Wang Hui watched on, increasingly convinced that Fang Zhiyi had lost his mind. A mere cook was now taking to the field, and Fang Zhiyi was even clapping and cheering for him.
He let out a silent sigh. General, don’t blame me. Who told you to stand in someone else’s way? In past military tournaments, every officer below the chief commander had to compete, showing both skill and strategy. Now it looked no better than watching street thugs brawl.
But Fang Zhiyi was thoroughly entertained, even delighted.
“Sister, do you have any new products today? Let me try them for you,” Fang Yunlan said as she stepped back into the cosmetics shop.
He Yinqing smiled and replied, “Sister, you’ve been coming so often. I haven’t come up with anything new yet.”
“Sigh, it’s so stifling in the palace. Better to come out for some fresh air and chat with you—it lifts my spirits.”
He Yinqing was overjoyed.
She hadn’t expected that, ever since last time, this Imperial Noble Consort had become a different person. She no longer made trouble for her and had even introduced quite a few noble ladies to come and spend money at her shop.
This wasn’t an enemy at all—it was a money god!
“Qingqing!” Princess Xiao Xiao emerged from the back, gave Fang Yunlan a disgusted look, and said, “Don’t bother with her!”
He Yinqing instinctively glanced at Fang Yunlan, but Fang Yunlan smiled magnanimously and said, “Go on, go on—you attend to your business. I’ll just look around myself.”
“What are you doing? How can you say that in front of others?” He Yinqing complained to Xiao Xiao.
“Don’t be fooled by her! She’s vile!” Xiao Xiao blurted out.
He Yinqing shot an apologetic smile toward Fang Yunlan, who was browsing the goods, and pushed Xiao Xiao to the backyard.
“She clearly wants to make amends with us. Why do you have to be like this?”
“Make amends? She’s up to no good! She—yesterday in the palace, when she saw me, she gave me a dirty look!” Xiao Xiao fumed.
“With that spoiled temper of yours, who could put up with it?” He Yinqing said. She often joked with Xiao Xiao like this, but today the words clearly struck a nerve.
Xiao Xiao shoved He Yinqing away. “He Yinqing! What do you mean by that? I’m spoiled, am I? Don’t forget—when she sent people after you, who was it that helped you?”
He Yinqing’s expression shifted slightly, but she quickly put on a smile again. “Fine, fine, I misspoke. Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I’ll go hurry her along, all right?”
Xiao Xiao fell silent.
He Yinqing went back to the front and looked at Fang Yunlan, who seemed perfectly gentle, and couldn’t help feeling a bit wistful. Setting aside Fang Yunlan’s earlier villainous methods, she was actually far easier to get along with than that spoiled princess.
Before He Yinqing could even speak, Fang Yunlan said, “I must have made things difficult for you, sister, coming by so often, haven’t I? No matter. I’ll have someone send you a list later, and you can just send the goods over to me.”
With that, she glanced toward the backyard.
“That little girl has been spoiled since childhood. She’s got a stubborn streak. I’m sure she’s been a handful for you, sister.”
As Fang Yunlan left, He Yinqing also looked back at the backyard and found herself somewhat agreeing with Fang Yunlan’s words.
Even though she herself had been on guard against Fang Yunlan all along, Xiao Xiao’s flaws were becoming increasingly apparent—domineering, overbearing, and rude.
If it weren’t for the fact that Xiao Xiao was a princess, He Yinqing might have slapped her long ago.
Once she stepped out the door, Fang Yunlan’s expression turned grim. She had fully grasped her superior’s meaning: to survive, she had to endure, to get along with the female lead. That way, even if the princess wanted to come after her, there would be no pretext. But could this really lead to avenging her original body?
The month-long full-army tournament finally came to an end. In reality, the matches had been among the lower-ranked soldiers only. The generals had just shown up, shot the breeze, and then gone off to enjoy themselves. No one had taken it seriously.
Looking at the victors, Wang Hui’s face was expressionless. These soldiers were timid and cowering—they didn’t look like they had much potential.
Fang Zhiyi, however, went so far as to arrange a banquet for them. These low-ranking soldiers had never enjoyed such treatment, and they all sat there fidgeting.
It wasn’t until Fang Zhiyi personally announced that each of them could pick five hundred men from the soldiers they had defeated, forming an elite vanguard unit, that they all became excited.
The general was really promoting them after all!
And Fang Zhiyi moved fast. No sooner had this makeshift vanguard unit been established three days than he was already clamoring to gather warhorses, determined to lead the army into battle himself.
Wang Hui couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. Leading eight thousand men into battle? Fang Zhiyi must have had too much cheap liquor.
Once the horses for eight thousand men were secured, next came the weapons, then the provisions and fodder.
Wang Hui watched as Fang Zhiyi steadily walked deeper into the trap they had set, silently mourning for him.
But what Wang Hui never expected was that Fang Zhiyi declared they wouldn’t need provisions. Each soldier was only issued five days’ worth of dry rations and water.
Even Wang Hui, who was counting on Fang Zhiyi to hurry back to the capital, couldn’t help but hesitate: “General, perhaps you should…”
“Don’t worry. Just mind the camp for me!” Fang Zhiyi said with a laugh, slapping him on the shoulder—so hard that Wang Hui nearly lost his footing.
It wasn’t Fang Zhiyi’s fault, really. He had endured this long and finally reached this very moment. Who wouldn’t be thrilled?
Watching this ragged, loose column set out, Wang Hui shook his head. Go on then, do your worst—the bigger the mess you make, the harsher the punishment waiting for you! He, for his part, had better pick a side soon. Who knew whether it would be Yilibu or someone else who succeeded the Grand General this time.
What they didn't know was that Fang Zhiyi had a secret weapon of his own.
“Little Hei, you know what to do.”
Little Hei flapped up with a string of curses. “I knew you’d want to use me.”
“In war, the key thing is information,” Fang Zhiyi said, riding along at a leisurely pace, speaking to the officers around him.
These men were mostly common soldiers by origin; they understood none of that. Whatever the Grand General said, they listened.
“But General, isn’t war about who’s got the sharper blade, the thicker armor, and the tougher horses?” someone asked.
Fang Zhiyi turned to look. It was that round-bodied cook, who had only recently learned to ride, his body wobbling awkwardly with each stride of the horse.
Having someone ask questions was a good thing.
“Take our hunt for those tribes’ tracks, for example. They get word early and slip away. Not only do we waste our strength for nothing, but when we're exhausted and our horses are spent, they come and ambush us. By then, even if our blades are the sharpest and our horses the best, we’re still no match for them.”
Fatty Liu nodded thoughtfully.
Seeing that the General hadn’t growled at Fatty Liu for asking but had patiently explained, the others gradually relaxed.
Soon another voice piped up, “Then, General, do we have that—information—this time too?”
A smile spread across Fang Zhiyi’s face. “Of course.” He suddenly reined in his horse and turned to give orders. “From now on, Fatty Liu, Zeng Jiaye, Wu Shihao…” He rattled off five names—all of them the victors from before.
The men stepped forward one after another.
“Each of you take five hundred men and march according to the positions I give you. Abandon all heavy baggage. Move fast!”
“Yes, sir!”
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.
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
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."
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.
