"Bandit suppression?" That wasn't a big deal. Though they dared not fight the barbarians, dealing with bandits was well within their capabilities.
Fang Zhiyi nodded. "While suppressing the bandits, we can also deliver a message to Wei Kaiyuan. I’m sure he’ll receive it soon."
The emperor, his face grim, nodded in agreement. There was no other way.
As the court session ended, Fang Zhiyi deliberately lingered behind. The emperor, in a sour mood, glanced at him and muttered, "Go on, speak."
Fang Zhiyi grinned.
"Your Majesty, regarding the funds for bandit suppression... may I seek donations? After all, banditry affects everyone’s livelihood."
The emperor frowned. "How much money do you need to suppress a few bandits?"
"A great deal! From here to Beiliang, the roads are lined with mountains teeming with outlaws." As he spoke, Fang Zhiyi pulled a scroll from his sleeve and unfurled it slowly.
The emperor looked and saw an exquisitely rendered pavilion leap off the page.
"This..."
"The more funds for bandit suppression, the better," Fang Zhiyi said with a smile.
The emperor immediately understood and nodded repeatedly. "Excellent! Minister Fang, you truly have remarkable talent! I grant you permission! I’ll give you a golden token—use it to raise funds!"
Watching Fang Zhiyi leave, the emperor nodded to himself. It was the same old Fang Zhiyi, always knowing how to please him.
The thought of embracing his favorite consort while admiring the moon from that splendid pavilion lifted his spirits considerably.
"Chancellor, who should we approach for donations?" asked Abao, Fang Zhiyi’s trusted aide.
"Who do you think? Whoever has money!" Fang Zhiyi replied brashly. "The common folk are penniless—of course, we’ll go after the nobles and officials!"
Abao nodded eagerly. His master was becoming more adept at making money by the day.
Shen Xun had just arrived home when he spotted Fang Zhiyi waiting at his doorstep. He hurried forward. "Chancellor Fang."
Fang Zhiyi glanced at him. "I’ve come to see my son."
"Please, come in!" Shen Xun ushered him inside. Once indoors, Fang Zhiyi barely spared a glance at Fang Bufan, who was sweeping the floor, before turning away.
"Minister Shen, you’re aware of today’s proposal regarding bandit suppression, yes?"
Shen Xun nodded. He saw nothing wrong with it—bandit suppression was necessary.
"I’d like to ask Minister Shen to lead the operation. What do you think?"
"Me?" Shen Xun pointed at himself in surprise.
Fang Zhiyi leaned in and whispered a few words into his ear. Shen Xun’s eyes widened, a mix of trepidation and excitement flashing across his face.
"Chancellor, this matter..."
"I trust your integrity, Minister Shen. No one else would do." Truthfully, it wasn’t just that—most others were of questionable character, and those with principles had long been sidelined. If they didn’t spit at the sight of Fang Zhiyi, it was already a miracle.
"I will spare no effort!" Shen Xun rose and bowed solemnly.
"What are you staring at? You’ll be on the front lines when we suppress the bandits!" Fang Zhiyi snapped at Fang Bufan, who kept stealing glances at him. "Minister Shen, there’s one more favor I must ask."
The capital was in chaos again. Fang Zhiyi, golden token in hand, went door to door. Any household with officials—or relatives in office—was fair game. He barged in without a word, holding up the token with his left hand and extending his right palm. The message was clear: hand over the money.
The entire court cursed him inwardly, but outwardly, they wore forced smiles.
The haul was staggering. Fang Zhiyi hadn’t expected such a war-torn nation to be so wealthy.
Immediately, he petitioned the emperor to dispatch Shen Xun to lead the bandit suppression—and to take his son along.
The emperor, counting the silver notes Fang Zhiyi had delivered, beamed with delight. "This Fang Zhiyi—first he beats his son, now he wants to gild the boy’s reputation. Approved!"
And so, Shen Xun selected a contingent of soldiers and set off.
Fang Zhiyi, meanwhile, grew even bolder, resuming his urban renewal projects and squeezing yet more silver from the officials. Now, both loyalists and schemers alike cursed his name.
But they knew better than to cross him—he had the emperor’s backing.
Wei Kaiyuan had been stranded for some time, his supplies dwindling. Only the kindness of local peasants kept his men fed.
He found it strange. The barbarians had sent their main force, and the battles had been evenly matched, yet none of the traps he’d anticipated had materialized.
As he pondered this, a soldier rushed in with a report: an army was approaching.
Wei Kaiyuan’s heart lurched. Had the court come to punish him for defying the imperial decree?
He rallied his men and rode out to meet them. Wei Kaiyuan knew his family had served loyally for generations—he would never betray the throne. This was all that wretched Fang Zhiyi’s doing!
But from a distance, he saw the troops escorting a vast supply train, their banners bearing the character "Shen."
As they drew near, he recognized the man at the forefront. "Minister Shen?"
Shen Xun dismounted. "Kaiyuan! You’ve done well for yourself!"
Wei Kaiyuan managed a smile. "What brings you here...?"
Then he spotted the bound eunuch among the ranks.
"I’m here," Shen Xun said, pulling him aside, "on the chancellor’s orders to deliver provisions—and weapons."
"Fang Zhiyi?"
Shen Xun nodded. "Him."
"Even you...?" Wei Kaiyuan stared at Shen Xun in disbelief. The man was stubborn, but he’d never taken sides.
"It’s not what you think." Shen Xun clapped him on the shoulder, then remembered something. "Bufan! Come here!"
Fang Bufan scurried over obediently.
Wei Kaiyuan studied him, the name ringing a faint bell.
"Fang Zhiyi’s only son, Fang Bufan."
At the name, Wei Kaiyuan’s blood boiled. Your father forced me to defy the emperor, and now you dare show your face here?
But before he could draw his blade, Shen Xun interjected, "The chancellor said to leave the boy with you. Do as you please—make him a vanguard suicide soldier or a lowly stablehand."
Fang Bufan hung his head in silence.
Wei Kaiyuan blinked. "Did Fang Zhiyi find out he’s not his real son?"
"Don’t be absurd!" Shen Xun chided, though privately, he couldn’t help but agree. That... actually makes sense!
Fang Bufan, unaware of Wei Kaiyuan’s remark, was spared only because of it. Instead, Wei Kaiyuan patted his shoulder and sighed, shaking his head. Though he hadn’t heard their exchange, he knew it boded no good.
The provisions—untampered.
The weapons—wrapped in oiled paper. Shen Xun mentioned Fang Zhiyi had purchased them from the imperial armory.
Wei Kaiyuan’s brow furrowed. He couldn’t fathom Fang Zhiyi’s game.
"By the way, how’s my father?"
"Your father... the Duke of Liang? Oh, he’s fine—strolling, bird-watching, the usual."
Wei Kaiyuan exhaled in relief.
"And the eunuch...?"
"Oh, the messenger. The emperor asked if his edict reached you. Chancellor Fang claimed the messenger was killed en route—hence why I was sent to ‘suppress bandits.’"
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!
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?!
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.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
