Thump, thump, thump!
A flurry of hurried footsteps echoed from all directions.
The clanking of armor rang endlessly in the air.
Red-armored imperial guards swarmed in from every side, completely surrounding Qin Xiao and his men!
The cold glint of long spears flashed as their sharp tips were aimed straight at Qin Xiao!
"Rebellious son! You have the audacity to strike your own mother!"
Emperor Qinwu's figure emerged, flanked by the imperial guards. He swaggered over with an imposing and furious presence.
He was clad in a bright yellow dragon robe and wearing an imperial crown, his face livid, and his eyes blazing with fury!
Flanking Emperor Qinwu on both sides were the civil and military officials.
It was obvious that the events of the morning court session had left them trembling with fear.
Taking advantage of the night, they had scurried to Emperor Qinwu to complain.
As soon as Empress Dowager Wen saw Emperor Qinwu, the previously listless and dying woman immediately became energized. She struggled to her feet and cried out with a face full of grievance.
"Your Majesty, this little beast is so reckless that he dared to viciously beat me! I am better off without such a malicious son!"
"Your Majesty! Look at what this vile creature has done to me!"
She pointed at her bloodied, mangled cheeks. Tears flowed uncontrollably, and her beautiful phoenix eyes were swollen like walnuts from crying.
Unable to hold back, she rushed forward to seek comfort.
Seeing his wife in such distress, Emperor Qinwu initially wanted to embrace Empress Dowager Wen. However, upon seeing her hideous appearance, he stepped back in disgust.
"Your Majesty! Are you repulsed by me?"
Seeing that Emperor Qinwu actually avoided her, Empress Dowager Wen was heartbroken. Weeping bitterly, she sat on the ground and began to throw a massive tantrum, rolling around.
She completely lost the grace and dignity expected of an Empress Dowager, the mother of the nation!
"Boohoo, I don't want to live anymore! The young one bullies me, and the old one is disgusted by me. What is the point of living!"
Emperor Qinwu grew impatient with the noise. With a fierce glare, he growled.
"Enough! Stop this racket!"
As soon as he lost his temper, Empress Dowager Wen immediately fell silent, only daring to let out faint sobs.
Then, Emperor Qinwu turned his gaze to Qin Xiao, his eyes gradually turning icy.
"Rebellious son!"
"Beating your own sister was already a grave mistake! Now you dare to viciously assault your mother! You are absolutely lawless!"
"As the Emperor, you are the ruler of a nation and should set an example for the world. You should respect your father, love your mother, and live in harmony with your siblings! But look at you! You insist on causing unrest in your own family, making yourself a laughingstock to the world!"
"Kneel and apologize to your mother right now, write an edict of self-reproach to announce to the world, and reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors for a month. If you do this, I will pardon you for this offense!"
Emperor Qinwu spoke with high-sounding words, directly seizing the moral high ground and leaving Qin Xiao with no room to maneuver.
The civil and military officials wore expressions of joy, looking at Qin Xiao provocatively.
It was as if they were saying.
Look, tyrant, you have finally stumbled!
Qin Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly, the corners of his lips curving up, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
It was like this again.
Every single time.
Whether he made a mistake or not, Emperor Qinwu would always jump out to righteously accuse him.
Using so-called righteousness and morality, he would oppress him from a high horse.
Forcing him to be the blood bag for the entire family!
He was the one who conquered this whole empire!
Yet they all hid behind his back, sucking his blood, and even euphemistically called it tempering him.
Time and time again, he had chosen to back down because of the moral righteousness Emperor Qinwu preached.
But they only took a mile when given an inch, pressing him step by step!
"Oh? You old geezer, you dare say I am wrong? Why don't you look at your own virtues?"
"You want to pass the throne to Qin Yu, a fake prince, a bastard of foreign blood, and you still have the nerve to lecture me?"
"I'm afraid that when you die and go to the underworld, the ancestors of our Qin family will beat your soul into oblivion!"
Qin Xiao did not take the bait at all and directly retorted.
As for morality?
Respecting his father and honoring his mother?
Sorry, he didn't need that!
A father who wanted to kill him, and a mother who would rather dote on a fake prince than love her own son.
What right did they have to earn his respect!
Kneeling down to apologize was even more impossible!
Once he kneeled, it meant yielding!
Yield once, and he would have to retreat every time!
Qin Xiao could not take a single step back, not even half a step!
As for issuing an edict of self-reproach and reflecting behind closed doors, this was a lethal trap aimed right at him!
It seemed to be for his own good.
But Qin Xiao knew very well that as the Emperor, once his reputation was ruined in the hearts of the people, it could never be salvaged!
And this so-called reflection behind closed doors—in just three days, Qin Yu would lead an army of half a million to attack.
Wouldn't reflecting behind closed doors at this time be digging his own grave?
Hearing Qin Xiao's words, Emperor Qinwu's face turned red and then pale. Gnashing his teeth, he pointed at Qin Xiao and roared.
"Rebellious son, don't think that just because you are the Emperor, I can't do anything to you!"
"The military power in this palace is still in my hands! I can turn you into a prisoner at any moment!"
"You dare to disobey me! Then I shall strip you of your throne!"
"Hurry up and kneel down to confess your mistakes!"
As his voice faded.
"Kneel!"
"Kneel!"
The ten thousand imperial guards surrounding Qin Xiao shouted in unison, their momentum overwhelming.
The expressions of the Northern Liang generals standing beside Qin Xiao could not help but turn solemn.
Shing, shing, shing!
The sound of swords and sabers being drawn from their sheaths rang out incessantly.
"Your Majesty, it seems we are in for a fierce battle in a moment!"
Lu Fengxian laughed heartily. Holding a Heaven-Piercing Halberd, his burly and tall figure was clad in golden armor, looking majestic and awe-inspiring.
Even facing ten thousand of the most elite troops, he did not show the slightest hint of fear.
However, the hand gripping his halberd tightly betrayed his true feelings.
He was somewhat nervous inside.
After all, being deep within the palace, this army of ten thousand was merely an appetizer.
Who knew how many more imperial guards were waiting behind them.
To fight their way out, they would lose a layer of skin even if they didn't die!
In contrast to everyone else's tension, Qin Xiao became calm and composed.
"What's wrong, old geezer? I hit the nail on the head, so now you're jumping like a desperate dog over a wall?"
"I have never seen a brainless fool like you who would hand over the throne to an outsider!"
Qin Xiao's tone was full of mockery and sarcasm.
Anyway, he had a hundred thousand Great Snow Dragon Cavalry; there was absolutely nothing to fear.
"You... you... you..."
Emperor Qinwu trembled with anger, pointing at Qin Xiao but unable to speak.
A mouthful of old blood choked in his throat, and his chest heaved violently from sheer fury.
The civil and military officials present all prostrated themselves, not daring to breathe loudly.
After all, this was an internal royal conflict; outsiders had no place to interject.
Although they also felt that Emperor Qinwu's behavior was quite brainless.
But following Qin Yu, Prince of Qi, was always better than following a tyrant like Qin Xiao.
What's more, Emperor Qinwu might even have another son in the future.
After all, Qin Xiao was too ruthless, executing entire extended families at the drop of a hat, which truly terrified them.
Emperor Qinwu forcibly endured his anger, took a deep breath, and suppressed the monstrous fury in his heart.
At the same time, he was incredibly astonished inside.
Why?
How could it be like this?
Why had Qin Xiao suddenly changed so completely?
He used to be extremely respectful to him, but now this sudden shift in attitude caught him off guard.
In the past, whenever he got angry, Qin Xiao would be frightened into kneeling and begging for mercy.
But now, it was the exact opposite!
What on earth was going on?
Could it be that Qin Xiao had been secretly enduring all these years?
No...
Perhaps it was because of Qin Yu...
Was Qin Xiao jealous and deliberately venting his frustration?
This speculation made Emperor Qinwu feel much better.
Emperor Qinwu took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He stared directly at Qin Xiao, speaking with the full, oppressive weight of imperial authority.
"Qin Xiao, I understand that you refuse to submit for the sake of your pride, and I know you are venting your temper on me over the matter with Yu'er, but you have gone too far this time!"
"Hand over the Tiger Tally commanding the million-strong army of Northern Liang, and I will let bygones be bygones for what happened today!"
"Otherwise..."
His tone took a sharp turn, becoming incomparably icy.
He raised his hand and gave a wave.
Ten thousand imperial guards raised their weapons in unison, assuming a stance ready to attack.
The atmosphere instantly became incredibly tense, like a drawn bow ready to snap. Everyone held their breath, staring nervously at the scene unfolding before their eyes.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
