The first time Xue Qingsong met Lord Sima, it was an encounter with a Deputy Director of the Revenue Ministry—someone ordinary people would never see in a lifetime!
Lord Sima merely frowned at him for a moment, saying nothing.
“I... I saw the young lady fall into the water and, without thinking... I offended her. I deserve a thousand deaths!” Xue Qingsong immediately fell to his knees.
Lord Sima glanced at him. “Get up. At least you showed some courage.”
Xue Qingsong’s mind went blank. What was he supposed to say now?
Just then, the steward spoke: “Boy, what’s your name, and how do you make a living now?”
“I am a minor clerk in the Tax Bureau, named Xue Qingsong.”
“A clerk, you say?” The steward sounded surprised.
Lord Sima looked at Xue Qingsong again. “You’ve worked hard. Go home early and rest.”
Xue Qingsong’s thoughts were in turmoil. That was it? He was being dismissed?
While he stood dazed, the steward gently nudged his backside with his foot. Only then did Xue Qingsong respond: “Yes, sir!”
The steward led him toward the gate. Xue Qingsong, taking in the grandeur of the Sima residence, thought of his own shabby little room and couldn’t help but sigh.
The steward clearly heard him but said nothing. As he opened the side door to let him out, he remarked meaningfully, “Congratulations, Lord Xue.”
Xue Qingsong froze, utterly confused about what there was to congratulate, but the door had already closed.
The next day, when Xue Qingsong reported for duty, he was shocked to discover that his loathsome superior had been transferred, and he himself had been appointed to the position of Tax Bureau Chief.
This sudden promotion left his scalp tingling.
What was going on? Just because he saved an official’s daughter? That couldn’t be it, could it?
That evening, he saw Tan Jiu again at the tavern. Before he could even sit down, Tan Jiu was congratulating him, as if he already knew everything.
For the first time, Xue Qingsong looked closely at the man before him. Tan Jiu had an utterly ordinary face, the kind you could lose in a crowd.
After a long pause, he asked,
“Who exactly are you?”
Tan Jiu grinned. “Lord Xue, you don’t need to worry about who I am—just know who you are.”
“You... why are you helping me?”
“Lord Xue, ask fewer questions. It’s for your own good,” Tan Jiu replied with a knowing smile. “If you think your current position is enough, I, Tan Jiu, will take my leave. But if you want to climb higher...”
Xue Qingsong hesitated. Then, remembering everything he had seen at the Sima residence the day before, the flames of ambition quickly ignited within him.
“As long as you can help me rise in rank and grow rich, I’ll do anything!”
A glint flashed in Tan Jiu’s eyes. “Truly?”
“Truly! A man of Zhou does not deceive another man of Zhou!”
From that day on, Xue Qingsong entered a strange state of existence.
Tan Jiu would always appear at specific times, never speaking a word to him, simply handing him notes.
And Xue Qingsong had only to follow the instructions on those notes.
One day, investigate a tax evasion case; the next, deliver a tightly sealed ledger to some official—things like that. He never even knew why.
Xue Qingsong learned to keep his mouth shut and ask no questions. He simply did whatever the notes said. After uncovering a major tax evasion case, he received praise from Lord Sima, and soon heard that a certain Supply Depot Officer had been impeached and dismissed by some high official. Naturally, the outstanding Xue Qingsong was promoted to fill that very post.
Now, he lived in a large house.
The rapid transformation of his status left Xue Qingsong feeling euphoric. He even thought he could live like this forever—find a wife, have a brood of children. He even stopped seeing Tan Jiu.
But even when he avoided Tan Jiu, the notes would still appear on his bedside table.
This sent a chill down Xue Qingsong’s spine.
He understood. It was a warning.
A warning from Tan Jiu and the power behind him.
Promoted again, Xue Qingsong followed a note’s instructions to a money lender and collected a large sum of cash. He was bewildered until he found another note hidden in the money, bearing an address.
He took the money to that place. He had no idea where it was, only that its gate was even grander than Lord Sima’s mansion.
After this, Tan Jiu and the notes disappeared for a long time, letting Xue Qingsong breathe a sigh of relief.
But a month later, an inspector came on a tour of duty and happened to stop at his office. Though Xue Qingsong didn’t know the man, the high official heaped praise on his work.
After the inspector left, Xue Qingsong was promoted once more.
He was bewildered, feeling like a puppet on strings, yet powerless to resist.
The notes reappeared, but the bearer changed, and soon changed again.
He still followed the instructions. By now, he had a certain amount of influence. Following the notes, he aligned himself with Prince Zuo’s faction, feeding the prince incriminating information on his rivals.
A Khitan in origin, Xue Qingsong still managed to win Prince Zuo’s favor.
Within half a year, Prince Zuo recommended him to the Ministry of Personnel.
Now he had equal rank with Lord Sima. When they met again, Sima Lie treated him with newfound warmth.
The notes continued, but their tone changed.
“Lord Xue, remember: everything you have, we gave you. And we can take it all back.”
Xue Qingsong didn’t believe it. He tore up the note. He was a big shot now—the only Khitan official of Zhou origin. He didn’t think Tan Jiu and his ilk had such power.
He fortified his mansion, ensuring that Tan Jiu’s people couldn’t get in.
But the very next day, someone impeached him for misconduct and harboring treacherous intentions. Being a Khitan of Zhou descent, he naturally drew scrutiny. The censors entered his mansion and, before his own eyes, pulled a stack of letters from under his pillow.
Xue Qingsong’s scalp went numb.
Fortunately, after inspection, the letters turned out to be nothing more than ordinary social correspondence.
The impeacher was rebuked, and the matter was dropped.
But Xue Qingsong felt as if a sword hung over his head, ready to fall at any moment and take his life. Now, everyone he saw could be one of Tan Jiu’s men.
He no longer avoided the notes. He couldn’t avoid them.
When a note told him to stand up at court and impeach a first-rank minister, he obeyed, figuring he could lose his post at worst. But to his surprise, the official he impeached had made many enemies. As soon as he spoke out, others followed suit.
The minister was ordered by the sovereign to return home and live in retirement.
At that moment, Xue Qingsong finally realized with full force that the force manipulating him was beyond his ability to resist.
He accepted it. When a note instructed him to privately access classified records, he did it.
When a note told him to collude with and bribe other officials to build connections, he did that too.
No matter how outrageous the demand, he accepted it without question. Xue Qingsong was numb.
Then Tan Jiu appeared before him once more.
“Lord Xue, your mission is complete. Now pack your things and come with me.”
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.
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
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."
] [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!"
