"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?"
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
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!
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
