Friends 08

His limbs were restrained as a man approached him with a knife.

"Oh, awake?" The man's voice was shrill. "Endure it. It'll be over soon." The man pulled down his pants.

Lin Chengze struggled violently, trying to scream, but his mouth was gagged.

"...I’ve never seen someone so eager to do this to themselves. You’re quite proactive, aren’t you?"

"Though your technique is a bit rough. Let me tidy it up for you."

"Oh, and the person who sent you here asked me to pass along a message—since you won’t be needing this anymore, she’s feeding it to the dogs." The eunuch chuckled. "No idea who you pissed off."

Lin Chengze’s mind flashed to Xu Yan'er’s face. It all made sense now! It was her! She must have noticed something, sent people to tail him, and set up one trap after another!

Lin Chengze had now walked the same path Fang Zhiyi once did—carrying chamber pots, standing night watches, doing all the dirty and exhausting work. But unlike Fang Zhiyi, he wasn’t as capable, so he endured even more beatings.

Fang Zhiyi felt a deep satisfaction.

"Be careful. There’s a transmigrator," Little Hei suddenly warned.

"A what?" Fang Zhiyi was stunned.

"A transmigrator..." Little Hei’s figure flickered before reappearing. "Interested in some harem drama?"

Fang Zhiyi shook his head repeatedly, but curiosity gnawed at him. It was rare for a transmigrator to appear mid-way through a world’s progression.

After some maneuvering, he secured an audience with the emperor. He recalled that in the original plot, this was when the emperor began neglecting state affairs, allowing Prince Rui to seize power.

Just as Fang Zhiyi was casually presenting some policy ideas, a concubine burst in, radiant and oblivious to his presence as a court official.

The emperor, as stunned as Fang Zhiyi, quickly softened into a doting smile.

Fang Zhiyi studied the concubine and the spherical orb perched on her shoulder. He understood immediately.

He took the opportunity to fill in the gaps about the harem’s storyline.

The empress had passed away, and the concubines were vying fiercely for her position, employing every trick in the book. The emperor, distracted by their schemes, neglected governance, spending his days adjudicating petty disputes in the harem while occasionally delegating state affairs to the Crown Prince.

It was during this time that the daughter of the Minister of Revenue entered the palace. Her fresh, unpretentious demeanor caught the emperor’s eye.

After a brutal struggle, Chang Yue'e emerged victorious, crowned as the new empress. A year later, she bore the emperor a son.

The Crown Prince, weak-willed and indecisive, had long irritated the emperor. Seizing the opportunity, the emperor deposed him and named Chang Yue'e’s son as the new heir—a move that gave Prince Rui the opening he needed.

Great Chu endured a tumultuous decade before finally collapsing under a peasant uprising.

A standard harem power struggle. And now, the transmigrator had taken the place of Shangguan Lin, a character originally poisoned in the plot. Her mission was to win the emperor’s favor and become the empress.

Fang Zhiyi found it all rather dull. Harem politics? He didn’t get it.

Even less comprehensible was how an emperor, who typically worked on memorials until two or three in the morning and rose before dawn for court, could possibly find time to meddle in harem affairs.

Back when he’d served as an advisor, if an emperor spent more than half an hour with a concubine, the eunuchs would be banging on the door in a frenzy.

"Baffling," Fang Zhiyi muttered, shaking his head as he left.

Sure enough, the harem drama unfolded. Shangguan Lin, armed with her system and knowledge of the plot, dodged assassination attempts and retaliated, successfully diverting the emperor’s attention from Chang Yue'e.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince nervously handled state affairs, a development Prince Rui saw as an opportunity. What Prince Rui didn’t know was that Fang Zhiyi, standing not far behind him, was narrowing his eyes.

Harem schemes weren’t his forte, but factional strife? Sorry, but everyone else here was amateur hour.

What he hadn’t anticipated was the sheer force of destiny. When Lin Chengze, now fallen from grace, was being punished, Shangguan Lin happened by and took pity on him. She rescued him and brought him into her quarters.

With Shangguan Lin’s backing, Lin Chengze rose rapidly.

Fang Zhiyi nearly laughed in frustration. What kind of nonsense was this? Couldn’t the protagonist’s plot armor be turned off?

But then again, he was curious—what kind of sparks would fly when a fated protagonist and a transmigrator collided?

Shangguan Lin was equally bewildered. Her system had identified this eunuch as the protagonist of destiny, which initially delighted her. But seeing him limp around, a genuine eunuch, she couldn’t help but have doubts.

Fortunately, Lin Chengze did have luck on his side. Under his guidance, Shangguan Lin’s schemes in the harem rarely failed.

One day, she’d manipulate a rival consort into poisoning another, with the emperor ruling in her favor.

The next, she’d expose a framed plot, sending the offending consort to the cold palace.

Shangguan Lin was riding high.

"Congratulations, host! With the protagonist’s help, this mission will be completed in no time," the system cheered.

"Of course! I’ve read countless harem novels. Even without him, I’d have pulled it off!"

"Naturally, naturally."

Lin Chengze, his psyche now twisted, wielded even harsher methods than Fang Zhiyi had in his prime. Those who’d wronged him met grim fates—the old eunuch who’d beaten him was found "hanged," and the maid who’d humiliated him had her legs broken in a carefully orchestrated accident.

Lin Chengze seethed with resentment. He would climb higher!

He would take revenge on those who’d hurt him—the Xu family, the Zhenyuan General’s estate, the Lius! None would escape. And Fang Zhiyi—he’d done nothing to save him!

The harem became Lin Chengze and Shangguan Lin’s domain. Here, only the emperor outranked them.

Even Chang Yue'e, from the most influential family, had to tread carefully when speaking to Lin Chengze.

The emperor, blissfully unaware, reveled in his newfound peace. Free from tedious state affairs and early morning court sessions, he assumed the Crown Prince was handling things competently. He didn’t know that the first time the Crown Prince sought his guidance, the plea had been intercepted.

The official who stopped the Crown Prince directed him to Fang Zhiyi instead.

With just a few words, Fang Zhiyi won the Crown Prince’s trust. The prince even privately referred to him as "teacher." Fang Zhiyi didn’t mind—tutoring a Crown Prince? Hardly groundbreaking.

Prince Rui, however, grew anxious. Without chaos in the court, he had no chance.

And he couldn’t ignore the pressure Fang Zhiyi exerted. Though Fang Zhiyi’s rank was modest, the Crown Prince relied on him heavily. Prince Rui contemplated assassination, but strangely, none of the assassins he sent ever returned.

Under Fang Zhiyi’s guidance, the Crown Prince steadily consolidated power. Officials who’d previously allied with Fang Zhiyi now flocked to the Crown Prince’s faction. They knew the prince might be lacking, but Fang Zhiyi? No flaws there. Following him was a safe bet.