Chapter 4: The Majesty's Grand Presence, Prepare for Eye Exercises

When Ye Qingyan placed the bowl of “poison” before her stepmother Wang Feifei, the latter’s face changed color repeatedly.

Caught in a dilemma, Wang Feifei found herself trapped on the spot. To drink it would be to admit to Ye Qingyan’s “filial piety” and confirm her own reputation for mistreating her legitimate daughter; not to drink would expose her guilt and imply slander.

In the end, she pinched her nose and took a small sip. The cloying sweetness tightened her throat, but she forced a smile and praised, “Good child, how thoughtful of you.”

Ye Qingyan smiled obediently, her heart blooming with joy over this first encounter, which she had completely won.

The reputation of the “mad filial daughter” spread overnight throughout the Marquis Mansion, with everyone saying the legitimate eldest daughter had been tormented to the point of losing her mind, even treating her stepmother as her own mother.

Wang Feifei suffered this enormous silent humiliation and, upon returning to her quarters, angrily shattered half a room of precious porcelain.

Meanwhile, Ye Qingyan waited in her little courtyard for the system’s reward.

But what came was a thunderous wrath.

“Treasonous subject! How dare you be so brazen!”

In her mind, the lingering soul of the eternal emperor roared, filled with the fierce spirit of war.

“How dare you distribute my rewards at will! This is a grave act of disrespect! I sentence you to house arrest for three days to cultivate the ‘Sovereign’s Might’ and properly intimidate the scoundrels!”

Ye Qingyan was stunned.

Sovereign’s Might? That sounded like a tremendously powerful skill.

Could it be some supreme art that commanded everyone to kneel at once?

She immediately became interested and quickly responded, “I humbly obey Your Majesty’s order! I shall not disappoint Your Highness’s great expectations!”

In the next moment, a stream of information flooded her mind, revealing a complex set of action diagrams.

Holding her breath, Ye Qingyan observed carefully as the authoritative voice within her head began the instruction.

“Sovereign’s Might, First Move: Rub the Tianying Acupoint.”

“Sovereign’s Might, Second Move: Press the Jingming Acupoint.”

“Sovereign’s Might, Third Move: Rub the Sibai Acupoint.”

“Sovereign’s Might, Fourth Move: Press the Taiyang Acupoint, then scrape around the eye sockets…”

Ye Qingyan’s hopeful expression froze and shattered, leaving only dumbfounded blankness.

“…Isn’t this just the eye exercises my homeroom teacher forced me to do twice daily back in school?”

A 21st-century overworked office worker transmigrated into this cutthroat ancient household struggle, and her golden finger turned out to be doing eye exercises in the backyard?

How utterly absurd!

“System? Your Majesty? Are you sure this is called ‘Sovereign’s Might’ and not ‘Protect Your Vision, Prevent Nearsightedness’?”

“How dare you!” The system’s pressure descended like a mountain.

“This is an ancient secret technique embodying the ultimate truth of heaven and earth! It can concentrate your gaze into a divine light so that all within sight submit! Mere mortals like you cannot comprehend it! Now, practice immediately!”

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Ye Qingyan was overwhelmed by this mental pressure and dared not question further.

“Fine, eye exercises it is. Better than losing my head.”

During the following three days of house arrest, the servants of the Marquis Mansion often saw the newly “mad” legitimate eldest daughter standing in the courtyard every day, eyes closed, performing a set of strange movements no one could understand, with a posture both precise and tinged with a hint of existential despair.

While doing so, she had to flatter the system insincerely: “Your Majesty is wise! This technique is indeed profound! After practicing, my eyes feel clear, and my gaze is three degrees sharper than before! Surely soon I will be able to kill Wang Feifei with my eyes!”

“Hmph, you know your value,” the tyrant system seemed quite pleased and softened its tone considerably.

Ye Qingyan rolled her eyes inwardly.

Sharper? Of course, after enduring your endless manipulations, old man, if my eyes didn’t sharpen, I wouldn’t even know how I died!

The three-day house arrest ended just in time for the mansion’s matriarch’s sixtieth birthday.

The entire Anyuan Marquis Mansion was festively decorated, brimming with guests.

For Wang Feifei, this was not only a birthday banquet but a perfect opportunity to wash away her humiliation and utterly bury Ye Qingyan’s reputation.

She had already bribed Li San, a notorious ruffian and scoundrel in the capital known for causing trouble and taking advantage at noble banquets.

The plan was simple yet vicious—to stage a scandalous scene where Ye Qingyan would be seen entangled with an outsider, ruining her reputation beyond repair.

On the banquet night, as the legitimate eldest granddaughter, Ye Qingyan had no choice but to attend.

She wore an elegantly modest lake-blue gown befitting her status, her hair pinned simply with a white jade hairpin, her fresh beauty standing out amid the opulence.

Upon entering the banquet hall, she immediately sensed several ill-intentioned gazes fixating on her.

Wang Feifei was dressed magnificently, chatting with titled ladies, but her eyes kept darting toward Ye Qingyan.

Beside her, Ye Qinglian made no effort to hide her gloating excitement, her eyes full of schadenfreude and anticipation for the show to come.

Ye Qingyan was no longer the pushover she once was.

As a modern woman who had fought her way through the competitive workplace, reading people was her basic skill.

She quietly raised a cup of fruit wine, her gaze seemingly drifting among the guests.

Soon, a target caught her eye. In a corner of the banquet hall stood a middle-aged man in brocade robes, but his shabby demeanor betrayed a street thug.

His cloudy, lecherous eyes had been glancing at her since he entered, both deliberately and casually.

“Treasonous subject! Such an occasion is precisely the time to display Sovereign’s Might!”

The tyrant system began to clamour restlessly in her mind.

“Show your majesty! Let these petty villains see who truly rules here!”

She wanted to see what tricks Wang Feifei was playing. Holding her wine glass, she walked steadily toward the matriarch to pay her respects as the eldest granddaughter.

As she passed Wang Feifei and Ye Qinglian, Wang Feifei subtly gave a signal with her eyes.

Ye Qinglian immediately caught on and pretended to turn, deliberately slamming her shoulder hard into Ye Qingyan’s back.

“Ah!” Ye Qingyan cried out as the wine glass flew from her hand.

Li San’s eyes gleamed with lust as he immediately took the cue.

He staggered forward, feigning drunkenness with a lecherous grin, his filthy hands reaching deliberately for her waist.

“Oh dear, miss, why don’t you watch where you’re going and bumped into me…”

His disgusting voice was raised so half the banquet hall could hear clearly.

The guests’ attention was instantly drawn to the commotion, eyes wide with surprise.

Wang Feifei’s lips curled into a venomous smile, and Ye Qinglian’s cheeks flushed with excitement.

If Li San’s hands touched Ye Qingyan’s clothes, if they were “caught” embracing, no matter how much Ye Qingyan protested, she would be nailed to the pillar of shame as shamelessly entangled with an outsider.

Just as Li San’s hand was about to touch her garment, the authoritative voice in Ye Qingyan’s mind rang out again.

“Treasonous subject, what are you waiting for?”

“Sovereign’s Might, prepare—begin!”

Her body seemed controlled by an invisible force.

Her stumbling steps suddenly halted, and her waist twisted at an impossible angle, narrowly dodging Li San’s grasp.

“First section, rub the Tianying acupoint…” A clear, mechanical voice seemed to issue from her own throat.

Everyone was stunned.

What was going on?

Had the Ye family’s eldest miss lost her mind?

Without pausing, Ye Qingyan’s hands left the temple and quickly found the next acupoint.

“Second section, press the Jingming acupoint…”

Her fingers rhythmically pressed the hollow near the inner corner of her eyes.

Wang Feifei’s smile froze. Ye Qinglian’s gloating expression stiffened.

“Treasonous subject, show your spirit!” the system urged impatiently in her head.

Ye Qingyan steeled herself. Since her social death was already sealed, she might as well die spectacularly!

She snapped her eyes wide open. The gaze, nourished by Sovereign’s Might, actually radiated a strange clarity and authority.

Her eyes swept across the hall as her voice suddenly rose with an undeniable commanding tone: “Why are you all standing there dumbfounded? This is the Ye family’s secret technique—the Meditation of Focus and Calm! All who see it shall share in its power! Come, practice with me!”

Then she turned to the dumbfounded Li San and shouted sternly, “You! Yes, you! With your shifty eyes and restless mind, you must be afflicted by evil fire! Hurry and press the Sibai acupoint with me to purge your filthy thoughts!”

“Third section, rub the Sibai acupoint!”

To everyone’s astonishment, Li San’s hand moved shakily to touch beneath his own eyes.

The entire banquet hall fell into a silence both surreal and absurd.

Wang Feifei looked on, nearly fainting on the spot.

Her lethal trap had turned into a collective eye exercise!