"Father, may I ask why you have summoned me?"
The Fifth Prince was puzzled by the sudden summons from the Lord of the Great Zhou Kingdom. After all, he had been busy preparing for his upcoming engagement banquet. Could it be that his father wished to discuss something related to the event?
"Recently, I received some news concerning the Chen Family."
"You are aware of the past ties between the Chen Family and the Liu Family, correct?"
The Lord's words sent a jolt through the Fifth Prince's heart. He had never expected this to be the reason for the summons.
"Father, I am aware of the matter."
"But rest assured, I have already taken measures to ensure it will not affect anything."
"As you know, Mengyan is highly talented and is being groomed as a key disciple in the Supreme Purity Sect. Moreover, we share a deep mutual affection."
"Though the Liu Family once had a pact with the Chen Family, that was so long ago—the agreement is now nothing more than an empty formality."
"Father, I hope this matter will not tarnish your impression of Mengyan."
"I—"
Before the Fifth Prince could finish, the Lord raised a hand to silence him.
Seeing his father's furrowed brow, the Fifth Prince grew anxious, fearing this might strain his relationship with Liu Mengyan.
"Read this for yourself. It is a report sent by Wu Chengfeng, the governor of Beiyuan Prefecture."
The Lord tossed the letter directly to the Fifth Prince.
After scanning its contents, the Fifth Prince chuckled.
"So it's about this."
"Father, I already know of this matter. Don’t worry—it’s merely a scheme concocted by the Chen Family."
"As for their so-called 'ancestor,' it’s nothing but a joke."
"I’ve already asked my Maternal Uncle to deal with the Chen Family. By now, he should have succeeded." The Fifth Prince smiled confidently.
Yet the Lord’s frown only deepened, his gaze piercing as he stared at his son.
"Did you overlook another crucial detail in the report?" the Lord asked coldly.
"Hmm? What else is there?" the Fifth Prince asked, confused.
"A dog."
"A talking dog!"
"Are your eyes just for decoration?"
"How could you ignore such vital information?" The Lord finally lost his temper, roaring in anger.
A dog?
What dog? And it could talk?
The Fifth Prince was stunned, his mind blank from the outburst.
"Father, this—"
Suddenly, realization struck him. A talking dog—a demon beast?
Only a fifth-tier demon beast or higher could speak human language. If true…
A single fifth-tier demon beast could bring ruin to the entire Great Zhou Kingdom, let alone one of a higher tier.
Why hadn’t Liu Mengyan told him about this?
"Father, is this information reliable? Mengyan never mentioned anything about this," the Fifth Prince asked nervously.
"Wu Chengfeng wouldn’t dare lie to me."
"Therefore, this talking dog must exist."
"There are two possibilities for why Liu Mengyan didn’t inform you—either she didn’t know, or she deliberately concealed it."
"She must not have known! She would never deceive me!" the Fifth Prince declared firmly.
Hearing this, the Lord sighed in resignation.
Among all his sons, the Fifth Prince was the most gifted and the one he held in highest regard.
Yet, ever since falling for Liu Mengyan, his usually sharp-witted son seemed to have lost his edge.
"Never mind whether she knew or not. What matters now is how you plan to proceed," the Lord said.
The Fifth Prince frowned, deep in thought.
By now, his Maternal Uncle should have already acted against the Chen Family. The best outcome would be success, while the worst would be failure.
If they failed, the Chen Family would surely retaliate.
"Father, I believe we must prepare for two scenarios."
"Regardless of whether my Maternal Uncle succeeds or fails, we must be ready."
"First, we should prepare for negotiations—to appease the Chen Family’s anger. We can shift the blame entirely onto my Maternal Uncle and claim ignorance."
"Second, if the Chen Family refuses to back down, we cannot afford to wait passively."
"Even if it means mutual destruction, we must not sit idly by."
The Lord nodded in approval. His son’s reasoning aligned closely with his own.
Indeed, the boy he had placed such hopes on still possessed keen judgment.
"Your Maternal Uncle dotes on you greatly."
"Are you not afraid this will drive a wedge between you? That you might lose his affection?" the Lord asked.
"Though my Maternal Uncle cares for me deeply, I am a member of the royal family. In my heart, the kingdom comes first."
"If forced to choose, I must sacrifice him. I trust he will understand."
"It may seem heartless, but those who achieve greatness must know when to make hard decisions."
"Good. You understand the need for sacrifice. But your approach is still somewhat naive."
"Oh? What wisdom does Father have to share?"
"The Supreme Purity Sect is our greatest ally. Though your Maternal Uncle is only a third elder, do not forget—your Maternal Grandfather is one of the sect’s Supreme Elders, equal in strength to our kingdom’s Ancestor."
"Abandoning your Maternal Uncle is not an option."
"Moreover, I have invited representatives of the aristocratic families to your engagement banquet."
"After all, the Great Zhou Kingdom was founded with their backing. They will not stand by and watch."
"If the Chen Family accepts an apology and reconciliation, all will be well."
"If not, we must rally every force at our disposal to annihilate them."
"But—that is the absolute last resort."
Aristocratic families?
The Fifth Prince was young and knew little about them, having only heard vague mentions.
"Father, are these families our true backers?"
"But I’ve always heard that our support came from—"
"The Supreme Purity Sect? No. The true power lies with the aristocratic families."
"In the Northern Region, true control rests in the hands of those great clans."
In the Northern Region, aristocratic families reigned supreme. However, direct conflicts between them often led to heavy losses. Thus, they devised a solution.
The families became the board, and kingdoms—the pieces.
Minor disputes between families could be settled through proxy wars between their vassal kingdoms.
This way, the families minimized their own casualties.
"So… we are merely pawns in their game?" the Fifth Prince said indignantly.
"What else can we do? If we defy them, the aristocratic families could overthrow the Great Zhou Kingdom by tomorrow."
"Enough, this is not something you should be worrying about right now."
"Relay my orders—gather all nearby troops and station them near the capital, just in case."
"As you command, Father!"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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.
