Title: Transmigrated as the Foolish Maid: My System Feeds the Empire
Chapter 3: The Scent of Roasted Duck
[DING! System recognizes Host's intent to use Supernatural Force. Deducting 100 Shock Points to overcharge Wood-Element Mastery for 60 seconds.]
As Captain Zhao lunged forward, raising his heavy broadsword to chop my arm off, I stomped my bare, bleeding heel into the dry earth.
Boom!
A pulse of emerald green Qi exploded from my body, invisible to the naked eye but palpable as a shockwave of crushing pressure. The barren, cracked earth beneath Zhao's feet suddenly ruptured.
Thick, dark-green vines, covered in thorns as sharp as iron nails, erupted from the dust like striking vipers.
"What the—!" Zhao shrieked.
Before he could swing his blade, the vines wrapped around his right wrist, the thorns biting deep into his flesh. He screamed in agony as his sword clattered to the ground. In a matter of seconds, more vines burst from the soil, snaking around his ankles and pulling his legs out from under him.
With a heavy thud, the tyrannical Guard Captain was yanked to his knees, his face mere inches from the donkey dung I had supposedly dropped the bun into earlier.
The other guards froze in sheer terror.
"Demon magic!" one guard yelled, stumbling backward. "She's a witch! A monster!"
[DING! Mass Terror generated! +1,200 Shock Points!] [Total Shock Points: 1,820. You may now access the System Shop!]
I stepped forward, looking down at Zhao, who was struggling and bleeding from the thorny bindings. "Didn't you say I should lick the mud off your boots? Go ahead, Captain. Take a bite of the dirt. I insist."
With a flick of my wrist, the vines tightened, forcing his head down. Zhao whimpered, his face pressing into the filthy dust.
Madam Ye was paralyzed, trembling so violently she looked like a leaf in a hurricane. She had spent the last month beating me for fun. Now, she realized she had been hitting a dormant monster.
"Now," I announced to the terrified camp, my voice ringing with authority. "Let's establish the new rules. Rule number one: I am in charge. Rule number two: Ye Chen is the supreme master of this camp. Anyone who disrespects him, starves. Anyone who tries to hurt him, dies."
I turned back to Ye Chen, whose jaw was practically on the floor.
"Ah-Zhu... you... what are you?" he murmured.
"I am your faithful servant, Young Master," I said, offering him a sweet, totally innocent smile that sharply contrasted with the bloody, thorny vines pinning the guard captain nearby. "And I'm sure you must be starving. Shall we eat?"
Without waiting for his reply, I opened the System Shop interface in my mind.
Purchase: One thick Persian rug, a mahogany low table, and retrieve the Peking Duck.
In a flash of spatial distortion, right in the middle of the starving, desolate wasteland, a lavish, ruby-red Persian rug unrolled itself onto the dirt. A beautifully carved wooden table materialized on top of it.
And then came the pièce de résistance.
I pulled out a massive, golden-brown, glistening roasted Peking duck from my sleeve. It was resting on a silver platter, still sizzling, accompanied by a stack of steaming lotus-leaf pancakes, sliced cucumbers, and a dish of rich, dark plum sauce.
The aroma hit the camp like a physical blow.
In a world where these people had been eating tree bark and boiled leather belts for a month, the smell of roasted fat, sweet plum sauce, and steaming bread was quite literally maddening.
[DING! Extreme Hunger and Jealousy Detected! System Overload! +3,000 Shock Points!]
"Oh heavens..." an old exiled minister groaned, collapsing to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he smelled the duck.
Madam Ye swallowed so hard I could hear it. Her eyes were bloodshot, locked onto the glistening duck. Saliva dripped uncontrollably from Ye Wan's mouth, mixing with the blood from her broken nose.
I casually sat on the plush rug, tearing off a massive, juicy duck leg. The skin crackled loudly—a sound that made the guards twitch in agony. I handed the leg to Ye Chen.
"Eat, Young Master. It's still hot."
Ye Chen took the duck leg with trembling hands. He took a bite. The rich oil and tender meat melted in his mouth. A tear rolled down his cheek. "It's... it's the most delicious thing I've ever eaten."
I smiled, tearing off a piece of breast meat for myself, dipping it in the plum sauce, and wrapping it in a warm pancake. I took a slow, deliberate bite, making sure Madam Ye was watching.
"You..." Madam Ye rasped, taking a desperate step forward. "Ah-Zhu... good Ah-Zhu. We are family. I... I raised you in the Ye household. Give your Madam a piece. Just a small piece!"
I stopped chewing. I looked at her, then looked at the moldy, rock-hard bun sitting in the donkey dung nearby.
"Family?" I scoffed. "If I recall, you just beat me to death for dropping your food." I pointed to the dung-covered bun. "There is your dinner, Madam Ye. Eat up. If you don't eat it, I might have to punish you."
Madam Ye’s face flushed a deep, humiliated purple. "You want me to eat dung?! I am a first-rank noble lady of the Imperial Court!"
"You were a noble lady," I corrected her coldly. "Now, you are exile trash. Eat the dirty bun, or starve. Your choice."
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