This caused Ren Tianye’s heart to surge like stormy waves.
His first reaction was that this opera troupe was set up by the Heart Alliance, by Liu Ruyan. Even if it wasn’t the Heart Alliance or Liu Ruyan, it absolutely had something to do with her.
But... tracksuits…
When Ren Tianye was in Yunjing, he had thoroughly examined Bai Li, Bai Zixuan, and the others, forming a rough judgment about Liu Ruyan.
Based on his judgment, Liu Ruyan had traveled to this world about twenty years ago.
During those twenty years, Liu Ruyan had somehow managed to create firearms. Fine. But now… she could also make sportswear?
The technological complexity of that was no small matter!
However, when Ren Tianye looked more closely, he realized it was a false alarm.
Although the man and woman on stage in front of him were both wearing tracksuits, their material was different from the sportswear Ren Tianye knew.
“They’re adapted from materials available in this era. At first glance, they just look like modern tracksuits,” Ren Tianye mused, easing his mind.
Because almost everyone around him was practically love-struck idiots, he wasn’t afraid of Liu Ruyan. Still, if she actually managed to create something like a system for him, that would be a major headache.
But while Ren Tianye relaxed, Su Jin and the others were on edge.
The Duke had arrived and had seen all this. Not only had they fallen short in their task, but they’d been caught red-handed by the Duke.
Su Jin and Xu Sha were sweating cold on their foreheads.
Xie Changfeng even drew his saber, ready to charge forward.
But Ren Tianye stopped him.
“Hold on.”
Ren Tianye looked toward the opera troupe. “Let’s hear what they’re singing.”
Since the Duke had given the order, no one dared to disobey. But the man and woman on the stage weren’t actually singing opera.
They were… having a conversation.
More precisely, it was a dialogue between an intimate couple.
The woman spoke first, tilting her head. Her pink tracksuit revealed her fair neck; her face was pretty and charming.
“Baby…” she asked the man before her, “Can you love me forever?”
The man answered without hesitation, “Yes!”
As soon as the man spoke, everyone on site, Ren Tianye included, felt a jolt.
This man… actually looked a bit like Ren Tianye!
It seemed the opera troupe had deliberately found someone like that, carefully trained and made up, giving people the impression that he greatly resembled Ren Tianye.
“They’re impersonating the Duke,” Xie Changfeng quickly realized. “They’re trying to slander the Duke.”
Su Jin shared the same view.
Her instinct was to stop the troupe right away, to prevent further damage to the Duke’s reputation.
But when she glanced at Ren Tianye, she saw surprise flicker in his eyes, and he made no move to stop them. She didn’t dare act on her own.
Meanwhile, on the crudely built stage, the woman tilted her head again and asked a second question.
“Can you never cheat on me for your whole life?”
The man answered immediately, “Yes!”
“And can you always spoil me?”
“Yes!”
“And would you die for me?”
“Yes!”
“Louder!”
“YES!” the man shouted thunderously.
The more he acted, the more everyone felt he resembled the Duke, especially in his demeanor. He seemed almost like another version of the Duke.
“Can you…” the woman continued, “transfer one hundred thousand yuan to me?”
The people didn’t understand the word “transfer,” but since money was mentioned, it likely meant asking money from the Duke-lookalike.
Following the previous pattern, everyone assumed the man would agree.
But to their surprise, the man immediately said, “Goddamn it, that’s a no-go!”
“I actually have one hundred thousand!”
The woman shrieked, “You don’t love me at all! You won’t even give me two hundred! You just want to sleep with me!”
“How could that be, babe? If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t even stop you from going to the club. That’s how much I respect you!”
“But my best friend said that if a man doesn’t spend money on you, he doesn’t love you. You don’t love me. Let’s break up!”
“Fine!” the man agreed without hesitation, stood up, and mimed pushing open a door to walk out.
At that point, the main performance of the opera troupe ended, and the woman made a final summary.
“A man who’s been a martial arts champion for years but won’t give you even that little bit of money — how can he possibly love you?”
“And this man is, is…”
The woman couldn’t finish. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and then she fell to her knees with a thud. The man and the entire troupe also knelt.
Only then did Ren Tianye snap back to reality. He took a deep look at the man and woman, then gave a signal to Wang Ming.
Wang Ming understood and immediately ordered the troupe to be seized.
This time, after taking the troupe into custody, no one else caused trouble. The scene returned to normal.
Ren Tianye, seated on his sorrel horse at the front of the crowd, wasted no words and directly commanded: “Burn the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion!”
“Yes!”
Xu Sha acknowledged and acted according to plan.
Soon, flames surged. A massive fire blazed. The Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion, which had stood in Huaian City for over a decade, was reduced to ashes under official supervision.
The crowd wasn’t much affected by the earlier disruptions; they mostly cheered in excitement.
Huaian City, without the Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion, would have one great scourge less.
Back in the mansion, Ren Tianye sat behind his desk, listening to Su Jin’s report.
“Your Grace, the investigation is complete. Today, all those who suddenly ran out to cause trouble were tenant farmers of Huaian City. Their lives were in others’ hands, and they had no choice but to obey.”
“The same goes for the opera troupe.”
“They were bought long ago, all under forced contracts. They were coerced into doing this.”
“What’s more, some were threatened with their families’ safety.”
“This clearly shows it was an organized, premeditated action. Their goal is likely similar to that of the Love Mutual Assistance Alliance, but with one addition: to slander the Demon Suppression Office.”
Su Jin had phrased it as slandering the Demon Suppression Office, not the Duke himself, but Ren Tianye understood.
He countered, “Was the mastermind found?”
“Yes, sir,” Su Jin said. “It’s Liu Aijiu, the head of the Liu family. He is not only a well-known bookseller in Huaian City but also has business spread across all of Yunjing.”
“He seems to have met the head of the Heart Alliance, was deeply influenced by her, firmly believes in love above all else, and has long been Hongluan Wenyuan Pavilion’s biggest supporter. He poured countless sums of money into it.”
“He has also appeared many times at the pavilion to give speeches, personally going onstage to advocate, luring Huaian City’s common folk with promises that as long as they believe in love, their wives will be beautiful, their men gentle and talented, and that houses and jobs will come…”
"I have verified this matter with Lord Xu Sha, and I have also interrogated those still in prison from the Love Mutual Aid Alliance. Their accounts are consistent."
"It should be correct."
"However, on this occasion, when the Love Mutual Aid Alliance caused trouble in Huai'an City, he did not show his face. Since we had no particular reason to target him, none of us expected him to be so audacious."
"We have failed in our duties, Lord Duke. Please mete out punishment."
...
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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?”
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
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."
