Chapter 1

Pear Blossom knew Xiang Mother-in-law was cunning, but she never expected her to be this heartless, even selling her own granddaughter.

It was all her fault for being greedy. At the first mention of good things to eat in the city, she couldn’t resist following along. Little did she know, she was drugged and sold without even realizing it.

Before she could continue regretting, a large rough hand struck her again.

The slap sent stars dancing before Pear Blossom’s eyes, her face burning with pain.

“Easy there! If you ruin her face, we won’t get a good price for her,” scolded the tall, burly man.

The fifteen-year-old girl was like a fragile young shoot, thin and frail but with a decent appearance.

“She’s supposed to stay unharmed,” the shorter one added menacingly, advancing closer.

Reflexively, she stepped back and accidentally knocked into the window behind her.

Outside, the bustling crowd and noisy street scene flashed into view. She was high up in a tower!

With no way forward, she gritted her teeth and swiftly climbed onto the window, using both hands and feet.

“If you come any closer, I’ll jump!” she threatened.

The two men’s faces instantly changed color, clearly not expecting such a resolute move from the girl.

However, something even more terrifying happened.

The wooden plank beneath her feet suddenly snapped with a crack, leaving half of her body hanging precariously out the window, swaying dangerously.

A gasp rose from the crowd below, some covering their eyes in shock.

Inside the room, the two men were equally petrified, afraid this newly acquired “goods” might turn into a worthless corpse.

Life and death hung by a thread.

But for Rika Blossom, she would rather end it here than be taken away by these men.

Just as she was about to let go, a voice sounded in her mind: “Do you want to bind with me? I can help you resolve your current dilemma.”

Rika looked around anxiously, but saw no one speaking.

“No need to look. I’m in your mind,” the voice continued. “Others can’t see me or hear me speak. Only you can. If you want to respond, just think your reply silently.”

Rika trembled uncontrollably. She remembered Xiang Mother-in-law often scolding her as “brainless.” Now, her head felt like it was about to split open from pain.

She murmured to herself: Could this be about “growing a brain”?

The voice heard her muttering and was momentarily speechless, leaving behind a meaningful ellipsis.

If there hadn’t been no suitable candidates in the entire town, or if it hadn’t been prepared to exhaust its energy and face erasure, it wouldn’t have chosen such an idiot as its host.

Only then did Rika silently ask: “What do you want from me in exchange for your help in resolving my current predicament?”

This experience taught her a lesson: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. To gain something, you must first give something up.

Just like wanting to eat a piece of candy, she ate it but was also sold for ten ounces of silver.

If the voice sought something she couldn’t give, she’d rather jump and end it all.

Her fingers began to loosen—

The voice seemed unprepared for the girl’s unexpected defiance, desperately exclaiming, “Wait! I’m the ‘Crown Princess Development System.’ If you follow my guidance, accumulate points, and complete the tasks I assign, I can help you achieve your wishes and ultimately become an esteemed crown princess.”

Although Rika was simple-minded, she knew that being a crown princess was prestigious, the future emperor’s consort.

But what did that have to do with her?

She had never seen the crown prince nor harbored any fantasies about him.

If being rescued meant marrying another man, how was that different from being kidnapped by these two burly men now?

“I don’t want to marry the crown prince. I already have someone I like.”

The system was shocked by her answer, finding it unbelievable that someone could resist the temptation of becoming a crown princess.

In this era, for women, the position of Crown Princess is second only to the Empress and Queen Mother, making it the most prestigious and promising status.

But the seemingly silly girl before her remained unmoved.

The system panicked and increased its allure urgently: “Once you become the Crown Princess, you will have endless glory and wealth. Every delicacy imaginable will be at your disposal. Servants will attend to your every need. Isn’t this life a thousand times better than your current one?”

Rika, however, firmly shook her head, “Forget it, I’d rather jump. What’s the difference between serving someone I don’t like and being caught by these two?”

The system was almost on the verge of collapse. It hastily persuaded, “Don’t jump! Tell me what you want, and I’ll find another way to help you achieve it.”

Changing the system wasn’t possible; it was stuck with this system. It could only deceive the silly girl into binding it first. Its energy was running out, and if it didn’t bind her soon, it would disappear completely.

After hesitating for a moment, Pear Blossom said, “I want to become powerful and protect my mother and siblings. I want my father to come back, and I want my grandparents and my father’s concubines to stop bullying us. I want our family to live a good life. I… I also want Little Widow…”

Listening to her wishes, the system secretly rejoiced.

These wishes were not difficult for it to fulfill. Once it bound this girl, all problems would be easily solved.

As for her dislike of the Crown Prince, the system believed that when she met the Crown Prince in person, she would naturally be attracted by his charm. By then, would she even remember today’s words?

But what on earth was “Little Widow”?

“Do you agree or not? If you don’t agree, I’ll really jump.” Pear Blossom was starting to struggle.

The system panicked and shouted, “I agree, I agree! Bind immediately—”

With a light “ding,” Rika felt a faint electric current pass through her body as if some mysterious power had truly entered her.

At this moment, more and more people were gathering around the tower, while inside the house, two big men were still patiently persuading her to come down from the window sill.

Rika silently thought, “System, what should I do now?”

The system responded, “Don’t worry, you now have four initial attribute points that you can allocate to Physique, Wisdom, Reputation, and Joy. I suggest you put them into Wisdom first since your mind needs to be sharper.”

Rika suddenly felt embarrassed, “In this situation, shouldn’t I be thinking of a way to escape? Why add points now? What’s the point of adding this point?”

“Adding points will make you smarter, and naturally, you’ll think of a way to escape,” the system explained.

“So, in the end, it’s still up to me to figure it out?”

“Adding points will help you figure it out. Is that hard to understand?”

Rika had been standing at the window for too long and was starting to lose her resolve. She saw a virtual panel floating before her eyes, displaying four bar charts. She took a deep breath and compromised, “Alright, I’ll listen to you. I’ll put it into Wisdom.”

With that, her fingers swiftly slid across the panel, finally settling on the second bar chart.

In an instant, a mighty force circulated rapidly through her body, revitalizing her exhausted form.

The system was stunned by this scene. It couldn’t believe its eyes. “Host, you’ve chosen wrong! You put it into Physique! Can’t you read?”

But Rika felt joy spread across her face as she felt the changes in her body. “I can’t read, didn’t you just list four words? Wisdom was second. What’s wrong with choosing the second bar?”

The system was speechless. “I didn’t list them in order just now. The second one is Physique, and you put all the points into Physique.”

“What should we do now?” Rika was also dumbfounded.

The system was extremely frustrated to have such a peculiar host. But now that things had come to this, it could only quickly find a way to solve the problem.

It swiftly activated its calculation program and began assessing the surrounding environment.

Just two seconds later, the system came to a conclusion: “Quick! Jump down to the window on the next floor! Grab the original wood on the left side of the window, then use it as a cushion to jump onto the mahogany on the roof of the next lower house. As long as you can firmly grab that mahogany, you can jump directly to the ground and escape!”

Rika looked at the original wood on the third-floor window edge, her legs trembling. “Are you kidding me? I can’t reach it.”

The system quickly replied, “You’ve just added five points to your Physique. Now your physical fitness has been greatly enhanced. As long as you stay calm, you’ll definitely be able to grab that original wood.”

The two big men inside the house saw that Pearl Blossom had no intention of jumping, so they rushed up again without hesitation.

Knowing she had no other choice, Rika gritted her teeth and leapt.

At that moment, her heart was in her throat.

However, when her hands finally touched the wood, her face showed an expression of incredulity.

She knew she had succeeded halfway.

Then, taking a deep breath, she exerted more force and lunged towards another mahogany below the eaves of the second-floor roof.

Luckily, she firmly hooked onto the edge of the mahogany.

At that moment, she didn’t hesitate at all, quickly jumping down again and landing steadily on the lower house, then smoothly making her way down the roof to the ground.

The two men on the tower were shocked and panicked, quickly running down the stairs.

But when they reached the bottom floor, there was no sign of Pear Blossom.