“Father, do you remember? When I was seven years old, I had a high fever that lasted for a long time. My consciousness remained hazy and confused, even the household physician thought I might not make it through.”

“During that time, I kept hoping you would come, even if just to stay with me briefly. But what was the result?”

“What did you do, Father? You only asked briefly afterward. My aunt comforted me, saying you had important matters at court and had been busy these past few days, unable to be delayed.”

“Unable to be delayed, hah!” Yang Yuan’s eyes unconsciously welled with tears.

“But in reality, let me ask—when has Third Sister ever had any trouble where you weren’t the first to rush over? Even a minor cold would require specially summoning an imperial physician from the palace, fearing your precious daughter might suffer any harm to her health.”

“That New Year’s Day, when the palace bestowed that box of red jade beads—there was a whole box full, yet you didn’t think to give even one to me, your daughter.”

When asked, the answer was always that Third Sister liked these bright little trinkets.

“Let me ask you, Father—with such blatant favoritism, how could I not feel resentment!”

“Not just me—with Father acting like this, do you really think Elder Sister doesn’t harbor resentment too?”

“So you resent my favoritism, yet still insist on currying favor with me day after day. Your Third Sister never did anything to you, yet you can harm her without any burden of guilt?”

Before the writing desk, Yang Yuanze spoke without even looking up, his tone not changing in the slightest.

Not far away, Yang Yuan’s expression instantly shifted…

“Ah, jealousy and hatred truly destroy people!” Within the consciousness sea, the system couldn’t help but sigh.

An Ning: “……”

Glancing at the system lost in its reflections, An Ning rather speechlessly teased the little bun in her arms: “You don’t actually believe this person harmed the original without restraint just because of jealousy and hatred, do you?”

Or rather, was it solely because of jealousy?

Glancing at the still-confrontational—no, one could say unilaterally confrontational—Second Miss Yang.

Actually, in An Ning’s view, this second sister of the original body had always had very clear and specific goals.

That was to distinguish herself, to strive to stand out among the crowd, to exhaust all means to reach high positions—even if it meant crushing others’ spines beneath her feet to achieve it.

“A-Tong, haven’t I told you—when observing someone, don’t look at what they say, but at what they actually do!”

“Do you remember when the original body’s luck began declining dramatically? When she started encountering constant misfortunes, with idle gossip increasingly surrounding her?”

The system: “After marriage?”

“More accurately, after this Second Miss Yang married!” An Ning’s tone unconsciously turned colder.

One could call it fate—in the previous life, this second young lady also married into the Duke of Cheng’en’s household. However, compared to this lifetime, the match with that young master was at least mutually agreeable back then.

But for two people to marry, was mutual affection enough?

Naturally, the answer was no, especially for scions of prestigious families.

Particularly when the bride’s family couldn’t provide any support whatsoever.

“Tongzi, don’t be fooled by how warmly the original body’s elder brother and sister treated this second young lady daily in the previous life—that was later, after the current emperor ‘passed away from illness’ and the Second Prince successfully ascended the throne.”

“But as head of household, the original body’s father was never pleased with this marriage from the very beginning.”

To be precise, he wasn’t optimistic about the Duke of Cheng’en’s household’s situation, and this didn’t change even after the Second Prince ascended the throne.

If not for the “unexpected coincidence” that damaged her reputation, plus the empress personally giving her verbal approval before numerous noblewomen, Yang Father would have preferred to hastily marry her off to some distant place.

Even having her “pass away from illness” like in this lifetime wouldn’t have been out of the question.

Under such circumstances, wanting to secure her position in the Duke of Cheng’en’s household, avoid the household’s crisis, or even advance further to become true imperial relatives—the need for the system, and for luck, would only grow increasingly urgent.

“In fact, this is the real reason the original body was drained to the point of death in her previous life!”

Lightly tapping the ruby bead bracelet in her hand, An Ning’s tone couldn’t conceal its coldness.

For someone like Yang Er with exceptionally strong determination, what drove her to resort to ruthless measures was never simple jealousy or hatred, but extreme ambition to climb higher—tangible, substantial enormous benefits.

As for who served as stepping stone, in An Ning’s view, it ultimately didn’t matter.

The reason she fixated on the original body was simply because the original’s own luck was too tempting, plus her simple nature and blood relation made her an easy target.

Even from the beginning, if she had known the system could feed on others’ luck, would she have let go if the target wasn’t the Third Sister she always envied?

An Ning shook her head, knowing inwardly that she wouldn’t have.

Because for Second Miss Yang at that time, the paths available to achieve her ambition to distinguish herself were far too limited.

Her looks were pleasant but insufficient to marry into powerful families through beauty alone; her talents were average; her father and brothers didn’t value her. Even with depth and strong determination, who would notice?

Among all the young noblewomen, she simply blended into the crowd.

Ultimately, the best outcome would be marrying the son of an official like Father Yang—with significant possibility of ending up with some worthless illegitimate son.

Would she be willing to accept such an outcome?

An Ning gently shook her head, watching the second young lady before her who seemed to be tightly clenching her palms, eyes full of unwillingness and pain. Perhaps before encountering the system and seeing greater ambitions, she might have!

But obviously, there were no ifs!

“But… it’s so strange. That second young lady doesn’t seem unintelligent, so why are her poetry and even paintings so mediocre? Without the system, losing that spiritual energy, she nearly faded into obscurity.”

Can’t… can’t diligence compensate for lack of skill?

The system timidly spoke up: “Speaking of which, host, during your first life after arriving, weren’t you also untalented in calligraphy and painting? Yet you eventually succeeded in reversing your fate to become a master!”

An Ning: “……”

This dog system certainly has good memory!

“How are these two situations comparable? Have you considered what conditions your host was working with back then?”

Recalling the past, An Ning couldn’t help but gently shake her head, unusually earnest: “In arts like these, unless one has perfect natural talent, spiritual sensitivity, exposure, even one’s living environment inevitably have tremendous influence.”

Back then, she truly had wealth and leisure. Those teaching her hand-to-hand were genuine masters of royal education, true literati. Everything she used daily was of the utmost luxury and elegance. Various master paintings and antique treasures were readily available by her hand daily. The estate featured rare plants and flowers from various regions too numerous to take in all at once.

In winter, gathering around the stove to brew tea; in summer, viewing the moon by the lake.

Occasionally, she could follow the main group down to Jiangnan to experience local customs, or at the frontier, freely appreciate the natural beauty of lone smoke in the vast desert.

Moreover, comfortable living nurtures the body, changing environments cultivate temperament—after years and months of accumulation, even a real blockhead should develop some refinement.

But which of these could an ordinary young noblewoman access?

In fact, without the system, she probably wouldn’t even receive her current political education…

“So…” An Ning pondered: “That system actually understands human psychology quite well. At the very least, the temptations it currently offers aren’t something ordinary people can refuse!”

The benefits are yours alone, yet the price is paid by others—how many people in this world could resist that?

Especially someone like Yang Er who desperately wants to stand out.

It’s just… too ruthless…

An Ning couldn’t help but lower her gaze:

Toward a simple, lively young girl, she didn’t leave even the slightest margin—no wonder she’s suffering retribution now.

That’s true too! The system silently nodded.

Within the room, Yang Yuanze’s slightly impatient voice sounded again:

“You should know these tactics have no effect on me…”

“Speak—what is your true purpose today?” Before my limited patience completely disappears.

As his words fell, the grief and indignation on Yang Yuan’s pale face instantly vanished, transforming into a trace of cold, mocking lightness. Even her slightly stooped posture straightened considerably:

“Truly worthy of Father. It seems this daughter’s purpose today likely won’t be achieved!”

System: “!!!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep