Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 1

“Dear host, the system is loading a punishment task. Please wait.”

At noon, Lu Tang was taking a nap when a cold voice suddenly sounded in her ear, startling her awake.

Ten years ago, Lu Tang had transmigrated into the body of a pampered young master of the wealthy Lu family in Qingshui County. She had been disguising herself as a man since then and was now fourteen years old.

She had been bound to a system at the time of her transmigration. However, this system had remained dormant for the past ten years.

Now, the sudden voice startled her. She waited for a while, but no further instructions came. “Did you crash, or did you go back to sleep?”

“If you didn’t use your brain for ten years, would you react quickly?”

Lu Tang: ?

Did the system just insult her?

Fully awake now, Lu Tang kicked off the thin blanket covering her and sat up. Just as she was about to retort, the system spoke again.

“Please complete the punishment task: Tell Lu Deren ‘I am your dad.'”

Upon hearing this, Lu Tang almost fell off the bed!

“I have to tell Lu Deren that I’m his dad? Do you know that Lu Deren is my dad?”

“Why do you think it’s called a punishment task? Time is limited, hurry up!”

Lu Tang: …

She had to stand before her father and say, “I am your dad”? Wasn’t that asking for death? I’m not going!

Before Lu Tang could finish her sentence, a sharp pain hit her abdomen, making her curl up on the bed in agony.

In a matter of seconds, she broke out in a cold sweat from the pain.

“Complete the punishment task immediately, or the pain will double and last until a stick of incense burns out.”

The pain was already unbearable for Lu Tang. Although she had never given birth, she was convinced this pain was worse than childbirth.

And it would double…

“I’ll go!”

Gritting her teeth, Lu Tang surrendered to the pain.

“The system has no bad intentions~ You should have agreed earlier!”

Lu Tang: …

Rolling her eyes, she got out of bed and dressed. Halfway through, she suddenly realized something was wrong. “Why is this a punishment task? What did I do to deserve punishment?”

“Today marks your tenth anniversary of transmigration. In these ten years, you haven’t become a champion even once! And I am a champion system! This is a punishment for your lack of achievements over the past ten years.

From today, I will provide you with champion tasks from time to time. If you succeed, you will be rewarded. If you fail, you will be punished.”

Lu Tang twitched her mouth, “No one told me I needed to be a champion back then!”

“Is that my fault? Who would have thought you were so useless!”

Lu Tang: …

Fully dressed, Lu Tang stepped out into the blazing midday sun, feeling like a martyr heading to her execution as she marched toward the main house.

Upon reaching the courtyard gate, a maid informed her that the master was in the study.

Clenching her fists, Lu Tang turned and headed for the study, looking like Donald Duck ready for a fight.

At noon, a few servants were dozing off against the courtyard walls.

To do something so reckless, Lu Tang naturally tiptoed around the courtyard, avoiding any living creatures, and approached the back of the study. She planned to jump up and shout through the back window before running away.

“If Shuqing’s dowry can be increased by half, I can secure you a court position with this recruitment.”

Lu Tang froze. The voice sounded like Gu Yunhe.

The Gu family was a renowned scholarly family in Qingshui County. Their ancestors had produced several officials, and although Gu Yunhe himself hadn’t achieved much, his son Gu Changming had just become a Xiucai (a scholar).

Lu Tang’s sister, Lu Shuqing, was engaged to Gu Changming.

Tomorrow was their wedding day.

Clenching her fists, Lu Tang pressed her ear to the back wall, her heart pounding.

“Why do we need to add more?” This time, the voice was her father, Lu Deren.

“Changming only has eyes for Yue’er. Whatever you add will eventually be Yue’er’s. Why are you hesitating?

I’m just taking a few things to pave the way for you, not to cheat you. Once you get your official position, you can make up for it!”

Gu Yunhe’s voice sounded somewhat displeased.

Lu Deren laughed apologetically, “That’s not what I meant. I mean that tomorrow is the wedding day, and the dowry list is already prepared. If we suddenly add more, I’m afraid Madam Qiao will…”

Gu Yunhe interrupted Lu Deren with a sneer, “Are you afraid Madam Qiao will mind? Shuqing is her daughter. She’ll only think you’re doting on her if you add more to the dowry!”

Lu Deren hesitated momentarily, then reluctantly said, “I’ll do my best.”

Lu Tang stood there, frozen. What was going on? Her father was asking Gu Yunhe to help him get a position through bribery.

Why hadn’t he ever mentioned this to her? Or had he, and she didn’t know?

And who was Yue’er? Gu Yunhe said Gu Changming only had eyes for Yue’er, and that her sister’s dowry would end up with Yue’er!

Feeling confused and her heart racing, Lu Tang leaned against the wall, her mind filled with the conversation she had just overheard.

She felt like she had just heard something monumental!

After a while, Gu Yunhe said his goodbyes and left.

“Go complete the task now!”

The system’s urging voice suddenly sounded, and Lu Tang rolled her eyes and mentally retorted, “This is not the time for that! My sister’s marriage might have issues, and you still want me to complete a task?”

“That’s up to you, but I’m not the one in pain!”

Lu Tang: …

She wanted to hit someone!

Frustrated, she ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at it in anxiety.

At this point, she definitely couldn’t jump up from behind the wall. Her father would suspect she had overheard something.

But if she walked around to the front now, she might still alert her father.

“You have a quarter of an hour left.”

Lu Tang gritted her teeth and swung her fist at the air: Damn it!

Fortunately, Lu Deren didn’t stay in the study for long. Not long after Gu Yunhe left, he also came out of the study.

Estimating that Lu Deren had walked far enough away, Lu Tang took a deep breath and casually walked away from the back wall, pretending to be aimlessly wandering.

“You have half a quarter of an hour left.”

Leaving the study, Lu Tang headed straight for the main house.

Punishment or not, she didn’t care anymore!

She had to tell her mother about this immediately. What if there was a problem?

Her father was still an outsider in the family!

Tomorrow was the wedding day, and the main courtyard was filled with all kinds of items, all in festive red.

The maids and old women were busy, and when they saw her, they all greeted her.

Lu Tang ignored them all and ran into the house with a stern face.

Madam Qiao was sitting on the bed, smiling as she looked at the red dowry list. When she saw him come in, her smile grew even brighter, but she deliberately put on a stern face and scolded, “You’re just in time. Tomorrow, when your sister gets married, you have to carry her to the sedan chair. No fooling around tonight, go to bed early!”

Lu Tang was known as a troublemaker, always causing trouble and never doing anything serious.

Lu Deren sat steadily opposite Madam Qiao. When he saw Lu Tang sweating profusely, he frowned, sighed helplessly, and said kindly, “Why are you running in this hot weather?”

Lu Tang had so much to say, but all of it got stuck in her throat in an instant.

“Time is almost up.”