Ding Yun, having returned, first submitted the tasks for Zhu Lingyun and Zhu Xin in order. Both individuals were satisfied and left positive reviews. The rewards were promptly credited to Ding Yun's account within the next second.
Following this, she began to focus on writing her trial report.
She started by detailing her experience using the item, then discussed potential hidden dangers, and finally proposed improvements and suggestions.
Some of these insights were her own.
Others were borrowed from netizens.
Even with thorough preparation, Ding Yun spent three to four days writing the trial report and reviewed it two to three times herself before finally submitting it with absolute certainty.
Afterward, she checked the settlement status of her previous task.
This was the task related to the "Super Fast Growth Farm."
"Why hasn't it passed review yet? This work efficiency is too slow. No wonder the salary for being a golden finger trial member is so high, and the settlement speed is so slow. What's the difference between this and wage withholding? Oh well, no rush anyway."
Seeing that her second task was completed but the first one hadn't been settled yet, Ding Yun let out a helpless sigh, accepted the situation, and comforted herself.
She then accepted a new golden finger.
"Eternal Emperor System?
Why was this assigned to me? I don't know if it's about nurturing an emperor, focusing on infrastructure and conquest, developing through farming, or overwhelming with troops. Also, women in feudal societies where emperors reign find it difficult to become emperors, right? It's hard just to start. I can't possibly switch to a male body...
Ah well, I'll take it one step at a time.
No point making plans.
Even if I plan now, I'll have to change it later."
Ding Yun was quite insightful. Plans in mission worlds were always subject to rapid change. Instead of creating plans and preparing extensively only for them to be unusable and requiring last-minute, troublesome modifications, it was better to just charge forward blindly and deal with problems as they arose.
Therefore, Ding Yun abandoned any preliminary preparations and planning. She raised her hand and sent the brief information about the Eternal Emperor System to Jin Xinxin, then left the task arrangement to him.
Fifteen minutes later, the new task arrived.
Ding Yun clicked confirm directly and entered the mission world within the client's body, clearly seeing the mission for this plane.
[Client: Du Gu Luan
Commissioned Task: I don't want to get married again, nor do I want to be unable to decide my own fate. I couldn't decide before marriage, and I can't decide after marriage. Even after my husband died, I still can't decide my own fate.
I want to resist. I want to decide my own fate.
I want no one to bully me anymore.
Commission Reward: 100,000 Dynastic Fortune.]
"The reward is Dynastic Fortune? It seems the original host of this task is of royal descent. But if she's from royalty, why did she have to endure such hardship and couldn't decide her fate?"
Ding Yun mused internally for a moment.
Then, she calmly began to merge with the original host and simultaneously combed through the original host's memories via her consciousness chip.
Before long, she saw the original host's life story.
The original host was born into the Du Gu family, one of the six great aristocratic clans in the world. Her grandfather, Du Gu Tianqiong, was known as one of the four pillars of the court, wielding immense power.
Born into such a family, the original host naturally lived a life of luxury. However, this also meant that her marriage was not up to her, or even her mother, to decide. It depended on the needs of her father or grandfather.
Of course, that's what was said.
In reality, only the other five great aristocratic clans or the imperial family could form a marital alliance with the Du Gu family.
So, no matter who made the decision,
The potential partners were ultimately limited to a few individuals.
When the original host was fifteen years old, the Empress, the legitimate wife of Emperor Ling, passed away. As the eldest legitimate daughter of the Du Gu clan, the original host became one of the few prominent candidates for Emperor Ling to choose a new Empress from. Coupled with her exquisite beauty, she was ultimately selected as the new Empress.
Unfortunately, after three years of marriage, the original host only conceived and gave birth to a daughter. Although she was overjoyed by Emperor Ling, who immediately bestowed upon her the title of Princess Chang Le at birth, granting her the treatment of a Prince, a princess ultimately had no right of succession. Originally, after giving birth to her daughter, the original host intended to have a son,
And then, with her son on the throne, she would become the Empress Dowager.
Only then would her status be truly stable.
Sadly, Emperor Ling gave her no such opportunity. Less than three months after her daughter's first birthday, Emperor Ling passed away after taking too many elixirs, coughing up blood for three days.
The original host, as Empress, had no son. Therefore, the new Emperor had to be chosen from among the other princes. Following the principle of establishing the legitimate heir when there was one, and the eldest when there wasn't, the successor was Emperor Ling's eldest son, who was five years older than the original host.
Despite his unwillingness, the new Emperor had no choice but to accept the rule and enfe r the original Empress as Empress Dowager. Furthermore, as his birth mother had already passed away, she could only be posthumously honored as Empress Dowager Sheng Mu. Thus, the original host was the only Empress Dowager in the harem.
The original host's status remained honored.
However, the new Emperor disliked the original host. His decision to make her Empress Dowager was merely out of adherence to protocol. The people in the palace were also known for their opportunism. Moreover, in an attempt to curry favor with the new Emperor, when he first ascended the throne,
She handed over the Imperial Seal to the new Empress.
Consequently, the lives of the original host and her daughter soon began to deteriorate. While they weren't subjected to abuse, their previously luxurious lifestyle suddenly became precarious.
This undoubtedly caused great dissatisfaction for the original host.
To address this, the original host specifically sent someone to contact her father, asking him to help her, and if necessary, to subtly pressure the new Emperor in court to not overstep his bounds.
Then, not long after.
The original host's father, Du Gu Xiao, launched a rebellion.
This was certainly not done to champion the original host's cause. It was likely that their family had harbored rebellious intentions for a long time, or perhaps the young Emperor had taken actions against the six great aristocratic clans, prompting the Du Gu family to revolt.
Most crucially, the Du Gu family caused minimal destruction before successfully breaching the imperial city and capturing all members of the Zhou imperial family. Simultaneously, the bewildered original host was ushered out of the harem and soon transformed from Empress Dowager to Grand Princess. Her daughter, who was originally a princess, was even demoted to a County Princess.
The situation was clear: her father had successfully rebelled and became Emperor, and she, as the eldest legitimate daughter, naturally became the Grand Princess.
As for her daughter, she carried the Zhou family's bloodline.
Had it not been for the original host's sake, and the fact that she was female, she might have been imprisoned with the Zhou imperial family instead of being demoted to County Princess.
During that period, the original host was in a state of great confusion.
She wanted to question her father but could not see him.
Three months later, after the entire realm had been pacified and the direct line of the Zou family was executed, with collateral branches demoted to commoners.
Du Gu Xiao finally agreed to see his daughter.
He then asked his daughter if there was anyone she fancied, as he could arrange a marriage for her. If not, he could choose someone for her.
He even mentioned that one of his generals had made significant contributions this time, and his wife had recently passed away, making him a suitable match.
Naturally, the original host was unwilling.
She even used the principle of "a woman follows her father in her first marriage and her husband in her second" as a basis, having a loud argument with her father. Consequently, she was placed under house arrest. The original host, unwilling to back down, went on a hunger strike, vowing to resist her father to the end.
And then, the original host starved to death.
Ding Yun accepted the commission and arrived.
Of course, in Ding Yun's view, the original host didn't actually starve to death. Her body was already weak, and coupled with the hunger strike, anger, and being confined, she caught a chill due to the lack of heating.
A combination of these factors led to her death.
Regardless, her death was confirmed.
Having understood the information, Ding Yun didn't rush to open her eyes and survey her surroundings. Instead, she opened the Eternal Emperor System to see what it was like.
[Beep... System binding in progress!]
[Beep... System binding successful.]
[Beep... Host scanning...]
[Warning, warning, host body is extremely weak and on the verge of death. Emergency medical function activated. Initial energy consumption in progress. Treatment started. Treatment ended. System initial energy remaining: 40%. Please recharge promptly.]
As the system chimed in Ding Yun's mind, a healing energy surged from within the system, rapidly filling every cell of Ding Yun's body. Simultaneously, Ding Yun's various injuries were rapidly recovering.
The speed was so fast that Ding Yun didn't even have time to react.
Nor did she have time to stop it.
But this was not all. Ding Yun, with her eyes closed, only felt her body rapidly recovering. However, the eunuchs who had been guarding the hall outside, preventing the original host from leaving, saw an extremely dazzling light emanating from within the hall when the system's medical function was activated through the doors and window paper.
Upon seeing this, they worried that something unexpected had happened inside and.
They quickly broke down the door and entered.
Then, they saw the Grand Princess, who was semi-reclining by the hall's desk, emitting a dazzling milky white light from her entire body. At first glance, she looked like a goddess descending to earth. They could even clearly perceive that the milky white light emanating from the Grand Princess was incredibly warm and healing.
Just seeing it brought them a sense of unprecedented relief.
Undoubtedly, this was the external manifestation of the system's medical function. As for why it was so ostentatious, Ding Yun didn't know. She didn't even know she was emitting light from her entire body. So, when she felt her body had recovered and opened her eyes.
To survey her surroundings.
She saw a group of eunuchs kneeling.
Some even kowtowed.
Of course, at the same time, Ding Yun also saw the white light emanating from her body gradually dimming, leaving only a faint layer. The sense of divinity quietly receded. Therefore, everyone quickly obeyed and replied, "Yes!" before bowing and taking their leave.
As for what they thought internally.
Whether they would keep it secret upon returning, or tell their families.
Ding Yun didn't know.
But regardless, it wasn't a bad thing.
As everyone withdrew, and coincidentally closed the great hall doors behind them, Ding Yun immediately turned and walked towards the inner chambers behind the hall, which served as her sleeping quarters. She then sat by the dressing table and reopened the Eternal Emperor System.
Preparing to first explore the system's general functions.
Perhaps because the binding was successful and there were no longer any emergency situations, Ding Yun didn't hear as many beeping sounds when she opened the system this time.
The interface was a simple and traditional homepage.
The left half displayed Ding Yun's current photograph, along with her physical data, identity information, available Merit and Fortune, financial confidantes, descendants, and other related data.
The right side was a vast display of tasks.
The main quest was to become an Eternal Emperor, with numerous sub-quests and beginner quests below. Completing tasks awarded points, which could then be used in the shop icon in the upper right corner of the right screen to purchase items or technologies helpful for becoming an Eternal Emperor, such as various high-yield grain seeds, more advanced agricultural tools, and so on.
Additionally, in the upper left corner of the left page, there was an energy bar display. Ding Yun tapped on the energy bar and examined it carefully for a while, quickly understanding its purpose. The energy bar could absorb Dynastic Fortune and convert it into special energy for storage.
Should the host encounter accidental injuries or fatal threats, the energy bar would come into play, using stored energy to help the host recover.
It could indeed save her life in critical moments.
Furthermore, the energy bar could be upgraded through substantial amounts of Dynastic Fortune. As for the functions that would be added after upgrading, Ding Yun was unsure.
She didn't have such a need at the moment.
So, after a brief understanding, she shifted her attention to the task list with its numerous tasks.
And began to carefully browse.
Then, she discovered that completing the main quest.
Would truly be a long and arduous journey.
Because to activate the Eternal Emperor main quest of the system, there was an initial condition: ascending the throne. This meant Ding Yun had to first find a way to become Emperor before the Eternal Emperor main quest could be unlocked.
Before she became Emperor, she could only complete the related, though not directly, and not significantly impactful, minor sub-quests that were part of the main quest.
In addition to this, during her subsequent exploration, Ding Yun discovered another rather frustrating aspect: the unlocking requirement for the points mall was that the host must first unlock the main quest.
"Alas, it seems I have a lot of work to do in this world.
But this system is too much of a scam. Before the main quest is unlocked, even if I accumulate a lot of points, I can't open the points mall at all. What's the use of accumulating so many points if they can't be used?
If the host was already of royal blood, it would be fine.
As long as they succeed in the succession struggle. But if the host is not of royal blood, wouldn't they have to successfully rebel first?
Although I am of royal blood now, as a princess, I have no right of succession. To become Emperor, I will likely have to fight not only the royal family but the entire world.
Oh my, the difficulty has undeniably increased.
It would have been better to arrive a few years earlier. A few years ago, when I was Empress Dowager, it would have been easier to manage. At least nominally, I was second only to one person and superior to all others. Even the Emperor, in front of everyone, had to respectfully salute and call me Mother Empress.
Unlike now, where I can be confined just like that.
Above me, there's an Emperor Father, an Empress Mother, a bunch of concubines, and even a Grand Emperor, Empress Dowager, and a host of other elders. It's killing me. How can I break free?"
Once Ding Yun understood that the core of the Eternal Emperor System was not to teach the host how to become Emperor, but to teach a host who was already Emperor how to be a good Emperor.
She had already despaired of the system.
And after reviewing her current predicament, she began to doubt whether the entire mission could even be completed. Because overall, the difficulty was quite high, let alone having a golden finger that was temporarily useless.