For a time, all the officials in the White Tiger Hall fell silent.
Ren Tianye nodded in satisfaction. This matter could basically be considered settled.
First, he would act as a powerful minister. Then, in two or three years, after winning the hearts of the people, he could have that Son of Marquis Xuan'en abdicate the throne to him.
Although this path to ascending the throne was a bit slower, it was much more stable.
It suited his intentions perfectly.
After briefly discussing matters with the ministers, Ren Tianye went to the side hall to rest. Su Pengcheng followed behind and walked in.
"Pengcheng, your recommendation this time is very much to this Grand Commandant's liking."
"This Grand Commandant will remember this great merit of yours."
Su Pengcheng cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Grand Commandant. However, this commoner's recommendation of the Son of Marquis Xuan'en was not entirely for Your Excellency's sake."
"Oh?" Ren Tianye was surprised. "Then for what else?"
"For this realm!"
This topic was suddenly elevated so high that for a moment, Ren Tianye almost felt as if Su Pengcheng had transformed into Pei Jingzhi. However, considering the immense reputation the Su family of the capital used to have, serving as a role model for all scholars in the world, and that Su Pengcheng, despite his old age, still possessed the gentle refinement of a gentleman, it was not unusual for him to say such things.
"It seems you have quite a bit of trust in this Grand Commandant!"
Ren Tianye thought Su Pengcheng was still paving the way for him, but unexpectedly, Su Pengcheng said, "This commoner naturally trusts Your Excellency the Grand Commandant. Ever since Your Excellency annihilated the thirty thousand barbarian troops outside the northern city of the capital and swept clean the barbarian soldiers within the Imperial Chen Manor, my Su family of the capital has decided to follow your lead from now on."
"But..."
"Supporting the Son of Marquis Xuan'en does indeed involve my own selfish motives."
Ren Tianye finally understood. There was a hidden meaning in Su Pengcheng's words. His expression turned slightly solemn as he said, "Then tell me, what exactly are these selfish motives?"
Su Pengcheng fell to his knees and said, "This commoner only wishes that the Emperor of this Great Yu realm, even if he is manipulated by others, even if he willingly becomes a puppet, must absolutely not be of the late Emperor's bloodline. We cannot allow the late Emperor's bloodline to affect the destiny of the nation!"
"And affect the thousands upon thousands of common people under the heavens!"
Ren Tianye frowned slightly and said, "If I remember correctly, the glory of your Su residence was stripped away by Xiao Mingzhao, wasn't it?"
"Why do you hold such a deep grudge against the late Emperor?"
"Is it because he married a prostitute to be his Empress?"
Without realizing when it started, old tears were already streaming down Su Pengcheng's face. "Grand Commandant, my Su family of the capital has served as historians for generations. A single word from us could be passed down to future generations; a single stroke of our pen could determine moral principles. We controlled the civil service examinations for generations, with disciples and former subordinates spread throughout the court and the countryside. Half of the world's scholars came from our Su school. We were illustrious for hundreds of years. As long as His Majesty did not commit an act of universal condemnation, how could he so easily reduce my Su residence to such a state?"
"Everything started with the late Emperor, Xiao Jingyuan!"
Su Pengcheng's tears could no longer be controlled. "This is a secret that has been hidden in my heart for decades. Today, I will tell it all to the Grand Commandant."
"I once had a daughter, who grew up to have a face like a flower and the moon, graceful and elegant. She once met Xiao Jingyuan by chance. Xiao Jingyuan was completely captivated and deeply infatuated with her, and afterward, he swore an oath that he must marry my daughter."
These words actually gave Ren Tianye a slight shock.
He never expected that the Su family of the capital had almost become imperial relatives in the past, and with the esteemed status of an Empress at that!
However, that was clearly not the case right now.
What had happened?
Were they retaliated against after rejecting the late Emperor?
Su Pengcheng continued, "Xiao Jingyuan went mad for my daughter. He once waited outside my Su family's courtyard day after day, and even when he was beaten by those who didn't know his identity, he did not give up."
"He would bring my daughter her favorite sweet sticky cakes, keeping them warm against his chest, and personally deliver them on a fast horse."
"Later, when Xiao Jingyuan learned that my daughter was already engaged, he cried bitterly, yet he took the initiative to play the matchmaker, helped select the betrothal gifts, and was willing to help her achieve happiness."
Before Su Pengcheng's voice had even faded, Ren Tianye was shocked again.
He thought to himself that this was Su Pengcheng's fault. Xiao Jingyuan was the Son of Heaven of Great Yu. Since he had gone to such lengths for his daughter, it was just a paper betrothal—breaking it off would have sufficed. How could he actually defy the Emperor's wishes like that?
But unexpectedly, Su Pengcheng added, "Seeing Xiao Jingyuan's sincerity, I had no choice but to risk my old face, break off the engagement, and marry my daughter to Xiao Jingyuan."
"After their marriage, Xiao Jingyuan doted on my daughter to the utmost. He once promised her: one couple for a lifetime, leaving the inner palace empty, with only her alone."
Hearing this, Ren Tianye was genuinely a bit baffled.
He pondered for a moment. This Xiao Jingyuan was indeed a bit lovesick, but it wasn't a big problem, and he had solidly treated Su Pengcheng's daughter as his unattainable true love.
There was also nothing wrong with Su Pengcheng's actions. So how... could such immense hatred have been born?
"Originally, it should have been a time of great success for my Su residence, and this commoner was indeed proud for a few years. But I never imagined that one day, when Xiao Jingyuan went on an incognito inspection tour outside the palace, he passed by a red-light district."
"He saw the Prostitute Empress."
"When he first saw her, he merely felt that the Prostitute Empress somewhat resembled my daughter, which sparked his curiosity. But through various events afterward, he grew increasingly fond of the Prostitute Empress, summoned her into the palace, and titled her a Noble Consort."
"Going even further, he abolished my daughter's position as Empress and crowned the Prostitute Empress as Empress."
Ren Tianye: "???"
No way, what the fuck!
"If it were only that, it would have been fine." Su Pengcheng said, "I would just consider my daughter to have thin fortune."
"But Xiao Jingyuan, influenced by the bewitching words of that Prostitute Empress, wanted to keep only the Prostitute Empress alone in the inner palace, so he took a knife and personally killed my daughter!"
Ren Tianye stood up abruptly.
His face was full of shock!
Killed?
He killed his own true love?
For a prostitute?
Damn!
So Xiao Mingzhao's crazy streak was passed down from here!
"At that time..." Su Pengcheng's voice grew significantly louder. The tears on his face dried and flowed again, flowing and drying, as thousands of pains surged into his heart: "At that time, my daughter was already six months pregnant. Xiao Jingyuan, with one knife, took two lives!"
Ren Tianye was so shocked that he was somewhat speechless.
Six months pregnant!
That was Xiao Jingyuan's own damn child!
And as a result, he killed them?
Is he a fucking human?
Is he even a person?
Fuck... Soon after, Ren Tianye also felt a bit like laughing.
The kind of laugh that comes from extreme anger.
"The late Emperor? Xiao Jingyuan?"
"Absurd, simply absurd!"
"A prostitute who had been played with by others, he treated her like a treasure and married her into the palace, and even fucking killed his own true love and his unborn child for her..."
"Does the bloodline of this Xiao family carry some twisted genes?"
"Fuck!"
...
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."
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 vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
