Hearing the words "imperial court," Wei Kaiyuan's heart trembled. Back when he had first mobilized his troops, they had tried to stop him, and later even claimed there was no military funding or logistical support. What were they up to now?
"Bring him in," he said after a moment of hesitation. After all, it was the Emperor's messenger.
The messenger, his face covered, handed over a letter sealed with wax.
Wei Kaiyuan glanced at the messenger before breaking the seal.
"By the Emperor's urgent decree, Wei Kaiyuan of the Liangguo Duke's residence is summoned back to the capital!" The letter contained only this brief line, stamped with the imperial seal at the bottom.
Wei Kaiyuan's heart sank. Just when he was on the verge of success, the Emperor was recalling him?
Wouldn't all his efforts go to waste?
He dismissed the messenger and sat in deep thought.
His subordinate cursed, "It must be those spineless officials at court poisoning the Emperor's ear again! General, you must not return!"
Wei Kaiyuan sighed. But at dawn, another soldier reported the arrival of yet another messenger.
Frowning, Wei Kaiyuan realized the court was determined to recall him.
However, when he saw the messenger pull out a thick stack of letters from his robe, he was stunned.
"What is this?"
The messenger replied, "Chancellor Fang Zhiyi thought sending them one by one would be too troublesome, so he had me deliver the remaining eleven letters to you all at once."
"Eleven? Plus last night's, that makes twelve. Is there some hidden meaning?" Wei Kaiyuan was utterly baffled.
Still, he patiently opened all eleven letters—each contained the same message.
His heart sank further.
"It seems I have no choice but to return to the capital," he sighed, stepping outside his tent and gazing northward, his eyes filled with resentment.
"Report! Another messenger has arrived!"
Wei Kaiyuan was numb by now. He had the messenger brought forward and reached out for the letter, but the messenger shook his head.
"Where is the letter?"
The messenger cleared his throat. "An oral message."
"Fine, speak."
"You little brat, you’ve got some nerve!" The moment the messenger spoke, Wei Kaiyuan's deputy drew his sword.
The messenger shuddered in fear, but his professional instincts drove him to continue, "You must have received the previous twelve letters..."
Wei Kaiyuan waved his hand. "I understand. You may report back that my troops will decamp and return tomorrow."
The messenger hesitated, then blurted out anxiously, "Reading them is one thing, but coming back will only bring trouble. If you’ve got the guts, push straight into the barbarians' homeland. If you’re short on supplies, just send this guy back to let me know, and I’ll find a way."
He pointed at himself.
Wei Kaiyuan was stunned. After a pause, he asked, "Whose message is this?"
The messenger answered truthfully, "Chancellor Fang Zhiyi."
Wei Kaiyuan frowned. "Impossible!"
The messenger nodded vigorously. "It really is Chancellor Fang. He said letters could be intercepted, so he ordered me to deliver the message directly." He paused. "Oh, and Chancellor Fang mentioned that a merchant convoy with apricot-yellow banners will pass through in a few days. If you reveal your identity, they’ll hand over all their supplies to you."
Wei Kaiyuan was momentarily speechless.
Fang Zhiyi? The image of Fang Zhiyi flashed in his mind. No way—he was the one who feared war the most.
Yet, a few days later, a merchant convoy did arrive. After verifying Wei Kaiyuan’s identity, they even left their wagons behind. When the covers were lifted, the wagons were filled with provisions.
Wei Kaiyuan couldn’t fathom what game Fang Zhiyi was playing.
"General, do we return now?" the deputy asked.
Wei Kaiyuan hesitated, glancing at the messenger who was fidgeting nearby and then at the soldiers counting the supplies. Finally, he made up his mind. "How can I disobey the Emperor’s decree?"
To him, Fang Zhiyi was nothing but a treacherous minister, utterly untrustworthy. Just as he was preparing to pack up, the messenger cautiously approached again.
"General, are you really returning?"
Wei Kaiyuan nodded. "You may leave."
The messenger shook his head, cleared his throat once more, and said, "If the general insists on returning to court, tell him his father is in my hands."
The moment those words left his mouth, Wei Kaiyuan exploded. He grabbed the messenger by the collar. "What did you say?"
All around them, swords were drawn.
The messenger, ever professional, swallowed hard and struggled to speak. "If he’s determined to come back and court death, I might as well send his father ahead to pave the way for him. Think carefully—keep fighting, and your father stays safe. Return, and your entire Liangguo Duke’s residence will be finished!"
"He wouldn’t dare!" Wei Kaiyuan roared.
The messenger continued, "If he says I wouldn’t dare, remind him of my reputation. I’ve killed ministers who served three reigns—what’s a duke to me?"
Wei Kaiyuan’s eyes widened, but after a moment, he released the messenger.
"General!" His subordinates rushed forward.
Wei Kaiyuan glared at the messenger. "Fine. So he’s colluded with the barbarians to set a trap for me? I’ll walk into it. But he’d better not harm a single person in my household!"
The messenger scratched his head and replied honestly, "Chancellor didn’t tell me how to respond to that."
Wei Kaiyuan took a deep breath. "Go back and tell him I need provisions and weapons. Didn’t he say to ask for whatever I lack? Poisoned rations and rusted blades—Wei Kaiyuan will dare to eat and wield them all!"
Far away in the capital, Fang Zhiyi was unaware of this exchange. He was busy with a new project—urban renewal. He had selected a group of craftsmen, personally drawn up architectural plans, and explained the techniques to them.
When the Emperor learned of this, he summoned Fang Zhiyi. After reviewing the designs, His Majesty was delighted and immediately decided to participate in the "urban renewal" project. As for the funding—Fang Zhiyi, of course, understood.
Soon, he introduced the project to the court. Eager to curry favor with the Emperor and Fang Zhiyi, the officials—already swimming in wealth—competed to contribute. Before long, construction sites sprang up all over the capital.
Only a few retired ministers cursed Fang Zhiyi in private. Even the commoners knew this was just another scheme to squeeze money out of them.
But their complaints were half-hearted. After all, for Fang Zhiyi, such maneuvers were nothing out of the ordinary.
Half a month passed, and the Wei army not only failed to return but had advanced to the northern border, confronting the barbarian forces near the old capital.
When news reached the court, the Emperor was shocked.
"Chancellor Fang, were the twelve secret letters delivered?"
Fang Zhiyi bowed. "...They were not."
"What?!"
"Your Majesty, forgive me. I only learned yesterday that the messengers were ambushed and killed by bandits on the road."
"What?!" The entire court erupted.
"Bandits daring to kill imperial envoys? Outrageous!"
"Your Majesty, I intended to report this today. Due to barbarian raids, many commoners have turned to banditry. The messengers couldn’t get through."
"Preposterous!" the Emperor thundered. "Are you telling me mere bandits have stumped you?"
Fang Zhiyi clasped his hands. "I request Your Majesty’s decree to suppress the bandits!"
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
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!"
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)
