Xue Qingsong quickly discovered that this Tan Jiu was a decent person. No matter what he said, Tan Jiu would agree with him, and sometimes Tan Jiu would join him in cursing those Liao dogs.
This made Xue Qingsong feel quite pleased.
After finishing a pot of wine, Tan Jiu stood up and smiled at Xue Qingsong. "Brother Xue, do you want a promotion?"
"No kidding. Who wouldn't? But you don't know, brother—these Liao people don't treat us Zhou folks like human beings!"
"What if I have a way?"
Xue Qingsong, his eyes hazy from drink, glanced at Tan Jiu and took it as a joke. "Forget it, let's drink, let's drink!"
Tan Jiu didn't argue. He simply pulled out a slip of paper and pressed it into Xue Qingsong's hand. "Brother Xue, if you're interested, just follow the instructions on this. I swear I won't lead you astray."
Xue Qingsong didn't even look at it. He just stuffed the paper into his chest and continued drinking in silence, not even noticing when Tan Jiu left.
It wasn't until the next morning, rubbing his aching head, that Xue Qingsong recalled the events of the previous day.
"A promotion? I thought I was good at boasting, but I didn't expect to meet someone even better at it." Xue Qingsong snorted, then fumbled in his chest pocket. The crumpled slip of paper fell out. He stared at it for a while before finally opening it.
"The Huang family in town sells rice openly but uses their grain transport carts to smuggle salt on the side."
Xue Qingsong was stunned.
After a long moment, he frowned. "What nonsense is this?"
Even as he said this, the matter gnawed at his mind all morning. By afternoon, he happened to pass by the Huang family rice shop. Normally, he'd glance at it and move on without a second thought, but today, because of that note, he couldn't help but look more closely.
"Idiot. Why would I believe a stranger?" Xue Qingsong watched for a while, saw nothing unusual, and laughed self-deprecatingly as he walked away.
Yet, a little while later, he found himself back there, almost against his will.
Just then, the Huang family's grain cart arrived.
Glancing around, Xue Qingsong pretended to stroll over casually and placed a hand on one of the grain sacks, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Bringing in more grain?"
The foreman in charge turned to curse but paused when he saw Xue Qingsong, his expression softening slightly. "Oh, it's Lord Xue."
"Don't call me that," Xue Qingsong said with a smile. "You're selling so much grain—make sure you pay enough tax, or I'll have trouble reporting it."
The foreman stepped forward and quickly pressed a few copper coins into Xue Qingsong's hand. "Of course, of course." Clearly, he took Xue Qingsong for a corrupt official looking for a bribe and decided to play along to avoid trouble.
Xue Qingsong frowned. "What are you doing? Take it back."
The foreman turned away with a laugh, barking at his workers, "Move faster! Don't dawdle like lazy donkeys always thinking about stuffing their faces!"
That jab felt pointed.
Normally, Xue Qingsong would have stormed off in anger, but this time he didn't. As the foreman turned his back, Xue Qingsong squeezed the sack beneath the top layer. Instantly, he understood.
Salt was made crudely back then, often coming in chunks, clearly not the shape of grain.
The foreman turned back. "Lord Xue, are you going to get back to your business?"
Xue Qingsong clicked his tongue. "Fine, I'll get to it. Lucky you lot..."
As Xue Qingsong walked away, the foreman spat at his retreating back.
That very evening, a squadron of fierce officers and soldiers stormed the Huang family rice shop, throwing it into chaos. Before long, the shopkeeper and all the workers were dragged away in chains.
Standing at the street corner, Xue Qingsong smiled.
He didn't notice that not far away, a pair of eyes were watching him, also smiling.
That night, Xue Qingsong didn't go to the tavern. Instead, he went to the yamen. His boss, who usually berated him, treated him kindly this time and even gave him a few verbal compliments.
But Xue Qingsong never received any other reward.
Not until he heard that his boss had been commended for cracking the salt-smuggling case. Xue Qingsong was so furious he nearly ground his teeth to dust.
As always, he headed to the little tavern on the corner.
The same table was there, but someone was already sitting at it—Tan Jiu.
"Well, well, Lord Xue has arrived? Have a seat, have a seat." As if mocking him, Tan Jiu smiled. "Congratulations on your achievement."
"Achievement my foot!" Xue Qingsong cursed, but remembering the intelligence this man had given him, he held back from lashing out.
"Seems Brother Xue isn't satisfied?"
Xue Qingsong explained what had happened, and Tan Jiu nodded in understanding.
"Brother Xue, do you want to take your boss's position?" Tan Jiu's words were startling.
Xue Qingsong panicked. "Don't say that! Don't say that!" He looked around nervously, as if afraid someone might hear.
Tan Jiu just laughed. "Ah, Brother Xue, you're too cautious." With that, he pulled out another slip of paper and handed it over. Then he stood up. "I've already paid for the wine. Help yourself."
This time, Xue Qingsong wasn't drunk. He nervously scanned his surroundings, then carefully opened the slip.
"Tomorrow at noon, south bank, by the willow tree."
Xue Qingsong was baffled.
The next day, confused, he went to the south embankment. He wandered around until he finally spotted a willow tree.
Was there something secret about this spot? Hesitating, he stepped forward to inspect it but found nothing. He loitered nearby, waiting through the time, until almost noon had passed. Then he noticed a young lady, accompanied by two maids, passing by with laughter.
A few months ago, if he had dared to stare at a Liao nobleman's daughter like that, he'd be lucky if his eyes weren't gouged out.
Just as he was reflecting on this, a sudden scream erupted nearby.
"A horse has bolted!"
He spun around and saw a wild horse charging down the road. Pedestrians scattered in panic, and the young lady in question turned pale with terror. In an instant, the horse was almost upon her. One of the maids shoved her mistress aside and threw herself out of the way, but the force was a bit strong. Though the lady dodged the horse, she lost her balance and tumbled into the water.
"Help!" the other maid screamed in panic.
Xue Qingsong started, then saw the maid who had scrambled up pointing at him. "What are you staring at! Save my lady!"
Xue Qingsong pursed his lips. Oh well, no good deed goes unpunished. He'd have to get wet.
Fortunately, he could swim. He sprinted over, jumped into the water, and pulled the drowning lady to safety.
He didn't realize until he was dragged into the Sima Mansion that the person he had saved was none other than the Sima family's daughter!
Fortunately for him, the Liao people didn't have customs about lost virtue from a soaking—otherwise, he might have been executed on the spot.
Dripping wet, he watched the household servants bustling about, bringing medicinal broth and warming stoves for the young lady. He felt a flicker of envy. Half an hour later, a steward-like figure came to lead him into the reception room.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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."
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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.
