaten to death?

Zaoni’s tears flowed even more freely. As she backed away, she cried, “Thank you, Princess, for sparing my life. This servant was foolish. I will go and reflect on my actions now…”

Songgao, standing nearby, also let out a sigh of relief. It was a good thing the princess had been in a good mood after her encounter with Hostage Prince Xue. Zaoni had just escaped with her life.

In her heart, she sincerely thanked Xue Chen and hoped he could keep her princess in a good mood every day. If Ning Shengsheng knew what the girl was thinking, she probably wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

After getting ready, she took a palanquin to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The sun was setting in the west, and its golden rays bathed the glazed tiles, adding to the imperial grandeur. She was struck by the sight and took a few extra moments to admire it.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony was not far from Zhaoxia Palace, and they arrived shortly. Before she even entered, she heard the sound of things being thrown from inside.

“Drag him out and beat him to death with a staff!”

“Your Majesty, spare me! I was misled by a villain! Please, Your Majesty, investigate! Your Majesty!!!”

Amidst the miserable cries, two imperial guards dragged out an official in a crimson court robe. The guards respectfully saluted Ning Shengsheng. The bound official’s eyes widened when he saw her. He lunged forward, shouting, “Princess, save me! I’ll give you any amount of gold and jewels you want! Please, speak for me before His Majesty!”

Hm? He knows the original owner?

She frowned in thought and took a half-step back as the guards efficiently dragged the man away.

“Ning An has arrived?”

The furious voice from earlier sounded again. It was Ning Xuan.

Ning Shengsheng smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress that he had pulled, and walked unhurriedly into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

“Ning An greets Your Majesty.”

She curtsied, her gaze sweeping over both sides. The hall’s furnishings were resplendent, luxurious, and extraordinary, each piece a testament to the might of the Great Ning Dynasty.

She didn’t hear a response. A dragon robe of dark-purple entered her vision, followed by a pair of well-defined hands that took her by the arm.

“Imperial Sister is so distant today?”

The cold question entered Ning An’s ears. Her heart tightened, and she adjusted her expression, saying in a coquettish tone, “Heh, isn’t it because I was afraid Your Majesty was still angry? Of course, I have to be on my best behavior~”

She smiled as she looked at this youngest ruler of Great Ning. His features were sharp, his eyes like a cold pool, and his thin lips, pressed into a straight line, held a hint of severity. His very light-colored pupils clearly indicated that this was a merciless person. He wasn’t angry, yet he exuded a suffocating pressure.

Ning Shengsheng showed no fear and met his gaze. After what seemed like an eternity, the emperor’s imposing aura suddenly retracted. Ning Xuan curved his lips into a slight smile and led her to the dining table.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I was just dealing with a corrupt official. How could I be angry with my imperial sister?”

Her tense heart relaxed slightly. Imitating the original owner’s lawless tone, she said, “That’s true. Just a worthless life. Your Majesty shouldn’t let a petty corrupt official ruin your health.”

“In this entire palace, only An’an understands me.”

Ning Xuan sat down with a languid posture, leaning back bonelessly, one hand propping up his chin. “I heard you sent a lot of good things to that Xue Chen today?”

“I’ve raised you with such pampering and care, yet I haven’t seen you send me a single copper coin.”

There was a hint of jealousy in his words. She remembered from the novel that when the female lead was made Consort Yun and was deeply in love with Ning Xuan, she was often jealous of this sister of his. It was clear that Ning Xuan was a complete sister-complex. He followed his sister’s every whim.

“Oh my~” Ning Shengsheng covered her face and pretended to be shy, wiggling a little. “It’s just that it’s rare for me to see someone as handsome as Xue Chen. Just looking at his face makes me happy.”

Furious, Ning Xuan threw down his chopsticks and pointed to his own face, asking the eunuch beside him, “Shuangxi, is my face not handsome?”

“Your Majesty is wise and mighty, a man of celestial beauty! There is no one in the world who can compare to Your Majesty!”

Shuangxi’s two small eyes were full of sincerity. As expected of the chief eunuch, his flattery was effortless.

“An’an, you grew up looking at my face. How can you find that unremarkable Xue Chen handsome?” Ning Xuan’s brows raised slightly, his phoenix eyes full of disdain, as if he were protesting a problem with Ning Shengsheng’s taste.

Ugh… I can’t answer that.

She saw Ning Xuan rather narcissistically take a sip of tea. “Tsk, if you like him a little, just play with him for a bit. Don’t fall in love, you understand?”

“Oh, I understand!” she said obediently.

“As long as you understand. Alright, you can go back.” Ning Xuan closed his eyes and waved his hand.

“…”

So this tyrant with a sister complex had called her over just to say that. He’s acting like a parent trying to prevent their child from getting into an early romance.

Ning Shengsheng’s lips twitched. It turned out that when a person was truly speechless, they really would want to laugh.

By the time she left the Hall of Supreme Harmony, it was already night. The scattered starlight fell, and she returned to her Zhaoxia Palace with the cool breeze. The palace maids helped her prepare for bed.

Lying in bed, Ning Shengsheng tossed and turned, unable to sleep for a long time. Finally, she put on a robe and sat up, her hands cupping her chin as she recalled the plot of the original book.

She remembered that a passing mention was made: “Ning An” was a once-in-a-century cultivation—

Waste!

The novel “Chains of Clouded Joy” had a slightly different setting from other cultivation novels. People in this world didn’t have spiritual roots. Instead, everyone’s sea of consciousness had undeveloped spiritual apertures. By performing basic cultivation, they could draw upon spiritual energy to awaken these apertures. Some people would “awaken” before they even reached adulthood, while others would never be able to awaken them in their entire lives and thus could not cultivate.

After the spiritual apertures were awakened, a person’s cultivation speed depended on their talent, cultivation techniques, and their comprehension of the world.

The cultivation levels were divided into Earthly Aperture, Void Aperture, Profound Aperture, Spirit Transformation Aperture, and the highest realm, True Immortal Aperture. Once one cultivated to the Immortal Aperture, they could ascend. Unfortunately, no one had ascended in nearly a thousand years. Even the male and female leads at the end of the novel only reached the Spirit Transformation Aperture and did not ascend.

Great Ning was the first stop for the female lead, Yun Huaiyue, when she left Hundred Herb Valley for experience. She happened to run into the Ning Country’s selection of concubines, and through a series of coincidences, she was sent into the palace and fell in love with Ning Xuan at first sight. The two of them began a tale of love and hate.

She remembered that Yun Huaiyue and Ning Xuan broke up and got back together more than ten times. Many readers had commented that they were exhausted, Ning Shengsheng included. At the time, she had just finished some fried chicken from a certain brand and was sitting on the toilet, with diarrhea, writing a long essay cursing the author for giving the second male lead, Ning Xuan, too much screen time. How could a novel be so unclear about its main and supporting roles, with the second male lead getting more page time than the male lead?

Even when criticized by readers in a thread thousands of replies high, the author remained unyielding and had Yun Huaiyue and Ning Xuan break up yet again.

Readers: We’re numb. We’re tired of cursing.

Ning Shengsheng had been obsessed with this novel precisely because she wanted to know how many times the female lead and Ning Xuan would break up, and just how stubborn this author could be.

By the time she was close to the grand finale, Yun Huaiyue and Ning Xuan had finally separated for good. However, the plot of her getting together with the male lead, Ling Hegui, was not as exciting.

Aside from the drama between Yun Huaiyue and Ning Xuan, another major highlight of the book was the villain, Xue Chen. Unlike the main theme of the novel, which was all about love, Xue Chen was busy developing his own career. On top of being a career-minded individual, he was also a madman. This struck a chord with Ning Shengsheng.

That’s why she had topped up 250 to unlock Xue Chen’s extra chapters.

Heh. And the result was transmigrating.