"You..."
"An imperial decree from His Majesty!" Li Zizai suddenly roared. "The rebel Wang Wang, forming factions, embezzling army provisions, oppressing the common people, and even corresponding with the Liao state—executed on the spot!"
Deputy General Wang Wang froze for a moment. "Who... who are you?! Why spew such venomous slander?"
Li Zizai sneered. "Slander? Do the things you've done even need someone else's lies to tarnish you?"
"Ding Qiunan, Li Suyuan, Wang Qianhe, and Xu Zhen are all confederates!" Li Zizai continued to shout.
The several adjutants who had stepped forward were all stunned.
Then they realized that the soldiers behind them had turned their spears on them.
Wang Wang finally grew fearful. He hadn't expected so many soldiers to side with Li Wenlong. His mind raced—had something happened in the capital?
Before he could figure it out, his trusted subordinate behind him suddenly spoke. "General Wang, I'm sorry, but they seem to have more men."
Wang Wang didn't even have time to react before his own men pinned him down.
"The rebel Wang Wang has been captured! Please... hand him over to the Commander for judgment!"
"Please, hand him over to the Commander!"
The soldiers shouted in unison.
"You've mutinied..." one adjutant tried to resist, but then he saw the archers behind Li Wenlong, their bows drawn taut. He immediately shut his mouth—there was no doubt that if he said another word, he would turn into a pincushion.
Zhu Hong muttered, "If you ask me, we came in and should have just loosed arrows straight away. Most of those company commanders are our people anyway."
Li Zizai didn't turn around. "Old Zhu, you're the professional when it comes to intelligence. But the army isn't like the imperial court—we can't kill their former commanders right in front of the troops."
Zhu Hong shrugged. "Well, I'm just here to back you up. The rest is up to you." He paused. "I'll also report the false imperial decree to the Prince."
"The Prince won't hold it against me."
"I still have to report it."
Li Zizai now fully understood—the Prince hadn't lied at all from the start. By merely manipulating his money, he had managed to shake the entire Great Zhou dynasty to its core.
Who would believe that? Even now, no one suspected the Prince!
Inside the capital, the rebel army had blocked off the outskirts, facing off with the imperial garrison, yet the debates within the imperial court still raged on. Most of the Ningxi faction urged the Emperor to flee, but their words were met with contempt from the eunuch faction.
"Running at the slightest trouble—aren't you people ashamed?"
"Exactly. You go on calling us eunuch lackeys, but you're even worse than eunuchs."
But the Ningxi faction couldn't care less. They wanted only to preserve their families and fortunes. As for status—as long as their families remained intact, even a change of dynasty wouldn't stop them from living well.
The Emperor, as always, was gentle.
As always, his words were mild.
"I have decided to stay and live or die with the people. As for you all... flee for your lives. The capital isn't fully surrounded yet; there's still time."
Under the contemptuous gaze of Li Shanxiang and others, one by one the Ningxi faction members turned and hurried away.
They had already made up their minds: only a fool would stay here and die. Better to head south and set up a new emperor. When the border forces returned to retake the capital, they could always come back.
Let the eunuch faction and that useless Emperor die together—perfect.
Slap. Fang Zhiyi placed a black stone on the Go board, cutting off the final escape route for the white stones.
The scout sitting across from him put on a pained face. "Your Highness, you're bullying me too much. I'm clearly a beginner..."
"I enjoy picking on beginners. If you were a master, I wouldn't go looking for unnecessary trouble." Fang Zhiyi narrowed his eyes, grinning with satisfaction.
Night fell. One carriage after another rushed out the west gate—large carts, small vehicles, all fleeing.
Unlike the east gate, which was under siege, the west gate was eerily silent.
"Grand Preceptor, shall we head straight for Jiangnan?" a seated official asked on the carriage.
Grand Preceptor Wang Changlin slowly took a sip of hot tea. "No rush. Let's first pick up the new Emperor."
But the next moment, the carriage came to an abrupt halt, spilling the tea in his hand. This displeased Wang Changlin greatly. "What's going on?!"
The driver pulled aside the curtain. "Grand, Grand Preceptor... we..."
Screams erupted from outside.
Then came the sound of hoofbeats.
Seeing the torches flare up around them, Wang Changlin's heart sank to the bottom.
Steadying himself, he scrambled out of the carriage on hands and knees. "I am Grand Preceptor of the court, Wang Changlin. Please, may the commanding general come out and speak with me."
No one answered him. An arrow flew instead, pinning the Minister of War—who had followed him out—to the carriage, pierced straight through the chest.
Sweat beaded on Wang Changlin's forehead.
"I am Wang Changlin. When you raise an army, it's for money. The Wang family has estates all over Great Zhou—why don't we negotiate..."
Before he could finish, a somewhat teasing voice cut in.
"Grand Preceptor Wang, you once had more money than I, Prince Qi. But not anymore."
A face gradually emerged in the torchlight.
Wang Changlin's heart froze completely.
"Prince Qi! You—you're colluding with rebels!" He froze, then suddenly realized—if that were true, then everything made sense!
He had always thought recent events were suspicious: the sudden revolt of the refugees, the sidelined local officials, a eunuch faction with insufficient ability yet somehow holding its own against them, and the ever-silent border troops. All the anomalies pointed to someone pulling the strings behind the scenes. At first, he'd suspected the Emperor, but the Emperor was under their surveillance, and rebelling against his own rule made no sense.
Until Fang Zhiyi appeared. His mind cleared in an instant—every puzzling piece fell into place.
"It's you! You raised an army in rebellion!"
Fang Zhiyi grinned. "That's right. Back then, you all wanted me to rebel, didn't you? Well, now I am. And you're not happy about it."
"Have you no shame? Instigating civil war in Great Zhou!" Wang Changlin's fury blazed.
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "You and your cronies, corrupting the government, ignoring the people's suffering—you feel no shame. Why should I?"
"Prince Qi, what exactly do you want? I can negotiate with you. Surely you know my Wang family has flourished for centuries. We have deep roots. With my support, you could replace the current Emperor."
Fang Zhiyi curled his lip. "I detest people like you—always talking about families and claiming the throne. Can't you have some other ambitions?"
Wang Changlin's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
"Besides," Fang Zhiyi continued, "I know everything about your Wang family—down to the mistresses of your illegitimate son. Rest assured, after you're gone, they'll join you."
"Prince Qi! If you kill me, have you considered the consequences?"
"What consequences? It wasn't Prince Qi who killed you; it was the rebels." Fang Zhiyi waved his hand with a smile. "I just wanted you to die knowing the truth, Old Fox. Doesn't it feel awful, being played for a fool?"
Wang Changlin's son suddenly rushed forward. "Your Highness, Your Highness! I can give you money—please, spare my family's lives!" He pointed behind him. "Money—lots of it!"
Wang Changlin's face was ashen.
Fang Zhiyi sighed. "You really aren't as good as your father. He already guessed what I was thinking."
With that, Fang Zhiyi slowly retreated back into the darkness.
"Once I kill you, won't that silver be mine anyway, Prince?"
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
