Lin Jianheng typed Li Zhaoge’s name into her optical computer, scrolling through the results discreetly while still pretending to work on her proposal.
Her optical computer was connected to Jian Corporation’s internal network, giving her access to information far beyond that of an ordinary person.
After she entered the keyword, all the black-and-white results popped up.
The surname Li was indeed unusual; it was the surname of the chairman of Starlight Media, a major entertainment company in the Empire.
If she wasn’t mistaken, Li Zhaoge was at least a relative of Starlight Media’s chairman, possibly even his daughter.
After all, Li Zhaoge had debuted at sixteen and immediately shot to the top, becoming a household name as the Empire’s “Song Empress.”
Her true form was that of a Nightingale, with a pair of large, pure white wings. Her naturally agile voice made her an instant sensation, and her unparalleled wings added a memorable feature, creating stunning stage effects.
There was very little negative press about her. The few scandals Lin Jianheng could find were minor things like acting like a diva or being a picky eater. Starlight Media had undoubtedly been protecting her from behind the scenes.
However…
It wasn’t just Lin Jianheng; many of Li Zhaoge’s fans also found it strange and regrettable.
At the peak of her fame at age twenty-six, which also marked the tenth anniversary of her debut—such a special year—she had resolutely chosen to retire and enlist, becoming a soldier of the Empire.
Her whereabouts during her military service were unknown; not even the Jian Corporation’s network, which had connections to the Imperial royal family, had any records.
Now, two years later, Li Zhaoge had finally been discharged and was slowly returning to the public eye.
Just last month, she held her first comeback concert. The tickets sold out in seconds, with scalped prices soaring to ten or even fifty times the original, yet they were still impossible to find. It was, by all accounts, a massive success.
Lin Jianheng wasn’t the clueless original owner of this body.
Although in her original world, these topics were more often followed and discussed by men, Lin Jianheng had once known an older woman with a sharp political mind. They had exchanged many ideas, and Lin Jianheng had benefited greatly.
She immediately saw that the Li family’s Starlight Media was connected to the Imperial royal family.
It was likely the royal family’s mouthpiece to the outside world, with Starlight Media’s invisible hand guiding public opinion.
Li Zhaoge’s identity was fascinating. Whether she was a bridge between the two powers or a sign of the Li family’s allegiance to the Imperial family remained to be seen.
And Li Zhaoge had retired to enlist two years ago. That timing…
Lin Jianheng recalled that the original owner hadn’t seen Li Zhaoge in two years either.
That didn’t necessarily prove anything. It was normal for someone not to see their fiancée after enlisting—especially if their relationship wasn’t particularly good.
There was more information about the Li surname, and Lin Jianheng continued to read through it.
She focused on the two-year mark and found a string of information that had been blurred out. Following that lead, Lin Jianheng found a term.
Palace Coup.
This event, which was particularly bad for the royal family, seemed to have occurred exactly two years ago.
So, did Li Zhaoge enlist because of the palace coup?
But did they really need one more pop star?
Lin Jianheng tried to think from their perspective. If she were the royal family, she wouldn’t have enlisted Li Zhaoge. The Li family was already cooperating with them.
But then again, Li Zhaoge’s spiritual power was SS+, just a hair’s breadth away from the legendary 3S, though her pheromone level was slightly weaker.
If they valued that, then it wasn’t so strange.
This was the interstellar age, after all. With spiritual power in the mix, warfare certainly wasn’t just about traditional firearms anymore. Those with high spiritual power were valuable assets to be recruited.
Lin Jianheng recorded all of this, her thoughts spinning like a top.
It was too strange. She needed to use her brain to figure this out.
Lin Jianheng couldn’t find any more intelligence.
After toughing it out until four o’clock, Lin Jianheng sent a message to Li Zhaoge.
Fortunately, the original owner had Li Zhaoge’s contact information saved.
But the chat history was empty, so Lin Jianheng couldn’t glean anything from it.
She took the proposal she had haphazardly thrown together to her older sister Jian Lingxuan’s office, an impatient and angry look on her face.
“Finished?” Jian Lingxuan seemed to still be in a meeting.
Incredible. Interstellar meetings could be held with something like a pair of VR glasses. Lin Jianheng felt like a primitive person.
“Take it.” Lin Jianheng tossed the papers over.
“Anyway, if we lose money or the bid, it’s all your fault.” She even made a face at Jian Lingxuan.
Jian Lingxuan took off the VR glasses and looked at Lin Jianheng, amused.
“Who told you that just because I had you write it, I was going to use it?” Her tone was flat, yet it was so infuriating that Lin Jianheng wanted to bite her.
Her teeth itched as if she had really bitten a creature like an older sister before.
“If you weren’t going to use it, why did you tell me to write it? Isn’t that just exploiting me?” Lin Jianheng’s hackles were raised.
Jian Lingxuan let out a scoff, her voice dripping with mockery. “Not at all. Your dear sister just wanted to find something for you to do, to keep you from being bored out of your mind all day and going out to buy succubi, phantasms, pyromancers…”
Lin Jianheng was steaming.
“And then getting all lovey-dovey with them, and getting rid of your fiancée again.” Jian Lingxuan promptly patted away the hot air rising from Lin Jianheng’s head.
“You know I have my Succubus Sister, yet you still found me a fiancée.” Lin Jianheng shot Jian Lingxuan a glare and slapped her hand away.
“Is it possible that you insisted on signing a contract with that poor little succubus and forcibly abducted her while you already had a fiancée?” The smile in Jian Lingxuan’s eyes made Lin Jianheng freeze for a second.
In those eyes was not just mockery for a philandering younger sister, but also an indescribable, sharp glint.
“I-I-I, I’m against marriage!” Lin Jianheng felt a pang of guilt and pulled out the excuse she had come up with that morning.
Damn it, tonight when I get home, I’m going to execute my ‘major illness’ plan. Then I can conveniently say it caused a drastic change in my personality.
“Right, against marriage, but you can have ten lovers, twenty flings, and be stringing along fifty people at the same time.”
“I did not!” Wait, was the original owner that scummy?!
“Think about it yourself.” With that, Jian Lingxuan kicked her out of the office.
“Go complain to your fiancée. Pray she doesn’t dump you for someone better.”
After Lin Jianheng left the office, Jian Lingxuan slowly walked back to her seat, unlocked her safe, and took out a file.
Word by word, she compared it to the proposal Lin Jianheng had submitted.
Lin Jianheng rubbed her sore bottom, vexed. She was still thinking about it as she got into Li Zhaoge’s car.
Seriously, was the original owner that scummy?
Dinner was very casual. The restaurant Li Zhaoge chose was extremely private and the food was first-class.
It was the first time the “primitive person” Lin Jianheng had tasted such fine cuisine. She was tempted to secretly hide some of the food to take back for Yan Su.
Good friends should share everything.
Lin Jianheng made a note of the restaurant’s name to order from later.
Li Zhaoge’s attitude was much the same as it had been that morning, still intimate.
Lin Jianheng continued to play along. She figured that even if the original owner had a bad temper, she would have put on an act in front of her fiancée.
Otherwise, Li Zhaoge probably wouldn’t be acting this way.
However, something Jian Lingxuan had said made her think.
What did she mean by “getting rid of your fiancée again“?
Could it be that she’d had other fiancées before?
But for a scumbag like the original owner, it would be perfectly normal for a fiancée to look down on her.
Damn it. I want to cancel the engagement with Li Zhaoge just like that, too.
It’s all because I’m too nice. I can’t bear to break this pretty sister’s heart, and I can’t bring myself to be as despicable as the original owner.
Ugh, I don’t want to marry someone of the same sex, I really can’t do it!
“Xiao Heng wants to buy a new phone? Did the old one stop working?” After dinner, Li Zhaoge tilted her head slightly upon hearing Lin Jianheng’s idea.
“Just keeping up with the trends. I saw Italo has a new model out. You can wear it as an accessory, the photo and video quality is really clear, and it’s connected to the latest AI.”
Lin Jianheng presented the excuse she had prepared earlier.
Li Zhaoge’s face lit up with understanding. “That’s right. Several of my employees have switched to that one recently.”
Although most citizens of the Empire had implanted optical computers, a physical phone for taking pictures, projecting screens, and making calls was still a necessity.
“I’ll buy it for you, as a gift, sweetheart,” Li Zhaoge said, her voice elegant and soothing.
Now that Lin Jianheng knew she was the Song Empress, she listened to her speak with a certain bias—as expected of the Song Empress, her voice is truly beautiful.
“You already treated me to dinner, and now you want to give me a gift, that’s too much.” Lin Jianheng naturally linked her arm with Li Zhaoge’s.
“My sister just gave me my allowance yesterday. I’ll buy it myself, so she doesn’t yell at me again.”
The reason was sound, and Li Zhaoge didn’t insist.
After buying the phone, the two said their goodbyes, ending their evening date.
Watching Lin Jianheng get into her family’s car, Li Zhaoge quietly typed a message on her optical computer.
【She bought a new phone, the new Italo AX-12·Chrona, top configuration.】
Around seven o’clock, Lin Jianheng pushed open the door to her home.
A warm, soft pudding pounced into her arms.
Lin Jianheng was surprised for a second, then hugged her back with great exaggeration.
“Sister Yan! I’m home~”
What a sense of accomplishment.
She’s raised her Succubus Sister to the point where she’ll proactively greet her at the door!
“…Master.” Yan Su’s composure slipped for only a moment.
After the hug came an endless coldness. She took a step back, putting herself outside of social distance, a barely visible blush at the corners of her eyes.
“Welcome home.” This sentence was one hundred percent sincere.
“Why are you standing so far away? Aren’t you welcoming me?” Lin Jianheng smiled, revealing a pair of dimples. She reached out, pulled Yan Su into her arms, and buried her face in her neck to inhale her scent.
Yan Su was noticeably stiff.
She must not be used to it yet, Lin Jianheng thought, rubbing the back of Yan Su’s head.
Back in her old life, she and her kind and beautiful roommate used to hug every day when they got home.
To get someone used to something, you have to do it every day, all the time.
Lin Jianheng didn’t let go despite the stiffness of the person in her arms; instead, she hugged even tighter.
“Did you let go because you don’t welcome me?” Her head was still resting by Yan Su’s ear.
She didn’t realize that when she spoke, her breath unconsciously tickled Yan Su’s face.
Nor did she know what immense pressure it put on Yan Su when she pressed her soft body against hers.
It was also a test. A bead of sweat rolled down Yan Su’s temple as she tried to hold her breath.
—She smelled a different perfume on Lin Jianheng.
It wasn’t strong, but its presence was intense. Like a recurring whisper, it repeatedly told her: Lin Jianheng had met someone else tonight.
You only came back covered in a scent like that after spending a long time with someone.
But Lin Jianheng’s words rushed into her mind, and Yan Su couldn’t hold back.
Their breaths mingled, her scent entangled with Lin Jianheng’s. A sour feeling rose from the bottom of her heart.
“How could I…” Yan Su tensed, letting the bead of sweat roll past the corner of her eye and into her clenched jaw.
“You are the master. Of course I welcome the master’s return.” But her voice carried a barely audible tremor.
It was the sound of her fragmented breathing.
Lin Jianheng suddenly leaned in closer, blocking all the light, and said accusingly, “Then why did you only hug me for a second? Since you hugged me, not hugging me for longer means you don’t welcome me.”
It was quite tyrannical.
But it fit her status.
Yan Su truly couldn’t withstand this assault and raised her hands, preparing to hug Lin Jianheng.
A flash of cold purple light in her peripheral vision stung her eyes. The AI Butler’s words from the afternoon echoed in her ears, and her movement froze.
“Why is it you… Why? Why? Why are you not good to her? Why do you hurt her? Why must you make her find out, make her worry, make her suffer?”
The mechanical voice couldn’t hide its jealousy.
Yan Su’s hands, which were about to embrace Lin Jianheng, retracted.
