A strange feeling crept into the hearts of the group, yet none could quite put their finger on it.
So, they thought of Xue Wanqiu. Turning around, they went to find her and poured out their recent troubles. Already in a foul mood, Xue Wanqiu immediately decided to head for the palace upon hearing this. Fang Zhiyi wasn't with her? Then she would wait for him right there in the palace! She was determined to demand how he managed affairs, allowing not only a Consort to bully her but also letting those old fogies harass her brothers!
However, for the first time, she who had always come and gone without hindrance was stopped at the palace gates. The eunuchs and palace maids she was once familiar with had all been replaced.
The looks they gave her were full of contempt.
This was utterly intolerable to the prideful Xue Wanqiu. After a few sharp words with a young maid, she could no longer restrain herself and shoved the girl. Had Wei Lin not arrived just in time, she would have been set upon and beaten by a group of palace servants that very day.
Returning to the Xue residence seething with unvented anger, she had barely settled when a eunuch from the palace arrived.
"Xue Wanqiu of the Xue family, for trespassing in the imperial palace and debased conduct! In consideration of Lord Xue's standing, you are ordered to discipline her yourselves!" The eunuch's shrill voice made a vein throb on Lord Xue's forehead. The eunuch then lowered his voice, "A young lady awaiting marriage, yet she spends her days in the company of several men, even claiming His Majesty loves her. Lord Xue, do you no longer value what rests upon your shoulders?"
Lord Xue nearly fainted from fright. He wasn't unaware of his daughter's activities; he knew of the Emperor's fondness for her. Moreover, following his daughter's lead had never steered him wrong before and had brought him considerable benefits, so he had let her be. But this sudden shift in the palace's attitude was a stark reminder of his own true station.
Thus, Xue Wanqiu suffered a second blow from her own parents.
"How did I give birth to such a troublemaker? A girl must have propriety, can't you understand?"
"Still talking about the past? That was when His Majesty favored you! Now he has Consort Yin!"
"My daughter, I beg you, just enter the palace. The Emperor likes you so much, perhaps you could even become Empress. If you become Empress, our family will soar to greatness. Then, that Consort Yin... pah!"
"What exactly do you want? You unfilial daughter!"
Xue Wanqiu felt as if her face had been ripped off and trampled upon the ground. She held her head high, "I refuse an arranged marriage! What of it if he's the Emperor?" Regarding Fang Zhiyi, she still had confidence. It was only because of that Yin Tao that she was being hindered now. She believed this was all temporary.
Unable to sway her, Lord Xue placed her under house arrest. The elder Xues intended for her to reflect deeply. This also prevented Xiao Ce from seeing her. While Xue Wanqiu's parents were opportunistic, being targeted repeatedly had begun to make them realize the problem. Perhaps their daughter's reluctance to enter the palace was because of these young men!
Yes, these fellows were handsome and capable, but under heaven, who was greater than the Emperor? Previously, they had gained many benefits and turned a blind eye to their daughter's behavior. But recently, the Emperor had stopped visiting, and that Consort Yin clearly held them in disdain. As a seasoned official, Lord Xue naturally pondered where the problem lay.
He immediately resolved to sever the ambiguous relationships between his daughter and these young men.
However, he underestimated Xue Wanqiu's determination. She still sneaked out. What she didn't expect was that Yin Tao had been monitoring her movements. No sooner had she taken Xiao Ce's hand in the peach grove than Wei Lin arrived in a hurried state. Thus, he witnessed the two holding hands. Previously, Xue Wanqiu had always concealed her interactions with one from the others, using such methods to gradually ensnare each male lead in turn. But being caught by Wei Lin today flustered her.
"Wei Lin gege..."
Wei Lin instinctively turned his face away. After a long moment, he said, "Wanqiu... Miss Xue, should I not have appeared at this time?"
Xue Wanqiu shook her head like a rattle-drum, "No, no, it's not like that! Let me explain!"
Not far away, the spectating Yin Tao was beside herself with glee. It was her first time witnessing such a live, melodramatic scene. But seeing the male lead, female lead, and second male lead actually reconcile in the end, she was stunned. "Is there no justice anymore?"
Fang Zhiyi only checked in on the female lead's movements when he had a moment. He was quite satisfied with Yin Tao's methods; at least she absorbed the vast majority of the female lead's attention, sparing him from dealing with that self-important transmigrator.
An elderly eunuch whispered, "Your Majesty, Minister Yang awaits you in the study."
Fang Zhiyi smiled, "Let's go!"
Xue Wanqiu attempted to see Fang Zhiyi again, but Yin Tao was like a ghost. Whenever Xue Wanqiu appeared within fifty paces of the palace, Yin Tao would be waiting there, ready with taunts. The maids following her would cover their mouths, mocking Xue Wanqiu, which utterly shattered her composure. She merely retorted a few times before an old matron gave her a dozen slaps across the face.
Her face swollen, Xue Wanqiu fled home. She was convinced this Consort Yin was deliberately blocking her from seeing Fang Zhiyi!
But this instilled a sense of crisis in her. If Consort Yin gained control over Fang Zhiyi first, her future plans would be in jeopardy.
So, she arranged a meeting with the three men.
"I have not provoked that Consort Yin, yet she targets me repeatedly. It's truly hateful!"
The men were somewhat at a loss for words, though seeing Xue Wanqiu's swollen face pained them. However, aside from Wei Lin, the other two had also been feeling constrained lately.
"Wanqiu, a new supervisor has arrived at the Salt and Iron Commission. It's become inconvenient for me to operate," Liu Yan complained. He could have embezzled considerable funds through his usual methods, but for some reason, his trusted aide had accidentally drowned in the moat after drinking. The new supervisor spent all day scrutinizing the account books with wide eyes, making Liu Yan's heart drum with anxiety.
"My situation is also troublesome. Those old fossils seem to have taken the wrong medicine lately, opposing me at every turn," Xiao Ce said helplessly. His painstakingly cultivated confidants had either been suddenly transferred or assigned new duties requiring collaboration. Several ministers he had previously won over had also grown distant recently, leaving him powerless in his struggles against the stubborn old guard at court.
Wei Lin remained silent. He hadn't encountered anything particularly unusual; the Imperial Guards were firmly under his control. He just looked at Xue Wanqiu's face, his hand gradually clenching into a fist.
Xue Wanqiu frowned in thought for a moment—essentially recalling the plot. "Who exactly is targeting you?"
As Liu Yan and Xiao Ce listed a series of names, Xue Wanqiu gradually understood. These people were all the antagonists from the original story! All stumbling blocks hindering her brothers' rise to power! Stubborn old fools!
Now it made sense.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
