“This, this, all of this was given to us by the Tongxin League!”
The owner dared not delay and quickly said, “The Tongxin League provided many scripts, including these targeting the Duke. We, we were only following orders. Duke, we are truly innocent.”
Zhang Shi sneered, “And yet you seemed all too happy to sing these plays, didn’t you?”
“No, no…”
The owner tried to defend himself again but was cut off by Ren Tianye’s cold snort. The interrogation continued for some time, but the owner’s answers remained the same.
The materials came from the Tongxin League.
Wherever the Tongxin League had obtained these scripts was unclear, but it was suspected that the Grand Palace Master had written them herself.
With further questioning, the owner had nothing more to reveal. Zhang Shi dragged him aside to continue the interrogation.
Half an hour later, Zhang Shi reported to Ren Tianye.
“Duke, I believe the Xiangsi Pavilion has confessed enough. Even the matter of Xu Shang has been fully disclosed. He can say nothing more—likely everything has been laid out.”
Ren Tianye nodded, thinking the same, but still gave Zhang Shi an order.
“Continue the interrogation.”
“Spare no detail. Make him reveal as much as possible. If there’s any clue, we must find it.”
As Zhang Shi carried out the order, Ren Tianye’s brow remained furrowed.
His mind was restless, with no solution in sight.
What kind of person was Liu Ruyan?
Or rather, what means did she possess?
How could she know about his past life—the ups and downs with his three girlfriends? It was as if she had investigated him thoroughly.
“Could Liu Ruyan be one of my ex-girlfriends?”
But that didn’t fit. His three relationships had gaps of at least three months, and the ex-girlfriends likely didn’t know each other.
Besides, Liu Ruyan seemed about twenty years older than him—that just didn’t add up.
“Could Liu Ruyan have transmigrated from a book?”
Still wrong.
If she had transmigrated from a book, she would have focused on his exploits in the Great Yu Empire, not his previous life.
“She must have some system.”
“A system that allows her to spy on others, to better control and exploit them. That’s how she created the feverish romance craze across the Great Yu Dynasty.”
But that didn’t fit either.
He had dealt with many from the Tongxin League.
The deceased Three Hall Master of the Tongxin League.
Left Protector Bai Zixuan.
Right Protector Ye Hu.
The newly promoted Three Hall Master Bai Li.
He had questioned them all thoroughly, but none of their words revealed any trace of Liu Ruyan having a system.
The only certainty was that Liu Ruyan was definitely a time traveler, with a phone at her disposal.
Ren Tianye’s head ached from thinking.
He had no choice but to put it aside for now.
For the moment, the only way to learn the truth was to break through Cloud Capital and capture Liu Ruyan alive.
With that thought, his gaze sharpened.
The next target was Pukou City.
Pukou City was on the north bank of the Yangtze River, across from Cloud Capital.
Taking Pukou meant breaching Cloud Capital itself.
With abundant troops and a large batch of sweet potatoes and other crops soon to arrive, now was the perfect time to strike.
As he considered battle plans, Su Jin hurried over.
“Duke, the interrogation of Wan Qing has turned up something unusual.”
Su Jin’s face shone with barely contained joy. Behind her followed Wu Xingzhou, who was originally assigned to outer defense for the main army’s supply lines. He too wore an excited expression, as if eager for action.
“What is it?” Ren Tianye asked.
“Wan Qing also faked her death once!”
“And it was very successful!”
“Even now, those who knew her before still believe she is dead.”
Ren Tianye was puzzled. “Oh?”
Su Jin quickly explained, “Wan Qing was married. But her husband was always busy with city defense and neglected her. She grew dissatisfied and began to think of escape.”
“Instead of pursuing a proper divorce, she sought the Xiangsi Pavilion. They devised a plan for her to fake her own death.”
“She said she wanted to die before her husband’s eyes, so he would regret it for the rest of his life, while she went off in search of happiness.”
Ren Tianye understood.
“So Wan Qing came to Hu Shaoyou?”
“Yes,” said Su Jin. “Hu Shaoyou and Wan Qing knew each other since childhood—childhood sweethearts. But they were separated early on and went their own ways.”
“This time, Wan Qing came to Source City and rekindled her old flame with Hu Shaoyou. To spend the rest of their lives together in secret, they went back to the Xiangsi Pavilion for help. The Pavilion designed Hu Shaoyou’s fake death plan too.”
“If we hadn’t caught on, that adulterous pair would have succeeded.”
Ren Tianye felt a flash of understanding.
So the Xiangsi Pavilion’s “love business” included such “matchmaking” services—using faked deaths to resolve problems and achieve happiness.
The thought made him furious. He ordered Zhang Shi, “Tell them to turn up the pressure on the Xiangsi Pavilion’s owner.”
“Yes!” Zhang Shi acknowledged but lingered, adding, “Duke, from the interrogation of the Xiangsi Pavilion’s owner, it’s clear that all the Pavilion’s business involves shady dealings.”
“They even claim to promote love!”
“That Xu Shang—he was the one protected by the Xiangsi Pavilion. Hu Shaoyou had to cover for Xu Shang just to keep the Pavilion’s favor.”
Ren Tianye then remembered Xu Shang. But he had never paid him much mind, as Huai’an City was already under his control, and Xu Shang, as its former acting governor, was irrelevant now.
Hearing Zhang Shi bring him up, Ren Tianye asked offhandedly, “And Xu Shang?”
“Did the Xiangsi Pavilion people confess?”
“Did you catch him?”
Zhang Shi shook his head. “They confessed, but we didn’t catch him. And I don’t plan to bother anymore.”
“Oh?” Ren Tianye was surprised.
Wasn’t Xu Shang Zhang Shi’s personal grudge? Hadn’t he launched this attack on Source City with Xu Shang as his primary target? Even if Ren Tianye didn’t care, Zhang Shi should have.
Zhang Shi explained, “Xu Shang was sold by the Xiangsi Pavilion to some wealthy official in Cloud Capital who was chasing love.”
“The Pavilion said that this official had long admired Xu Shang and was lusting after him. Now that he’s finally won Xu Shang’s love, he’s thrilled.”
He paused and added, “That wealthy official is a man.”
Ren Tianye was speechless.
So were Su Jin and Wu Xingzhou.
Ren Tianye rubbed his forehead.
No wonder Zhang Shi—despite his vengeful nature—had let Xu Shang go. Xu Shang had been sold off to someone paying for love!
Brilliant!
The Xiangsi Pavilion’s business model was truly eye-opening.
“Duke, it seems the Xiangsi Pavilion plays rough,” Su Jin’s voice broke in.
She paused, then asked, “Do you know who Wan Qing’s original husband was?”
“Who?”
“Zhou Xiong.”
"Zhou Xiong?" Ren Tianye's face instantly lit up with delight.
Zhou Xiong—wasn't that the name of the garrison commander of Pukou City?!
...
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
