"The child isn't clever, but he is obedient," Little Hei said.
Fang Zhiyi closed his eyes.
He knew Fang Qian was finished. Having killed his own son, the reigning emperor, before the eyes of all the ministers, Fang Qian was bound to be reviled by the whole realm.
Originally, he had intended to take on the role of the villain himself, but who would have thought Fang Qian would suddenly barge in.
"Your Majesty! Since the border is in peril, we shall make preparations at once!" one of the ministers snapped back to reality.
The others echoed in agreement.
But one official shook his head and said, "The Hu are at the peak of their military might, having already breached several cities in succession. It is unwise for us to contend with them now!"
Fang Zhiyi turned his gaze to the bearded official.
When the man saw Fang Zhiyi looking at him, he instinctively puffed out his chest.
If he could catch the eye of the late emperor, then surely his name would be remembered in the annals of history!
"I believe the Hu have never adapted to life in the Central Plains. Since the founding of our Great Yong dynasty, they have raided our borders many times, and every time they pillaged and then retreated."
Fang Zhiyi nodded, signaling him to continue.
Seeing this, the minister's confidence swelled: "At present, the frontier forces have already collapsed in retreat. It is not the best strategy for us to strike out now and clash head-on with them."
"Go on."
"Well, er, His Majesty had previously assembled two hundred thousand troops. I believe we should first wait."
"Wait?"
"Wait until the Hu have finished their pillaging and begin to withdraw, and then we pursue and attack! They retreat, we advance—they'll surely flee in disarray!"
Fang Zhiyi took a deep breath and glanced at the roster in his hand.
"You... are called Huang Chengyun, aren't you?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, that is me!"
"Then let me ask you: wait until when? Until the border cities are plundered clean, slaughtered clean, and burned clean by the Hu? Until the besieged garrisons starve and run out of supplies? Or until the Hu march on the capital itself?"
Huang Chengyun was taken aback, swallowing hard: "Your Majesty, perhaps since you have just returned, you may not know—the treasury is now depleted. Maintaining provisions and arms for two hundred thousand troops is already extremely difficult. If we simply charge forward, I fear..."
"If the people are lost, we can relocate others from elsewhere; if cities are destroyed, they can be rebuilt. But if, if..." He glanced at Fang Zhiyi.
"Speak!"
"If we lose the battle? If we are defeated, we won't just lose those northern cities—the capital itself won't be defensible either!"
Little Hei sneered: "This fellow has a bit of cunning. In the original plot, after the war-hawk ministers died, he took the lead in proposing peace talks, even advocating for marriage alliances."
Fang Zhiyi stared at Huang Chengyun. After a long pause, he smiled.
Seeing him smile, Huang Chengyun smiled along with him.
"Huang Chengyun, I have a question."
"Your Majesty, I will answer to the best of my ability!" Huang Chengyun's attitude was impeccable.
"How would you describe men and women, old and young, in a single word?"
Huang Chengyun was stunned. What kind of question was this? But looking at Fang Zhiyi, he didn't seem to be joking. Huang Chengyun frowned, thinking hard.
This former emperor was quite an interesting fellow. At a time like this, instead of worrying about defending the capital, he asks him a question like this?
But no matter how long he thought, he could find no answer.
"Er, men, women, and children in general?" Huang Chengyun finally offered a guess.
At that moment, Fuhai, reeking of blood, walked in.
Fang Zhiyi's expression gradually darkened. He slowly shook his head: "Let me give you the answer—mass execution of the entire household!"
Huang Chengyun was stunned again. Come to think of it, that actually fit!
But the next moment, he was hoisted up by guards. Huang Chengyun finally realized what was happening: "Your Majesty! This—what is the meaning of this, Your Majesty!"
"From the day Great Yong began with me, I told all of you: Great Yong does not cede land, does not pay indemnities, does not agree to marriage alliances, and does not surrender! For scum like you to exist in this court, the emperor truly must have been blind!"
Fang Qian, standing at the door staring blankly at the corpse of his son, slowly turned his head, his eyes hollow.
Watching Huang Chengyun be dragged away, Fuhai shook his head. Indeed, it had to be the master—he killed people at the drop of a hat.
"Your Majesty! The Eastern Depot has taken control of all key offices in the capital, and the remnants of Qian Zhong's faction have all been brought to justice!"
Fang Zhiyi nodded, his gaze sweeping across the assembled ministers once more. Everyone lowered their heads. It was said the former emperor was formidable, but no one said it was to this extent! He was simply a tyrant!
"From this moment on, I speak, and you act." Fang Zhiyi leaned back into the dragon throne.
No one dared to oppose.
"General! Our, our grain will last less than three days!" A soldier covered in blood ran up to the city wall.
The old general, whose armor was already in tatters, looked resolute: "Wait a little longer. Word came earlier that His Majesty would lead the campaign personally!"
"General, but, but we..."
"Borrow grain from the townspeople! Tell the people that if the city falls, the Hu will slaughter everyone! Also, have all able-bodied men come up to help defend the walls! The women should not be idle either!" The old general's eyes were wide and fierce. He had served as the city's garrison commander for twenty years, and he would not let this city fall into his hands.
"Yes!" The soldier gritted his teeth and ran off.
In truth, everyone knew the townspeople had no grain left either, and the residents had begun helping defend the city seven days ago. Now, the garrison numbered fewer than a thousand! Outside were Hu troops numbering in the tens of thousands!
They rode fast horses beneath the walls, shouting as they passed, some even dragging captured townspeople behind their horses!
"Your Majesty...this general has done his best." The old general looked at the enemy outside, his lips quivering slightly.
There were several more isolated cities like this, all desperately waiting for aid from the court, waiting for a hope that seemed out of reach.
In the original plot, they had fought to the death without ever seeing those two hundred thousand troops—because those troops had been squandered by Fang Tianyun.
Another horn sounded outside the city—the Hu's signal to attack.
This was the eleventh time.
Hold once more. Just once more.
The old general gripped his notched blade.
"Prepare to fight!"
But after a while, the fierce assault they had anticipated did not come. A soldier rushed up from the tower: "The Hu are heading east!"
"What?" The old general couldn't quite process it. He hurried over, and when he reached the battlements, he saw the Hu army colliding with another force.
The old general's eyes filled with tears.
Finally, they had come!
"General! That, that is!" a deputy shouted in excitement.
The old general wiped his eyes and squinted into the distance. The next moment, his eyes flew wide in shock.
"The dragon banner! His, His Majesty truly has come to lead the campaign in person!" His hands were trembling, and he felt the urge to weep. He had thought he would die here—this was an isolated city, not even a major pass.
Yet His Majesty had personally led troops to relieve them!
What he didn't know was that there were five such armies in total.
Each one flew the dragon banner high. This was Fang Zhiyi's design: he had divided every available force into five contingents, led one himself, brought Fang Qian along as well, and even taken the young princes from the palace with him!
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?!
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
