Spring flowers.

Chapter 2 Take the initiative
The system's task for Wei Yishang was to win over Ye Mingzhen, but she was powerless to do so.

It's very difficult to succeed in competing for a man with a group of women whose family background and social status are all higher than your own.

Ye Mingzhen naturally dared not disobey the emperor's order, and immediately agreed, ordering the carriage to turn around and head towards the princess's residence.

Ye Mingzhen's carriage passed by Wei Yishang. She watched Ye Mingzhen's back and thought to herself: "The debts of love are the hardest to repay."

A few days later, news of Ye Mingzhen entering the princess's residence spread like wildfire throughout the capital.

People say that the princess summoned Ye Mingzhen to her residence for one night, where they played the zither and lute in perfect harmony. Later, she summoned him for several more days, which suggests that she was keeping Ye Mingzhen as a male concubine.

Wei Yishang vaguely remembered that one day when Ye Mingzhen and the Princess were playing the piano, there was another person present, who was Feng Yueqiao, the heroine of this story.

Feng Yueqiao was a master of music and was originally composing music for the Princess when Ye Mingzhen happened to be there that day.

It was on that day that Ye Mingzhen fell in love with Feng Yueqiao, and the two often used the excuse of making friends through music to play music together in a place just a wall away from Feng's house.

It now appears that Ye Mingzhen, who has many admirers, has fallen in love with the female lead, which undoubtedly makes Wei Yishang's mission even more challenging.

Wei Yishang lay on the bed, relaxing.

She suddenly remembered the system's notification that Ye Mingzhen would be returning to his hometown soon.

Ye Mingzhen had been staying with the Eldest Princess for the past few days, so the system hadn't given her any notifications.

Now, only she can take the initiative.

Feng Yueqiao and Ye Mingzhen would sing together against the wall at the Feng residence every day, so she would go to the Feng family's door to meet Ye Mingzhen.

She did not inform Feng Yueqiao, but went to the Feng family under the pretext of delivering clothes to Feng Yueqiao. After a servant informed her, she was invited into Feng Yueqiao's boudoir.

Her arrival was sudden, and Feng Yueqiao could not hide the panic in her eyes.

Feng Yueqiao's grandfather was a Grand Tutor, but he has now retired to his hometown. Her father's generation, thanks to the protection of their ancestors, runs a business in the capital.

Because she was a merchant, the sons of officials in the capital did not have close relationships with Feng Yueqiao.

She also developed a solitary nature, and only Wei Yishang, who was ostracized by the noble ladies, took the initiative to recognize Feng Yueqiao as her friend.

For many years, Feng Yueqiao and Wei Yishang have maintained a harmonious and friendly relationship.

In the book, Wei Yishang uses this to get close to Ye Mingzhen, and for the sake of this man's love, she ostracizes Feng Yueqiao and even betrays her, ultimately losing both love and friendship.

Wei Yishang looked at Feng Yueqiao, the heroine in the book, who was dressed in a plain blue dress with a sling on her arm.

Since she was in her boudoir, she didn't wear much makeup; her dark hair was simply styled into a high bun, making her look gentle and elegant.

Wei Yishang gave the clothes to Feng Yueqiao: "Last time I finally managed to buy a few bolts of shimmering brocade. I thought that with summer approaching, it would be a good time to change into new clothes, so I asked the embroiderer to make a dress and send it to you, sister."

"Sister Wei is so thoughtful." Feng Yueqiao had the servants take the clothes away, then pulled Wei Yishang to the couch, where they brought fruit and tea and exchanged pleasantries.

Wei Yishang had come specifically for Ye Mingzhen, and knowing that Feng Yueqiao and Ye Mingzhen were making friends through music, she steered the conversation toward Ye Mingzhen.

"Ye Mingzhen made a name for himself at the poetry gathering a few days ago. He is indeed worthy of being the third-ranked scholar appointed by His Majesty. He is learned, talented, and handsome. I heard that he is also proficient in music, which makes the Princess very happy."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yueqiao paused in her hand holding the teacup, then forced an awkward smile.

"I did see him once at the Princess's residence; he is indeed a talented young man."

Wei Yishang nodded slightly.

At this moment, the system reminded Wei Yishang: [Host, your target will arrive in one hour. Please prepare accordingly.]

Wei Yishang lowered her eyes and slowly sipped her tea, determined to stall until Ye Mingzhen arrived.

"Sister Feng, it's been half a month since we last saw each other. I've been thinking about you a lot. Since I'm late today, I might as well stay here and keep you company."

Feng Yueqiao said somewhat anxiously, "Sister, it's not appropriate for a young lady like you to stay out overnight. Why don't you come earlier tomorrow, and we can have fun all day long?"

"It's alright, I already informed my father before I came."

Seeing that Feng Yueqiao hesitated to speak, Wei Yishang deliberately teased, "Could it be that you're hiding something from me, sister? Is that why you've come to send me away?"

Feng Yueqiao forced a smile and said, "No...no."

She took a sip of water tactically to ease her tension.

I just hope that person won't come today.

Wei Yishang deliberately chose to arrive later in order to meet Ye Mingzhen today, so she kept chatting with Feng Yueqiao to prolong the time.

Feng Yueqiao was preoccupied with the events of the evening and remained restless, only giving Wei Yishang perfunctory replies.

After dark, Feng Yueqiao went to wash and bathe, while Wei Yishang waited quietly in the room.

The system notification tone kept ringing until I heard the system say:
[Host, your target has arrived. Please proceed to the small pond in the backyard.]

Since Feng Yueqiao wasn't there at the moment, Wei Yishang went to the small pond.

This is the most secluded place in the entire Feng family compound; apart from an infrequently used storeroom and an abandoned house, there is nothing else.

Feng Yueqiao usually practices music in the courtyard, so even though she is playing music with Ye Mingzhen here, no one would notice anything unusual.

Wei Yishang pressed her ear against the wall. In the book, Ye Mingzhen would play the flute here to remind Feng Yueqiao that he had arrived.

A moment later, the sound of the flute rang out, its tone melodious and pleasing to the ear.

So Wei Yishang took out the flute she had just gotten from Feng Yueqiao's dressing table, and tried to play a note. Immediately afterwards, a sound like the cawing of a crow came out.

Wei Yishang burst into laughter in anger.

Unlike the heroine in the original book who was proficient in all the arts, Wei Yishang knew nothing about music.

If she wanted to impress the male protagonist with her outstanding musical talent, it would undoubtedly be a pipe dream.

After some thought, Wei Yishang adjusted her strategy. Since the flute playing was not pleasant, Wei Yishang decided to play along.

Anyway, there's a wall between them, so how could Ye Mingzhen, who's behind the wall, know who she really is?

Sure enough, when Ye Mingzhen heard Wei Yishang's "beautiful" flute music, he paused for several seconds.

He clearly hadn't expected that Feng Yueqiao, a master of music, would play the xiao so poorly. Wei Yishang knew that the other party had misunderstood her identity, so she simply pressed on, playing the xiao louder and louder.

After a while, Ye Mingzhen seemed to finally not be able to stand the noise anymore. The sound of the flute behind the wall stopped, and then the footsteps gradually faded away as Ye Mingzhen left.

Wei Yishang achieved her goal, although the process was not honorable. Ye Mingzhen should have already identified the person playing the flute as Feng Yueqiao...

Ye Mingzhen initially considered Feng Yueqiao a confidante, but now that he misunderstands that Feng Yueqiao plays the xiao so badly, he probably won't be able to play music with her for quite some time.

Wei Yishang curled her lips and turned around gracefully, only to see Feng Yueqiao standing silently behind her, having arrived at some unknown time.

"Sister Feng... why are you here?" Wei Yishang suddenly felt a little guilty.

Feng Yueqiao did not suspect Wei Yishang.

After all, no one else knew of Ye Mingzhen's existence except for her.

"It's a bit hot tonight, and I couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk. What's your sister doing here?"

After saying that, Feng Yueqiao's gaze moved down and she saw the wooden flute in Wei Yishang's hand.

Seeing that her affair had been discovered, Wei Yishang did not hide it, but instead spoke frankly:

"Like my sister, I thought I'd go out for a stroll since the weather was nice."

Wei Yishang raised the wooden flute in her hand and said:

"I went to my sister's room earlier to look for you to stroll around with, but I couldn't find you. I happened to see a beautiful wooden flute on the table, so I borrowed it to play with. I hope my sister doesn't mind."

It was just a wooden flute, so Feng Yueqiao naturally wouldn't mind.

She shook her head, her gaze then falling on the wall behind Wei Yishang.

Feng Yueqiao wasn't just wandering around aimlessly; she was thinking about her promise to Ye Mingzhen. Seeing no movement behind the wall, she mistakenly assumed that Ye Mingzhen had broken his promise.

He didn't say anything more, only telling Wei Yishang to get some rest.

Having achieved her goal, Wei Yishang slept soundly for a while. After dawn, she received a new task from the system.

[Host, we have detected that your target, Ye Mingzhen, has encountered trouble. Please help him out of this predicament and increase his favorability with you.]

Wei Yishang was still feeling sleepy, but she immediately perked up after hearing the task assigned by the system.

She sat bolt upright in bed and asked, "Trouble? What trouble has Ye Mingzhen run into?"

According to the original plot, the eldest princess had already fallen in love with Ye Mingzhen and intended to raise him as her male concubine.

Unfortunately, Ye Mingzhen's repeated rejections have thoroughly angered the princess.

Today, the Princess sent someone to invite Ye Mingzhen into the mansion again. Not only that, she also planned to instruct the servants to poison Ye Mingzhen's wine.

Once the deed is done, Ye Mingzhen won't be able to deny it anymore...

Upon hearing this, Wei Yishang could no longer sit still.

This is a perfect opportunity for a damsel in distress to save a hero. If she can rescue Ye Mingzhen from the princess, she will undoubtedly gain a lot of goodwill.

Judging by the time, Ye Mingzhen should have already entered the Princess's residence without any precautions.

However, given Wei Yishang's lowly status, it would not be an easy task for her to infiltrate the Princess's residence and rescue Ye Mingzhen.

Wei Yishang's eyes flickered slightly, and she immediately turned her attention to Feng Yueqiao, the female protagonist of the original book.

Feng Yueqiao was originally a music master in the Princess's residence. With Feng Yueqiao's help, it would be much easier for Wei Yishang to enter the Princess's residence.

Time was of the essence, so Wei Yishang immediately went to find Feng Yueqiao. Fortunately, she had not left the Feng residence the night before; she had simply gone around a corridor and arrived at Feng Yueqiao's boudoir.

"Sister Feng, are you up yet?"

It was already late, and Feng Yueqiao should have been on duty at the Princess's residence by now. However, there was no sound from the inner room, as if the person inside was still sleeping peacefully.

Wei Yishang thought for a moment, then raised her hand and knocked on the door again. After a while, Feng Yueqiao's weak voice came from inside the room.

"My sister's here? Come in." Feng Yueqiao's voice was weak and powerless, as if she were sick.

Sure enough, when Wei Yishang entered, she saw Feng Yueqiao leaning against the pillow with a pale face and dark circles under her eyes, clearly indicating that she had not rested well.

"Sister, what's wrong with you?"

Wei Yishang frowned slightly. She walked to the table and poured Feng Yueqiao a cup of tea. During the process, Feng Yueqiao kept coughing.

"She was fine yesterday, how did she suddenly get sick?" Wei Yishang gently patted Feng Yueqiao's back and fed her some water.

Feng Yueqiao said weakly, "Who knows... Maybe I sat in the courtyard for too long yesterday, and the wind gave me a headache and I caught a cold."

Wei Yishang immediately said, "You should rest well first, and I will go find a doctor to take a look at your health."

The moment Wei Yishang moved, Feng Yueqiao grabbed her wrist.

"No need to trouble yourself. There is a doctor in the manor, and the maids in the courtyard have already gone to fetch him. He should be here soon."

"That's good."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yishang felt relieved, but then quickly remembered the purpose of her visit to Feng Yueqiao.

Now that Feng Yueqiao is so seriously ill, she certainly can't be taken to the princess's residence. Is she really going to just stand by and watch Ye Mingzhen be taken by the eldest princess, causing the mission to fail?!
Wei Yishang was filled with mixed feelings and didn't know what to do when she heard Feng Yueqiao say, "Good sister, can you do me a favor?"

Seeing that Feng Yueqiao was so seriously ill, Wei Yishang naturally nodded in agreement.

"What's wrong, sister? Please speak frankly."

Feng Yueqiao said, "Today is the Princess's banquet for the Ye family's third-ranked scholar. I was supposed to go and play the zither with the guests, but I am sick and cannot go. Please take my waist token and ask the Princess for leave on my behalf."

This is like finding a pillow when you're sleepy! I was just wondering how to get into the princess's residence.

Wei Yishang naturally agreed. She took Feng Yueqiao's waist token, told Feng Yueqiao to rest well, and then hurriedly headed towards the princess's residence.

(End of this chapter)