Chapter 1: Go Ahead, Pursue the Male Lead!

“Don’t touch me, I hate filth!” Pei Dongzhou tossed it aside carelessly, shattering the jade pendant to pieces.

He had originally been interested in the daughter of Li Shaoqing from the Imperial Court, never expecting that Shen Shuyi, this infatuated woman, would haunt him persistently and suddenly send him a jade pendant.

Shen Shuyi curled her lips. If she weren’t bound by the system, forced to complete tasks or else face death, she wouldn’t have to act according to the male lead’s mood.

[Congratulations to the host for completing the cannon fodder female supporting role task, current progress: 1%. Host, go get the male lead!]

Having finished the task of giving the jade pendant to Pei Dongzhou, Shen Shuyi immediately withdrew her smile. “I never said the pendant was for Cousin. But Cousin broke my pendant, shouldn’t you at least apologize?”

Unexpectedly, Shen Shuyi changed her expression like the weather, leaving Pei Dongzhou momentarily stunned.

“Fine, I’m magnanimous and won’t argue with the heir apparent Cousin. This pendant is only worth a hundred taels of silver; Cousin can just compensate me for that.” Shen Shuyi forced a smile and extended her slender, fair hand toward Pei Dongzhou. “Give me the silver, and I’ll leave immediately, never spoiling Cousin’s good reputation! Cousin wouldn’t want Miss Li to know you’re someone who shirks debts, would you?”

A cold glint flashed in Pei Dongzhou’s eyes as he deliberately humiliated Shen Shuyi, tossing the money pouch to her feet.

Unfazed, Shen Shuyi leisurely strolled to the window and lazily said, “Cousin, you’d better hand the silver to me personally, or if I get upset, I might just shout that you’ve been inappropriate with me.”

Her reputation was already thoroughly ruined; it couldn’t get any worse. But Pei Dongzhou was different—he was the refined son of a noble family in the Great Qi Kingdom, the future heir of the Marquis of Pingyang’s manor, with a bright future ahead.

If she cried harassment, which noble lady in the capital would dare marry Pei Dongzhou?

Pei Dongzhou remained composed, his gaze scrutinizing Shen Shuyi.

This was the Moonview Pavilion, a bustling place in the capital. He couldn’t allow this woman to tarnish the Marquis’s good name.

With that thought, he picked up the money pouch and tossed it into Shen Shuyi’s arms. “Go on.”

Shen Shuyi weighed the pouch—it held well over a hundred taels.

“How generous, Cousin deserves to win the beauty’s hand.” She was in a good mood, clutching the pouch, ready to slip away smoothly.

But as she reached the staircase, she saw Xia Nianchu heading upstairs.

Not wanting to run into the female lead Xia Nianchu, she ducked into a private room.

Why was Xia Nianchu here at Moonview Pavilion?

Curious, she peeked out and saw Pei Dongzhou and Xia Nianchu struggling, nearly about to enter the room she was hiding in.

With no other choice, she concealed herself behind a screen, planning to watch quietly.

No sooner had she hidden than she heard the door close, followed by Pei Dongzhou’s helpless coaxing: “Cousin, don’t be like this…”

---

Xia Nianchu’s soft, tender voice floated into Shen Shuyi’s ears: “Cousin, are you really planning to marry?”

“Parents’ orders, matchmakers’ words…”

Before Pei Dongzhou could finish, Xia Nianchu kissed him.

Shen Shuyi froze with no movement. Curious, she peeked again and saw a strange scene.

Pei Dongzhou held his sleeve in front of his face, while Xia Nianchu kissed his sleeve.

She was dumbfounded.

Just moments ago, Pei Dongzhou had called her dirty, and now he was kissing Xia Nianchu before marriage? Was this considered premarital impropriety?

[Trigger: Impromptu cannon fodder female supporting role task: Host, catch them in the act!]

Shen Shuyi laughed bitterly at the word “impromptu.”

She now fully accepted that she was a cannon fodder female supporting role. While the male and female leads were burning with passion, she, the supporting role, was tasked with catching them red-handed on the spot. If they didn’t silence her, it would be surprising.

Helpless, the task was assigned and had to be completed, or else she would suffer a lightning strike—a sensation she never wished to experience again.

Tragically, if she failed to complete 100% of her cannon fodder tasks within a year, this supporting role would meet an untimely death.

After steeling herself, she stepped out from behind the screen and applauded with professional poise: “Heir apparent Cousin is so pure and clean. One moment courting Miss Li, the next igniting flames with Cousin Xia. Tsk tsk, Cousin Xia, I’m ashamed to compare.”

Pei Dongzhou and Xia Nianchu pushed each other away almost simultaneously, looking at Shen Shuyi as if she were a ghost.

Pei Dongzhou couldn’t understand. “Cousin, what are you doing here?”

How was this persistent woman everywhere?

Shen Shuyi found a chair and sat down gracefully. If she hadn’t crossed her legs, she might have seemed even more convincing.

“If I shouted ‘caught in the act’ and everyone barged in to see the heir apparent with Cousin Xia, I wonder what they’d think?” she said leisurely.

Pei Dongzhou’s sleeve still bore Xia Nianchu’s lip marks, unmistakable and impossible to wash away even by plunging into the Yellow River.

His gaze darkened, but he forced down the urge to strangle her. “Speak. What do you want, Cousin?”

Shen Shuyi liked dealing with clever people, so she responded cheerfully, “Cousin, give me one thousand taels of silver as hush money.”

Given how quickly she offended the male lead, she needed to save up more funds to leave the Pingyang Marquis’s manor. Otherwise, even if she changed the original tragic ending of the cannon fodder supporting role, she would likely still die miserably under the male leads’ revenge within a year.

---

“Why don’t you just snatch it?” Pei Dongzhou laughed angrily when she asked for a thousand taels outright.

“Two thousand!” Shen Shuyi’s smile grew even sweeter.

Pei Dongzhou: ...

Xia Nianchu tugged at Pei Dongzhou’s sleeve, thinking that in this situation, it was better for the heir apparent to pay off Shen Shuyi.

Only then did Pei Dongzhou remember who Xia Nianchu was. Had she not suddenly kissed him earlier, he wouldn’t have been extorted by Shen Shuyi.

He grabbed Xia Nianchu’s hand, pushed her out of the private room, and closed the door smoothly, all in one fluid motion.

Shen Shuyi was a moment slow to react.

Then Pei Dongzhou turned to face her. His handsome face was gentle as jade, but the storm gathering deep in his eyes made her heart race sharply.

“Do you know the top courtesan at Passion Pavilion only costs fifty taels per night? You ask for two thousand taels outright—so which is more valuable, your mouth or your body?”

Pei Dongzhou stepped closer to Shen Shuyi. Though a gentle smile graced his face, the darkness in his eyes was like a bottomless abyss, ready to swallow her whole.

Shen Shuyi’s palms grew sweaty, and she involuntarily took two steps back.

[Congratulations to the host for completing the task, current progress: 3%. Keep going, host, keep striving!]

Her eyes brightened, but before she could rejoice, the system alarm suddenly blared:

[Warning alarm: Pei Dongzhou’s favorability toward the host has dropped to -98%.]

Shen Shuyi: ...

[Forgot to tell the host: if any male lead’s favorability toward the host drops to -100%, the host will be immediately erased by the system.]

What? Such an important detail was forgotten?

They made her do all the things to offend the male leads but never said that if their favorability hit rock bottom, it would cost her her life.

The system was toying with her.