The Last Emperor of a Fallen Nation 09

The families were all locked up together.

Dozens of lanterns were also delivered along with them.

When Wei Lin discovered the abnormality of the lanterns, he completely lost his mind.

That night, Wei Lin attacked the Xiao and Liu families but gained no advantage. Fortunately, the guarding soldiers intervened, or he would have been beaten to death.

On the second night, Wei Lin became smarter. He used broken tiles to kill two members of the Xiao family. The soldiers quickly carried the bodies away.

In the latter half of the night, two brand new lanterns were delivered.

The Xiao family was in agony, and an emotion named fear began to spread among the crowd.

On the third day, the Xiao and Liu families began to blame the Xue family as the root cause of all this misfortune. The Xue family naturally refused to accept this, leading to a quarrel between the two sides.

On the third night, a large-scale conflict erupted. The families fought in a chaotic brawl. The guarding soldiers did not intervene. Whenever someone was beaten to death, they would just come in to drag the body away, and then eunuchs would deliver lanterns at midnight.

Such an environment and such methods kept these families on edge. Some had even begun to lose their sanity.

They were merely imprisoned here, provided with ample food and drink, every meal featuring meat, as if Fang Zhiyi only wanted to torture them in this way.

But now, the one suffering the most torment was Wei Lin. Unlike the other three who still had family, he now had sunken eyes and seemed completely broken. Even Xue Wanqiu, who had always admired him, did not want to get close. This was not the Brother Wei she remembered.

Fortunately, she still had choices—Xiao Ce and Liu Yan.

Moreover, she did not believe Fang Zhiyi would truly kill her.

Half a month passed in a row. They seemed to have grown accustomed to this life. Wei Lin was utterly lifeless, like a zombie. Liu Yan had become sharp-mouthed and monkey-cheeked, his face etched with greed. Xiao Ce had also grown much more irritable, even blaming everything on Xue Wanqiu. Xue Wanqiu still held on. She would not be defeated by such things. Since she had transmigrated into this book, it meant she was the protagonist, and protagonists always overcome adversity!

An eerie peace persisted.

But the food provided grew less and less.

Xue Wanqiu rebuked the eunuch delivering the meals discontentedly: "You tell Fang Zhiyi it's impossible for him to make me yield using such methods!"

The eunuch glanced at her, revealing a strange smile: "His Majesty is very busy. He has no time to wait for you to yield."

Xue Wanqiu naturally didn't believe it. She still thought it was all just Fang Zhiyi's despicable tactics.

The eunuch bared his yellowed teeth: "The food is less because you haven't had any deaths recently." With that, he turned to leave but was suddenly grabbed.

Wei Lin, who seemed already dead, stared at him: "Deaths? You said deaths?"

The eunuch broke free with a jerk: "Heh, you're a clever one."

He left with a sinister laugh, leaving a room full of bewildered people.

Until another person reacted, rushing to a corner and starting to vomit violently.

Then a second, a third.

Xue Wanqiu's face turned deathly pale. She understood why Fang Zhiyi imprisoned them here yet provided so much meat every meal, and why that meat had a peculiar, unpleasant smell.

"Demon! He's a demon!" Xue Wanqiu finally broke down, vomiting and crying out.

Fang Zhiyi learned of this news but paid it no mind. In the original plot, Xue Wanqiu could have spared the people in this palace, but didn't she choose to kill them all? He was merely doing the same, only his methods were slightly more extreme.

What could he do? Who made you the protagonists? If he couldn't touch you, couldn't he touch those around you?

Yin Tao had recently been subconsciously keeping her distance from Fang Zhiyi. This senior was too ruthless. Lately, she had nightmares every time she closed her eyes. Fortunately, the Empress Dowager and the Eldest Princess had her move in to live with them, otherwise Yin Tao estimated she would be waking up frightened at night.

"Third Brother, you... you..." The Fourth Prince stammered several times but couldn't finish his sentence. He felt a kind of fear towards Fang Zhiyi's actions. Although emperors were all ruthless, Third Brother was clearly ruthless to a somewhat perverse degree. Was this hatred born from love?

He better keep his distance too.

He had also figured it out. Third Brother had merely given him a way out. Otherwise, he wouldn't have recalled the border troops. Probably on the very night of the rebellion suppression, there were still his men around. If he had shown the slightest hint of rebellion, he might have been turned into a lantern too.

"Don't rush." Fang Zhiyi was busy drawing something.

As two people entered, the Fourth Prince was surprised: "Eldest Brother? Second Brother?"

The two looked at him with complex expressions, their gazes towards Fang Zhiyi tinged with fear. Clearly, Fang Zhiyi had already approached them earlier, and they had also heard about what Fang Zhiyi had been doing recently.

Almost all the officials and generals who were close to Wei Lin had been beheaded.

"Previously, a wise man calculated that our dynasty was destined for this calamity, but if I had told you, you might not have believed me," Fang Zhiyi said.

The brothers looked at each other, full of suspicion.

"So I could only handle it myself. But today, the source of trouble has been eliminated. Naturally, we brothers can speak frankly and openly."

"Excellent!" Fang Zhiyi suddenly let out a long breath, then waved his hand. Two eunuchs immediately stepped forward, each grabbing a side, and held up the drawing he had just made.

The drawing captured the eyes of the three brothers.

"This... this is a map?" The Fourth Prince widened his eyes. "How come I've never seen it?" The only maps he had seen were of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Fang Zhiyi smiled: "This is a world map."

"World?"

"I... encountered a foreign merchant some days ago. He traveled around many countries and told me many interesting things. And then... I got this idea." Fang Zhiyi watched as his brothers stared fixedly at the map. "We are here. How much land do you think we actually have?"

All three of them widened their eyes in shock. The Northern Dynasty was actually only this tiny?

"Fourth Brother, the fiefdom I promised you is here." He pointed to a location on the map—a vast territory, no smaller than the Northern and Southern Dynasties combined.

"Hiss..." The Fourth Prince drew a sharp breath of cold air.

"Eldest Brother, look here." Fang Zhiyi tapped another area on the map.

Several hours later, the Eldest Brother slumped into a rosewood chair: "Seeing this map today, I finally realize how insignificant we are."

The Second Brother eagerly pressed Fang Zhiyi: "Third Son, no, Your Majesty, are you serious? The people there have black skin? And there are long-nosed beasts?"

Fang Zhiyi nodded, showing no impatience. He could also see that these brothers had previously wanted to become emperor simply because there were no other options. But today, after his brainwashing, their interests had instantly shifted.

The Eldest Brother's eyes shone when he heard they could build ships and sail the seas. He had been confined for too long and was going stir-crazy.

The Second Brother was more like a geographer, constantly studying the map and occasionally asking questions.

Only the Fourth Prince was calculating the matters of becoming an independent king.