Chapter 107: The Protagonist’s Aura

That smile dissipated much of the anger within Prime Minister Lan.

【Lan Jinjing is now a calamity; anyone who associates with her will suffer misfortune.】

【The true little koi is Sister Lan; great fortune is still awaiting Prime Minister Lan.】

A while later, a servant reported back.

Lan Jinjing and Luoluo had been beaten and thrown out, and the notice was successfully posted at the gate of the residence.

The mother and daughter were then taken away by a group of beggars.

Their limbs had been broken.

As they were dragged away, their screams of pain were heart-wrenching.

The beggars stripped them of all their clothes and jewelry.

Then, for some reason, Luoluo’s face became covered in sores, filled with pus—it was rotting away.

But Luoluo had grown plump and smooth-skinned in the Lan residence, and even though her face was ruined, her body still felt soft and supple.

The beggars couldn’t resist and ended up assaulting Luoluo.

Her screams were truly pitiful.

Lan Jinjing’s fate was even worse.

Her title as the “little koi” was well known throughout the capital.

Even beggars had heard of her.

When they learned that she was Lan Jinjing, they all surrounded her.

Looking at her crippled body and her face, which was not yet ugly, they drooled.

Lan Jinjing backed away in terror. “What are you doing? Don’t touch me!”

In a tattered tent not far away, Luoluo’s ongoing screams of pain and trembling could be heard.

Lan Jinjing was terrified; she was too weak to save her mother even if she wanted to.

All she could do now was hope that these people wouldn’t touch her.

She didn’t want to end up like her mother.

If she lost her purity, how could she ever marry into a wealthy family?

Who would want someone who was no longer pure?

She still hoped to use her koi luck to rise again.

“I’m telling you, I’m the little koi of the capital! I have the luck of a koi fish! If you dare touch me, even the heavens won’t spare you!” Lan Jinjing was terrified.

“Little koi? Wow! Koi luck, huh? Good, very good.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t touch you. You’re much more valuable than your mother. We’ll take good care of you, like the treasure you are.”

Lan Jinjing began to relax.

Their words sounded kind, but why did she see greed in their eyes?

She couldn’t stop trembling, unsure if it was from the cold or fear.

Suddenly, a glint of cold light flashed into her eyes.

Lan Jinjing instinctively squinted, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw someone holding a gleaming dagger.

He was walking towards her.

It was an old beggar!

The same one who had just promised to protect her like a treasure.

“Everyone gets a share, no one fights! There’s enough for everyone.”

Lan Jinjing’s face turned pale with fear. “W-what are you going to do?”

“Cut off some of your flesh! You have the luck of a koi fish, so your flesh and bones must carry that luck too. Don’t worry, we won’t eat it. We’ll carry it with us as a talisman. With your flesh, maybe we won’t be beggars anymore. Gold and silver might just rain down from the sky. We’re going to get rich! We’re going to change our fate!”

“Ah—!!”

As the old beggar viciously stabbed the dagger into Lan Jinjing’s thigh, she let out a blood-curdling scream.

The old beggar gouged out a piece of her flesh.

Lan Jinjing fainted from the pain, then woke up again from the excruciating agony…

This cycle repeated until she finally died from the torment.

The old beggars divided her flesh and bones among themselves.

Each took a piece.

They carried it with them, intending to use it as a talisman and pray for blessings every day.

Meanwhile, at the Prince Han’s Residence.

Di Hongluan was leisurely sitting in the courtyard.

Suddenly, she noticed a plume of blood-red mist rising into the sky.

At ten years old, Di Hongluan’s eyes showed a maturity beyond her years. “Such strong resentment. Why does this aura feel so much like disaster?”

This reminded her of the true daughter of the Prime Minister’s household.

Lan Yixuan.

Years ago, when she had just transmigrated, she had a chance encounter with Lan Jinjing.

Back then, Lan Jinjing was only five years old.

Seeing that Lan Jinjing had saved her, and knowing that Lan Jinjing had a poor fate, Di Hongluan secretly altered her destiny, swapping her fortune with someone else’s.

She planned to use Lan Jinjing when she grew up.

The person she found with the fortune of a koi fish was Lan Yixuan.

The true daughter of the Prime Minister’s household.

But at the time, Lan Yixuan was just a country bumpkin.

Holding onto her principle of harming but not killing, she swapped their fortunes.

Now, is Lan Yixuan dead?

Di Hongluan sighed and shook her head. “What’s the point of having a good fate? A good fate needs a good benefactor to truly change one’s destiny. Lan Yixuan is just a minor, dispensable character in this story. Cannon fodder like her doesn’t live long. If she’s dead, then she’s dead. There’s no helping it. After all, I was born to be the protagonist of this book. The protagonist’s halo is overpowering; cannon fodder is destined to die!”

…

At the Prime Minister’s Residence.

“Woo woo woo, Seventh Prince, Tenth Princess, this old minister has suffered too much, it’s just too tragic, woo woo woo.”

After kicking them out, the old Prime Minister clung to Di Zian’s leg, sobbing and sniffing.

At this moment, Di Zian was at a loss: …

Someone please save him.

On the table, Ah Bao was sitting with her legs dangling, still munching on sunflower seeds.

Di Zian was puzzled. Ah Bao’s small pouch didn’t look big, so how could the seeds be endless?

Lan Moxiu sat on the ground.

Lan Yixuan stood nearby.

“Woo woo woo, my perfectly fine family is gone, all gone.” The old Prime Minister never expected such a drastic change to happen so quickly.

Everything was fine when he attended court in the morning, but by noon, it was all over.

Who could bear such a thing?

Especially at his age. If it weren’t for the strong mental resilience he built up over years of being an official, he might have passed out upon learning that the woman beside him was not only a fraud but also a murderer.

Ah Bao’s small voice, soft and sweet, pulled him back to reality, “It’s all gone.”

Her words, though tiny, were enough to bring the Prime Minister back to reality.

“Yes, it’s all gone. Indeed, it was all gone…” he murmured, realizing that everything had truly been lost fifteen years ago.

Back then, if he had seen the truth clearly…

His wife wouldn’t have died unjustly.

His daughter wouldn’t have been swapped.

His son wouldn’t have been paralyzed.

“Woo woo woo.”

“I’m not even as clear-headed as a child. I’m ashamed, so ashamed.”

These circumstances should have been dealt with fifteen years ago.

But he had delayed for fifteen years, allowing his enemies to enjoy fifteen years of good fortune. He was truly guilty!

Ah Bao stretched lazily, extending her little hand toward the Prime Minister, “Gold… mine.”

The Prime Minister understood.

This was the real reason Princess Ah Bao had come.

She hadn’t come to do charity for his family.

She was here to collect donations.

Yes!

Donations from the officials!

How could he have forgotten that?

“Donate, donate, donate.” The old Prime Minister waved his hand. If it weren’t for the Tenth Princess, he’d still be living in a fog. Not only would he donate, but even if the Tenth Princess emptied out the entire Prime Minister’s residence, he’d gladly hand it all over.

The old Prime Minister brought out all the wealth he had accumulated over the years as an official.

He also gathered the gold and silver jewelry from the rooms of Luoluo and Lan Jinjing.

Di Zian looked at the various sizes of gold and silver treasures in front of him, and at the small boxes of gold and silver ingots. He swallowed in shock, “Prime Minister Lan, is this…”

All for donation?

Isn’t this a bit too much?

He was even giving away his entire savings.

“Not enough?” Prime Minister Lan seemed to grasp something.