The male supporting character was actually myself.

After realizing what had happened, she quickly knelt down to express her gratitude.

"Get up quickly, don't kneel down all the time." Shen Qingluan helped her up, covered her mouth and laughed, "I'm just giving you a heads-up about this happy event in advance, so you won't lose your composure in public when your brother announces it. I think the latest I can prepare to drink your wedding wine is after I get married!"

Honglian was surprised, delighted, and excited all at the same time. She cried and laughed for a while before she calmed down.

At this moment, the sound of drums and music outside the courtyard grew closer and closer. She hurriedly tidied her makeup and helped her young mistress out of the bedroom to sit in the outer hall.

According to the customs of the Southern Qi Dynasty, wealthy families would calculate two dates in advance for their weddings, first exchanging betrothal gifts and then holding the formal wedding ceremony. On the day of the engagement, they would exchange tokens of love and confirm their future residence. After the betrothal gifts were exchanged, the groom's betrothal gifts and the bride's dowry would all be moved to the groom's house.

Therefore, although engagement is not as formal as marriage, it should not be underestimated.

The engagement ceremony between Shen Qingluan and Young Master Yu was naturally extremely extravagant, with civil and military officials coming to offer their congratulations, and even the imperial palace issuing three imperial edicts.

The first imperial edict conferred upon Shen Qingluan the title of Princess Ning Le, and permitted her to use the highest level of ceremony for her wedding.

The second imperial edict granted Shen Qingluan a fiefdom, allowing her to establish her own residence and bestowing the Yuquan Manor as the residence of Princess Ning Le.

The third imperial edict congratulated Princess Ning Le and Young Master Yu on their happy marriage.

The three imperial edicts further demonstrated the immense power of the Regent Prince, and moreover, Shen Qingluan became the first person in the dynasty who, despite not being of royal blood, was granted the title of Princess, a fiefdom, and a royal garden as her residence. She was also the first girl in the dynasty to be able to establish her own residence without any restrictions.

Those who heard it were shocked, and the officials secretly gasped in astonishment.

"What a grand gesture!" Shangguan Xuanyu's heart pounded after hearing the three imperial edicts, and he felt even more awe for the Nine Thousand Years Old's illustrious reputation.

Even Huang Xiuqi, who currently controls the imperial power in Yong'an through a puppet emperor, wouldn't dare to openly bestow titles upon people from other families; yet Shen Jiangchen could have her younger sister directly granted the title of Princess, with treatment even surpassing that of the current princesses!

It seems I made the right bet.

As long as I can marry Miss Shen smoothly and live happily ever after, I can achieve high rank and avenge my family in no time by relying on my own abilities!

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Disabled Version of the Technology Tree

"Shen Qing, you're releasing this new series too fast, I can't keep up!"

His Majesty the Emperor squatted on his chair, propping his chin up with his right hand, looking at the dozen or so boxes of the latest Lego sets piled on the table with a worried expression. "How do you come up with so many brilliant ideas? Why does my brain seem to be full of mush, unable to come up with anything?"

Jiang Chen, who was sitting opposite him and was carefully reviewing memorials, replied without looking up, "Your Majesty must have been too busy having fun and didn't get enough rest last night. Please take care of your health!"

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy and quick-witted. These building blocks are just ordinary toys; Your Majesty should not let them distract you from your studies.

"The merchants will have plenty of fun new products in the future. If Your Majesty is so particular, then you won't be able to go on any tours."

"An inspection tour?!" Upon hearing this, the emperor's eyes lit up. He picked up the grapes from the plate, handed them over, and chuckled, "Shen Qing's trading company has indeed amassed all the gold and silver in the world, and the national treasury is much fuller now."

Just the other day I heard that Lingjiang Kingdom placed a large order, offering high prices for the scarce goods from the merchant guild.

"My esteemed minister, you've expanded trade to other countries; truly brilliant!"

"Your Majesty flatters me!" Jiang Chen cupped his hands and smiled, "Following the land reform, we encouraged the franchise of handicraft workshops to manufacture goods. Firstly, we wanted to reduce costs so that our people could use inexpensive and high-quality products. Secondly, we naturally wanted to use the craftsmanship of our people to produce finished products and then transport them to other countries to turn them into real money."

That's how we can get things circulating and earn extra money!

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I have already begun the arrangements. Once the business has fully stabilized and the realm is prosperous and peaceful, Your Majesty can embark on your inspection tour. While you're at it, you can also consider which direction to travel and what scenery you wish to see, and then I will prepare a detailed itinerary for Your Majesty."

Over the past year, the emperor had heard many novel words from his mouth. Seeing him say this, the emperor sat down with his knees drawn up and exclaimed, "My dear minister, I saw at a glance that you were handsome, dashing and outstanding among the many new candidates. Indeed, Minister Shen has lived up to my expectations. This is a blessing for me and for Southern Qi!"

Jiang Chen put down the pen she was using to review the memorials, looked up at him seriously, and said, "Your Majesty, please speak frankly."

"I just want to ask you, since Yong'an Kingdom is already in chaos, and Shangguan Xuanyu has been killed and his whole family has become useless, why do you still want to marry your sister to him?"

"Does Your Majesty truly think Shangguan Xuanyu is useless?" He ate a grape and said somewhat vaguely, "Then why did you issue three imperial edicts to bestow fiefdoms and mansions upon him?"

The emperor twitched his lips, looking helpless. "My dear minister, you've shared my burdens. You should at least give your only sister some face when she gets married, right?"

I was worried that if Shangguan Xuanyu's true identity were exposed in the future, things would get messy. So I gave them these things in advance so the young couple could live separately and avoid any unforeseen complications. Even if problems arise, they won't implicate too many people.

"Thank you for your courtesy, Your Majesty." Jiang Chen cupped his hands and smiled, "Ever since I had the opportunity to meet Shangguan Xuanyu, I have always felt that he is not useless but will be of great use!"

Your Majesty can consider this: as a young person whom even Huang Xiuqi, the current head of the Imperial City Guard, fears, Shangguan Xuanyu's ability to serve as the head of intelligence and secret agents in the enemy capital is evident.

Now his parents have died unjustly, and he has become an abandoned child, watched by his own people who treat him like family.

At this moment, the more Shangguan Xuanyu restrained himself, the stronger his desire for revenge became.

The new emperor's faction, which controlled the Yong'an Kingdom's court, was his father's and mother's murderers. When he was still working in the Imperial City Guard, several princes vied to befriend him because they were of similar age. However, when the Shangguan Mansion was in trouble, no one came to his aid. Hundreds of people were killed and burned to the ground.

Shangguan Xuanyu's faith has collapsed, leaving him with no way out. If guided properly, he could become a game-changer in the Yong'an Kingdom's court!

"So you arranged for your sister to marry him to reassure Shangguan Xuanyu, to make him believe that you accepted his identity as a spy from an enemy country and offered him help because you were protecting your sister?"

"This move is perfectly reasonable."

"What do you intend to do? My Southern Qi army must not be involved."

"I know. I have already trained a group of trusted loyalists, just waiting to be used in case of emergency."

The time will come when the wedding is held after the New Year! At that time, I will provide him with all the intelligence I have gathered to help Shangguan Xuanyu return to Yong'an under a false identity and disrupt the court. The hostile situation between the two countries should soon become a thing of the past.

"Once the new emperor ascends the throne, my sister will become the Empress of Yong'an Kingdom. Wouldn't it bring peace to the world if our two countries maintained friendly relations, developed together, and exchanged goods?"

Upon hearing this, the emperor gasped, "Minister Shen, you certainly have quite the appetite!"

"Your Majesty is wise. I only wish for a prosperous and strong nation. Since Yong'an has been stirring up trouble and wanting to start a war, why not go with the flow and change the emperor? I have confidence in myself and in Shangguan Xuanyu."

"If that's the case, why not have an even bigger appetite and incorporate Yong'an into the territory of my Southern Qi?"

Jiang Chen:ヾ(￣□￣;)ノ

Have I made you too much money lately, making you arrogant?

Do you know what you're saying, Your Majesty?

Last year, the national treasury was severely depleted, and the border army dared not wage war. Now, only a year has passed! Just one year! The people's lives have just begun to stabilize, and they haven't even had time to replenish their numbers by having children. And you already want to swallow up Yong'an Kingdom?

Aren't you afraid that their internal strife will stop first and they'll unite against external threats?

"Your Majesty, stop joking." He twitched his lips helplessly and said, "If Shangguan Xuanyu goes back to stir up trouble and seize the throne, that's internal strife among family members; if we take action, that's outsiders trying to steal the family property. The nature of the two situations is different, and the results will be different as well. Can't we focus on developing ourselves first?"

The emperor leaned back lazily in his chair and chuckled, "Isn't this just wishful thinking? I know my own situation. My dear minister, you have too much faith in Shangguan Xuanyu. Even if he returns to Yong'an, he's just a subject. Can he really overthrow the Li family's rule completely?"

Jiang Chen continued to review the memorials with his head down, and replied vaguely, "That's something Shangguan Xuanyu needs to consider. I'm just going with the flow and trying my best to help."

"The changes in our Southern Qi in such a short time are truly remarkable..."

"The people long for stability, and as long as we give them a way out, we can see results quickly."

The little white cat, who was sleeping soundly with bubbles coming out of its nose while perched on its host's shoulder, moved its paws, rolled over, and mumbled sleepily, "An emperor, huh? He really hasn't seen the world... Back in the day, my host was having a blast building infrastructure in a small county town thanks to his advanced technology!"

Jiang Chen gave it a questioning look.

“Oh right, host doesn’t remember, anyway it’s not something that needs to be kept secret…” The fluffy ball got up, scratched its chin with its paw, thought for a moment, and then continued, “I remember that the hydroelectric power station was built in a short time.”

"I guess we got too carried away with the tech tree back then, to the point that the main system felt something was wrong."

As it spoke, it took out the tech tree from its spatial storage, looked at its branches which were mostly still in a "cooled-down" state, and sighed, "Now we're using a 'crippled' version of the tech tree to drive the entire country. It's really been hard work for my host."

It's slightly better than the completely cooled-down state before. At least now we can slowly unlock the most basic daily necessities and agricultural raw materials. Coupled with the vast accumulation in the space, it's not difficult to drive the overall development of the small Southern Qi Kingdom. Judging from the current situation, it will take about two more years for the entire society to rise to a higher level.

"Your Majesty, I have finished reviewing the memorials. Please take a look." After a moment, he put down his pen, stood up, bowed, and said, "There are still some matters to attend to at the trading company. I shall take my leave!"

Chapter Twenty-Six: Push Him!

The Emperor waved his hand and added, "With the New Year approaching, Qingluan will be preparing for her wedding. Please take good care of yourself while you're busy. Oh, by the way, you're not young anymore. Have you taken a fancy to any girl? I can arrange a marriage for you."

Shouldn't the Emperor also have a talent show or something?

How about I arrange something for you?

Hey, hey, why are you running?

"Shen Aiqing, be careful, it's cold and the road is slippery, don't fall..."

Once the figure was out of sight, he pursed his lips and shook his head, saying, "In the prime of your life, you don't even think about girls. You're having so much fun playing with reforms every day. What kind of logic is that? Does Shen Qing have some unspeakable secret? Or perhaps he prefers homosexual relationships?"

Tsk tsk tsk, I really didn't see that coming! I'll have to subtly question them another day..."

"Host, that emperor is speculating that you like men." The fluffy dumpling muttered in his ear with a disgruntled face, "You've spoiled him rotten! He does nothing all day but play games and speculate, what kind of emperor is he? Why don't you... push him away, host? Let him know how powerful you are!"

Jiang Chen glanced down at it slightly, "Is your 'push' serious?"

"Hehehe~ That depends on what the host thinks." The little white cat shrank its neck and quickly changed the subject. "Last night I went to replenish the inventory of the materials warehouse. Now that more and more ordinary people are receiving training, the consumption of materials is quite high."

But I think people in ancient times were quite clever!

They were just limited by the times and had limited experience, but they were not stupid at all.

Moreover, probably due to the lack of machinery, those skilled craftsmen who already had a foundation learned quickly and could even apply what they learned to other situations, producing things that were better than expected!

And over at the agricultural warehouse, I've organized all the seeds. As long as the farmers responsible for planting follow instructions and sow on time in the spring, large farms can be managed in batches..."

The fluffy dumpling was reporting its work when it was suddenly interrupted by its host, "Why does the main system give the tech tree such a long cooldown period? It gives rewards but is still stingy and unwilling to let you use them. Isn't that too stingy?"

"Well..." The little white cat scratched its paws awkwardly, then whispered in his ear, "It's probably because we've stockpiled too many supplies. As long as we synthesize them using the technology tree, the technology in the current mission world can advance by leaps and bounds. Too many unconventional forces entering the mission world will cause instability. For the sake of the big picture, the main system can only cut some functions."

Not only is the tech tree currently in a cooldown period, limiting development, but I suspect it won't be as enjoyable as it was the first time we used it.

Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? The mission world can be unstable? What would happen if it weren't restricted?"

"If too much energy from a world that doesn't belong to the current mission comes in, it will naturally become unstable. It's like a balloon that was originally the right size, but if you keep inflating it without any regard for its size, it will burst."

If the main system isn't restricted, the mission world might completely collapse!

It meowed with a serious expression: "Once the mission world collapses, it will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble, and multiple departments will be involved, so it will definitely be restricted!"

Oh, by the way, I learned all this from watching the chats of the experts on the forum.

He became even more curious and hurriedly asked, "Do other hosts also have similar tech trees? Do they also go crazy with infrastructure development like us?"

"No, I haven't heard of any other hosts having the same item on the forum. But with so many rewards issued by the main system, there must be some with similar effects."

The little white cat sneakily leaned close to his ear and whispered, "A few days ago, a big shot on the forum posted that his host found a bug in the item. By exploiting the bug, the male supporting character, who was supposed to be running a farm in a normal mission world, started by building a mecha that was ahead of its time, and even used it for farming."

Then he shocked the world and enjoyed the protagonist's treatment!

However, he went too far and had too much fun. Before long, he used advanced technology to overturn the physics of the entire mission world, driving many scientists insane and even triggering a world war.

The energy system of the mission world was destroyed and completely collapsed.

Later, the main system added a clause to the auxiliary system manual, which essentially said that the host should not disrupt the energy balance of the original mission world.

The little dumpling rummaged through the manual, but because she was really unfamiliar with the business, she couldn't find the corresponding rules and explanations even after flipping through it for a long time.

Jiang Chen glanced at the manual, which was full of codes he couldn't understand. After a moment of staring at each other, the white cat threw the manual aside and said nonchalantly, "I'm not going to study it anymore. Anyway, even if the main system limits the technology tree, the host can still lead the Southern Qi Kingdom to prosperity, right?"