The Eldest Princess' Substitute Husband (Transmigration) - Chapter 10

“Online shopping service? I can shop online even here?”

*******

Late at night.

The Prince Consort’s manor was quiet. All the lights were out, except for the main house.

Inside, Wei Luoyi was not yet in bed. She was leisurely leaning back in a chair, engrossed in a storybook she hadn’t finished on the carriage.

This wasn’t a typical romance novel about love and elopement. It was a book about ghosts and spirits that she had asked someone to find for her.

She had always had trouble sleeping, so she liked to read these kinds of stories to make her tired.

Chunyue and Dongyang were her personal maids. Wei Luoyi had previously taught them to read, so she had asked them to read to her before. But both of them had started shaking halfway through, which had surprised Wei Luoyi.

She didn’t find the stories scary at all. After all, ghosts and spirits were just dead people. What could be scarier than the human heart?

The sound of a page turning broke the silence in the room. Chunyue and Dongyang stood behind Wei Luoyi with their heads bowed, silently praying that the princess wouldn’t ask them to read again.

They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Wei Luoyi close the book and set it aside.

Seeing that Wei Luoyi was free, Chunyue remembered something. She quickly picked up the gold-thread wood box that had been placed on the table earlier and handed it to Wei Luoyi. “Your Highness, this is what the prince consort gave you when we went to the market today.”

Wei Luoyi took the box, her fingertips tracing the raised patterns on the lid.

She vaguely remembered something like that, but at the time she hadn’t paid much attention to it and had told Chunyue to put it away.

She opened the latch. Inside the intricately carved wooden box was a clay figurine that could be described as somewhat ugly.

It had small eyes and a large nose, and the face wasn’t even round; it was surprisingly crooked. It was barely passable, and you could tell at a glance that the person who made it was not skilled.

Song Jinsheng had bought this figurine when she went to the market. She said that the old lady selling them was having a hard time, so buying two was a way to help her out. But Wei Luoyi didn’t have the same kind of thoughts. She didn’t like the figurine much, either, since it didn’t look like her at all.

“Your Highness, there’s also this.”

Wei Luoyi was staring at the figurine in a daze when Chunyue handed her a folded silk handkerchief.

Well, she liked this even less than the figurine.

Wei Luoyi didn’t even look at the handkerchief. She casually looked away and closed the wooden box, locking it. “I don’t want this.”

“Huh?” Chunyue was surprised. She looked at the handkerchief in her hand. “But… this is what Your Highness embroidered yourself…”

“I don’t like things that others have used,” Wei Luoyi said blandly. She then got up, walked to the dressing table, put the wooden box in a cabinet, and turned back to look at Chunyue. “Throw it away.”

“It’s already dirty.”

*******

Initially, Song Jinsheng thought that life after transmigrating to this unfamiliar dynasty would be a never-ending ordeal. But before she knew it, a month had passed.

After the last time she was caught by Wei Luoyi while she was out with Su Ran, Song Jinsheng no longer dared to go out of the manor every day.

As the saying goes, “caution is the parent of safety.” If Wei Luoyi were to catch her again, she wouldn’t be able to explain herself.

Since she couldn’t go out, Song Jinsheng stayed in the manor. Life in ancient times was indeed boring, but at the prince consort’s residence, she had enough to eat and wear. Every day, she would admire the scenery in the courtyard, watch the fish, and play with the mynah bird. Occasionally, she would even run into Wei Luoyi and have a chat or two.

The days were peaceful, but this peacefulness made her feel restless from time to time.

How much longer would she have to live like this before she could go back? It felt like there was no end in sight.

Other people’s systems were like cheat codes, so why was hers so ordinary?

Song Jinsheng was only sighing inwardly, but the system heard her. The slow, mechanical voice retorted, “Host, although I can’t directly give you a certain ability, I can develop some convenient features for you.”

Song Jinsheng was overjoyed. “Really? Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

The system was flustered. “You never asked…”

System: “The features I can offer you are: a favorability inquiry service, a limited-time skill enhancement service, an automatic speech generation service, an online shopping service…”

Song Jinsheng: “Wait, online shopping service? I can shop online even here?”

System: “Yes, the online shopping service, as the name suggests, allows you to connect to 21st-century online platforms through this system to make purchases. However, the signal cannot be transmitted, so if you buy electronic products like mobile phones, you won’t be able to contact people in the 21st century.”

System: “Other than that, the use of other products is basically the same, and there is no need for logistics. This system can provide instant delivery.”

System: “However, this service requires a high activation fee, so please think carefully before deciding whether to activate it.”

Song Jinsheng asked curiously, “High? How expensive is it?”

She remembered that on her first day here, she had asked Guzi about the original owner’s savings.

Although the original owner had given up his official position to marry the princess, he was still a top scholar. The emperor naturally valued his talent and gave him an eighth-rank, non-essential position at the Hanlin Academy, so he could still receive a monthly salary. As the prince consort, he also received a share of the gold and silver the emperor had bestowed upon the princess.

And the original owner was a frugal person. The money he had saved over the past year was a small fortune.

But she didn’t expect the system to say: “Exactly 700 taels of silver.”

Song Jinsheng’s face instantly changed. “Are you crazy? Are you overcharging me? Are you robbing me? 700 taels of silver?”

She could only afford to take out 400 taels at most right now, and if she gave it all away, she would truly be penniless.

“Master, master? What’s wrong?”

Guzi had been called to the room to play cards with Song Jinsheng. After two rounds, he saw that Song Jinsheng’s eyes were blank and she seemed to be spaced out. He had called her several times, but she hadn’t heard him.

“Huh? Oh…” Guzi’s voice brought Song Jinsheng’s thoughts back, but she was still in a state of shock over the system asking for 700 taels of silver. She absently put down the handmade paper cards in her hand. “I’m fine… Let’s not play anymore for now.”

“Okay…” Song Jinsheng’s change was so sudden that although Guzi was confused, he still complied and started tidying up. He couldn’t help but look at Song Jinsheng, who had a serious expression on her face. “Master, is it… because Guzi isn’t good at playing…”

Song Jinsheng raised an eyebrow at his words and shook her head. “No, I’m just thinking about something.”

“What is it?”

“I’m thinking…”

While 700 taels of silver was indeed an expensive activation fee, activating the online shopping service meant that she could bring many modern products here. The people of this era had never seen these things and would surely find them novel. If she could sell them for a profit, she should be able to make her money back.

Besides, she didn’t know how long she would have to stay here. Having the ability to shop online would make her life here more comfortable and interesting. No matter how she looked at it, it was a good deal.

Having made up her mind, Song Jinsheng looked at Guzi seriously. “I’m thinking about whether I can open a shop here.”

“Huh?” This time, it was Guzi’s turn to be surprised. He scratched his head and asked, puzzled, “Why do you suddenly want to do that?”

Song Jinsheng: “I want to start a business.”

******

[Author’s Note]

Transmigrating: I use Taobao (Chinese online shopping platform) in ancient times. 

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