Do You Like Me That Much? Miss Villainess

Creak—

Closing the door, lighting the candle.

Soon after, shadows writhed and a cat slowly emerged from within.

If ordinary people saw this scene, they would surely be greatly alarmed, suspecting demon clan invasion, but the white-haired girl had seen this many times and didn't find anything wrong.

"Ah Qi, go play by yourself."

Mu Qinglan gave an instruction, wanting to think about what happened this afternoon.

"Qi Qi understands."

A light, soft voice came from her feet.

Mu Qinglan couldn't help but pause: "Qi Qi?"

Seeing her confusion, the cat shook her head again: "Little Qi understands."

"What's this now?"

"Miss Qi!"

"Stop, stop, stop. Where are you getting all these titles from?"

The cat jumped onto the girl's lap, looked up, her eyes the same color as hers still showing the same clear stupidity as always:

"Ah Qi heard mama say this afternoon!"

Mu Qinglan recalled for a moment.

Bai Bai and Little Bai were both terms she'd used for Bai Yuyu.

Bai Bai was more intimate, while Little Bai had more of a condescending flavor, subtly shifting the emotional dynamic between two people in one's mind.

And Miss Shen was her teasing for Shen Yao.

Why didn't Ah Qi learn some of her wisdom and cleverness to go outside and trick some powerful world bosses back for her, instead getting hung up on these titles?

"Ah Qi is Ah Qi. The name is already very nice."

"Ah Qi!"

The cat's eyes widened, inexplicably happy, wagging her tail cheerfully as she went to play shadow boxing.

Outside, Mu Qinglan didn't let her come out—only in the room could she recover her silly, active nature.

"..."

Mu Qinglan shook her head, amused, and said no more.

But the tension from today's operations did indeed dissipate considerably.

Though the Crown Prince and demon clan side were formidable.

She also had Ah Qi.

Uh... Mu Qinglan glanced at Ah Qi, who was currently chasing her own tail's shadow around the lamp. She should be reliable, right?

She wasn't quite certain.

Whatever, even excluding Ah Qi, she had plenty of advantages, not to mention the Crown Prince's side had left such a big opening today.

Evidence that could implicate demon clan traces...

Mu Qinglan leaned back in her chair, half-closing her eyes in the candlelight.

'In the game's original plot, this was something only involved in the mid-stage demon clan storyline of version 1.0, requiring completion of a large chunk of quests before finding fragments of this thing that hadn't been completely destroyed.'

'Now it's fallen into the Six Bureaus' hands ahead of schedule.'

'So with such a fatal weakness in the Six Bureaus' hands, will the Crown Prince be anxious? What about the demon clan? How will they act?'

'I also need to consider Sun Zhu, who lost face today…'

"..."

In the candlelight, Mu Qinglan mentally compiled information, silently weighing the direction of events.

No choice.

Even if she did nothing after transmigrating, her very survival would create butterfly effects, influencing many things' trajectories.

Better to take advantage of her current knowledge advantage and squeeze out all the benefits.

She was quite satisfied with today's trip.

Not only did she make future villain boss Bai Yuyu's heart flutter, but she also made Shen Yao better understand her position in her heart.

Of course, there were also gains from the demon clan storyline.

'After this, I should use this matter to give His Highness Crown Prince a good lesson on what 'a girl's revenge comes day and night' means.'

'I want him to feel anxious and uncertain just hearing my name.'

A breeze blew through the room.

The candle flame flickered twice.

In her blood-colored eyes, the dim flame wavered uncertainly.

'Forget it, there's no rush for this kind of thing. I'll decide how far to go based on the situation then.'

Mu Qinglan smiled pleasantly: 'Anyway, His Highness Crown Prince's subordinates are all stupid dogs—they won't disappoint me.'

With her mind settled, Mu Qinglan began tallying today's gains.

Actual gains weren't much—just some silk fabrics from Red-Cherishing Courtyard as gifts for making connections.

But the intangible gains were far more valuable.

The bad woman had gained a girl's heart!

Mu Qinglan knew that emotions, especially those without special relationships as catalysts, were never something that could be achieved overnight.

So she hadn't expected Bai Yuyu to like her right away.

She had just quietly planted a seed in her heart.

Watered it to grow tender shoots.

How to nurture it into a towering tree was for later consideration—no rush.

But the progress in terms of address was quite nice.

A few days ago when she called Bai Yuyu "Little Bai," the little girl had looked resistant, righteously saying Little Bai was her family's big dog's name and she couldn't be called that.

But when she called her that at noon, she didn't resist anymore.

Eh? Little white doggy?

That actually sounded quite lewd!

'Little Bai!" Mu Qinglan called softly, her smile full of delight. "It really does sound like a dog's name. Decided—I'll call her that from now on.'

In the room's corner, Ah Qi looked back.

Seeing mama smiling mysteriously at empty space again, she shook her head and said nothing more.

Mama looked unintelligent.

Naturally, Mu Qinglan didn't notice this little episode, only thinking and thinking, gradually turning her thoughts to another Six Bureaus constable.

'I wonder if Miss Shen likes my gift. Though it was just getting something for nothing.'

'But I put quite a bit of thought into it, quite thoughtfully creating that completely different sense of contrast. This gift took me several days to prepare!'

The bad woman muttered in her heart.

Muttering bad things.

Yes, the gift our bad woman instructor Miss Mu Qinglan gave Shen Yao today was a suddenly satisfied sense of contrast, plus a one-hour limited edition gentle, considerate, cute version wheelchair girl.

Both things were virtual—Shen Yao couldn't grasp them.

So she had to catch them with her heart.

If you had to ask why she schemed so sinisterly, Mu Qinglan could probably only come up with: "Because I love villainesses deeply!"

Why don't her eyes often fill with tears?

Because Mu Qinglan didn't like crying.

Oh wait, more precisely she didn't like crying herself—watching others cry was something the bad woman was quite willing to lead the charge on.

Best if they were bullied to tears by herself.

As for where exactly she'd bully them to tears, everyone could only see for themselves. Anyway, Miss Mu Qinglan was always wholesome.

Wholesome Miss Mu Qinglan organized today's gains, then lightly tapped rhythm with her fingertips, pondering her next moves.

She didn't need to worry about the Crown Prince's reaction for now.

She could respond to changes with constancy. Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveI~Fire.net

But that demon clan evidence could indeed be used to make some moves. If done well, it might make Shen Yao more loyal and obedient to her.

—Though she was already quite loyal, a bit more wouldn't hurt.

Thinking this, Mu Qinglan moved to the window and checked the sky.

Confirming it was dark but still early for curfew.

She called over Miss Shadow Two, who had just returned to the mansion, and under her somewhat resentful gaze, had her deliver a message to Miss Shen Yao, who was probably still working overtime at the Six Bureaus.

The message was simple.

But quite confidential.

—"Guard today's relics well."

○

Night had deepened.

The fourth watch's gong sounded through Heyang City's streets and alleys.

Most people in the city had long since slept, and even those still awake were mostly drowsy by now, their vigilance relatively relaxed.

"I knew they'd scold me!"

Tightening his night clothes, Sun Zhu, who had stayed up all night, muttered in the alley.

At this moment, he wore all black with a mask on his face, deliberately wearing several extra layers to make his figure look more bulky—even he couldn't recognize himself.

'But what's that little bitch's background?'

'Even Fat Li couldn't beat her?'

Sun Zhu wondered in his heart again, poking his head out to look—no one was paying attention here.

'Whatever, let me go in and see first.'

Sun Zhu thought, looking at the familiar wall, skillfully finding a hidden spot to climb over.

Heh.

After working at the Six Bureaus for over ten years, this was his first time sneaking in like a thief.

But he really was a thief.

'I promised the Crown Prince there would be no failure. I need to find a way to secretly steal that evidence back. I'm fifth rank—doing this sneaky stuff is simple.'

'I remember the evidence is... evidence is... mm, this way. This way is the evidence storage.'

Whoosh—

Lightly leaping over the fence, Sun Zhu was like a legendary silent ghost, lightly touching the ground with his toes before shooting past the main road where constables patrolled.

Another touch.

Over a rooftop.

After several movements, Sun Zhu had landed in the large bamboo grove outside the evidence storage.

"Whew!"

Having reached here, Sun Zhu relaxed.

'I remember the evidence storage area—if there's nothing particularly important, security is usually quite lax.'

That case was mixed in with recent serial murders in the east district, just ordinary.

The relics are even less important.

'Plus there are quite a few relics—if I just take one ledger from among them, probably no one will notice.'

'Hmph! So what if she won the gambling match? Just a greenhorn—how could she imagine that evidence's importance! Let me see…'

In the bamboo grove, Constable Sun silently poked his head out, then the next instant, his old face showed complete confusion as he shrank back.

'Something's wrong. Let me look again.'

"Hiss...'

Sun Zhu was truly baffled. He remembered the evidence storage area shouldn't normally have so many guards, right? Could there be some important evidence stored again?

Or had the Six Bureaus discovered something abnormal about that evidence?

Thinking this, Sun Zhu grew nervous.

Could the Crown Prince really be in trouble?

He quickly pressed himself into the shadows, held his breath, and listened intently to the constables' conversation outside the storage.

After a moment, his face turned red and blue.

"Why did Lord Shen suddenly have us come guard tonight?"

"Ah..." the person beside him yawned. "Don't worry about it, just guard. We're only guarding for one hour anyway."

"True."

"...Huff!... Huff!"

In the bamboo grove, hearing that the culprit behind today's failure was again Shen Yao and her group, Sun Zhu was so angry his breathing nearly became chaotic.

Too much! Too much!

Just some broken evidence—was it necessary to guard it like this?

Sun Zhu's veins bulged.

Only after a good while did his breathing gradually calm.

He turned and left without hesitation.

'Today is not suitable for taking evidence. I'll prepare thoroughly before coming again.'

Temporarily avoid the sharp edge, yield for now!