"The Chancellor's proteges and disciples each perform their duties and are pillars of the state. It was My negligence previously. From this day forth, I shall issue a decree: the Chancellor's proteges and clan members may all receive noble titles and substantial official posts based on their past merits." His tender, youthful voice echoed in the ears of the dead-silent officials. Fang Zhiyi closed his eyes and listened. "The Chancellor's eldest son may go to Qiongzhou as the governor to manage the livelihood of the local people. His second son may go to the border to lead the army. The younger generation of his family may also receive titles and be appointed to posts across the realm."
The young emperor took another deep breath and looked toward the Grand Marshal. "After they take up their posts, whether they perform well and whether they can be promoted... well, just report directly to the Grand Marshal. The Grand Marshal will decide."
"Furthermore, I shall reward the Chancellor with a thousand acres of fertile land. That... that is all I can do. Grand Marshal, Chancellor, please do not argue over this matter anymore. It was all because I did not consider things thoroughly..."
Guo Qianyue was dumbfounded. But after a moment of realization, his expression shifted from overcast to bright. This move was incredibly ruthless!
Huang Huaili stood frozen, the smile stiffening on his aged face. How was this a grace? This was clearly cutting flesh with a blunt knife!
Who didn't know that the border passes were Guo Qianyue's territory? Would his youngest son ever have a chance to rise there? The eldest son becoming a governor sounded like becoming a regional lord, but Qiongzhou was far from the capital, meaning he would lose a major source of support. Most importantly, his family members and proteges appeared to be receiving promotions and titles, but they were actually being scattered to the winds, completely stripping away their cohesion.
The most terrifying part was that, from now on, their promotions would have to be reported to Guo Qianyue. Over time, leaving aside his own family members, wouldn't those proteges change their allegiances? Who would still have this Chancellor in their eyes?
He opened his mouth, ready to firmly refuse, but swallowed the words just as they reached his lips.
Huang Huaili looked at the young emperor in astonishment. How did this child come up with such a scheme?
If he refused now, he wasn't afraid of offending the emperor—after all, all the officials knew the boy was just a figurehead. But once the news spread, those proteges and family members who were eagerly anticipating promotions and titles would surely resent him for being selfish and dictatorial! Especially since some of those proteges had obscure ties to the noble families...
Seeing his mortal enemy swallow a bitter pill, Guo Qianyue was overjoyed. He casually cast an admiring glance at Fang Zhiyi. He knew very well that the young emperor could never conceive of such an overt conspiracy. The only person capable of devising such a method had to be Fang Zhiyi.
He really hadn't expected Fang Zhiyi to possess such capability.
"You are nothing but a puppet. Any talk of rewards and titles coming from you is a joke, but you must say it."
"Why?"
"Because even though you are a puppet, you are still the Son of Heaven. You must maximize the value of your position. You cannot fully execute the effects of the Enfeoffment Order, but it is enough to give Huang a headache. Once the news of the rewards spreads, those beneath the Huang family won't be able to sit still. Who doesn't covet fame and fortune?"
"I understand, Grand Tutor. But by doing this, we will have offended the Chancellor."
"It cannot be helped. They are not fools. Swaying back and forth will only temporarily save your life. This day was bound to come sooner or later. Rather than enduring passively, it is better to strike proactively... After all, Huang Huaili knows that Guo Qianyue came to see you last night. Therefore, this debt will naturally be pinned on Guo Qianyue. Although you are detestable to him, he knows the mastermind is not you."
"Grand Tutor, I always feel like you are insulting me."
The young emperor returned to his study, feeling somewhat dizzy. Just moments ago, Fang Zhiyi had been called away by Guo Qianyue. Outside his study, the Imperial City Guards stood at almost every three steps and five paces, forming a standoff with the Black Armor Guards.
He felt a bit panicked, not knowing what to do next.
Despite doing so much, the reality hadn't changed. He was still that puppet emperor, and the Grand Tutor was still someone others could order around. If only he could take the Grand Tutor and escape.
"Grand Tutor Fang, I didn't see it before, but you are quite the talent." Guo Qianyue smiled very happily. The people he sent out had already brought back news: the Huang family was in an uproar today. Some of the younger family members had even run to Huang Huaili, demanding titles to bring glory to their ancestors, making Huang Huaili furious.
Fang Zhiyi simply smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful greeting.
But immediately after, Guo Qianyue's expression changed. "You put on quite an act. I truly didn't see it. For someone as greedy and cowardly as you to harbor such schemes in your heart..."
"The Grand Marshal overpraises me." Fang Zhiyi still smiled easily.
Guo Qianyue raised his wine cup. "To be honest, I am very pleased. You did me a great favor today. This method was absolutely brilliant. As long as the Huang family's foundation is shaken, I can take the opportunity to strike... However, you make me somewhat fearful."
Fang Zhiyi nodded. "What Your Excellency says is true."
Guo Qianyue looked at him. "Are you not afraid anymore?"
Fang Zhiyi asked in return, "Why should I be afraid?"
"Such deep scheming is rare to see. It's a pity. I do not like people who deceive me. Although I very much like what you did, you still have to die. But rest assured, I will give your family a sum of silver."
"Your Excellency, I'm afraid today's events mark the beginning of the showdown between you and Chancellor Huang, do they not?" Fang Zhiyi suddenly asked.
Guo Qianyue no longer hid his intentions. "Exactly. I have long grown tired of playing house with that little emperor. If the Huang family is not eliminated, I cannot sleep or eat in peace. You have given me a good start. I toast you."
Fang Zhiyi smiled brightly. "Your Excellency, would you care to guess why I dared to attend this banquet?"
Guo Qianyue shook his head in confusion. "Fang Zhiyi, stop bluffing. You are merely a fifth-rank official. You have no factions and no power, only a belly full of petty tricks. Remember, you die today because your cleverness has doomed you."
"No, what I mean is... if Your Excellency were to die by the blade today, who would the Guo family think the murderer is?"
"What do you mean?"
Fang Zhiyi slowly stood up. The guards behind him tried to reach out and hold him down, but the moment they touched him, their arms were snapped.
"It's been too long since I've fought. I call you 'Your Excellency' and you really think I'm a pushover?" Chatting and laughing, Fang Zhiyi took down the four guards. Guo Qianyue's face was filled with terror. A censor with martial skills like this?
"I wanted to kill you last time, but dying back then would have had no value."
"You, someone come..." Guo Qianyue was terrified, but the next moment, his throat was slit open.
"Being a powerful minister is fine, but you should at least do something humane." Fang Zhiyi looked at him clutching his neck and struggling desperately, shook his head, and then slashed his own arm with the knife. The calm on his face instantly morphed into panic.
"Somebody come!!! The Grand Marshal has been assassinated!!!" He even crawled under the table, trembling in fear.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
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.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
