The Host is Clearly A Scumbag (Quick Travel)

As Mingting opened his eyes, he found himself in the water.

"Kid, don't be afraid!" A woman's urgent voice rang in his ears. She spoke while coughing violently.

"Don't struggle, I won't let go of you…" Jiang Xiao'e gasped for breath, with one arm holding Mingting while the other paddled fiercely, trying desperately to reach the shore.

They had drifted far with the current, and the drowning child had been thrashing about, exhausting Jiang Xiao'e and making her choke on several mouthfuls of water.

A little further downstream was a waterfall dozens of meters high.

They had to make it to shore before then, otherwise, they will be washed down the waterfall by the rapids and lose their lives.

"Big sister, I'll listen to you." Mingting quickly adapted to his smaller body and followed Jiang Xiao'e's rhythm, paddling hard.

His cooperation made things much easier for Jiang Xiao'e.

Soon, the two were getting closer and closer to the shore.

Jiang Xiao'e pushed Mingting into the shallow water, then collapsed onto a large protruding rock, panting heavily.

Mingting crawled ashore, picked up a long stick, and was about to wade back in to pull Jiang Xiao'e to safety. However, she quickly waved him off and said, "I'm fine, just need to rest a bit. Don't move."

After catching her breath and regaining some strength, Jiang Xiao'e also swam ashore.

Only then did Mingting get a clear look at his benefactor.

Jiang Xiao'e was in her mid-twenties, with slightly dark skin, willow-leaf eyebrows, and round, bright eyes. Just her appearance alone made her seem like a capable and straightforward woman.

"Thank you for saving me, big sister! I can never repay your kindness, but I'm willing to work hard and serve you like an ox or horse to repay you!"

Mingting knelt on the ground and kowtowed respectfully.

His actions startled Jiang Xiao'e.

Jiang Xiao'e's younger brother had drowned to death at the age of eight. Today, when she saw Mingting struggling in the river, it was as if she saw her brother again. That's why, without a second thought, she had jumped in to save him.

Seeing that Mingting was so grateful, Jiang Xiao'e quickly waved her hands.

"It's nothing, really!"

Jiang Xiao'e pulled Mingting up.

"You kid, did you fall in because you were playing around? Where's your home? Later, I'll have my husband take you back."

At the mention of family, Mingting's face paled.

"My father went out to do business and died outside. My mother passed away last year. My uncle sold me to traffickers, and today I finally managed to escape, only to accidentally fall into the river."

"If it weren't for benefactor who saved me, I'd be reuniting with my mother in the underworld today."

"Big sister, I eat little but work hard, and I'm very obedient. Please don't sell me!"

Mingting's plight stirred pity in Jiang Xiao'e's heart.

Especially seeing how thinly dressed Mingting was, shivering after being in the water for so long, his eyes red and his body trembling, Jiang Xiao'e's couldn't help but pat his shoulder.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Of course I wouldn't sell you. Come on, let's go home with big sister first."

Jiang Xiao'e led Mingting back to where she had jumped into the water, picked up the clothes she had been washing and her basin, and took him home.

Not long after they left, a young girl came running breathlessly to the riverbank.

She searched up and down the river for a long time, muttering to herself, "Where is he? Where did he go? How could he not be here?"

After scouring both sides of the river without finding anyone, the girl plopped down on the ground, looking utterly bewildered.

At this time, Mingting had already followed Jiang Xiao'e to a small house.

It was a three-room tiled house with a small courtyard, neatly kept and clearly showing the care of its mistress.

Jiang Xiao'e quickly boiled water and found her son's clothes for Mingting to change into.

Soaking in the hot water, Mingting closed his eyes and reviewed the plot of this world.

This time, the wish-maker was the villain of this small world, Song Mingting.

When Song Mingting was a child, his father left to take the imperial examination. After passing the examination, he wrote a divorce letter and sent it home, while marrying the princess.

Song Mingting's mother was so enraged that she died, but before her death, she made him promise to go to the capital to find his father.

The villain buried his mother and set off for the capital with a token of proof. While passing by Xiaohe Village, he accidentally fell into the river and was saved by the Female Lead.

Seeing that the Female Lead wanted to start a small business but lacked capital, Song Mingting sold his token for ten taels of silver to support her.

As a result, the token somehow ended up in the hands of the princess.

How could the princess tolerate her husband's child from a previous marriage?

She schemed to have Song Mingting castrated and forced into the palace as a eunuch.

In the palace, Song Mingting was beaten by his superiors, bullied by older eunuchs, and toyed with by nobles, slowly becoming corrupted.

When assassins attacked, he saved the crown prince and became his trusted aide.

Song Mingting catered to the young prince's whims, accompanying him in play and gradually securing his position.

By the time the prince ascended the throne, Song Mingting had become the emperor's favorite.

The villain used the emperor to exact revenge for himself and his mother. He instigated the emperor to build a large-scale project, turned him into a pleasure-seeking tyrant, and firmly grasped the power in his own hands.

All the ministers in the court who opposed Song Mingting met a terrible end.

At a young age, he became the feared 'Nine Thousand Years'. (T/N: It's a title for powerful eunuchs, second only to the emperor.)

Yet despite being a villain despised by all, he remained utterly devoted to the Female Lead who had once saved him, protecting her sincerely.

Song Mingting is physically incomplete and couldn't give the Female Lead happiness, so he stepped back and became her greatest supporter from the shadows.

He helps the Female Lead marry into the Prince of Lu's household and become the Prince of Lu's Princess.

Prince of Lu is the Male Lead of this small world.

The Male Lead secretly placed his own people in the imperial court, but Song Mingting turned a blind eye.

He even helped the Male Lead seize control of the Wuwei Army and granted him every convenience.

Knowing that Prince of Lu harbored ambitions for the throne, Song Mingting coaxed the emperor into taking elixirs.

The young emperor died suddenly without leaving any offspring.

Against all opposition, Song Mingting pushed for the Prince of Lu to ascend the throne.

Originally, seeing the Female Lead become the empress and live happily, Song Mingting planned to retire from politics, as his mission was already accomplished.

But he was the infamous 'Nine Thousand Years', who has considerable influence in both court and palace. As long as he lived, the Male Lead could never rest easy.

Moreover, the Male Lead has just ascended the throne, so as long as the thoroughly wicked villain, he would win him the people's support and the courtiers' approval, so why not do it?

Even after receiving warnings that the Male Lead intended to harm him, when the Female Lead invited him into the palace, Song Mingting still went.

In the end, the villain smiled and drank the poisoned wine the Female Lead handed him.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Before he died, the Female Lead made sure to tell him that the person who had saved him all those years ago was someone else entirely.

His real benefactor had died trying to rescue him, and her family had been destroyed, with some dead and some driven mad.

The benefactor's youngest son had also entered the palace as a eunuch, and because he had offended Song Mingting, the villain had him skinned alive.

In his final moments, Song Mingting realized his lifelong devotion had been a cruel joke.

He thought that while he was guilty for everyone, he was utterly sincere toward his benefactor. Who knew that he was blind and recognized the wrong person from the very beginning.

Because Song Mingting's resentment ran so deep, the System sent Mingting here.

The villain has two wishes: one is to repay his gratitude and prevent his real benefactor's family from suffering the same tragic fate as in the previous life. While the other is to protect the young crown prince.

The benefactor had given him a second life, and the crown prince had given him dignity and trust as a human being.

These two people are the ones Song Mingting should repay the most, but in the end, he let them down.