SFL Chapter 25

Living a long and fulfilling life has always been a beautiful wish, yet very few people truly achieve it.

Mu Yunfeng did not intervene to extend Su Qianluo’s lifespan. Instead, he allowed her life to naturally come to its end.

When the Emperor learned of this, he was heartbroken and couldn’t control his emotions. On the other hand, Mu Yunfeng and Su Qianluo displayed remarkable composure.

Aging had taken its toll on them. Silver threads adorned their heads, but they both wore serene expressions. Su Qianluo, in particular, was calm about the prospect of her life drawing to a close.

Throughout her life, she had been fortunate enough to lead a much happier life than many others. She felt content and grateful.

“Alright, go about your business. We don’t need you here,” Mu Yunfeng told the Emperor.

They chose not to reside in the imperial palace but instead stayed outside.

Shortly after their return, Su Qianluo found herself bedridden, unable to move. Likewise, the aging Mu Yunfeng remained by her side, just as he had when she was recuperating from childbirth years ago.

Seeing Mu Yunfeng like this, Su Qianluo was reminded of the time when she gave birth and how he had been there for her. Mu Yunfeng had been attentive to her feelings, despite not being very meticulous in his actions. He always considered her thoughts and discomfort.

Since then, Su Qianluo knew that even if this man ever changed his heart in the future, she would never hold any resentment toward him.

Little did she know that Mu Yunfeng would truly remain devoted to her all these years.

Sometimes, Su Qianluo pondered whether she had accumulated great virtue and blessings in a past life to meet someone like Mu Yunfeng in this life.

“Husband, you’re so wonderful. How nice it would be if I could meet you again in my next life,” Su Qianluo said with a smile while holding Mu Yunfeng’s hand.

People can be quite greedy, always desiring more even when they have already received a lot.

“Consider it a promise…,” Mu Yunfeng replied.

“A promise…,” with hopes of another life where they could reunite, Su Qianluo slowly closed her eyes.

Mu Yunfeng watched as she passed away, a bittersweet feeling in his heart. However, he didn’t grieve her departure as much as she did. Unlike her, who looked forward to the next life, he saw this phase as the culmination of a human soul’s existence. In his metaphorical perspective, a soul was like a fruit that was ripe and complete, ready to be harvested intact at the right time.

Mu Yunfeng laid down beside Su Qianluo, relaxing his mind. His breathing gradually became almost imperceptible.

An entity that the human eye couldn’t perceive rose from Mu Yunfeng’s body – it was his soul. Initially, his appearance was as aged as his physical body, but within a few breaths, Mu Yunfeng’s face regained its youthful appearance.

His aura at this moment exceeded even what he had as an emperor. Beside him lay the sleeping soul of Su Qianluo, whose physical body had reached the end of its life, yet her soul remained.

Mu Yunfeng extended his hand, and countless beams of meritorious golden light converged from all corners of the empire, ultimately falling into his hands.

“I will take her away,” Mu Yunfeng addressed the Tiandao¹TL: Tiandao in Chinese is 天道. Its pinyin is Tiāndào. It literally means Way of Heaven. It is a Chinese word used in many philosophical and religious contexts in China and the Sinosphere. of this world.

He then divided the golden meritorious light into two parts. One part ascended into the heavens and disappeared, while the other merged into Su Qianluo’s soul.

The meritorious light served as the toll for Tiandao and as a fee for relocating her soul, enabling Mu Yunfeng to take Su Qianluo’s soul away and end her cycle of reincarnation in this world.

When Mu Yunfeng arrived here, he held the title of a prince, as Tiandao perceived any tainted soul, whether beggar or noble, as having minimal value. To Tiandao, such souls were practically worthless.

Hence, when Mu Yunfeng arrived, he essentially offered no cost. As he departed this time, he provided more than Tiandao deserved. This world was still Su Qianluo’s maternal realm, and perhaps he might return to visit in the future.

As Mu Yunfeng left, Tiandao sent him off with auspicious clouds. Yet, the Emperor and his subjects wept bitterly, especially as both the former emperor and empress had passed away simultaneously. The Emperor, as their son, felt the deepest sorrow.

However, it seemed as though the Emperor heard a familiar sigh in his ear, while mourning his parents. This made him feel as if they were right beside him, although he couldn’t see them.

In a distant galaxy, Mu Yunfeng returned to himself as the system he had carried unbound from his body, dissolving into a stream of light.

Someone came running, asking Mu Yunfeng about his experience with the system. Despite the system not playing a significant role, its progress reports had been invaluable in guiding these middle-aged bachelors who had never been in relationships before.

After all, men who had never experienced love couldn’t readily grasp a woman’s true intentions. If the progress reports weren’t satisfactory, even with matured souls, Tiandao might not release the souls so easily.

The progress is complete, signifying that these souls are willing to leave with them, even Tiandao won’t be able to obstruct them.

“Results of the experience are quite good,” Mu Yunfeng casually remarked, eager to awaken Su Qianluo’s soul.

He wanted to introduce her to his world, specifically the place where he worked. This place wasn’t his hometown, but after countless years, it was nearly indistinguishable from home.

“In that case, after your wife wakes up, go to Yue Lao’s place to bind a red thread together.” Yue Lao‘s²TL: Yue Lao in Chinese is 月下老人. Its Pinyin is Yuè Xià Lǎorén. It literally means ‘old man under the moon’. Also means a god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology. red thread had an effect similar to marriage certificates and wedding vows in the mortal world.

Once bound by the red thread, Mu Yunfeng would officially become a married man.

With this in mind, Mu Yunfeng felt a warm feeling in his heart.

…

[ The Second Male Lead – Arranged Marriage Fiance]

A New Target Strategy Mission in Another World.

[Ding! Target Strategy: Gu Zhenzhen.

Current Favorability Rating of the target towards the host: 30%.]

[Please continue your efforts, Host.]

Inside the CEO’s office, Nan Jinchen turned a deaf ear to the voice echoing in his ear.

This was a contemporary romance novel, and his role was the male lead. The future direction of the plot went like this:

Before encountering the female lead, Nan Jinchen, the male lead, adhered to his family’s wishes and became engaged to the supporting character, Gu Zhenzhen, from an equally prestigious background.

However, shortly after the engagement, he fell for the female lead, who had just joined the company as an intern.

Faced with a fiance bound by political and economic interests and a woman who stirred his heart, Nan Jinchen, a domineering CEO, began to harbor dissatisfaction against the fiance who had taken his future wife’s place, which is the female lead.

Moreover, Gu Zhenzhen acted extremely domineering after the engagement, frequently coming to the company to assert her authority. This annoyed the usually proud Nan Jinchen, as he found her extravagant displays of affection to be repulsive, especially compared to the cute and charming female lead.

After yet another warning from his fiance, Gu Zhenzhen, who was becoming more and more domineering, Nan Jinchen, a CEO and a man of strong character, reached his limit. He decided to break off the engagement with the supporting character.

A marriage between two prominent families isn’t just about two individuals living together as a couple. Both the Gu and Nan families had a lot of interests intertwined. Once the engagement was canceled, the interests that were already connected had to be untangled.

However, Nan Jinchen, the domineering CEO, was not willing to give up the interests related to the Gu family. He didn’t directly break off the engagement with Gu Zhenzhen. Instead, he kept her at bay with words, allowing both families to deepen their entanglement of interests. When it became impossible to separate these interests, Gu Zhenzhen, the fiance, became useless to Nan Jinchen.

Unless the Gu family was willing to abandon their substantial interests, they could only give up their daughter, Gu Zhenzhen.

It was like forcing a person with both healthy hands to choose whether to keep the left or right one.

An arranged marriage, cruelly pushing the relatives into making such a decision.

In the end, the Gu family chose interests over Gu Zhenzhen and sent her abroad, allowing the male lead to regain his freedom successfully.

Regardless of whether the female lead was involved or not, in the eyes of outsiders, after being with the male lead, the female lead continued to carry the label of the “third party.”

The outsiders were full of gossip about this “climbing from a branch to become a phoenix” in the prestigious family’s marriage.

Inside the Nan family, Nan Jinchen’s mother never accepted the female lead. The female lead’s life after marriage can be imagined.

If the female lead was a materialistic woman, it would be easier since she could withstand the judgment of others and enjoy the luxury of the prestigious family. However, the female lead was not such a person. She married Nan Jinchen for love but faced obstacles after marriage, causing her to lose her youthful vigor.

Nan Jinchen, as the male lead, didn’t know how difficult the female lead’s life was after marriage. He just knew he had married the person he liked and felt delighted to have escaped from the arranged marriage his family set up, feeling quite self-satisfied.

Both women, whether the second female/supporting character or the female lead, this male lead failed to take on the responsibilities that he should have.

When the two families arranged the marriage, Nan’s parents didn’t force him to marry the Gu family. In fact, he thought the union was suitable initially and didn’t resist it.

It was only later, once he developed feelings for the female lead, that he realized the marriage wasn’t appropriate. He preferred to use manipulative tactics to force his fiance to back down rather than give up his feelings for the female lead in the name of a marriage contract. A classic case of “do not do unto others what you don’t want others do unto yourself.”

People entered into this alliance for mutual benefit and cooperation, not to become enemies. However, this male lead managed to turn an alliance into enmity.

Without his “protagonist’s halo,” he wouldn’t have survived more than a few chapters.

Even with the protagonist’s halo they couldn’t resist the reversal of fate.

Without anyone noticing, their domineering CEO had already undergone a soul exchange.

And once the new soul became Nan Jinchen, he immediately took charge of the company’s work, becoming even more responsible and diligent than the original host.

If the original host had put in three units of effort into his career, the current Nan Jinchen was now investing nine.

While Nan Jinchen was working diligently, his father and mother called him, asking him to come home in the next few days.

“Alright, I understand. I can make time the day after tomorrow in the evening,” Nan Jinchen replied after checking his current schedule.

In terms of the timeline, he was currently in the period just before his engagement to the second female lead, and the “30%” goodwill rating belonged to Gu Zhenzhen’s feelings toward the original host.

However, a 30% goodwill rating wasn’t particularly high. In general, people tend to have a goodwill rating between 10% and 20% when they first meet a stranger, provided there are no negative feelings involved.

Both the Nan family and the Gu family were prestigious, and they had plenty of interactions. It would be strange if Gu Zhenzhen had no impression of Nan Jinchen at all.

In comparison, the original host didn’t have strong feelings for the second female lead, but he was skilled in managing relationships. Otherwise, the supporting character wouldn’t have been so deceived by him.

• 1
  TL: Tiandao in Chinese is 天道. Its pinyin is Tiāndào. It literally means Way of Heaven. It is a Chinese word used in many philosophical and religious contexts in China and the Sinosphere.
• 2
  TL: Yue Lao in Chinese is 月下老人. Its Pinyin is Yuè Xià Lǎorén. It literally means ‘old man under the moon’. Also means a god of marriage and love in Chinese mythology.