Chapter 26: Unbelievable World (III)

How could the stepmother not be familiar with the “son” she had raised for so many years?

According to Liu Lanting’s memories, the stepmother had been a girl of many talents in Langye Province before she married into their family. Her status was closer to that of a commoner, so she had to remain modest most of the time…

She seemed to be gazing somewhere far away. “I saw Lanting and her brother… and my sister on the Bridge of No Return in the nether world…”

The stepmother stopped breathing a few times, and the people around her thought she was dead. Even the physician thought so until he found a weak pulse. The maids who were caring for her felt like their emotions were on a rollercoaster ride.

“Big sister said that I have good luck… hoped that I could… I could come back to live my life in ease and comfort… and that I shouldn’t cling to the past…”

Jiang Pengji was not superstitious, but the stepmother’s words intrigued her. “And then?”

“So, I came back… I want to see… who took over Lanting’s body… what you are like,” the stepmother replied seriously.

Jiang Pengji awkwardly replied, “You’ll leave after looking?”

The stepmother did not give a straight answer and instead replied, “After I saw… I realized… that you are very similar to big sister… It felt like I saw my big sister again… so similar… The real Lanting… Even the behavior is exactly the same… I think big sister’s words before her death came true…”

Before her death?

Jiang Pengji raised her eyebrow before pulling the blanket around the stepmother. “You can enjoy the rest of your life in comfort.”

The System was expecting some sparks to fly or some other kind of altercation to happen. What the heck is this?

“My dear host. Can you explain to me what just happened?”

The omnipotent System felt as though it was quickly becoming useless.

“Is it so hard to understand? That lady knew that I wasn’t Liu Lanting from the moment I entered. But since I reminded her of her sister, she decided not to die… and instead she’s going to live her life in comfort.”

The System was dumbfounded. “Ha? Why did she accept you so quickly?”

She’s not going to drown her or burn her?

The System remembered that it once had a rather dimwitted host who had been treated like a demon and burned alive.

“Her sister was probably not from this era. When I entered her room, I saw some traces of an era that was closer to mine. I think she accepted me so quickly because her sister might be similar to me. I need to look for other clues…”

Jiang Pengji meant that her sister may have been from the science and technology era that came after this current feudalistic era.

After a short while, Jiang Pengji suddenly asked the System, “My adorable System, am I your first host in this world?”

The System paused for a moment. “Nope. But my previous host had no relations to Liu Lanting’s mother… What’s wrong?”

“I thought I came into an untouched, ancient era. But you told me that this world could be a filter. I want to give you a poor rating… The stepmother’s sister, Liu Lanting’s mother, could be from another era.” Jiang Pengji lost the energy to be angry.

As far as she knew, the ancient people had not been able to create metal spring-shaped hairpins… And yet there was one placed on the stepmother’s dressing table.

Of course it was possible that the hairpin belonged to someone else, but based on the information that Jiang Pengji had so far, she thought it was highly likely that Liu Lanting’s mother was from a different era.

“Erm… This is actually pretty common. Whenever a System opens a multidimensional stream, there is a tear in the dimension for a short while.”

After all, if the System only streamed household disputes, it would be too boring. Having other elements spiced things up.

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Jiang Pengji immediately thought of something. “Hang on a moment. When I started streaming and getting responses from the audience, I noticed something. Their dimension seemed like it was from a more technologically advanced era that was similar to mine… In other words…”

Was a new inhabitant from another era brought into this world after that first stream started?

System: “..”

“You’re feeling guilty,” Jiang Pengji said.

“I’m afraid that you’ll give me a bad review…” the System replied pitifully. As a System, it felt that it no longer had any privacy of its own now that Jiang Pengji was its host.

Jiang Pengji kept quiet. No one knew if she believed the System’s words.

System: “Since the stepmother didn’t reveal your identity in front of everyone, that means you’re safe, right?”

“Something like that… If I can pass off as Liu Lanting, I’ll continue doing so. If not, I can still use my real identity.”

The world was huge. Who would care if she was not who she claimed to be? In this era, the residence registration system was not advanced, so it would be easy for Jiang Pengji to start fresh somewhere far away.

Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow and said, “She and I had an agreement. I can safely use Liu Lanting’s identity and not worry about anything.”

“Agreement?”

The System checked through the chat logs. When did Jiang Pengji and the stepmother make an agreement?

Jiang Pengji heartlessly replied, “I’m sure that when you do die, it’ll be because of your own stupidity.”

System: “…$%#…%####@…”

Jiang Pengji only knew some simple remedies to fix common medical ailments, but the stepmother’s illness was not one of them. That had to be left to the physician.

“Have all the servants been rounded up?” Jiang Pengji asked the head servant.

She was one to bear grudges, and she liked to take her revenge as soon as possible. It was time to tidy up the Liu residence.

When the head servant was younger, he had been Master Liu’s page boy before being promoted to head servant. He had helped look after both generations of the Liu family and had garnered respect from others. He did not let this get to his head but instead worked even harder for the Lius.

The head servant followed behind Jiang Pengji and replied, “I had them gathered in the yard outside.”

“Hm, go call for the slave trader after this, and choose a few capable servants. If you can’t find capable ones, inform my eldest uncle.”

Jiang Pengji was no stranger to slavery. Back in her own world in which wars were common, the Intergalactic Warfare Statute allowed prisoners of war to be used as slaves.

Jiang Pengji swept her gaze over the servants and asked, “They’re all here?”

The head servant had no inkling of what was going on, but he nodded. “All the servants who were sent out to search for you are here.”

“Tell the slave trader that we’re selling them. All of them are dishonest.”

All the servants who had been gathered thought that Jiang Pengji was about to reward them for their search efforts, and they were hiding their excitement and glee. They did not expect to hear those cold words coming from her…

This bookworm who was never aware of his surroundings wanted to sell them to the slave trader?

The head servant hesitated for a moment before he loyally replied, “I understand.”

“Wait!” A few of the servants yelled out and groveled. “Some of us may not have yielded the results, but we put in the effort. We spent a day and a night searching for you… Why are you selling us now that you’re back?”