Kicked Out the Halfway Male Lead, She Was Robbed

Xiao Qingyu transmigrated into the novel "After the Abstinent Prince Falls, He Teases Her Waist Nightly" with a system mandate to conquer the male lead, Regent Wu Chengque, within three years to return to the real world. Despite two years of relentless pursuit, his favorability stalled at fifty percent. Desperate as the deadline approached, she orchestrated a scandal by falling into a lake with him, hoping to force a betrothal. However, her efforts were manipulated by the puppet Emperor Wu Linghuo, who sought to undermine the Regent. When Xiao Qingyu was later kidnapped by enemies of the Regent, she expected Wu Chengque to save her, but his trusted subordinate, Yan Nandu, coldly ordered her death, revealing that the Regent had known of the kidnapping and chosen not to intervene. Heartbroken and betrayed, Xiao Qingyu leaped from a cliff, only to discover that Wu Chengque’s favorability had dropped to zero moments before her death.

She awoke one year in the past, at the exact moment she had originally schemed to fall into the water with Wu Chengque. Recalling her tragic end and the depth of his disdain, she resolved to abandon her mission and stop pursuing him. When Wu Chengque dragged her from the water and accused her of manipulation, she refused to feign unconsciousness or beg for his mercy. Instead, she calmly rejected his advances and swam away, shocking everyone present. The system panicked, warning that his favorability had plummeted into negative territory, but Xiao Qingyu ignored its commands to win him back. Her indifference confused Wu Chengque, whose favorability began to rise slightly as he watched her walk away without looking back.

At the Emperor’s birthday banquet, political tensions flared between the Regent’s faction and the imperial loyalists. Assassins attacked the hall, targeting both Wu Chengque and Wu Linghuo. In the chaos, Wu Linghuo shielded Xiao Qingyu from a fatal arrow, taking the blow meant for her. While Wu Chengque was wounded in the shoulder, Xiao Qingyu tended to the Emperor with genuine concern, completely ignoring the Regent. This shift in attention enraged Wu Chengque, who had long been accustomed to her desperate affection. He publicly punished nobles who mocked her, claiming it was political retribution, though his actions suggested a deeper, unacknowledged protectiveness. Meanwhile, Wu Linghuo revealed that he no longer wished for her to marry his uncle, further complicating the power dynamics.

Following the banquet, Xiao Qingyu fell ill with a high fever. Her father, Xiao He, a staunch loyalist, forced her to visit the Regent’s manor with medicinal gifts to salvage her ruined reputation and secure the marriage alliance. At the manor, she collapsed from exhaustion and fever. The Regent’s servants, assuming it was another one of her schemes, ignored her at the gate. When Wu Chengque learned of her condition, he was furious at their negligence and rushed to her side, tending to her himself during the night. His actions contradicted his earlier declarations of despising her, hinting at a complex emotional shift. As Xiao Qingyu recovered, she remained determined to escape the fate of the original novel, navigating the treacherous court politics where both the Regent and the Emperor vied for control, while the system continued to demand she win over the man she no longer desired.