"Ah, saying such things..." Fang Zhiyi waved his hand again, and another twenty or thirty people were brought forward. This time, it was Xue Wanqiu's turn to be shocked; almost all of Xue family's direct relatives had been arrested.
Upon seeing Xue Wanqiu, they immediately began wailing and cursing bitterly, especially Xue's Father, who cursed with extreme venom. He had been arrested by the imperial guards breaking down his door last night and knew right then that their plot had been exposed.
Xue Wanqiu's face turned alternately pale and red. Clearly, her father had agreed on the very day of the rebellion! Didn't he also desire wealth and honor? Didn't he also want to crush the superior who had humiliated him underfoot! Why did it now seem like all the fault lay with her?
"Here, I'll give you a choice." Fang Zhiyi looked at Xue Wanqiu, merely raising a finger. The eunuch attendant beside him immediately stepped forward, handing a sharp blade to Xue Wanqiu. "Kill these twenty-some members of the Xue family, and I'll spare your 'Brother Wei'."
When he uttered the words "Brother Wei", Fang Zhiyi almost couldn't hold back a laugh.
"This!" Xue Wanqiu was stunned. She looked at Fang Zhiyi with confusion, finding him somewhat unfamiliar. Looking down at the blade in her hand, she hesitated again. She wasn't the real Xue Wanqiu after all; the lives of the Xue family meant nothing to her. But... if she really did this, how would others view her afterwards? How would Brother Wei, Brother Xiao, and Brother Liu view her?
For a moment, she was frozen, but only for a few short breaths. Suddenly, she stood up: "Fang Zhiyi! Are you sure you want to treat me like this?"
Fang Zhiyi nodded without hesitation: "Alright, wrong answer."
Before she could react, the eunuch stepped forward and snatched the blade from her hand.
Fang Zhiyi turned to look at Wei Lin: "Tell me, do you want to save your entire family's lives?"
Wei Lin glanced at his trembling family members, who could barely stand, and nodded. But looking at the blade offered by the eunuch, then at the equally terrified Xue family, and then at Xue Wanqiu, he too hesitated.
"Tsk, true love," Fang Zhiyi remarked sarcastically. "But it's fine, I came prepared!"
He clapped his hands again, and two more groups of people were escorted forward. Xue Wanqiu saw her Brother Xiao and Brother Liu.
"The rule is simple. Your own records aren't clean either; you provided aid to their rebellion. You can't fool me."
Liu Yan and Xiao Ce trembled all over. The moment the imperial guards holding them loosened their grip, the two immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, have mercy!"
Fang Zhiyi smiled amiably: "I can show mercy. I'll give you a choice."
The old minister who had earlier decided to remonstrate even at the cost of his life unconsciously swallowed hard upon seeing Fang Zhiyi's smile.
"Kill the Wei family or kill the Xue family. You choose." Fang Zhiyi propped his chin on his hand, his tone brooking no argument. "I'll count to five. Either you all die here today, or..."
Xiao Ce was the first to take the blade. After a simple weighing of options, he strode towards Wei Lin's family with the knife. Seeing this, Liu Yan scrambled on hands and knees to follow behind.
Only when the sharp blades pierced flesh and cries of anguish rang out did Xue Wanqiu truly realize her mistake. This emperor before her did not love her at all!
"You! You deceived me! You've been deceiving me all this time!" she wailed. "Was your patience with me, your tenderness towards me, all fake?"
Fang Zhiyi spread his hands while rolling his eyes: "Are you stupid? Since ancient times, apart from puppet emperors, which emperor who survived the struggle for the throne has been gentle and tender? That would be asking for death."
Wei Lin roared and lunged at Xiao Ce and Liu Yan, but was held back by soldiers.
He could only watch in agony as his family members died with wide, staring eyes.
Xiao Ce's expression gradually grew numb. He kept telling himself that he was merely trying to protect his own family.
Xue Wanqiu was equally tormented. Because she had set her sights on Wei Lin early on, even though she knew Wei Lin's family had only adopted him, she had made contact with them long ago. The Wei family had treated her well. When she read the book, she had only seen written descriptions. Now, these living people dying before her eyes dealt her a significant shock.
Fang Zhiyi looked utterly indifferent; the scene before him caused him no shock. On the other hand, Yin Tao lowered her head, staring intently at the tips of her own shoes, thinking to herself that this senior was a madman! Too ruthless!
The agonizing time gradually passed. No one in the Wei family was spared.
The numb Liu Yan and Xiao Ce came forward to report their task completed. The eunuchs hastily collected the blades from their hands.
As Fang Zhiyi had no harem of consorts, many buildings in the palace were empty. That very day, the members of these several families were each imprisoned in different places. The difference was that the three other families remained intact and together, while only Wei Lin was left alone and bereft.
Of course, Xue Wanqiu was in a rather miserable state. Because her entire family had incurred a death sentence, and having witnessed the extermination of the Wei family today, the Xue family's nerves were stretched taut. Seeing this chief culprit, they continuously cursed her, and from cursing, they moved to physical violence. Xue Wanqiu's meticulously styled hair was pulled into disarray, her face covered in slap marks and bloody scratches from fingernails.
Even her own parents did not intervene.
In the latter half of the night, after being scolded and beaten for hours, Xue Wanqiu drifted into a fitful sleep, still muttering about the plot. But she was soon awakened by eunuchs pushing the door open. A eunuch carried a lantern, its light casting eerie shadows on his wrinkled face, creating an indescribable strangeness.
"Everyone, by His Majesty's order, I am here to bring you some light."
Without waiting for the Xue family to speak.
The eunuch directed the junior eunuchs behind him to bring in numerous lanterns. After quickly hanging them in various places, the group departed as if avoiding some ghostly presence.
Xue Wanqiu, seeing the now much brighter room, didn't understand what trick Fang Zhiyi was playing. But then she suddenly heard a gasp of horror.
"This, this, these lanterns!"
Xue Wanqiu was bewildered until her father dragged her by the hair to one of the lanterns.
"Take a good look! This is the sin you've committed!"
Xue Wanqiu first saw the writing on the lantern.
"Wei Jun --- Second son of the Wei family, born --- died ---"
Her mind exploded. A feeling of sheer horror surged through her. As her gaze moved downward, she saw some features that originally belonged to a human!
These lanterns were made from the human skin of the Wei family!
For a moment, the room was filled with terrified wails. Everyone moved away from the light sources. But after a while, they suddenly realized their own likely fate. Xue Wanqiu, still in a daze, noticed the hate-filled gazes from her relatives. She shrank back into the shadows, her mind racing through the plot. There must be a way! But because she had disrupted the plot first, allowing Fang Zhiyi to ascend the throne, she had no idea what would happen next.
The same thing occurred in the places where the Xiao and Liu families were held.
Fortunately, Fang Zhiyi did not do anything further to them. He merely moved them to different quarters the next day. It was a palace built by the old emperor, now dilapidated, but with the advantage of being very spacious.
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?
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.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
