"Host, what are you planning to do?" Little Hei rubbed his hands together and asked.
"What time is it now?" Fang Zhiyi took a sip of tea.
"The rebel army has surrounded the city."
"Pfft!" Fang Zhiyi spat out the tea. "Why didn’t you just drop me off on the night I committed suicide?"
Little Hei looked apologetic. "I really can’t choose the timing right now..."
Fang Zhiyi waved him off. "Get lost."
"Grand General!" A eunuch rushed in from outside, breathless. "His Majesty summons you."
Fang Zhiyi followed without hesitation.
In the grand hall, the assembled civil and military officials were as restless as ants on a hot pan, clearly having received the news.
Emperor Shunying, who had not attended court for a long time, walked up with unsteady steps and sat on the dragon throne. His gaze swept over the whispering ministers, and when he spotted Fang Zhiyi, he smiled at him.
Fang Zhiyi quickly bowed slightly.
"The rebels have reached the city walls. What are your thoughts?" Emperor Shunying never minced words.
An elderly minister stepped forward. "Your Majesty, in this old servant’s opinion, we should flee south."
Another official stepped out, flicking his sleeve. "Nonsense! You old fool!"
Fang Zhiyi watched the two of them—representatives of opposing factions—still finding time to bicker even now.
"Your Majesty, it’s not fleeing—it’s a strategic relocation."
Fang Zhiyi sighed inwardly. He had thought this guy had some backbone, but it turned out he just wanted a nicer-sounding term.
Emperor Shunying seemed tempted, but when he instinctively looked at Fang Zhiyi, he saw the firm resolve in his eyes. "Fang, my dear minister, what do you say?"
The entire court fell silent. Everyone knew the emperor placed immense trust in this grand general, though some believed it was a disaster in the making.
Without hesitation, Fang Zhiyi replied, "Your Majesty, I shall immediately mobilize the capital guards to prepare for battle!" As if joking—he had fought wars before, hadn’t he?
His decisive words sent a ripple of shock through the court.
"Absolutely not! The capital guards and imperial troops combined barely number 100,000, and with recent vacancies, we’d be lucky to scrape together 80,000. Meanwhile, the rebel forces outside number over 300,000! Your Majesty, please flee—no, relocate!" A minister dropped to his knees in panic.
"Exactly! Has Grand General Fang lost his mind? How many years has it been since he last fought?"
"I say Fang Zhiyi is just a fool!"
But then Emperor Shunying suddenly barked, silencing the court.
He looked at Fang Zhiyi. "Very well. Fang, my dear minister, the capital is in your hands. From this moment on, every soldier, every resource—from Us to the common folk—is under your command!"
Fang Zhiyi was stunned. Raising his head, he studied Emperor Shunying. This was no weak ruler—this was a wise sovereign! The history he knew had clearly undersold him.
Fang Zhiyi accepted the order and left.
Soon, the capital guards and imperial troops were mobilized. He also dragged over the eunuch in charge of the Mirror Bureau.
Cao Ji forced a smile. Though he usually stood on equal footing with Fang Zhiyi, wartime and the emperor’s extraordinary delegation of authority left him no room for defiance. "Grand General, why have you summoned me? I’ll cooperate fully!"
Fang Zhiyi’s gaze slid past him, settling on a young eunuch trailing behind.
"What’s your name?"
The eunuch trembled. "This humble servant is Gao Liang, General."
Fang Zhiyi nodded, then turned back to Cao Ji. "Eunuch Cao, you’ll have to endure staying with me on the city walls these next few days."
Cao Ji was baffled. "General, I don’t understand."
Fang Zhiyi’s eyes darkened as he stared at the rebel camp outside the walls. "You oversee the Mirror Bureau, correct? Until the rebels retreat, your entire bureau is to remain on high alert. Anyone caught colluding with the enemy—execute on the spot. Anyone showing signs of surrender—execute on the spot. Anyone attempting to flee—execute on the spot."
Cao Ji sucked in a sharp breath, scrutinizing the grand general who had just days ago shared wine and music with him. Was he truly this ruthless? The Mirror Bureau had always been about gathering dirt on officials and arresting dissidents—never something of this scale.
Fang Zhiyi turned, his eyes brimming with killing intent. "Eunuch Cao, do you understand?" This man—Cao Ji—had been the one to collude with the rebels in the original timeline, the one who forced Emperor Shunying to take his own life.
"Understood, understood." Cao Ji turned to Gao Liang. "Well? Go!"
Gao Liang nodded and scurried off.
The Mirror Bureau resembled the Eastern Depot from Fang Zhiyi’s original world’s history—just far less competent.
The rebels did not attack but instead camped outside, seemingly in no hurry. That night, a letter reached Cao Ji through the Mirror Bureau’s agents. Smiling obsequiously, Cao Ji handed it to Fang Zhiyi.
Fang Zhiyi made no effort to hide it, opening it right in front of him.
As expected—the surrender ultimatum.
Little Hei didn’t know this part of the plot, but Fang Zhiyi had pieced it together: Cao Ji had already made contact with the rebels through the Mirror Bureau’s spies outside.
Meanwhile, in the court, the ministers had not gone home but continued pressing Emperor Shunying to relocate south.
"Your Majesty, even if Grand General Fang is a peerless warrior, we cannot possibly resist such overwhelming numbers!"
"Your Majesty! Fang Zhiyi harbors treasonous ambitions!" A minister rushed in, distraught. "My family tried to flee the city for safety, but Mirror Bureau agents stopped them—and slaughtered them all!"
"What?!" The court erupted in shock.
"Their leader said it was the grand general’s order! I beg Your Majesty for justice!" The old minister prostrated himself, weeping uncontrollably.
Another official seized the moment. "Your Majesty, Fang Zhiyi may already be in league with the rebels! If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!"
"Exactly! If he opens the gates to surrender, we’ll be lambs to the slaughter!" someone else cried.
Emperor Shunying simply sat there, watching them silently.
A eunuch stumbled in, panic-stricken. "Your Majesty! Disaster! The grand general has opened the city gates—the rebels are pouring in!"
Emperor Shunying’s face paled. "What did you say?!"
The court dissolved into wails. Some began calculating how best to surrender to save their lives, while others turned and fled outright.
As the rebel vanguard surged through the gates, Cao Ji finally relaxed, grinning. "Grand General Fang knows which way the wind blows. Even under the new regime, we can still enjoy power and pleasure together."
Fang Zhiyi smiled back. "Right? No point fighting a losing battle."
But in the next instant, his blade flashed—and Cao Ji’s head tumbled from his shoulders, his smile still frozen in place as it rolled down the ramparts.
"Close the gates! Archers, fire!" The inner gate of the barbican slammed shut. The soldiers who had opened the gates suddenly turned on the rebels behind them, while archers lining the walls rained down arrows like a storm.
The rebels below were dumbfounded. Hadn’t Fang Zhiyi surrendered? Why the sudden betrayal?
Little Hei watched the carnage, then glanced at Fang Zhiyi. "Host… you’re not surrendering?"
"There’s a line of poetry—ever heard it?" Fang Zhiyi asked, staring at the rebels falling in waves below.
"‘To repay my lord’s golden trust on the tower, I draw my jade dragon sword—and die for him!’"
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!
Heart] Chen Yi traversed the cultivation world for eight hundred years, charging his way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just as he was outwitting his 81st Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, he was suddenly pulled into a chat group called the "Multiverse Transmigrators Support Group." To his surprise, the group was filled with nothing but fresh-faced newbies who had just transmigrated. [Help! I transmigrated into a disgraced concubine in the cold palace, and the tyrant emperor is about to execute me!] [I ended up as a cannon-fodder villain, and the protagonist is still chasing me—WTF!] [I woke up as the protagonist’s father, but I’m about to be sacrificed in a ritual! What do I do? Urgent!!!] Chen Yi stared at the chaotic flood of desperate pleas in the group and fell into deep thought. "Seriously? You drag me into a newbie transmigrator chat group… only after I’m one step away from becoming an immortal?"
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
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?
