Chapter 085
Chapter 85: A Word After the Fact
The group exited the Waterside Pavilion together.
As they descended the stone steps, Yun Wan Yao glanced ahead and nearly blurted out “Big Brother”—but caught herself just in time. Under the shade of a tree in the distance stood Yun Wan Chen, still disguised as a humble coachman.
Hearing the commotion, Yun Wan Chen turned toward them, and in that instant, he unintentionally drew the attention of the Mo siblings and the Jiang-Xie pair.
“Hey, that servant… why does he look so familiar?” Mo Zhao Zhao frowned, seriously trying to remember, but no matter how she searched her mind, she couldn’t place him. Even Mo Yuan Lin, Mo Yuan Hao, and Xie Xuan Yong had the same nagging sense of recognition, but they couldn’t uncover his true identity.
As for Jiang Zi Tang, she was even less likely to recognize him.
When they reached the carriage lot, the three parties bid each other farewell.
Inside the carriage, Yun Wan Ye passed the sleeping Yun Wan Ning to Yun Wan Yao with a quiet reminder: “Hold her steady. Don’t you dare drop her.”
Rolling her eyes, Yun Wan Yao replied, “What kind of nonsense is that? I’d never drop her.”
The carriage trundled along. After half an hour, they finally arrived at the gates of Duke Ning’s estate.
Yun Wan Chen waited atop the driver’s seat. He helped Yun Wan Yao down first, and when the nanny emerged with Yun Wan Ning still asleep in her arms, he reached out. “This carriage is high. Let me hold her instead.”
“Alright.”
The nanny, afraid of dropping the little one, didn’t hesitate to place the sleeping milk bun into Yun Wan Chen’s arms.
The three siblings walked together toward the Peace-Keeping Courtyard, Yun Wan Ning safely nestled in her big brother’s arms.
On the way…
Yun Wan Yao darted her gaze around. Seeing no one else nearby, she couldn’t help inching closer to Yun Wan Ye. Her voice was hushed and full of suspicion as she whispered, “Yun Wan Ye, something was off today…”
Yun Wan Ye glanced around, his face composed and serious. “Hold it in. We’ll talk later.”
He didn’t need to see her expression to know what was on her mind, or what questions she was itching to ask.
Yun Wan Yao pouted silently.
But even though she bit her lip and tried to restrain herself, curiosity gnawed at her like a restless cat. She finally whispered again, “So you do know why things went off today?”
“Mhm.”
Yun Wan Ye responded calmly with a nod.
“Okay…”
Yun Wan Yao finally relaxed a bit. Though still burning with curiosity, she forced herself not to press further.
But Yun Wan Chen, who had been quietly observing them, noticed their subtle exchange. A flicker of darkness passed swiftly through his eyes.
After safely delivering Yun Wan Ning to Madam Yun, the three siblings headed straight for Yun Zheng and Yun Zhan.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Yun Wan Yao could no longer hold back. “Spill it, Yun Wan Ye! Hurry up and explain why the whole second half of the event went off the rails! Did the female lead get possessed or something?”
“Went off the rails?” Yun Zheng looked baffled at the mysterious tone and secretive behavior. His brows furrowed deeply. Meanwhile, Yun Zhan and Yun Wan Chen both remained silent, their eyes trained on the younger pair.
“Father, here’s the situation,” Yun Wan Yao explained quickly. “According to Little Sister’s heart voice listening, the female lead today was supposed to plagiarize poetry from her world and completely dominate the event, stealing the title of first talented lady from everyone else.”
“She even wrote the same two poems today that Little Sister mentioned.”
“But here’s the strange part. In the heart voice listening, Little Sister said the female lead claimed the poems as her own and snatched the spotlight. Yet today, when asked by the presiding official whether she wrote them, she denied it. She said she only copied them down because she thought they were good and wanted to share them.”
“You all know Little Sister’s heart voice listening is never wrong, but today… something clearly didn’t align. Something’s seriously off.”
She finished retelling everything that had happened during the banquet.
“This really happened?” Yun Zheng’s gaze sharpened, surprise flashing through his eyes.
“Yes!” Yun Wan Yao turned toward Yun Wan Ye again. “And Wan Ye knows why! He was about to explain when we got home. So come on, say it already!”
The others turned their attention to Yun Wan Ye, their expressions grave.
But instead of answering, Yun Wan Ye asked them a question of his own. “Father, Seventh Uncle, Big Brother—did any of you feel strange around the end of the hour of noon today? Like… as if you’d forgotten something, or felt that certain things had happened twice?”
The three adults were silent.
“Out with it already,” Yun Zheng snapped, his face darkening. “What are you getting at with all this?”
People experienced odd lapses now and then—it wasn’t that strange. Why bring it up now?
“Sigh…”
Yun Wan Ye let out a long sigh. “Father, you probably won’t believe me, but the last half hour of the hour of noon today—repeated itself. Everyone lost their memories of the first version of that time.”
“Some events… may have happened twice.”
Yun Wan Yao blinked, thoroughly confused. Her mind felt like it was overheating.
She furrowed her brows and asked, “What does that even mean? The last half hour repeated? And how does that tie into the female lead’s plot going haywire?”
And truthfully, it wasn’t just her. Even the others—people far sharper and more experienced—couldn’t grasp what he meant.
“Ye’er,” Yun Wan Chen narrowed his eyes, his voice calm and steady. “Be specific.”
Yun Wan Ye tilted his head and gazed at the ceiling as though searching for better words. For the first time, he felt his way with words wasn’t up to the task. He had tried to explain clearly… but it just wasn’t working.
“Fine,” he finally said, “I’ll start from the beginning. Let me explain one step at a time.”
“The truth is… today’s poetry presentation by Su Qian Xue happened twice.”
“The first time, just like in Little Sister’s heart voice listening, she stunned the crowd and claimed the first talented lady title with those two poems. But before the banquet, Big Brother and I had already tipped off Xie Xuan Yong about this.”
“Even though he didn’t quite believe in such outrageous claims, he still prepared for it. He had the two poems carved onto wooden boards and delivered them to the venue.”
“So when Su Qian Xue claimed those poems were hers, Xie Xuan Yong stood up…”
“He laid a trap using the crime of deceiving the emperor. Then he asked the presiding official to reveal the two wooden boards. As soon as everyone saw them, Su Qian Xue was exposed on the spot. People accused her of plagiarism and treason. They begged His Majesty to punish her.”
“His Majesty ordered her arrest. But during the chaos, she clashed with Mo Zhao Zhao and was stabbed to death by a guard.”
“The version of events you all saw was the second run, after the half-hour time reversal.”
“Originally, Su Qian Xue had planned to change her poems in this version and win the title again. But thanks to Little Sister, who used her spiritual power to manipulate her, she ended up writing the exact same poems as in the first version.”
“…”
The later collapse of the plot was also a desperate move by Su Qian Xue—she knew that if she accepted the honor, she would fall straight into Xie Xuan Yong’s pre-laid trap, and just like the first time, end up dead.
Yun Wan Ye carefully explained everything—how the system worked, how Yun Wan Ning acted, and how Su Qian Xue made her decision. Only then did the others fully grasp the situation, though understanding it left them even more shaken.
“How can there be something like a system? It can manipulate time at will and even reverse it just because it wants to? That’s way too unbelievable,” murmured Yun Wan Yao, finally realizing why the plot had derailed.
Since everything had already reset once, Su Qian Xue’s carefully orchestrated comeback had been destroyed by little sister’s interference. Left with no other choice, Su Qian Xue had sacrificed her reputation just to stay alive.
“It’s not as terrifying as it sounds,” Yun Wan Ye said calmly. “Little sister told me that the plot can’t just be restarted whenever someone feels like it. That system needs a lot of energy to activate its features.”
“Just one time reversal nearly drained all its power. It shouldn’t pose any threat to us again anytime soon.”
“Besides,” he added, glancing meaningfully at Yun Wan Yao, “our little sister is clearly not someone to be underestimated. She doesn’t fear that system one bit and even wants to fight it.”
“She truly sees us as family. If anything ever happened to us, there’s no way she would just sit back and watch. So you don’t need to worry too much.”
Yun Wan Yao suddenly thought of something. “So, this time reversal… none of us remember the first timeline, but you do? Just because you were holding little sister?”
“Probably,” Yun Wan Ye replied, uncertain.
“‘Probably’?” she snapped. “Come on, are you stronger than Father, Seventh Uncle, or Big Brother? They didn’t notice anything wrong at all. Only you remember, and you think it’s just a coincidence? Drop the ‘probably.’ That’s obviously why!”
Realizing the truth, Yun Wan Yao looked like she was going to explode. She clenched her fists and groaned in frustration. “Ahhh, if I had known something like this was going to happen, I would’ve fought to hold little sister today! I want to see how the first version of the plot played out too!”
Yun Wan Ye gave a derisive snort and shot her a cold look. “You? Forget it.”
“You’re too dumb. Even if you were holding little sister, you probably wouldn’t understand what happened anyway. It’s way more useful if I see it instead of you.”
“That’s nonsense! I’d totally get it,” she shot back, unwilling to back down.
But it wasn’t just her. Even Yun Wan Chen felt a pang of regret in his chest. If he had known today’s banquet would lead to something so mystical, he wouldn’t have bothered with disguises. He would’ve marched in openly—and snatched little sister right out of Yun Wan Ye’s arms.
“All right, all right, both of you be quiet,” Yun Zheng interrupted, waving his hand to silence the bickering siblings. Then he let out a hearty laugh.
“Hahaha! Our Little Fourth is amazing! She can hear the system’s conversation with the female lead and even disrupt their plans. She’s truly our family’s little lucky star!”
“Our Yun family’s ancestral tomb must be giving off divine smoke!”
The more he spoke, the prouder Yun Zheng became. Compared to raising a daughter like this, what court official could even begin to compare?
If it weren’t for the need to keep everything secret, he really would’ve loved to show her off in public and bask in everyone’s envy.
“Mm, Little Fourth really is impressive,” Yun Zhan agreed with a serious nod. Her unmatched medical skills were already beyond ordinary. Who would’ve expected her to have this kind of astonishing ability too?
“Wait, Father, let me remind you,” Yun Wan Yao interjected, “the female lead now isn’t Su Qian Xue anymore. It’s Little Sister.”
“So from now on, don’t use ‘female lead’ to refer to Su Qian Xue again.”
Yun Zheng raised his brows. “Oh? What do you mean by that? I thought Little Fourth always said the Su girl from the Su family was the female lead?”
“She was—at first,” Yun Wan Yao explained. “But the system said a new female lead has intruded into the world and stolen Su Qian Xue’s fate, which is why the plot’s been breaking apart.”
“Now think about it: who’s the only one capable of disrupting the plot and stealing her fate?”
“Besides Little Sister, who else could it be?”
Yun Zheng slowly nodded. “You put it like that, and it does make sense…”
…
Peace Keeping Courtyard.
When Yun Wan Ning woke up, night had already fallen.
She stared blankly at the ceiling for several seconds as her thoughts began to stir.
[Oh, I’m home again? And someone changed my clothes too.]
[I used spiritual power today, so I slept deeply in the afternoon. I didn’t even notice when we returned.]
[Ugh, I’m starving. The last time I had milk was just before we got off the carriage. I haven’t eaten since then. Mother, where are you? I’m gonna starve!]
Right after her heart voice fell, a figure rushed into the room and sat down beside her—it was Madam Yun.
“Little Fourth, you’re awake? The nurse said you haven’t nursed in a while. You must be starving. Here, let me feed you.”
[Yes, Mother, I’m so hungry.]
[Thankfully, you’re always so timely. You’ve saved me from crying so many times.]
Madam Yun: “……”
Halfway through nursing, Su Qian Xue and the system’s voices suddenly rang out in Yun Wan Ning’s mind again.
[Host, today’s mission failed. Please refresh it. You can attempt it again at the next poetry gathering.]
[Why do I have to do the mission at all?]
[Of course, it’s to help you take back your fate and get the plot back on track. And once you complete missions, I can absorb energy and level up. When I level up, the system shop will unlock.]
[There are all sorts of amazing treasures in the system shop. Don’t you want them?]
Hearing this, Yun Wan Ning forgot about eating entirely and started muttering in confusion.
[Wait… how am I still hearing Su Qian Xue and the system’s conversation even though we’re not in the same place? Is my power really this strong?]
[Also… who gave me this cheat in the first place? Or was I just born with it?]
“???”
Madam Yun was full of question marks. What system? What cheat?
What on earth was her Little Fourth saying?
She couldn’t understand any of it.
What exactly happened today? Why did one simple outing change everything? Since when did Little Fourth’s heart voice become full of incomprehensible nonsense?
[Can I not do the mission?]
[If I want good things, I can buy them myself. I’m planning to start a business soon, and the beginning stage will be tough. If I get a hard mission, won’t it slow down my profits?]
Meanwhile, the conversation between Su Qian Xue and the system continued in her mind.
The system, once again rendered speechless: […]