[COMPLETE] Transmigrated Author: The Quiet Plum

Chapter 74: Spring Fortune Court

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That day, Li Yun was tired of having his sister living in his study. So he kicked her to her designated courtyard.

The whole northern part of the estate belonged to her. Their Father made sure of this even before.

South was where the administrative department of Huang clan stood. All the buildings there were for official use both for the territory and the clan.

Inner East was where the main family was. The Duke and Duchess. Further East barricaded by high walls and behind small hills was where the barracks was.

There was a bitter smile on Qiaoli's face as she was walking along the garden path leading to her wing. Her father's bias was obvious. The east have always represented the heir. But giving all of north to her was incredulous. She wondered what the reaction of the elders was when they first learned this.

Chun Xingyun Court. 

>春 - chūn - spring (time); 幸運 - xìng yùn - fortune/luck<

It was obvious this place was never discarded.

Flowers were in full bloom and the ground was swept. The cobblestones were clean and there was no stray animal in sight. As the path winded down, she was greeted by the man-made pond.

The view was enough to elicit a small gasp from the stoic Qiaoli. Precisely because the architectural design of the place seemed modern with a touch of antiquity.

Three courtyards encircled a huge pool bordered by marble. A pavilion also made of marble dyed red stood proud in the center of the waters.

At that moment, she was inside the open pavilion. The muslin curtains were swaying with the unknown rhythm of the breeze. Servants who would accidentally look in the Marquise's direction would sigh in wonder.

The silhouette of the lady sitting idle and every so often biting into pastries.

It would make a lovely portrait.

But the lady herself wasn't enjoying this one bit. She was looking at the sky in blame. The council meeting would be in a week's time but that wasn't the only problem.

Qiaoli made sure she was fully prepared for it.

But she realized she went from one trouble to the next. She kicked a small pillow off her platform and sighed.

With furrowed brows, the lady tried consolidating all the things she learned this past month.

Yes, a month had passed since the moment she left Great Han. And she had been learning things about her new home ever since.

The number one most obvious thing was cultivation. Official court censud showed one in ten citizens of Huo Ai are cultivators. The approximate population of the empire was 109 million. And the lands were divided into five major territories.

North Qin, South Huang, East Dong Fang, West Bai, and the Imperial City in the middle.

Each territory was ruled by a ducal title of a founding clan. Well, except the North. Since the Qin clan vanished, a Marquis had the highest standing there.

It was also the smallest territory since it was bordered by the lawless forest leading to Wu Yun Peak which was the goddess' abode. The holy mountains.

The founding fathers were blessed by the Goddess with cultivation techniques, passed down to the present day. The golden age of cultivation was when She still walked among men.

It continued until only her Herald remained. But the Herald also went into seclusion some time after. The people kept using the techniques but the number of those with an affinity for cultivation slowly decreased over the millennia.

This also affected the aptitude of the ones who could cultivate.

At the present time, there were only three stages common to men. Beginner, intermediate and advanced. Not many complexities were placed for cultivation was a matter of nature. One must understand the subtleties with their heart.

However, only a select few could be said to attain perfection in the past few centuries since the Herald disappeared. This is the stage beyond advanced and before attempting ascension.

In truth, it was the bottleneck the Duke was facing right now. But others including Qiaoli only knew he was in the advanced stage. 

Huang Qiaoli thought that in a world filled with people blessed by these talents, not having them was a big disadvantage.

She squinted as a ray of sun managed to pass the curtain and shine on her face. The AI planted in her soul automatically attempted to shield her eyes with a shaded hologram.

But it failed and a message was prompted in front of the lady. Something only she can see.

[System Error: Limited access. World Connection progress - 0.12%]

The Marquis sighed once again. Ever since she discovered that Nuan Lin Che, that prince could display power without the help of cultivation, she had been trying to find ways for her system to work freely in this world.

Back in Earth, her system could project images and 3d models. And she could choose to make it visible or not. But this was largely dependent on the connections to Papa's satellites.

In this world, there were no man-made satellites but Qiaoli figured if she could use this spiritual energy in the air, then it would have the same effect as when she had her AI back on Earth.

It could be her weapon and shield but her brother called this a preposterous idea.

Because normally, people would absorb this energy and refine it inside their bodies to make it their own.

Qiaoli's body was incapable of doing this but she wanted to use her system to manipulate the energy surrounding her in real-time and use it as her own. She found this hypothesis even more possible when the system formed a connection and had a loading screen. The only downside was the slow loading time.

Li Yun seemed to have found another reason to nag at her as he kept saying how dangerous it was to manipulate raw spiritual energy. Many had done so in the past only to get themselves crippled for a lifetime.

Every time she remembered how her brother nagged at her, she could only roll her eyes. Her system would be the first to notice any danger to her well-being.

The Duke's attempts to stop her all failed.

"How is the place?" Qiaoli was brought to the present by a gentle voice.

She smiled. "Da jie is free?"

The Duchess nodded, sat on the empty seat in front of her sister-in-law and looked around.

"Did you know the consorts all wanted Chun Xingyun courtyard for themselves?" Ruoli tucked some stray hair to the back of her ear as she recalled the Duke's women.

"This courtyard was too beautiful and it seemed reserved for someone else that they took it as a sign of taking the Duke's heart if they took this courtyard." She chuckled.

"They are not consorts," Qiaoli said with her lips in a straight line. "Our family rules stated no concubines shall be accepted or acknowledged in the direct line. The elders accepted all those women in hopes to oust my brother one day for disobeying the rules."

A calculating look passed her eyes. Something that her sister-in-law couldn't miss.

"Da ge is stupid too for not visiting the house rules even once. Only thinking about hacking people to death."

Seeing her cold anger, the Duchess burst into giggles.

"Qiaoqiao is really interesting. Thank you. You have no idea how your existence pulled this house from the abyss."

Qiaoli felt a pair of rough calloused hands pulling hers. A steadfast gaze locked into her eyes. "You are your brother's precious treasure. I've never seen him so alive during all those years you were missing. Therefore, I will also do my best to protect you and be a Duchess worthy of the Huang name."

The older lady's eyes shone with love for Qiaoli's brother, resilience, and strength. It was blinding for the girl who was once a cyborg but she faced it with courage. 

This is her home.