Qiao Ci did not believe in showing mercy to a damsel in distress. The original host’s wish was for her to turn into a toad, so she spoke again, “The witchcraft you cast on me has been lifted. Next, it’s your turn.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Lena finally remembered that since Qiao Ci could return to her true form, there must be a witch around.
Although she had brought a witch with her, if her witch was not as powerful as Qiao Ci, wouldn't she have walked into a trap?
Knowing that her relationship with Qiao Ci was beyond repair, she turned to Ono, sending him a signal for help. Her words were laced with artifice, “Brother-in-law, Sister must have misunderstood me. As soon as I heard about her, I rushed here without stopping, and I even gave my husband to her. Please speak a good word for me to Sister, Brother-in-law~”
Upon hearing that it was this woman who had turned Qiao Ci into a frog monster, Ono’s dislike for her reached its peak. “Guards, seize this wicked woman who dared to harm the Queen!”
Soldiers surrounded Lena.
Lena cursed silently and then shouted, “Grandmother, save me.”
A woman shrouded in a black robe stepped forward.
Lena yelled, “Kill Aci. Jobs!”
Ono’s pupils contracted, and he shielded Qiao Ci behind him.
When the witch cast her spell on Qiao Ci, Qiao Ci merely glanced at it dismissively. All the witchcraft she had cast was reflected back upon herself, killing her.
Lena, on the other hand, had transformed into an ugly toad, hopping and croaking on the ground. She lunged forward, attempting to bite Qiao Ci.
A sharp-eyed soldier kicked the ugly toad away, preventing it from offending their Queen’s sight.
“Throw it to that man who was just thrown out. After all, they are a pair,” Qiao Ci said indifferently. kuAiδugg
In this fairy tale, the Frog Princess and Prince Charming lived happily ever after, without conflict, until they grew old.
*
Qiao Ci returned to the system space, it felt like a lifetime ago.
Fairy tales inherently possessed a sense of beauty and unreality, and the task was simple, no different from retirement.
The moment she appeared in the space, Little Spoon happily bounced over, followed by the familiar electronic voice.
“Congratulations, Host! The mission has been successfully completed once again, with an evaluation level of SSS. Current points are 600,000,000. Keep up the good work! A million is just around the corner!”
“Mhm.”
Qiao Ci replied and took out her personal panel to operate.
Little Spoon didn’t know what she was doing, watching her fingers fly across the screen. It was scratching its ears and itching its cheeks, its curiosity even surpassing its enthusiasm for dancing.
Finally, it mustered the courage to ask, “Host, what are you operating on?”
“I’m looking for the cub’s location,” Qiao Ci replied without hiding anything.
The cub’s location?
“Why are you looking for it? We seem to meet him in every world,” Little Spoon continued to ask.
This time, Qiao Ci didn’t answer its question.
Would they always meet?
What if they didn’t?
When she had finished operating, Little Spoon tentatively prompted,
“Do you wish to enter the next world?”
“Mhm.”
*
“Wake up, you wicked stepmother! Are you trying to starve us six siblings to death?”
The moment Qiao Ci opened her eyes, she heard a childish voice in her ear.
Immediately after, a basin of cold water was splashed all over her.
Qiao Ci sensed danger and quickly dodged. The bed she was lying on, however, was not so lucky.
The bedding was soaked, making it clearly unusable.
She coldly regarded the six little carrots in front of her, four boys and two girls.
The eldest was only ten years old, and the youngest was only five or six. Although the children were wearing tattered clothes, their outstanding appearances were undeniable.
Her body was drenched, indicating that these little ones had already splashed her before she arrived.
She felt a slight fever in her head, likely from the cold water.
“Get out,” she said coldly, with a fierce demeanor.
The children were startled, but they didn’t expect the usually submissive stepmother to scold them. They immediately became indignant.
The eldest boy glared at her with disdain, “No more acting? Finally showing your wicked face? You don’t like us siblings at all, you’re just doing this for Father to see! You’re a bad woman, no wonder Father doesn’t even touch you. Heh!”
“Exactly! My father was a great general. He was supposed to marry a princess. You’re just a hired nanny for Father to take care of us. Don’t be too delusional!”
“Pfft, bad woman, we will never consider you our mother. You’re just a servant. Hurry up and make us food, the sun is almost shining on our bottoms~”
Qiao Ci said no more. She directly reached out, grabbed two children at a time, and threw them out the door.
“Don’t provoke me,” Qiao Ci said coldly, glancing at the six children sprawled haphazardly at the door, threatening them.
Although she didn’t know the plot yet, she already disliked them based on their words.
It seemed their stepmother had never been this fierce with them before, and the children were successfully intimidated.
The room fell silent, and Qiao Ci began to process the plot.
This was an ancient world.
The male lead, Shen Si, was the Great General of the current dynasty. After a defeat that resulted in the deaths of nearly a hundred thousand soldiers, coupled with a severe leg injury, he was ashamed and disheartened. He voluntarily requested to apologize for his crimes and retired to the countryside with his six children.
As he was leaving, Princess Qingluan, who had secretly been in love with him, came to find him, saying she was willing to accompany him and wanted to spend the rest of her life as his wife.
Shen Si, feeling inferior at the time, sternly refused.
Furthermore, although his former wife had passed away, he still missed her in his heart and could not accommodate anyone else for the time being.
Besides, marrying someone as pure and chaste as a princess would surely make her suffer when married to a failure like himself, and he didn't want to delay her.
After going to the countryside, he looked at his six starving children and felt he had failed them. He asked the village chief to introduce him to a suitable marriage. As long as the woman was virtuous and willing to take good care of his six children, that would suffice.
Then, the original host was introduced to him.
He saw that the original host, apart from her darker complexion, had very delicate features and did not have bound feet, thus likely having the strength to care for children. Furthermore, the original host’s father was a scholar who could help teach the children to read and write, so he agreed.
The original host found him handsome and polite. She didn’t mind his leg injury or his six children, and following her father’s advice, she married him.
Thus, Shen Si gave the original host’s parents ten taels of betrothal gifts and held two tables of wedding banquet to marry the original host.
During the wedding night, when the original host helped him undress, she saw the ferocious wound on his leg and was somewhat frightened. Shen Si noticed this, lost his desire for the wedding night, and temperamentalally sent her to sleep with the children.