"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?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
