The Emperor rarely held a palace banquet, but this time he did so to celebrate the Crown Prince's steady governance of the court affairs. He also intended to announce Shangguan Lin as the new Empress.
At the banquet, Fang Zhiyi locked eyes with Lin Chengze, whose gaze was shadowed with malice.
Little Hei glanced at Fang Zhiyi, then bared his teeth in imitation of Fang Zhiyi's smirk before charging toward Lin Chengze. Lin Chengze's expression shifted from resentment to shock, then disbelief. He first looked down at himself, then back up at Fang Zhiyi.
Fang Zhiyi remained composed, merely smiling at him.
Lin Chengze deliberately moved toward Fang Zhiyi, who also stepped forward slowly. Fortunately, no one noticed them.
"What's wrong? Why aren’t you smiling? Isn’t the world beautiful?" Fang Zhiyi asked.
"You—you knew all along, didn’t you?" Lin Chengze's shrill voice trembled.
"Mhm." Fang Zhiyi shrugged. "Didn’t you say I didn’t understand the beauty of the world? Well, now you’ve experienced it. So, is it beautiful?"
"You—" Lin Chengze's face twisted. "Fang Zhiyi, just you wait!"
He was confident that even if he and Fang Zhiyi had switched places, he could still destroy him. Today, his master would become Empress, and he himself would rise as a powerful eunuch. Unlike Fang Zhiyi in his past life, he wouldn’t show mercy—he would spare none of them.
"Fang Zhiyi, do you really think the Emperor doesn’t know about your Crown Prince faction? Hmph."
The two parted ways—one smiling broadly, the other dark-faced.
After three rounds of drinks, the Emperor stood. "Today, I am pleased to announce something important. I have decided—"
The courtiers fell silent.
"—to appoint Shangguan Lin as my Empress!"
Only a few officials voiced their approval, while the rest remained silent.
The Emperor frowned. "Why such expressions? Are you dissatisfied with my decision?" His gaze flickered toward the Crown Prince, seated nearby, a trace of wariness in his eyes. "I know the Crown Prince has governed well recently, but he has also formed factions for personal gain. I hereby strip him of his regent duties pending further review!"
After all, he was the Emperor—he couldn’t possibly be ignorant of the Crown Prince’s actions.
Aside from Prince Rui, who looked pleased, most ministers remained silent. Behind Shangguan Lin, Lin Chengze smirked inwardly—with the Crown Prince’s faction fallen, Fang Zhiyi was finished.
The Emperor grew furious. "Have you all gone deaf?"
The Crown Prince hastily rose. "Imperial Father... this son obeys—" Before he could finish, Fang Zhiyi stood.
"Your Majesty, I, Fang Zhiyi, respectfully request your abdication."
The words struck like thunder. The Emperor glared. "Do you know what you’re saying? Guards!"
Two imperial bodyguards stepped forward, but before they could take two steps, two other guards pressed blades to their necks.
"You—you dare rebel?" The Emperor panicked.
"I respectfully request Your Majesty’s abdication," Fang Zhiyi repeated calmly. "The people suffer under your rule. As the Son of Heaven, you neglect governance, impose harsh taxes, and stir unrest. Revolts have erupted across the land. Only the Crown Prince has stabilized the situation. Your Majesty, step down for the worthy."
His words were firm. Then, a second person stood—Vice Minister Liu. A third—General Zhenyuan. A fourth, a fifth... nearly every minister present rose.
"We respectfully request Your Majesty’s abdication!"
"You—you traitors! Guards! Guards!" the Emperor shouted. Beside him, Shangguan Lin gaped in shock. Lin Chengze was stunned—how had Fang Zhiyi swayed so many? His own spies had reported only minor, insignificant alliances.
Fang Zhiyi glanced at him and smiled. Playing the spy game? I’m your ancestor.
"Your Majesty, save your breath." Fang Zhiyi stepped forward, patting the Crown Prince’s shoulder to signal him to sit calmly.
"The entire capital no longer stands with you."
The Emperor collapsed onto the throne, drained of vitality. Fang Zhiyi looked at him, Shangguan Lin, and the others. "Since Your Majesty enjoys presiding over harem disputes, you’ll have plenty of time for that now."
Harem schemes? Take your time. By the time you’re done, the throne will have changed hands.
The Crown Prince ascended swiftly. Upon his coronation, he enacted Fang Zhiyi’s proposed tax reductions and launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
It was the usual purge—investigating corrupt officials, confiscating assets—but Fang Zhiyi also ensured Prince Rui couldn’t flee. The influential Xu family, dominant in the tea-horse trade, was another target. To ordinary folk, they were untouchable. To Fang Zhiyi now, crushing them was effortless—no elaborate charges needed.
Prince Rui’s crimes were exposed, including the tragic Xinghua Village massacre. His entire household, save servants, was executed.
The harem became the Retired Emperor’s prison. At Fang Zhiyi’s urging, the new Emperor married Vice Minister Liu’s daughter, Liu Ning, devoting himself to governance. Under his teacher’s guidance, the faltering nation stabilized and flourished anew.
New faces entered the harem—Xu Yan'er, seized from the condemned Xu family, was sent as a maid to the Retired Emperor.
Shangguan Lin stared blankly, dazed by her abrupt retirement alongside the Emperor.
Lin Chengze was shattered. He realized most of his intelligence network had been double agents loyal to Fang Zhiyi. Now blind to the outside world, his status crumbled with the Emperor’s fall.
When he spotted the hollow-eyed Xu Yan'er, hatred flared. He lunged at her, but both, broken, fought to a stalemate.
Eunuchs and maids watched, occasionally commenting.
"Little Hei, do you eat systems?" Fang Zhiyi asked curiously.
Little Hei bared his teeth and shook his head. "No, no."
"Then leave it be?"
"Only option. It’s harmless now." As a harem system, it was indeed useless.
Lin Chengze begged to see Fang Zhiyi, desperate to plead for mercy.
"Fang Zhiyi! I was wrong!" he cried, but no one listened. The harem was lifeless, many servants transferred to new palaces.
When relayed this, Fang Zhiyi laughed.
"He’s not sorry—he just lost the high ground." Tossing a silver ingot to the messenger, he dismissed him with thanks.
A decade later, Fang Zhiyi resigned and left, unsettling the new Emperor and court. Only a deranged old eunuch in the desolate harem muttered, "He’s gone back... he must have gone back..." Gazing toward the distant Xinghua Village, he strained to see the past.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
host is extracting the Celestial Bone of the Destiny's Female Lead! The Destiny's Great Villain System has successfully bound!] Mo Tianxiao: "Destiny's Great Villain? Me?" Looking at the radiant Celestial Bone in his hand and the beautiful woman lying on the bed, Mo Tianxiao felt somewhat confused. How could he, a law-abiding citizen, become a villain? Mo Tianxiao: "Fine, villain it is then. With the system here, even a Chosen One isn't unbeatable." [Ding! Detected 18,653 Chosen Ones in this world. Please seize the destiny of all protagonists to become the true Destiny's Great Villain!] Mo Tianxiao: "Seize how many?! What kind of lousy great villain is this? I'm a perfectly good citizen!"
Explosive Plot Song Gua crossed over into another world, bringing along a whole crew of his doppelgangers—all of them mischief-makers. This was a world where everyone could choose a class. Song Gua became a "Bondweaver," capable of borrowing power, while his doppelgangers took on a wide variety of classes, covering just about everything. The number of doppelgangers grew day by day, each one a talented individual with a charming way of speaking. Under Song Gua's brilliant leadership, they would "greet" each other daily and engage in friendly "sparring," pulling off one major scheme after another on Earth. Sometimes they were bandits—stealing bosses, plundering mines, snatching resources. Sometimes they were saviors—descending like divine warriors to face world bosses threatening to massacre cities. Sometimes they even went undercover, infiltrating various major factions to stir up trouble from within, keeping their enemies constantly on edge. To prevent their doppelganger abilities from being exposed, Song Gua made them wear masks with mahjong tile patterns and don Taoist robes in various colors. "Remember, in front of outsiders, call me 'The Dice.'" "Got it! Boss!" "Not 'Boss'—it's 'The Dice.' Think about the vibe, pay attention to the vibe." "Yes! Boss!" "For crying out loud..." From then on, whenever they appeared, they would have their own theme song playing: ~Hey~ paying respects at the mountain stronghold at night~ whose arm is draped over whose shoulder~ gather your courage and follow along...
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
