“Hello, Host.”

“Hello, Host.”

“Gu Yi, hello.”

Gu Yi stared at the vast white screen before her and frowned:

“Are you the plot system?”

“Hello, I am the Palace Strategy Plot System 6015 at your service, now upgraded to the latest international version.”

“At my service?”

Gu Yi laughed twice in anger and questioned, “When have you ever been at my service?”

Its voice was dry:

“Host, 6015 has always been sincerely serving you, often warning you with white light when strategy tasks deviate!

And I’ve been diligently maintaining the original plot.”

Gu Yi laughed “hehe” and moved her gaze from the white screen to look around. It was all foggy, empty, with nothing there.

However, she remembered that just moments ago, she had been lying on a couch with Xiao Yan, about to fall asleep.

She came to a realization:

“Am I dead?”

A firework burst on the white screen:

“Congratulations, Host, for dying peacefully in your sleep, achieving the major accomplishment of growing old together with the heartless male lead Xiao Yan and fulfilling the ‘Till death do us part’ achievement!”

“Growing old together.

Till death do us part.”

Gu Yi repeated the words that suddenly appeared on two medals on the white screen.

“Xiao Yan made a promise of love, to live and die together with the Host before the end of the ‘The Heartless Emperor Falls in Love with Me’ plot timeline, and remained deeply in love with the Host until old age.

The host has thus earned two achievements. Congratulations again to the Host!”

She looked carefully, confused, and asked the first key question:

“I thought the strategy goal was to maintain the main plot?”

An enormous old-school smiley face emoticon appeared on the white screen:

“Host is brilliantly clever! You’ve guessed correctly. Host needed to complete the strategy goal while ensuring the original main plot remained unchanged.”

Gu Yi:

“So the strategy goal is…”

It excitedly said:

“To achieve true love!

To earn medals!

So, Host’s strategy goal is…”

It paused dramatically for several seconds. A drum suddenly appeared on the white screen, with drumsticks beating for quite a while.

Gu Yi rolled her eyes before finally hearing it say word by word:

“So, the strategy goal is…

The. Heartless. Emperor. Falls. In. Love. With. Me.”

Good grief!

Gu Yi:

“Wait, then why did I die three times at the beginning?”

“The key plot point of the white rabbit jade pendant was difficult to initiate, and Host did not interact with the heartless male lead Xiao Yan, so the strategy naturally failed.”

“And what about Lishan Tea Garden?”

“The hidden plot exceeded the main plot, endangering Xiao Yan’s life, and Host chose to sacrifice herself to protect the heartless male lead Xiao Yan.”

Gu Yi looked at the two medals and asked the next key question:

“What about Xiao Yan? Where is he now?”

The white screen was silent for a while:

“Male lead Xiao Yan’s consciousness awakening during the strategy was not anticipated by 6015, but an NPC is still an NPC. This awakening bug has been cleared by 6015.”

Gu Yi immediately said:

“I want to go back to see him. Send me back!”

“But…

The host has already achieved the strategy accomplishment.”

“No, I want to go back to find Xiao Yan.”

Gu Yi said again.

“Would Host like to reconsider? The NPC awakening has been fixed. Even if you go back, male lead Xiao Yan will see Host as a stranger, and Host’s memory of the conversation with 6015 will also be reset due to system confidentiality protocol.”

Gu Yi paused briefly before asking:

“Can I still retain my previous memories?”

“Host’s strategy memories will remain, of course.”

Gu Yi:

“Good, send me to see Xiao Yan.”

“Is Host sure?”

Gu Yi:

“I’m sure.”

“Since Host has perfectly completed the strategy task, this experience is a discretionary gift from this system. Although Host is no longer under system task control, once you die, you cannot return to the original strategy point.”

The mechanical voice coldly warned, “Even so, does Host still wish to return to heartless male lead Xiao Yan’s side?”

Gu Yi nodded.

A familiar white light flashed before her eyes.

* Upon waking, birds sang and flowers bloomed outside the window, while cicadas chirped intermittently—another humid summer morning.

Gu Yi raised her hand, and the moonlight-white sleeve of her undergarment slid down her arm.

The wrinkles had miraculously disappeared…

Overnight, youth had returned, and she was strong and healthy again!

Gu Yi looked up and saw she was still on the wooden couch in the western wing of Xiu Yidian, with bamboo-green gauze curtains surrounding the canopy.

An unfamiliar voice sounded in her ear:

“Is the mistress awake?”

Gu Yi turned to look and saw a round-faced palace maid in light pink palace attire lifting the bed curtain.

Not Tao Jia!

Her heart immediately sank, and her voice trembled:

“Is today June 15th?”

The round-faced maid nodded and answered:

“Yes, mistress, it is June 15th.”

Gu Yi hesitantly asked:

“What is your name?”

The palace maid giggled:

“Has the mistress forgotten?

This servant told you when I arrived three days ago that my name is Putao.”

Putao (Grape)?

Where did you little grape come from?

Where is Tao Jia?

Gu Yi steadied herself. Tao Jia wasn’t mentioned in the book, so perhaps it was a change in the side plot?

She waited silently for a while but didn’t hear anything further, so she had to ask Putao herself:

“Is today the day to prepare for the Emperor’s selection?”

To her surprise, Putao looked bewildered:

“Prepare what? What selection?”

Gu Yi suddenly sat up:

“Naturally, to prepare Eunuch Gao, and the selection of course refers to His Majesty selecting from the harem!”

Putao smiled and replied:

“Where did the beauty hear such things?

Eunuch Gao is honest and upright—how could he accept private gifts of gold and silver?

His Majesty has always been diligent in state affairs and hasn’t selected anyone from the harem yet.”

What the heck is going on!

Eunuch Gao’s character has changed?

Had she entered a pirated version of “The Heartless Emperor Falls in Love with Me”?

But come to think of it, the previous selection event had also changed somewhat.

But not this drastically!

If the plot line had completely changed, wouldn’t everything be ruined?

Gu Yi took several deep breaths in succession.

Putao brought over a white porcelain basin:

“Let this servant help the beauty with her morning toilet.”

Gu Yi sighed and anxiously washed up and changed clothes.

She comforted herself that things would work out when the time came.

After finishing her toilet, Gu Yi didn’t receive a message from Concubine Wang of Xiu Yidian inviting her for breakfast. Instead, palace servants had already arrived at the door of the wing room, arranging dishes from food boxes onto the wooden table.

Gu Yi asked suspiciously:

“What time is it now?”

Putao answered:

“It’s past the Hour of the Snake (9-11 am).”

Gu Yi couldn’t worry about anything else now. She quickly finished her meal and headed to the Laundry Bureau.

Passing by the main hall of Xiu Yidian, she saw the four vermilion-lacquered doors tightly closed. A thick layer of leaves had accumulated on the stone steps, and the several palace lanterns under the eaves seemed to be covered with a layer of dust.

Were the Xiu Yidian servants so negligent?

Didn’t Concubine Wang care?

Gu Yi continued walking toward the Laundry Bureau without stopping.

Going around the lush Imperial Garden, she immediately noticed that by the large lotus lake in the garden, a stone platform half as tall as a person had been built. Smooth, small pebbles were piled layer upon layer, forming white stone railings that enclosed the lotus lake tightly, with a ring of bamboo groves planted around it in varying densities.

The lake surface rippled with gentle waves, lotus flowers were about to bloom, and the stone platform reflected the sunlight.

The scenery was beautiful in its way, but something felt strange.

Gu Yi suppressed the odd feeling in her heart and hurried to the Laundry Bureau.

She waited and waited, seeing palace maids coming and going like clouds, wave after wave, but she never saw Zhao Wan.

This is a disaster!

What is going on with this plot?

Seeing her anxious expression, Putao tried to console her:

“What is the beauty here for?

If it’s ordinary laundry matters, this servant can come in the future.”

Gu Yi could hardly cry even if she wanted to. She could only randomly point to a maid from the Laundry Bureau and stubbornly ask:

“There’s someone named Zhao Wan in the Laundry Bureau, do you know her?”

The little maid honestly shook her head:

“This servant doesn’t know her.”

Gu Yi had no choice but to return to Xiu Yidian, not forgetting to instruct Putao:

“Go ask at the Office of Ceremonial later if there’s a female official named Zhao Wan.”

The plot line might have advanced early…

Putao agreed and went to ask.

Gu Yi had planned to go to Xiang Fang Palace to pay respects to Palace Beauty Wang, to see if the female lead had already gone to her side, but she had spent too much time at the Laundry Bureau during the day, and now it was already late.

The sunset had not yet completely faded, but lanterns had already been lit in the western wing of Xiu Yidian. On the table, a small bronze incense burner in the shape of a blue phoenix had sparks flickering inside it, with wisps of smoke and a fruity fragrance spreading.

Gu Yi was truly restless, her mind in chaos, so she overlooked this all-too-familiar fruity scent.

After much thought, she finally took a lantern and went outside.

Putao happened to return and asked:

“Where is the beauty going?”

Gu Yi answered:

“To take a turn in the Imperial Garden.”

Putao nodded but made no move to stop her or follow her.

Gu Yi asked:

“Did you ask at the Office of Ceremonial if there’s someone named Zhao Wan?”

Putao shook her head:

“This servant asked, but there’s no such person.”

Gu Yi’s heart pounded wildly. She walked slowly outside the hall with her lantern, looked around, and saw that the main hall of Xiu Yidian was pitch black, without even a single lamp lit.

She was full of questions, completely unable to understand why…

Gu Yi became even more anxious and stepped out of the palace gate of Xiu Yidian.

From Xiu Yidian to the Imperial Garden was a long palace path, with vermilion walls and blue tiles on both sides, devoid of human voices.

The day’s heat had dissipated, and the evening breeze brought a hint of coolness.

Gu Yi stopped, lowered her head to tighten the silk ribbons on the front of her lotus-colored outer garment, and then looked up to see, in the distance, a swaying light, as if a solitary person was approaching with a white lantern.

Under the dim setting sun, both the lantern’s shadow and the person’s shadow were elongated.

At the first glimpse of the hazy silhouette, her heart beat faster.

She stood motionless, no longer daring to move.

He hadn’t tied up his hair in a topknot tonight, but had bound it with black silk. He wore a vermilion casual robe with sparse gold threads outlining dragon patterns, a snow-white collar, dark narrow sleeves, and a jade belt at his waist.

She couldn’t quite remember what he looked like in his youth, so she could only stare at him without blinking.

When the emperor approached, she saw that a few strands of black hair had fallen over his forehead, and under his jet-black long eyebrows, his peach blossom eyes still shone brilliantly.

Gu Yi’s nose stung, and she hurriedly bowed her head:

“This concubine greets Your Majesty.”

But she didn’t hear him tell her to rise. She dared to look up and saw that his eyes, like two sparse stars, were fixed on her, as if he too was examining her closely.

Gu Yi frowned in confusion at first, then suddenly realized and understood.

That tender gaze, regardless of age, after flowing through the years, had never changed.

Xiao Gouzi.

Gu Yi silently wept.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly:

“Gu Yi, today is June 15th, the day you entered the palace.”

He sighed a long, deep sigh, his shoulders slightly drooping, “I have been waiting for this day for a very long time…”

Hearing this, Gu Yi stood in place and began to sob loudly. Xiao Yan laughed heartily and took her into his embrace.