"The crucial thing is he insists I ordered him to do it, but how would I know about such a thing..." Xu Dalang's eyes darted around evasively. Based on her understanding of him, Xu Ruyi knew this matter was definitely tied to Xu Dalang.
"You really went too far this time," Xu Ruyi scolded. "Who is handling the case?"
"Who else could it be? It's the Prince of Chu's people..."
Xu Ruyi paused. That made sense.
Although these princes all had their own factions, the world ultimately belonged to the Emperor. No matter how much they jumped around, they didn't dare cross the line. It seemed the Prince of Chu wanted to seize this leverage to wring some benefits out of Fang Zhiyi...
She glanced at Xiaocui, who was still groaning, and ordered Xu Dalang to follow her to find Fang Zhiyi.
At this moment, Fang Zhiyi was comfortably humming a little tune while basking in the sun, acting as if he didn't see the aggressively approaching Xu Ruyi at all.
"Brother-in-law! Save me!" Xu Dalang had already received his sister's hints on the way here, and he immediately fell to his knees as soon as he saw Fang Zhiyi.
Fang Zhiyi opened his eyes slightly. "Oh, isn't this my highly capable brother-in-law?"
Xu Dalang offered an apologetic smile. "Brother-in-law, I've run into some trouble, and I absolutely need your help..."
"Don't be a stranger, we're all family. Tell me."
Looking at Fang Zhiyi's serious expression, Xu Ruyi felt a little relieved. It seemed Fang Zhiyi was just having a sudden fit of madness earlier today; she would settle the score with him later.
After Xu Dalang finished explaining what happened, Fang Zhiyi suddenly stood up and ran outside without looking back.
The Xu siblings were completely bewildered.
About a quarter of an hour later, Fang Zhiyi returned, followed by several officers in patrol uniforms.
"There, that's him. How do you handle your duties? A death is a major matter, yet you let the main culprit wander outside? What if he killed me?"
The officers swallowed hard. Who would dare take the blame for such a heavy accusation from the Crown Prince? Someone immediately stepped forward to arrest Xu Dalang.
Xu Ruyi blocked their way. "I'd like to see who dares! Fang Zhiyi! My brother is innocent, how could you treat him like this?"
Fang Zhiyi's face was entirely solemn. "The founding Emperor said that if the Son of Heaven breaks the law, he is guilty of the same crime as the common people! Not to mention he isn't even the Son of Heaven. As an imperial relative, he indulged his subordinate in beating a commoner to death. I am the Crown Prince, at the very least; how could I possibly shield him?"
In the original plot, Fang Zhiyi fell ill at this point. In order to save this brother-in-law, he didn't hesitate to promise to do the Prince of Chu a favor, only to be punished by the old Emperor later on.
"You..." Xu Ruyi was momentarily at a loss for words to refute him.
Fang Zhiyi put his hands on his hips. "What are you still standing around for? Is this how you handle your duties? Aren't you afraid I'll tell the Prince of Chu?"
Hearing this, the officers no longer hesitated. They stepped forward, pinned Xu Dalang down, and tied him up.
"Fang Zhiyi! You'll regret this!" Xu Ruyi stomped her foot.
"Why would I regret it?"
"Because..." Xu Ruyi opened her mouth but forcibly swallowed the rest of her words. She couldn't reveal her pregnancy just yet.
"Crazy." Fang Zhiyi watched the officers drag Xu Dalang away and even waved with a smile.
Meanwhile, when the Prince of Chu first received the news that the Crown Prince's brother-in-law had indulged his subordinate in beating someone to death, he was quite excited. He specifically gave Xu Dalang enough time to find the Crown Prince, while he himself timed it perfectly to prepare for a coincidental encounter.
However, when he saw the officers dragging Xu Dalang out, the Prince of Chu was a bit dumbfounded.
Wait, is this right?
He stared at the plaque of the Crown Prince's estate for a good while, then silently left. Originally, his eldest brother had angered the old man yesterday, and today if he submitted a memorial about this matter, he figured the Crown Prince's position would have to be relinquished...
It was night time again, and the eunuch Zhang Dafu arrived once more. Fang Zhiyi felt somewhat helpless. "What? Does our law stipulate that we can only discuss matters at night?"
Zhang Dafu smiled. "Your Highness, hurry up, and wear some extra clothes today." He paused. "The Emperor doesn't look too happy. You should be mentally prepared, and please don't anger the Emperor again."
Fang Zhiyi didn't reply, so Zhang Dafu assumed he understood. In fact, from this eunuch's perspective, Fang Zhiyi was indeed the best candidate for the heir apparent among the princes. He was generous, diligent in politics, and loved the people; his only flaw was his weak constitution.
By the time Fang Zhiyi arrived at the study, there were already several people there. Seeing him enter, the princes all looked at him with varying expressions.
"Eldest brother, you're wearing so many layers? You need to take care of your health," the Prince of Chu said.
Fang Zhiyi knew what he meant. Wasn't it just to remind the old man that his health was failing?
"Greetings, Imperial Father. Greetings, my brothers." After speaking, Fang Zhiyi casually plopped down right opposite the old Emperor, leaving the kneeling princes stunned. Wait, was he really acting that naturally?
They didn't notice that as soon as Fang Zhiyi sat down, the old Emperor subconsciously shifted the quilt he was sitting on behind him.
"Crown Prince, has your anger subsided?" It was the same sarcastic tone as always.
The princes all showed expressions of wanting to watch a good show.
"Anger subsided? What anger?" Fang Zhiyi looked bewildered.
The old Emperor snorted, not bothering about the fact that he was sitting there. "I heard that your Crown Princess's brother indulged his subordinate in beating a commoner to death. Do you know about this?"
Fang Zhiyi nodded. "I know! I was the one who reported it to the authorities and had him arrested." Saying this, he looked at the Prince of Chu. "Old Fourth, tell me, how do you manage your subordinates? How could you let a major suspect run over to my place? What if he slaughtered me too? Would that be on your head or his?"
"I..." The Prince of Chu hadn't expected the Crown Prince to immediately bite back at him right from the start. However, when he met the old Emperor's gaze, he instantly lowered his head. "It was my incompetence... Please quell your anger, Crown Prince."
"Why would I be angry? We are brothers, it doesn't matter to me."
A strange feeling rose in everyone's hearts.
"Ahem, so you mean you placed justice above family loyalty? The Crown Princess didn't have any objections, did she?" The old Emperor looked at Fang Zhiyi. He felt he was starting to find this honest son of his a bit unfathomable.
"She had plenty of objections. She cried and made a fuss, and even said she would make me regret it." Fang Zhiyi simply sat cross-legged on the couch, making Zhang Dafu's heart clench, but fortunately, the old Emperor didn't mind.
"That sister-in-law of yours is truly a magnet for trouble. She's either pulling strings for this relative of hers or issuing documents for that one. Previously, I felt it was hard to talk about family matters, but well, since everyone is here today and we are all family, I'll just say it."
"It's only human nature..." Prince Qi tried to smooth things over. Had the Crown Prince really gone mad, actually self-destructing right here?
Fang Zhiyi frowned. "Bullshit, what human nature? I'm the most reluctant to cause trouble, yet I'm stuck with a wife who stirs up trouble. Isn't this..."
"Are you blaming Us for arranging this marriage for you?"
The gossipy atmosphere immediately dissipated.
Fang Zhiyi raised his head. "Otherwise what? It's a good thing it's me. If it were someone else, I'd like to see what you would do, Imperial Father. For example, if it were Old Fifth, and his brother-in-law got involved in a murder case, wouldn't he have to resort to some shady methods to protect his brother-in-law? He might even get caught by someone else with leverage against him."
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."
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
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.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
