The Palace Library

Meng Xiāng's mother is an intimidating woman. She has to be, since she is the Libaogong palace mistress. She and her husband are in charge of practically everything going on within a hundred miles radius.

People don't even refer to her as the palace mistress or as Meng Guoyao’s wife. She is Madam Meirong, queen of the red palace.

And what a place to be the queen of.

Libaogong was bigger than even a superfan like Meng Mei could've imagined. The red walls were finely manicured, there was no sign of weathering anywhere. Meng Mei could see hundreds of people hurrying back and forth on walkways that were five stories above her. But the most impressive feature was the circular building in the middle of the palace. Even on a sunny day the top spire was not visible due to how high it reached.

Meng Mei was in awe. This was to be her new home.

"Xiāngxiāng!" Madam Meirong snapped. "Quicken your pace before the servants trample you."

Meng Mei obediently sped up. There was no reason to continue to anger Madam Meirong. Especially since she was already in so much trouble for Meng Xiāng's stunt earlier.

‘That brat. I can't even begin a peaceful transmigration because of her.’ Meng Mei scowled to herself. There were endless reasons why Meng Mei hated Meng Xiāng. This one was just something else to add to the list.

[A-Mei! Remember the tutorial quest! Do not anger her unnecessarily! ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡]

Meng Mei huffed at the system’s reminder. Madam Meirong was the one person that she was absolutely certain that she could fool. The madam had appeared in Seasons of Sorrow as Zhong Changming's unreasonable mother-in-law many times. Her relationship with her daughter was displayed often as Meng Xiāng went out of her way to impress her mother at every possible convenience.

There was one thing that Meng Mei could respect Meng Xiāng for, and that was her admiration of her mother. Madam Meirong was one of the most powerful cultivators of her generation and her daughter dreamed of following in her footsteps.

"Silly girl. When will you learn to listen to your mother? You are the future of a combined Libaogong and YuHu sect. Soon, you will be leaving here to start your cultivation journey at YuHu. So you must break this habit of running off to play in the dirt. You cannot behave like you are some slave girl." Madam Meirong admonished Meng Mei as they climbed up a set of stairs.

Her face was pinched in a displeased frown and she was smacking her silk fan against her hand rhythmically. This was clearly a topic she had gone over many times with Meng Xiāng.

Even though her face was twisted in annoyance, Meng Mei couldn’t help but notice that Madam Meirong was a peerless beauty. Her cheekbones were high, her face narrow, and her eyes a glittering brown. Her hair was pulled into an elaborate bun that sat at the top of her head. She really almost looked like a fox spirit.

"The last time you ran off like this I told you that I would make you copy down our Libaogong's rules by hand, did I not?" Madam Meirong continued.

Meng Mei bowed her head in a show of shame and acceptance.

"Yes A-niang, you did." She confirmed in a steady voice even though she actually had no idea. Of course if she was going to complete the Tutorial Quest she would have to get used to lying.

It was helpful that the most notable thing about Meng Xiāng was that she would always look suitably cowed by her mother but she never sounded like it. It was one of the many reasons Han Xiaolian felt that she could never trust her. If your voice didn't match your face then there was no way to tell what you were really thinking.

"Since you have defied my orders once again it seems I must make good on that promise. You will be staying in the library until you finish copying the entire rulebook. Your Amah will bring you food and such. I hope you use this time to reflect on how your actions do not match the ones of a proper sect heir."

They had finally reached the top of the stairs. Meng Mei had to resist stealing glances at the interior of Libaogong. She had to pretend it was just a normal day. She straightened as Madam Meirong turned to face her fully. The Madam’s eyes creased in tired disappointment.

"For once, behave Xiāngxiāng."

And just like that, Madam Meirong turned on her heels and marched away with her servants. Which left Meng Mei at the top of the stairs without even a single attendant.

Sighing, she stepped towards the massive double doors and pushed them open to reveal the library. The sight of so many scrolls and books stole Meng Mei's breath away immediately. The shelves themselves were so tall that it looked like they were all desperately trying to touch the ceiling.

Slowly, she took a step into the library, almost reverent in her movements. This place is sacred. Meng Mei didn't want to disturb the peace. However, she desperately wanted a closer look.

After a while of careful exploring Meng Mei found herself stuck at a dead end.

"Hey system, point me in the right direction?" She asked. She had failed to find where she was supposed to do her transcriptions during her exploration.

[Of course A-Mei!! There is a desk by the easternmost window with the supplies ready for you. Meng Xiāng prepared the materials beforehand in case she got caught]

‘Cheeky brat’ She mentally cursed Meng Xiāng once more. This troublesome girl was supposed to be a spoiled rich girl, why did she insist on making life difficult?

‘Even if you didn't take advantage of your golden spoon Meng Xiāng, I certainly will.’

Meng Mei nodded and quickly followed the system's directions. She didn't know how long the Libaogong rulebook was and she was not excited to find out. If it contained over two hundred rules Meng Mei vowed she would spend the rest of her days cursing Meng Xiāng.

She was slightly surprised to find that there actually was an old wooden desk set up in front of the easternmost window. The fading sunlight hit the desk perfectly to illuminate the parchment and rulebook.

With a very drawn out sigh she sat down and started prepping her materials.

The rulebook wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was really just about a hundred and fifty pages long, usually for stories like Seasons of Sorrow the rules of a sect bordered on the thousands.

YuHu for example boasted about their meticulously crafted five hundred rules. Even the most prominent secondary sect, Jinhaipai, reached for the stars with their eight hundred recorded rules.

So in comparison this really wasn't that bad.

She had to do some practice strokes with the brush to get the hang of writing her characters with it. Once she felt comfortable she cracked open the booklet and held down her scroll with little jade carvings at each corner. There was a dragon, bird, tiger, and tortoise. She did her best to put them in their corresponding directions but there was only so much she could do.

"System. Would it be possible for you to play some background music?" She whispered offhandedly as she started copying down the first rule. She'd been addicted to listening to music whenever she did something in the modern world.

[If it would help A-Mei accomplish her goal then this system can do almost anything (⁠ ⁠´⁠◡⁠‿⁠ゝ⁠◡⁠`⁠)]

After that little gloat soft flute music rang through Meng Mei's head. Just enough of a background noise to get her settled down and ready to work. She did briefly pause though.

In every transmigration story she had ever read the system had never been such a lively thing. Meng Mei hadn't seen that many emoticons since she was in middle school. System's also weren't usually this helpful. Usually they were just avenues for information and receiving quests.

"Thank you system." She murmured after she recovered from her musings. She wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth after all. If the system wanted to give her music then she was going to let it give her music.

[Of course A-Mei!! (๑>؂•̀๑)]

With a satisfied little smile Meng Mei started copying down the rules in earnest. She expectedly learned a lot about Libaogong as she read. They weren't a really strict sect but they did have a lot of cited reasons for their rules.

Like rule twenty seven for example.

'No spirit dogs allowed inside of the main building of Libaogong (a repeat of the destruction of the murals would be less than ideal. See scroll 34B19 for more details)'

The numbers after the scroll referred to the shelf, row, and number on the scroll. There were a few times that Meng Mei did get up to go check the sources because the rules could get so random.

When she was about halfway through the book an attendant knocked loudly against the library doors. She shouted that it was okay to enter and the doors creaked open a moment later.

"Little Miss! I've brought you dinner!" A kind voice rang out as the attendant came inside.

"I'm over here! By the window!"

She heard some shuffling about until a woman finally appeared in front of her. The woman couldn't have been over thirty five but she had the air of someone much older. Maybe she was a cultivator? Meng Mei felt her body relax at the sight of the woman despite not recognizing her.

[A-Mei!! A-Mei!! That's Meng Xiāng's Amah. The original owner of the body adored her and only spoke to her kindly, she is the one you have to try the hardest to convince!! I believe in you!! ᕙ⁠(⁠⇀⁠‸⁠↼⁠‶⁠)]

"Amah," Meng Mei finally greeted the woman warmly. "Thank you for making your way up here."

'Amah' gave her a strange look and Meng Mei started sweating internally. Oh no, had she already messed up?

"Bah! What are you saying, child. Of course I would come up here for you." 'Amah' poked her in the forehead. "Now put those books away and eat! I will not let you starve!"

Meng Mei relaxed again and a smile overtook her face. 'Amah' spoke so much like her grandmother in the modern world.

"Thank you Amah."

'Amah' waved her off and set the food tray down in front of her.

"Eat. I will keep you company." She decided, plopping down across the desk. "Tell me, did you see any interesting clouds today?"

And so Meng Mei started lying through her teeth.