Quick Transmigration: Reversing the Life of a Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character

"Yao'er, are you not sick?"

"I feel a little uncomfortable, but it's not serious."

"You child, you scared your mother to death! My heart was pounding the whole way here." Madam Fan patted her daughter lightly, so hard that not even a speck of dust was kicked up.

"Mother, the Emperor is ill again. You just came out of the palace, so people will be watching you and trying to find out what's going on."

Madam Fan waved her hand with a smile: "It's nothing. Her Majesty said that His Majesty is just feeling a little weak and anxious this time, but he can still review memorials."

"Mother, I'm so anxious. Why don't you stay with me at the estate?"

"Okay, okay, I'm free anyway."

After settling things off with her own mother, Lu Zhiyao began to arrange things on the estate. On the surface, nothing seemed amiss, but in reality, things were tense beneath the surface. Moreover, she replaced all the people working behind the scenes with her trusted confidants. Medicine was brewed day and night in her courtyard, and its aroma permeated half of the estate. Every other day, a carriage would go to the capital to buy medicine.

Two weeks later, a servant returned to report that martial law had been declared in the capital.

"The city gates are open for normal entry and exit, but vehicles and people coming and going are subject to very strict checks."

"Is she from the Jingji Camp?" Lu Zhiyao's soft voice came from behind the screen. Only a few of her personal servants knew about her physical condition. In front of the servants outside, she always pretended to be bedridden behind the screen. She didn't even tell Zhou Zining the truth, which frightened the child so much that he stayed in his mother's courtyard except for attending classes.

"Judging from their clothes, there are many unfamiliar faces, but the soldiers who used to guard the city gate are still there, though they seem unfamiliar with everyone." The people who entered and exited the city gate had long been familiar with the generals guarding the gate, but this time those familiar faces all had a cold expression.

Fan instinctively felt nervous and grabbed her daughter's hand behind the screen.

Lu Zhiyao dismissed the old woman who had come to report and patted her mother on the shoulder, saying, "Mother, it's alright. We'll deal with whatever comes our way."

"At home,"

"The day I picked you up, I told my older brother and sister that I had a bad feeling. They are in the capital, so they should have sensed something was wrong before we did," Lu Zhiyao comforted them.

The next day, Zhou Boheng appeared at the manor, followed by dozens of burly men dressed in coarse linen clothes.

"What is this?" Madam Fan was somewhat bewildered.

"Mother-in-law, the atmosphere in the capital is not right. The military camp has started to tighten controls. I'm sending you some guards. I guess I won't be able to leave after this."

Lu Zhiyao, supported by Tao Shi, stood inside the doorway, glanced around, and asked, "Reliable?"

"Don't worry, they've all followed the Zhou family for generations."

"Yes, I understand. Be careful too. The Lu family is only loyal to—" The last word wasn't spoken, but the lips formed "on the dragon throne."

"The Zhou family is the same."

The couple exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity in each other's eyes; the Emperor's condition was far from optimistic.

Another half month passed, and no news came from the Emperor. Instead, news spread that the Third Prince had raised an army, and people were no longer allowed to enter or leave the estate.

Lu Zhiyao had made preparations in advance, storing a lot of grain in various parts of the manor, and there was also a lot of dry food in several secret rooms. There were several villages outside the back door, and then there were continuous mountains. She had arranged hiding places in all these places. It can be said that she had made the most of her ability to have multiple burrows.

"Yao'er, the city gates aren't too inaccessible yet. Shall we go back?" Madam Fan felt that staying at home was the safest option. The Lu family's residence was surrounded by powerful clans, and if anything went wrong, everyone would stick together.

"Mother, the city gates are under martial law, and it's not easy to get in or out. At this time, it's best not to show your face if you can." Lu Zhiyao reassured her, mainly because the Second Prince in the capital might capture Fan Shi to threaten the Empress.

In the last three days before the Emperor's death, he was completely in a coma. The Imperial Seal was in the hands of the Empress. The Second Prince wanted to confirm his status as Crown Prince legitimately before the Third Prince's rebel army entered the capital. So he arrested people that the Empress cared about, including several masters of the Duke's Mansion and Lady Fan. Although the matter was eventually resolved, Lady Fan was still frightened and became increasingly paranoid. She could not eat or sleep peacefully and died in less than a year.

"But,"

"Oh dear, I feel so suffocated," Lu Zhiyao said, clutching her chest as she lay down.

"Yao'er, it's alright, it's alright, Mother's here, don't be afraid."

After news of the Third Prince's uprising spread, Zi Ning's master, Mr. Meng, returned to the capital. In his own words, he was old and a nobody, and was the safest among ordinary people in the capital. He also asked Lu Zhiyao and Zi Ning for their opinions on whether to take Zi Ning to the Meng family for refuge, but Lu Zhiyao refused. She had prepared many escape routes, and felt most at ease keeping the child in her own sight.

At this moment, Zi Ning saw that his mother was pretending to be sick to appease his grandmother. He couldn't help but wink at his mother. He was not even eight years old and could not fully understand the current situation, but he knew that his mother did not want his grandmother to return to the Lu family in the capital.

"Mother, will Father's camp in the capital region be able to stop the rebels?"

"Uncertain. Normally, the capital's military camp cannot be mobilized except by the emperor." But the current emperor doesn't know the situation yet.

"The rebels have reached the city walls, yet they still need the emperor's orders?"

"That depends on what the marshal in charge of the camp thinks."

The marshal of the capital camp took the initiative and directly blocked the Third Prince's rebel army fifty miles away. However, there was no fierce battle between the two sides; they were merely in a stalemate.

Five days later, the death knell tolled in the palace, and the emperor passed away. The new emperor immediately issued orders to the capital's military camp to annihilate the rebels, and at the same time, he summoned the nearest garrison to assist.

Lu Zhiyao's three burrows were all useless.

"In times of national mourning, let them hang white banners." After receiving the news, Madam Fan was saddened for a quarter of an hour before giving the order.

"Mother, the estate can be packed up simply. The main things are our clothes and carriages. Once the city gates open, we'll go into the city." The fact that the new emperor can issue orders proves that the brothers who pose a threat in the capital have been dealt with. At this time, the capital is much safer than the outside world.

"Alright, let's get ready." Madam Fan said listlessly, "I wonder how Her Majesty is doing."

"Your Majesty is blessed with good fortune; you will soon be a happy Empress Dowager," Lu Zhiyao comforted her, adding that Her Majesty's character was much stronger than that of Lady Fan.

With the new emperor firmly seated on the throne, the capital was at peace. When Lu Zhiyao was thirty-nine years old, Lady Fan passed away peacefully surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

The following year, at the age of forty, Lu Zhiyao finally reached the end of her life.

"Mother, don't you want Zining anymore?"

"Why are you crying? You're a grown man with a wife and children, and you look really ugly crying." Lu Zhiyao gently complained to her son who was crying by her bedside: "It's already a miracle that my body has lasted this long. I'm so tired. I don't ask you to be successful, I just wish you peace, happiness, and a smooth life."

"mother!"

After seeing her mother off and her son growing up, who hadn't become a spoiled brat causing trouble all day, Lu Zhiyao slowly closed her eyes.

"Time and Space Administration employee Chu Lanyu has completed the mission. Ten points added, total points reached: twenty-two. The employee's emotions in the mission world have been cleared."