Chapter 974: Substitute Bride

Cuifang's father. If he had business with you, he would come to see you. Don't even think about running back to the Imperial Princess' Mansion; your residence has been sealed by your Empress Mother. Y...This time, ripples rested for a full half month, the longest break she'd had since becoming an agent.

The reason lies in the consciousness she consumed. The memory sphere he condensed even alarmed the high-level officials of the Time and Space Administration. The Task Department even recalled all taskers who were on dimensional mission.

Ripple was called upon twice and answered confidently without fear of scrutiny. Her discovery this time benefited the Department, so even Director Cen was very polite to her.

The stone mill managed to hold its head high for a while. Before the ripples resumed their normal duties, it whispered an important message to Ripple in secret.

Because of your discovery, all the taskers who had previously carried out consciousness eradication missions were investigated. As a result, some problematic individuals were indeed found, including both taskers and communicators. Some were even people you wouldn't have expected.

"So serious"

"It's alright! Because the problem was discovered early, we dealt with it promptly. We managed to inflict a heavy blow on them. From now on, these kind of consciousness entity missions will be handled by special task force agents. Ordinary task force members will no longer have the authorization to take on such missions."

However, if you're interested, I can try to get you a bigger harvest. And because you've already consumed one consciousness, in their eyes, you're considered a comrade, so you can pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger."

The stone mill spoke in a lowly and contemptible manner.

The greater the harvest, the higher the risk. This time, I was lucky and seized the opportunity. First, I chipped away at the consciousness entity's power bit by bit. Otherwise, during its prime, I might not have been able to get the upper hand.

Ripple calmly analyzed.

"You're right, when you become stronger later, consider these issues again."

Seeing that the master showed no interest, Shi Ju didn't say much either. He directly sent Lianyi into the next task.

When the ripples of silk slid into a body, it felt a sharp pain in its wrist and a harsh female voice beside its ear:

"Cuizhu, did you understand"

"Me"

The ripples stared at the pretty woman in front of him, dumbfounded and unsure how to respond.

"You must marry me, or we will all die!"

"Okay, I agree!"

Although Ripple doesn't know about the original person's situation, she still agreed.

"Jade, I knew you'd definitely help me."

The girl with nearly embedded fingernails finally let out a breath of relief and loosened her grip on Ripple's wrist.

"These few days, you stay by my side. When the day of my wedding arrives, I will abolish your servitude in front of everyone and let you go. Take the money I prepare and wait for me at Fuyuan Inn ahead of time."

A beautiful woman lowered her voice and instructed.

"Jade understands!"

Ripples replied seriously.

"Alright, you can go now!"

"Yes!"

The ripples subsided after a sound, and then exited the woman's boudoir.

An middle-aged woman with disheveled hair stood guard outside the door, nodding at Lian's ripple.

The ripples nodded in response, then turned and left.

After going out, a strong wind blew, Lian Ri narrowed her eyes and smelled a hint of dryness. Looking at the pitiful few plants in the small courtyard, she knew that the conditions here must be very difficult.

She turned and stepped into a shadow, crouching in the corner, beginning to receive the memories of her original self.

Yuan Shen Cui Zhu was a young maidservant. She served Miss Xia Qing Ran, the illegitimate daughter of General Xia Hu, the military commander on the border.

Xia Hu was merely a deputy general. His entire family resided at the border, living a rather impoverished life. He had only one wife and concubine, and they had two sons and two daughters. Only Xia Qingran, his daughter, was born out of wedlock.

Originally, Xia Hu was looking forward to marrying Xia Qingran off. He had prepared a dowry and planned to marry her off, but unfortunately, at this time, Meng An, the general guarding the border, received an imperial edict from the capital ordering him to marry his youngest daughter to the prince as his official wife.

Although Meng An accepted the imperial decree, he was very reluctant to marry his daughter off.

Although he kept a tight grip on the border, he was well aware of the situation in the capital. His own daughter was merely a pawn used by the emperor to solidify the prince's position and a tool to control him.

His own youngest daughter, Meng Lianyi, was born prematurely. Though she was beautiful, she was a sickly child. He even doubted whether his daughter would live to marry the prince.

Perhaps the emperor saw through his own daughter's frail health and thus decreed that the crown prince marry her. With his daughter wed to the crown prince, he became a natural ally of the prince. Even if his daughter died in the future, out of consideration for their marriage, this father-in-law would only support the prince.

With the support of 300,000 soldiers stationed at the border, the prince's ascent to the highest position would undoubtedly be smooth sailing. It can also be considered an emperor's painstaking effort.

The problem was that Meng Lianyi fainted when she learned she had to leave her parents and marry into the capital. Her health deteriorated rapidly, she was barely clinging to life.

General Meng was truly worried, his hair practically falling out. Now, his daughter absolutely couldn't die. If his daughter died, the wedding procession wouldn't have anyone to receive them. He would be punished for defying the imperial decree, and the entire Meng family would suffer the consequences.

With this excuse, the emperor could legitimately replace this border general and install someone loyal to the crown prince.

Just as General Meng was preparing to take the initiative to plead guilty, Xia, the deputy general, gave Meng's family a suggestion.

"General, the 300,000 soldiers defending the border are all brought up by you. If it were anyone else, I'm afraid none of us who fought alongside you would be left. Therefore, Miss Meng must marry into the capital."

"Menz, do you think I'm unaware of the intricate web of connections here The problem is, Lianri's body is too weak now; I fear she won't even have the strength to get into the bridal sedan."

General Meng frowned and said.

"General, Lianyi has been sickly since she was young. Few people have ever seen her. Perhaps we should find someone to marry her off to the prince instead."

"That's treason."

"General, you say that's your daughter, she is indeed your daughter, who dares to deny it"

Xia Meng immediately said.

Even so, at this time, where could I possibly find someone of a similar age to marry Liàn Yī for her There's definitely going to be imperial spies in the capital city.

General Meng said, and then suddenly as if he realized something, looked at Xia Meng.

Do you have a way

"General, I have two daughters. One is a concubine's daughter, who has hardly ever seen outsiders and would be perfect as a substitute bride. She wouldn't reveal anything."

Xia Meng lowered his voice and said.

He did this to tie the Xia family and General Meng together by a single thread.

"Didn't you have this idea all along"

"No, no. It's because I saw the General worrying day and night, unable to eat or sleep. That's why I came up with this... unconventional idea."

"Will your daughter agree"

"Why wouldn't she want to enjoy wealth and luxury"

Let me think about it.

"Okay, this is between you and me for now. I'll wait for good news from the general."

There's no need to consider the outcome, because that night, the only daughter of the Meng family passed away.

Mrs. Meng fainted from crying, but she didn't dare make a sound. This was tantamount to handing her enemies a weapon, allowing them to attack her husband.

With things having reached this point, General Meng could only agree to Xia's deputy general's proposal and let Xia Qingran marry in his place.n's house."Still, Wu was the more forward-thinking one. He didn't let Wang Xiufen and Zheng Xin stay at the educated youth point; otherwise, with all this commotion tonight, those two girls wouldn't h...