The bright moon hangs high, beckoning him down from his pedestal.

The palace was instantly thrown into chaos, with the sounds of palace servants running around in panic and crying filling the air.

"Aruo! The fighting has started! Shen Jingyan has begun the siege with her vanguard!" Xiao Jiu's voice rang in her mind, while simultaneously transmitting the real-time footage of the palace gates to her consciousness.

Shen Qingruo held her breath, looking at the scene in her mind.

Chaos reigned at the palace gates as the defending troops retreated in disarray. A troop of cavalrymen in desert armor charged in, and the fiery red figure at the head of the troop was particularly striking – it was Shen Jingyan.

Just then, at the edge of the chaotic scene, Shen Qingruo saw a familiar figure—it was the little eunuch.

Dressed in his eunuch's robes, he was taking advantage of a lull in the fighting between the guards and the desert soldiers, covering his head and desperately running out of the palace.

He seemed to be clutching something tightly in his arms.

Shen Qingruo's heart clenched.

He still remembered that he was trying to fulfill her request.

The young eunuch stumbled out of the palace gate, looking around in panic.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he looked at a thin old man dressed in scholar's robes, standing anxiously on a street corner, protected by his servants.

A relieved smile appeared on the little eunuch's face. He ran off in that direction without a care in the world, pulling out the old sachet from his pocket as he ran.

"Don't go, it's dangerous!" Shen Qingruo cried out silently in her heart, hoping he could hear her.

Just as the young eunuch raised the sachet, about to rush across the street...

call out!

A sharp arrow pierced through the air and pierced the little eunuch's back.

His smile froze instantly. He staggered forward, looked down at the arrow piercing his chest, then at the dusty sachet that had fallen from his hand to the ground, and then collapsed.

He had a smile on his face until he died.

Shen Qingruo froze.

She recalled that year, the greedy yet simple-minded little eunuch, and the instant his eyes lit up and his ear tips turned red whenever he accepted the extra reward she gave him.

He would mutter, "Your Majesty, you mustn't," while quickly stuffing the silver into his pocket, his smile carrying a hint of worldly cunning and satisfaction.

She never asked him why he needed so much money.

Did he have a sick mother at home? Or younger siblings who needed support? Now that he's dead, what will happen to his family?

It was her fault. She took advantage of his kindness and used him, which led to his death.

Shen Qingruo forced herself to look away from the eunuch and towards the person who had fired the arrow.

At the palace gate, Shen Jingyan sat upright on her horse, her longbow not yet fully lowered.

Her beautiful face was filled with a chilling indifference, as if she had just shot down nothing more than a troublesome ant.

Without even glancing at the corpse or the fallen sachet, she cracked her whip and shouted, "Follow me to the Golden Palace and capture Emperor Liang!"

The fiery red figure, unrestrained and flamboyant, led his troops straight into the depths of the palace.

As for the little eunuch lying in a pool of blood, and the sachet that her sister always wore, neither of them caught her eye.

Shen Qingruo slowly closed her eyes, cutting off the images in her mind.

In the past, she always told herself not to compare herself to others and not to hate.

But today, she truly began to hate Shen Jingyan.

-

When the door to the Cold Palace was violently kicked open, Shen Qingruo was sitting quietly by the window.

Several soldiers dressed in the uniforms of the Liang Imperial Guard broke in.

The leader was a young general. Shen Qingruo remembered him; he was Wei Zheng's deputy general, and his surname was Zhao.

"Your Majesty, forgive me!" Deputy General Zhao said urgently, "Please come with me!"

The scene was exactly the same as in my previous life.

Shen Qingruo did not struggle, nor did she show much panic. She glanced at him gently, and then obediently stood up.

This appearance startled the rough soldiers, who then softened their movements.

She was led along, stumbling forward on the chaotic palace path.

The sounds of clashing weapons, screams from palace servants, and the ever-approaching bugle call of the desert cavalry were all around them.

"Xiao Jiu," she called out calmly in her mind.

"Aruo! Are you alright? They still came!" Xiao Jiu's light sphere flickered anxiously.

"I'm fine," Shen Qingruo replied in her heart, watching the palace walls draw ever closer. "Xiao Jiu, according to your calculations, how can I live a better life? Better than Shen Jingyan?"

The system paused for a moment, then immediately replied, "Of course, you should stay by the male lead Shen Wangxi's side."

"Aruo, he is undoubtedly the protagonist of this world!"

"Shen Jingyan was able to have such a smooth life later on because she was always Shen Wangxi's most beloved daughter, which gave her the blessing of the small world's fortune, and she even became an empress."

Its sweet, childlike voice became excited: "If you can stay by Shen Wangxi's side and steal all his affection and attention from Shen Jingyan, it means that the world's fortunes will tilt in your favor."

"At that time, Shen Jingyan will encounter difficulties in everything she does, while you will find everything you want to do very easy. That's what you call being favored by heaven!"

Shen Qingruo lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes concealing the emotions within.

Stealing Shen Wangxi's favor? She began to take this question seriously.

"Aruo," Xiao Jiu's voice lowered, tinged with seduction, "I know you've always felt wronged and resentful, wondering why Shen Wangxi just can't see you, right? You crave his attention, don't you?"

Shen Qingruo's fingertips curled slightly.

There's a saying: "Deep affection is hard to retain, but tricks win people's hearts."

Xiao Jiu continued to urge, "Since you're jealous of his affection for Shen Jingyan, then find a way to steal her away from him!"

"Aruo, you don't have to be so kind and sensible all the time. You can fight for it, you can snatch it!"

"Kind-hearted Aruo, why does she lose to selfish Shen Jingyan time and time again?"

On what grounds?

Shen Qingruo recalled the smile on the little eunuch's face when he fell to the ground, Shen Jingyan's flamboyant and unrestrained back, and Shen Wangxi's gaze that was forever fixed on Shen Jingyan.

Before she could answer Xiao Jiu, the towering palace walls were already right in front of her.

But in her heart, some thoughts had already quietly taken root and sprouted.

In her past life, Shen Qingruo, who was a good person, died.

He died like a joke, and nobody cared.

In this lifetime...

She wanted to be a bad person.

A bad person who fights for whatever he wants and destroys whoever he hates.