The sound of heavy slapping ended their conversation. They watched as Lin Yanqing, her face dark with anger, walked out of the broken-down temple.
"What's her problem now?"
"Shh, keep your voice down."
They were afraid of Lin Yanqing. Initially, they had looked down on her because she was a woman, but they had gradually been intimidated by her domineering and ruthless demeanor.
Fang Zhiyi learned the news of Lin Yanqing's disappearance and then looked at Liu Acai's smug, sneering face. "You..."
Liu Acai waved his hand. "Just a little trick, a little trick! No need to praise me!"
This guy is really quite wicked, Fang Zhiyi thought, shaking his head helplessly. He could only hope that if Liu Acai ever went to hell, he wouldn't be assigned to dig the nineteenth level.
Nian'an was greatly favored by the Emperor. Also, because rebellions were erupting everywhere, with several rebel forces fighting back and forth against the imperial suppression armies, the Emperor was deeply worried.
He didn't really care about the rebellions themselves, but he knew that if left unchecked, his throne would become unstable.
However, the money had all been spent on his own pleasures. The army's pay had not been fully distributed, and because of this, those rebel armies had been able to gradually grow stronger.
Hearing the Emperor's sigh, Nian'an knew his opportunity had come.
"Your Majesty, this humble official has a plan that could relieve the immediate crisis."
The Emperor looked at him in surprise.
"That Fang Zhiyi possesses considerable wealth."
Who would have thought that upon hearing this, the Emperor's expression gradually turned serious. He looked at Nian'an and remained silent for a long time.
Just as Nian'an was growing uneasy...
"Ah," the Emperor sighed. "What you say, how could I not know? It's just... now, too many people in this court have ties to him. Even I..."
Nian'an's heart sank, but he gritted his teeth. "I have a plan that can both remove this local tyrant and ensure Your Majesty's interests are not harmed. Moreover, it will provide even more funds for suppressing the rebellions afterward!"
"Oh?" The Emperor became interested. He had also heard that the lottery business was growing larger and larger, and there was something called the Slumber Moon Pavilion. Yet, the funds entering his private treasury hadn't increased much; in fact, they had even decreased somewhat. He also felt some dissatisfaction toward this legendary Fang Zhiyi, but he couldn't find a suitable pretext to move against him. As the Emperor, he couldn't just kill anyone he disliked. He still needed to maintain some semblance of propriety, not to mention that almost all the civil and military officials had some connection with this man.
It was a very unpleasant feeling.
"Your Majesty, summon him to the capital, saying you wish to reward him. Once he enters the palace, apprehend him immediately!"
The Emperor was puzzled. "Why?"
"I have a way to force him to produce that anti-counterfeiting coating. Then, Your Majesty can issue the lottery tickets in the name of the Imperial Family. Though I am untalented, I am familiar with many of Fang Zhiyi's methods. I will share Your Majesty's burdens..." Nian'an's voice gradually lowered, becoming so fragmented that the eunuch not far away looked confused.
The Emperor suddenly understood. "Good, good, good! I indeed did not misjudge you! My dear minister! You, you are truly clever!"
Nian'an bowed deeply, a smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.
Fang Zhiyi, your good days are over. Now I have the Emperor's backing. And you?
Meanwhile, Fang Zhiyi had finally lain down on a soft, large bed and let out a comfortable sigh.
"Look at you, lazing about like a salted fish," Little Hei circled continuously. "That godson of yours is about to make trouble for you."
Fang Zhiyi smiled. "That guy really holds a grudge. Little Hei, do you know what sound a fox makes?"
Little Hei shook his head. "I never really paid attention."
"The Chu shall rise, Chen Sheng be king."
Little Hei looked utterly confused. "Really?"
The next day, not long after the imperial edict summoning Fang Zhiyi was sent out, the entire entourage escorting the eunuch came running back.
The Emperor was bewildered. "What happened?"
Nian'an was also puzzled. Looking at these people, they seemed as if they had been robbed.
Before they could speak, urgent reports began pouring in from outside: "Your Majesty! Urgent military report! Rebellions have broken out in the four southern provinces! The rebels killed the gate guards and opened the city gates for the rebel army!"
"Your Majesty, the rebel army north of the Huai River has begun marching toward the capital!"
"Your Majesty..."
The eunuch holding the imperial edict, his legs giving way, also knelt down. "Your Majesty, the place you sent me to... has also fallen into the hands of the bandit army. We ran right into their scouts!"
"Ah?" The Emperor plopped down onto his stool.
Nian'an was shocked. Just when he was about to get his revenge, why... But then he thought, if Fang Zhiyi fell into the hands of the rebel army, wouldn't that also mean his death? Thinking this, he felt somewhat relieved. Such a vile villain would surely be the rebel army's primary target.
News from the front lines quickly spread back. Some armies, lacking pay, had defected or mutinied. The rebel armies merged into one force, advancing with unstoppable momentum. In just over a month, the rebel army was at the city gates.
Nian'an supported the Emperor, whose legs were weak, as they went up the city wall to survey the situation, but his mind was calculating his next move.
The rebel army below was well-trained and well-equipped. If he didn't know their identity, Nian'an would have thought they were coming to protect the Emperor. These rebels looked quite wealthy. Then he saw a somewhat familiar face among them but couldn't remember where he had seen it.
That night, after attending to the Emperor, Nian'an had just lain down when he suddenly sat up. That's it! The commanding general was the son of a hunter from the western suburbs! Back when his father was injured by a wild beast, Fang Zhiyi had hypocritically sent him food and drink!
Instantly, a terrifying conjecture formed in his mind.
Fang Zhiyi had curried favor with corrupt officials, using businesses like the lottery and the Slumber Moon Pavilion to amass wealth on a large scale, but in reality, he was secretly providing supplies and weapons to these rebel armies... Corrupting court officials on one hand, while strengthening the rebel forces on the other?
Right! The Slumber Moon Pavilion? Those branch stores! After all, Nian'an was the male lead; he understood. These so-called branch stores were merely a front. Besides amassing wealth, their biggest function was to collect intelligence!
The people frequenting the Slumber Moon Pavilion were all "high society," so naturally, a lot of information circulated there daily. This could explain why the resistance in various provinces was always so easily broken.
"Impossible..." Moments later, Nian'an shook his head again. How could Fang Zhiyi have foreseen such things? He was overthinking it.
He smiled self-deprecatingly. Indeed, smart people like him were prone to overthinking.
But what should be done now? Perhaps tomorrow he should advise the Emperor to move the capital? Avoid the enemy's sharp edge for now. As long as they waited for the imperial princes stationed in various regions to arrive, they could turn the situation around.
However, that very night, the gates of the imperial city were opened from the inside.
The sounds of killing and shouting woke Nian'an. He fell out of bed and heard his own mansion gate being pounded violently.
That night, Nian'an hid in a latrine, barely avoiding three waves of searches. Then he disguised himself as a beggar and slipped out of the city. He heard from the fleeing refugees that the Emperor had been hanged by the rebels inside the palace.
Nian'an sighed with emotion.
"Did you hear? The one who opened the city gates and surrendered was the Grand General."
"Ah? Impossible."
"That treacherous official!"
Nian'an kept his head down. He needed to escape quickly.
But he never expected that while passing through the second checkpoint at the city gate, a man walked straight toward him, then grabbed him and looked him up and down.
Nian'an wanted to break free, but when he saw the man's face, he froze.
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?!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
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!
