Revelations

Over the next few days Meng Mei settled into her new life. She got up every morning to eat breakfast with Madam Meirong and either one or both of the Meng brothers. She went to her classes and completed coursework in a timely manner.

Mostly though, she watched the timer tick down on the Tutorial Quest. She'd gone from having seven days to just having two, and she had no idea how well she was doing.

Nobody had given her any weird looks so she was just assuming that her acting was at least passable. She definitely knows that Meng Weiyuan believes it. All Meng Mei has to do when it comes to him is act like he doesn't exist.

Which has not helped her figure out what in the world he chose over being the sect heir.

[Careful A-Mei! The brush you are holding is priceless! (✽ ﾟдﾟ ✽) ]

Meng Mei jerked back to the present.

Today was a rare rest day, or as much of a rest day as she was allowed to have. She had the morning off and only had dance and etiquette lessons this afternoon.

So, she'd decided that now was as good a time as any to test Meng Xiāng's painting skills.

One of the most notable things about Meng Xiāng in Seasons of Sorrow was her ability to paint. When she was momentarily destitute after Zhong Changming broke off their engagement and all of her misdeeds were revealed, she sold artwork to keep herself afloat.

But even before that, every fan she carried was hand painted and designed by her.

At Meng Xiāng's current age though, she neither had painting experience or any fans. So Meng Mei decided it was high time that Meng Xiāng created her first fan.

“I didn't hurt it.” Meng Mei mumbled in response to the system. She'd only slightly pressed the brush too harshly against the bottom of the water cup.

[And thank goodness for that (=o=;)]

She rolled her eyes at the system’s dramatics. It certainly hasn't changed in the last few days.

“Whatever.”

Brushing the system aside, she admired her work. Pink blossoms decorated the area around a crudely drawn tiger. Its paws were a little too small and its eyes weren't exactly symmetrical.

Nothing on the fan was perfect by any means, in fact it was all quite rough around the edges. But the forms were still distinct enough and Meng Mei was quite proud of how it turned out.

"Amah!" she called out happily, beckoning the woman over from where she had been seated reading her book. "Come look, come look!"

Amah huffed good-naturedly and got up, she was by Meng Mei's side rather quickly.

"Oh my!" she gasped, "our little miss is quite talented!"

"You really think so?" Meng Mei was ecstatic to hear Amah's approval. She knew that Meng Xiāng was heavily interested in the arts but as far as she knew, it only really picked up once she was at YuHu and had nothing else to do. It was rather nice to be recognized for something that wasn't entirely Meng Xiāng's yet.

"How long do you think it will take to dry?" Meng Mei asked, laying her face down on the table next to her creation.

"It should take an incense time at most. By the time you're done with your dancing classes it should be good to go."

“So long?” She complained. She was ready to start dramatically waving her fan around like a proper minor villainess. Maybe she'd even get to smack someone on the head with it!

“Oh come now, you enjoy Guang-laoshi’s class! Before you know it you'll be done and your fan will be ready!” Amah assured her.

Meng Mei was forced to admit she was right. She'd had a few dancing lessons already and Guang-laoshi was quickly becoming her favorite teacher. Not only was she stunning, she was also incredibly interesting.

She wears golden jewelry that jangles with every step she takes. She pins real flowers in her hair. And she hides her face with a veil.

Meng Mei didn't need to see her face to know how beautiful she was. It was described in detail in Seasons of Sorrow when she dramatically revealed her face and the jagged scar that cut from her cheekbone to her neck.

Suffice to say, Guang-laoshi hadn't always been a dance instructor.

“Will you watch over it for me?” Meng Mei asked as she batted her eyelashes at Amah.

“Of course. I'll make sure nothing happens to it.” She agreed easily. Meng Mei beamed up at her in appreciation. She was immediately distracted by a message from the system suddenly popping up in front of her.

[A-Mei! A-Mei!!! A-Mei!!!!!!!!! (；´Д｀)/]

Meng Mei fought down her scowl as she gave her attention to the system.

‘What?’ she demanded with her eyes. The floating screen seemed to hesitate for a moment before popping up with a message.

[Unexpected events have occurred]

[This system has to modify the Tutorial Quest]

[Time Remaining: 2 day(s) 5 hour(s) has been changed]

[Time Remaining: 23 hour(s) 45 minute(s)]

Meng Mei stared uncomprehendingly at the rapid fire system messages. All of the sudden she'd gone from having a secure two days to having less than one.

What in the world was happening?

Meng Mei was only vaguely aware as she hurriedly excused herself from the room. She couldn't ask the system questions right in front of Amah. She'd sound insane.

[Reward Updated]

[‘Upon completion Meng Mei will be able to find out the whereabouts of Lai Huang’ has been changed]

[Upon completion of the quest Meng Mei will receive a special quest in relation to Lai Huang]

Meng Mei picked up her pace as she raced down the hallway. She needed to find a secluded space. She needed to know what in the world was going on.

[Quest successfully updated]

[Tutorial Quest: Take Over The Role

Description: Meng Mei must successfully convince Meng Xiāng's family that nothing has changed.

• Time Remaining: 23 hour(s) 45 minute(s)

• Upon completion of the quest Meng Mei will receive a special quest in relation to Lai Huang

• Failure to convince Meng Xiāng's family will result in Meng Mei's death and the passing on of her role.]

Finally Meng Mei rounded a corner and found an empty room. She skidded to a stop and slammed the door closed behind her. She barely had time to check and make sure she was alone before she started interrogating the system.

“System! What the hell was all of that!” She hissed as she frantically read through the influx of messages. It was the first time the system had done something like this. She read the messages another two or three times to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.

[Unexpected events have occurred. Meng Mei must finish the Tutorial Quest sooner.]

“What does that mean!?” She growled, reaching forward like she could shake the answers out of the system.

[This information is locked by another quest. A-Mei must finish the Tutorial Quest first.]

A frustrated shout escaped Meng Mei as she swiped her arm through the message.

“That’s impossible! Han Xiaolian’s story hasn’t even begun yet. How could anything have changed?” She begun pacing back and forth. For all intents and purposes, this world revolves around Han Xiaolian. It should not exist or change without her. And even if Meng Mei was failing the tutorial quest and acting out of character, nothing that’s happened in Libaogong should affect the overall events.

“Aren’t you supposed to be omniscient? How could something unexpected happen?” Meng Mei snapped. Nothing about this should be possible.

[A-Mei is wrong. This system is not omniscient.]

Meng Mei froze.

“What?”

[This system can only make predictions and plans based on Seasons of Sorrow. Now that A-Mei and another exist in this world things are subject to change.]

“But I haven’t even done anything—” Meng Mei paused. Slowly she turned completely towards the system. She read the message again. And again. And again. Her eyes kept catching on one specific part.

‘—A-Mei and another—'

“There’s another transmigrator?” She asked so very slowly.

[Yes! As of six system hours ago A-Mei was joined by User2]