"Ah?"
"Enough with the 'ah'." Shen Xun turned and ordered, "Kill that eunuch. Later, we'll say bandits did it."
"Yes, sir!"
"You..." Wei Kaiyuan's eyes widened. "This is defying the emperor's decree! It's a capital offense!" He truly couldn't understand why.
Shen Xun smiled. "Relax. The Chancellor has already thought it through. Kill him, and it's done. The two who returned from your place last time? He killed them too."
"You—Shen Xun! Are you conspiring with Fang Zhiyi? Are you rebelling?"
"Rebelling? What rebellion? If you don't talk and I don’t talk, who’ll know? It’s chaos out here." Shen Xun paused. "The moment I agreed to the Chancellor’s plan, I was already deceiving the emperor. The commoners along the way have long fled—what bandits? It’s just the Chancellor’s excuse to send me here with supplies. If he doesn’t die, will you return or not?"
Wei Kaiyuan was momentarily speechless.
"If he lives and reports back, do I die or not?"
Wei Kaiyuan lowered his head.
"Look, if we break through here, we can reclaim the lands overlooking the Hu people’s territory." He pointed at the pass ahead.
"The commoners are burning incense in secret, praying for your success. You wouldn’t turn back now, would you? Think—would your father beat you to death if you did?"
Wei Kaiyuan raised his head, his eyes filled with resolve. "Wei Kaiyuan has failed the people of Yan!"
"Ah, that’s more like it." Shen Xun exhaled in relief. The Chancellor was truly formidable—the script he’d prepared worked perfectly on Wei Kaiyuan!
"Since we’re here, let me stretch my legs up there."
"Ah?"
"I brought out so many men. If we all return unscathed, do you think the court officials are fools?"
With supplies and reinforcements secured, the Hu forces in the old capital were caught off guard. In three days, they retreated in defeat.
Fang Bufan’s hand trembled as he gripped his blade, staring at Shen Xun, who had taken a slash meant for him.
"Kid, killing on the battlefield isn’t like street brawling. Don’t swing so wildly—didn’t I teach you that?" Shen Xun paid no mind to his wound.
"...I..."
Shen Xun sighed. "The Wei army has strict discipline. Your father wanted you stationed here. I’ll talk to Wei Kaiyuan—get you assigned to logistics, somewhere safer. If anything happened to you, your father might not say it, but he’d grieve to death."
"Lord Shen, I was wrong." Fang Bufan suddenly knelt, weeping.
Shen Xun quickly sidestepped. "Get up! Kneeling at the drop of a hat—where’s your dignity as a man?"
Shen Xun led the remnants back to the capital, while Wei Kaiyuan remained in the old capital to plan the next move. He’d wanted to return, but Shen Xun stopped him.
"The Chancellor was right. You can’t go back. If you do, the entire Wei clan will perish."
Wei Kaiyuan, irritated at the mention of Fang Zhiyi again, stubbornly stayed put.
Meanwhile, resentment festered in the capital. Corrupt Chancellor Fang Zhiyi’s extortion never ceased, and he’d invented new schemes—royal lotteries promising instant wealth, installment plans for unfinished houses. But the court officials bore the brunt of his greed, their coffers plundered repeatedly.
Impeachment memorials against Fang Zhiyi piled up like snowflakes in the palace.
Yet the emperor paid no heed, indulging in the new palace Fang Zhiyi had designed for him—even his amusements were Fang’s inventions.
He knew Fang Zhiyi embezzled, for much of it lined his own pockets.
In that regard, the emperor was thoroughly pleased.
He’d chosen Fang Zhiyi precisely because the man knew how to entertain him. So what if he was greedy? Without his corruption, where would the emperor’s wealth come from? And if public fury ever boiled over, executing Fang would not only replenish the treasury but also prove the emperor’s righteousness.
Shen Xun returned to report: the courier had been ambushed by bandits (fate unknown), half the troops were lost, and he himself bore three wounds.
The court buzzed with murmurs.
The emperor frowned.
Suddenly, Shen Xun turned a grief-stricken gaze to Fang Zhiyi. "Chancellor... your son..."
"We encountered a Hu patrol during retreat. Fang Bufan... was killed by them!"
Fang Zhiyi staggered two steps, nearly collapsing.
"Hu raiders?" The courtiers whispered, many gloating—Serves you right, Fang Zhiyi! All your ill-gotten wealth couldn’t save him!
"Report!" A guard rushed in. "Hu envoys demand an audience!"
"Hu?!" Fang Zhiyi roared. "Where? I’ll butcher them!"
Chaos erupted. The emperor acted swiftly. "Escort Chancellor Fang home to rest! My lord, grieve in peace. We will avenge this!"
Fang Zhiyi was half-dragged away. Shen Xun also withdrew.
The Hu envoys swaggered in, immediately chastising, "Yan Kingdom breaks its word! First promising us the north, then attacking! Emperor, do you seek war?"
The court fell dead silent.
Only then did they recall—Fang Zhiyi, their usual negotiator with the Hu, had just been hauled off.
"Then... what do you propose?" the emperor hedged.
"Withdraw and pay reparations!"
Debate flared.
But the shrewd among them noticed something: the emperor, typically ambivalent when Fang Zhiyi was present, now leaned toward appeasement. With Fang absent, the court floundered, forcing the emperor to negotiate terms—compensation and punishment for the "rogue" Wei army.
Meanwhile, in Fang Zhiyi’s residence, vendors knelt under sword-point. Shen Xun stood tense while Fang Zhiyi waited, eyes lightly shut. Footsteps approached as guests filed in.
"Hah! The traitor meets his reckoning! Lost your son?" The loudest was General Huang, long retired.
"Shen Xun, you summoned us to witness his downfall?"
"Duke Wei too? Old Wei, your boy fights like a demon!"
As the room filled, Shen Xun glanced at Fang Zhiyi. The Chancellor opened his eyes—no trace of earlier anguish remained.
"Gentlemen, my past actions were... necessary. But today, I ask your aid."
"Fang Zhiyi, forget that—why are these commoners here? Planning to slaughter a few for show?" A ruddy-faced man demanded.
"Commoners?" Fang Zhiyi chuckled. "They’re the emperor’s spies, here to monitor me."
He rose. "Every tael I embezzle, every visitor I receive—they report it all to His Majesty."
"This..." The crowd exchanged puzzled looks.
"Tch. Fang Zhiyi, as a corrupt official, can you blame the emperor for distrusting you?"
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)
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
